The veins bulged on the Crown Prince’s thick nape.
As he looked ready to swing his fist at any moment, Edrick stood close beside Thalia. Varkas, who had been standing as silently as a shadow, must not have been the only one to notice the dangerous signs, for he stepped between the two of them.
“The schedule has been delayed considerably. Let us proceed with the ceremony now.” The Second Princess, who had stiffened for a moment, turned her gaze toward Sir Siarkan.
It had lasted only an instant, but Edrick, whose every nerve was on edge, could tell that her body had gone rigid.
It seemed even this wild, reckless woman knew she had to be careful when Sir Siarkan put on a stern face.
She pressed her lips tightly together and looked away.
The Crown Prince, who had been huffing as if he might explode at any moment, also gritted his teeth and stood before the altar again.
Once the situation seemed to have settled, the presiding priest, who had been shrinking his neck like a turtle and only watching for cues, cleared his throat and resumed the ceremony.
Edrick stood a little distance away and watched as the three members of the Imperial Family received the consecration prayers one after another.
When the Crown Prince was the first to step before the altar and bow his head, the presiding priest raised a silver goblet, poured holy water over him, and murmured words of blessing in the ancient language.
Next, the First Princess and Sir Siarkan, who would become her husband, stepped before the altar, and lastly, Thalia bowed before the priest.
Edrick stared at Thalia, whose eyes were lowered, as if he were looking at a stranger.
When the light flowing from hundreds of candles added a mysterious glow to her tawny blond hair and pale skin, she looked like a being from another dimension.
As he stared at her blankly, the priest poured holy water over her head as well.
The clear stream of water soaked her golden-thread-like hair, ran down her smooth forehead, cheeks, and straight bridge of her nose, and gathered at the tip of her chin.
The priest placed his hand above her head and poured holy power into her.
“May God’s grace be with you forever.......”
The prayer, which had seemed as if it would never end, finally cut off.
When the priest rang the silver bell, the Crown Prince was the first to rise and cross through the congregation.
As the First Princess and Sir Siarkan followed behind him, Thalia Roem Ghirta also slowly straightened herself.
Then, with her chin held high, she strode across the congregation with the bearing of a queen.
No one could take their eyes off that dignified figure.
The incarnation of discord. An unsettling and ominous existence.
As if they were realizing for the first time in that moment that the woman they had always regarded only in that way was, in truth, an Imperial Princess of the Empire.......
***
Perhaps because the altitude had risen sharply, the air that had been as hot as a boiling bath had grown cool.
Breathing in the dry, chilly air, Thalia looked up through the window at the sky where the sun was sinking.
A deep blue night was rolling in from the east.
Today, too, the day was about to end without anything happening.
Her throat grew hot, as if she had swallowed a ball of fire.
Thalia opened the storage compartment attached to the corner of the carriage and took out the small silver knife she had brought from the monastery.
The pale gleaming blade seemed to speak to her, as if it had grown tired of waiting.
She shoved it into her pocket and carefully climbed down from the carriage, and the bustling campsite came into view all at once.
She pulled the hood attached to her gown over her head and carefully looked around.
It seemed they were holding some grand banquet to improve Gareth’s foul mood.
The servants were busier than ever, moving between tents as they carried alcohol and food, and a few soldiers were already pleasantly drunk.
Thalia toyed with the blade in her pocket and moistened her dry lips.
She welcomed the noisy atmosphere.
Wouldn’t it make it easier to handle the matter?
She carefully crossed the campsite.
Just then, a guard knight who had spotted her came running over with a bright expression.
“Your Highness!”
Thalia frowned.
Why was this man wagging his tail at her so persistently?
His inexplicably friendly attitude was enough to make her feel displeased.
Thalia glared at his harmless-looking face, as if he had no ulterior motive at all, gave a loud snort, and swept past him.
But even at such a cold reaction, the man did not give up.
“You must have felt very stifled, right? Now, please come this way. The servants are preparing food. If you watch the cooking process, Your Highness will be able to feel at ease, won’t you?”
Ignoring the knight, who chattered without pause, she moved toward the place where music could be heard.
Before long, she found Gareth enjoying a feast before a splendid tent with a fire lit in front of it.
She stopped at some distance.
To soothe the Crown Prince, who was tilting his wine cup with a sullen face, his attendants were making every effort.
While attendants dressed in ridiculous jester costumes performed tricks with daggers, musicians played a sticky melody suited to his taste, and several maids flirted under the pretense of serving him.
As Thalia watched the scene as if sneering, the guard knight blocked her path.
“It would be better for you to go that way.”
Thalia quietly looked up at his grave face.
He had stood by her side with this same expression at the temple too.
As if he would truly protect her from danger.
Thalia snorted inwardly.
As if I’d fall for that.
“Don’t meddle needlessly.”
After coldly snapping at him, Thalia changed direction and walked toward the tents lined up near the riverside.
From the beginning, her target had not been Gareth.
Trying to look as natural as possible, Thalia’s eyes darted around in search of Ayla’s camp.
At last, she found her half-sister enjoying a meal while surrounded by a group of ladies-in-waiting.
She sank into thought for a moment.
There were knights everywhere around Ayla.
To them, she was a person who required special attention, so if she tried to approach rashly, she would be stopped at once.
She bit her lip anxiously.
How could she get close to her half-sister without arousing suspicion?
As she was lost in such worry, the guard knight, who had been chattering nonstop, suddenly fell silent.
Thalia glanced up.
The man was looking down at her with doubtful eyes.
It seemed he had noticed that her behavior was different from usual.
She forced herself to put on a calm expression and perched on a nearby dining table.
Then, to divert the knight’s attention, she abruptly said,
“I’m hungry. Bring me something to eat.”
As if he was pleased by those words, the knight’s face quickly brightened again.
He was a man so simple it was absurd.
“Please wait a moment! I will prepare it right away.”
Once the troublesome watcher disappeared, Thalia rolled her eyes beneath the hood pulled low over her head and once again observed Ayla’s movements.
She was laughing again and again at the ladies-in-waiting’s jokes.
Can I really cut off that loathsome woman’s breath?
Her mouth went bone-dry.
Perhaps before she could even properly attempt it, a knight who sensed something suspicious would subdue her.
At that point, it would not be something they could dismiss as a nasty prank.
As she toyed with the blade in her pocket, she wondered whether this matter was truly worth offering up her life for.
Even if Ayla disappeared from this world, it would not mean she could obtain Varkas.
He would go on living his life as always, and she would vanish as dew on the execution ground.
The only thing she could gain as a result of this foolish action was a miserable death.
‘Still.......’
Would watching Varkas become Ayla’s husband really be better than death?
While Ayla became the Grand Duchess of Siarkan and gave birth to and raised his heir, she herself would wither away in terrible pain.
Perhaps she might even be forced to marry a man chosen by Senevier.
If that happened, after enduring the filthy, disgusting touch of a filthy, disgusting man until she could endure it no longer, she would hang herself.
No, it would certainly turn out that way.
Whether she died this way or that way, she was a body destined to die in the end.
Perhaps it would be better to take Ayla along as a companion and end it cleanly today.
Once her resolve finally hardened, Thalia rose from her seat.
Then, just as she was about to approach Ayla’s side as naturally as possible, a familiar figure suddenly entered her sight.
‘That woman is......’
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