Chapter 16 :

She glared at Senevier with suspicious eyes.

What was she scheming by trying to make Thalia accompany her?

All that child could do was, at most, annoy her with pointless pranks.

But Senevier was not someone who would mobilize even the Emperor for such a profitless act.

She must have some other scheme in mind.

Ayla began to refute her in a somewhat stiff tone.

“Is it not customary for a woman of the imperial family to go on a pilgrimage when she is about to be married? Why are you trying to send that child at this particular time?”

“Because Thalia may soon be getting married as well.”

Senevier spoke lightly.

Ayla furrowed her brow.

She had never heard any rumor that marriage talks had come in for Thalia.

Though she was born a bastard, Thalia was still a princess whose name had been entered into the imperial genealogy.

She was not in a position where her marriage could be arranged quietly without any rumors.

They must have forced the story together just to make her join this journey.

As she glared at the Empress’s face with that suspicion in her eyes, Varkas’s cold voice rang out.

“What a truly coincidental time for a marriage to be arranged.”

Even at the openly sarcastic words, Senevier did not lose her composure.

“Since happy occasions are about to follow one after another in the imperial family, it is quite a good thing. It has not been long since the marriage proposal came in, so no official engagement has been made yet, but His Majesty and I are considering it positively.”

A trace of mockery settled around Varkas’s lips.

“May I ask who the fortunate man is?”

“You must have heard his name at least once. It is Verdein Serian, the head of the Count Serian family. A formal proposal arrived a few days ago.”

Senevier spoke with a benevolent smile on her lips.

“That child has also passed her coming-of-age ceremony quite some time ago, so she is gradually reaching the age to marry, is she not? I thought he would be a fairly suitable match.”

Ayla swallowed the hollow laugh that nearly burst out.

If it was Verdein Serian, he was one of the Empress’s fervent followers.

According to rumor, he had once even held the record for being Lady Taren’s lover for the longest time.

And she wanted to marry her own daughter to such a man? Had she lost her mind?

When Ayla recalled Thalia appearing in the banquet hall with Count Serian, nausea surged up in her.

The mother who intended to marry her daughter to her former lover, and the daughter who followed that mother’s will, had to both be insane.

“Since matters have turned out this way, hurry and prepare that child for the journey.”

The Emperor gave the order in a firm tone, as though he wanted to end the conversation there, and gestured for them to withdraw.

Varkas, who had been looking up at his sovereign with an expression that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking, silently bowed his head and slowly rose from his seat.

Then he turned and left the audience chamber.

Ayla, who had been glaring at Senevier with wary eyes, turned toward him in bewilderment.

She had not expected Varkas to withdraw so obediently.

After paying her respects to the Emperor, she hurried after him.

“Do you really intend to take Thalia with us like this? That child’s marriage is nothing but a plausible excuse. Senevier is definitely plotting something terrible.”

“I suppose so.”

He replied indifferently and strode down the stairs.

Ayla, who had been staring blankly at his back, gathered up the hem of her skirt and quickly caught up with him.

Then she grabbed his arm and cried out in a somewhat agitated tone.

“Is that all? Even though you do not know what the Empress might do using Thalia, you are just going to take that child along recklessly...!”

“What do you want me to do?”

The man stopped walking and cast her a chilling look.

Ayla flinched.

Only then did she realize that his mood had hit rock bottom.

Only an hour ago, this was the man who had smiled at her.

But he had once again become a stranger, looking down at her with cold eyes.

He said mockingly,

“Do you want me to defy His Majesty’s order?”

“I only...”

“He is the monarch of this Empire, and I am one who has sworn loyalty to the imperial family. From the beginning, there has been no path for me other than obedience. Is that not what you imperial people have consistently demanded from nobles like me?”

At the unexpectedly sharp words, Ayla stiffened.

The man looked down at her with dry, emotionless eyes, then turned and began walking again.

When she saw his back moving away without the slightest hesitation, fear suddenly surged up.

Ayla ran to him in a single breath, just as she had when she was a young girl, and threw her arms around his firm waist.

“I’m sorry! I was anxious, so I took it out on you. So please do not turn away from me so coldly.”

The tension slowly drained from the man’s body, which had been standing motionless.

He let out a faint sigh, then turned and embraced her.

Then, as he had in childhood, he gently stroked her hair and said,

“There is no need for you to be anxious. No matter what scheme the Empress is plotting, Your Highness will never come to harm.”

She raised her head and looked up at his face.

The man who had turned away wearing the face of a stranger had already returned to being a loyal knight.

Ayla felt her scattered emotions instantly settle back into place.

This was the man who could shake her so easily and then calm her with a few careless words.

Before this person, even her pride, dignity, and authority as a princess were useless.

Ayla clung to his cool embrace, which had never become warm despite more than ten years together, and gazed desperately into his faint blue eyes.

What was this person looking at?

Those bottomless, empty eyes always seemed to be wandering somewhere far away.

“I swore to the former empress that I would protect the two of you to the best of my ability.”

He spoke as he tucked a few strands of hair clinging to Ayla’s cheek behind her ear.

“No matter what happens, I intend to keep that promise. So there is nothing for Your Highness to worry about.”

After studying his face for a long while, Ayla finally nodded.

Yes.

As long as this person is on our side, there is nothing to worry about.

Nothing at all.

After trimming her broken nails, her hands felt strangely empty.

How many more weeks would she have to wait for them to grow long enough to drive deep into flesh?

Thalia anxiously looked down at the pink nails that had begun to rise faintly over her fingertips.

The satisfaction of having wounded the Crown Prince’s body did not last long.

Her noble elder brother must have immediately gone to a priest and had his hands cleanly healed.

By contrast, she had pointlessly lost the secret weapon she had painstakingly cared for over several weeks.

‘I wanted to use them on Ayla, if possible...’

How many times had she imagined driving her nails into those fresh-green eyes whenever that woman looked at Varkas?

Thalia scratched at the wound left behind when her nail had broken.

The scab that had barely formed was torn away, and drops of blood welled up roundly.

Her nerves grew sharper and sharper.

She stared blankly at her nails as they turned red, then put her index finger in her mouth and lightly sucked away the blood before rising from the window.

Today, Varkas was especially hard to find.

There was no reason to keep clinging to the window, enduring the scorching sunlight.

She trudged across the room, poured cold water into the basin on the shelf, and lightly washed her sweat-damp face.

Just then, a knock sounded.

It seemed the nanny had come again, carrying some snacks.

Thalia wiped her face with clean linen and called out apathetically,

“Come in.”

But the one who opened the door and appeared was not the quarter dwarf with a short build and plump limbs.

It was a small boy with dark reddish-brown curls and bright green eyes.