What was so strange about waking up in the middle of the night that she had startled so violently?
She took deep breaths, trying hard to calm her violently pounding heart.
But the feeling of suffocation only grew stronger.
Thalia, who had been forcing air into her narrowed airway with difficulty, could not bear the stuffiness and rose from her seat.
The leg with the splint on it screamed with pain, but she was on the verge of losing her breath, so she had no room to think about anything else.
Thalia climbed down from the carriage almost as if tumbling out of it, opened her mouth wide to suck in air, and staggered forward.
Before long, she spotted flickering firelight not far away.
Feeling relief spread deep in her chest, she dragged her stiff, spasming leg and approached the large tent where a campfire had been lit in front of it.
Just then, a cheerful voice tinged with mockery came riding on the wind.
“She was struck by divine punishment.”
Thalia stopped dead.
A woman sitting before the fire was poking at the firewood with a long branch and chattering loudly.
“You all know, don’t you? That woman cursed Her Highness the First Princess. And on top of that, she barged into Her Highness’s birthday banquet and caused a scene!”
The maid’s voice rose with excitement.
Thalia carefully studied the face revealed by the firelight.
Since the woman’s features were not familiar, she seemed to be someone who served Ayla or Gareth.
The maid, who had lifted a wine cup and moistened her lips for a moment, began wagging her tongue excitedly again.
“Surely God punished her. Her own curse came back to her, so she brought it all on herself!”
“I heard she might become crippled. Is that true?”
“They say it’s highly likely! I heard it from a maid who serves the Second Princess. Apparently, the bones in her leg were completely shattered, so they had to piece them together for hours like a puzzle.”
Thalia flinched and looked down at her own leg.
The woman’s voice lowered slightly.
“I heard she even got a terrible scar on her body. They say her skin is completely twisted, so even magic can’t remove it cleanly. It’s all red and blotchy, and apparently it’s horribly disgusting.”
“Then we won’t have to see that woman strutting around the Imperial Palace however she likes anymore.”
“I suppose not. Her only thing to be proud of has been damaged! How could she act arrogant like before with a body like that?”
Mocking laughter burst out here and there, as if they thought it served her right.
Thalia, who had been standing there blankly frozen, dragged her leg and approached from behind the woman.
The faces of those who noticed her shadow turned deathly pale.
But the woman, who had been chattering away excitedly, had not yet realized she was there.
The woman kept babbling.
“Now her marriage prospects are practically ruined too. What family would take a woman who was born an illegitimate child and became crippled on top of that..... kyaak!”
The woman, whose hair was suddenly grabbed, let out a shrill scream.
Thalia paid no attention and viciously yanked the tightly braided hair.
The woman’s skin turned white with shock and terror when she confirmed Thalia’s face.
Staring down at her, Thalia slightly lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Why? Why don’t you keep talking?”
“Y-Your Highness.......”
“What is so frightening about a woman born an illegitimate child and crippled on top of that, that you’re trembling so much?”
The woman’s eyes widened.
A rough sob burst from between the lips that had been grinning until just moments ago.
“I-I was wrong, Your Highness. I-I have committed such a grave sin......”
“What sin did you commit?”
“I-I.......”
The woman, whose lips were trembling, struggled to continue speaking.
“I s-spoke blasphemous words and i-insulted Her Highness the Princess. P-please, with generosity, f-forgive me......”
“If you did wrong, you should be punished. Why are you thinking about being forgiven first?”
The woman’s complexion had now turned almost ashen.
Thalia stared down at that bluish face, then turned her head and slowly swept her gaze over those gathered around the campfire.
The maids, frozen stiff like mice placed before a snake, flattened themselves to the ground.
Among them, Thalia spotted a knight who was tensely stiffened, and she lightly gestured with her chin.
“You, come here.”
The knight, who hesitated for a moment, approached her with reluctant steps.
Thalia pulled down the hair she had been gripping and made the woman kneel before the knight.
“She insulted a member of the Imperial Family with that three-inch tongue of hers, so she must pay the price. Now, hurry and draw your sword and do your duty.”
The knight’s shoulders visibly stiffened.
The woman was now letting out sobs as if she might stop breathing.
The knight, who had been looking down at her with a dark expression, placed one hand over his chest and bowed deeply.
“Your Highness, at present, we are short on manpower simply preparing the funerals and caring for the injured. If we carry out an execution at a time like this, unnecessary commotion and unrest will arise. So please, calm your anger and......”
“Are you saying you will disobey my order right now?”
The knight, keeping his mouth tightly shut, bowed his head even deeper.
At that silent sign of agreement, Thalia let out a laugh of disbelief, then twisted her face.
“If you can’t do it, I will.”
Thalia threw the woman’s hair aside as if flinging it down and lunged at the knight.
Startled by the unexpected action, the man reflexively grabbed her shoulders.
Thalia glared at him with eyes filled with anger.
“How dare you touch my body as you please!”
The man hurriedly released his hands as if he had touched fire.
Not missing that opening, Thalia grabbed the sword hilt hanging at his waist.
However, the longsword used by knights was heavier than she had expected, and her leg had become so weak that it could not even fully support her own weight.
As Thalia drew the sword, she lost her balance and collapsed onto the ground.
A terrible silence settled over that unsightly disgrace.
Thalia clutched her spasming leg and looked up.
The stiff faces of the knight and maids filled her vision.
Old memories tore through her mind.
Dozens of pairs of cold eyes looking down at her as she lay helplessly sprawled over vomit.
The shame, humiliation, and primal fear of that day revived and burned through her brain.
She planted her trembling hands on the ground and abruptly lifted her upper body.
She wanted to kick herself up from the spot and put forward her dignity and authority as a Princess, but her leg would not move.
Thalia, who had been somehow trying to straighten the leg that would not move as she wished, found the woman blankly staring at her from right beside her and hardened her face.
The woman who had mocked her was now watching her crawling on the ground.
She could not tolerate such a thing.
Thalia groped along the ground and picked up a piece of firewood from the flames.
The hot heat felt as if it were burning her fingers, but bodily pain could not possibly be greater than the pain caused by her crushed pride.
She struck the woman’s face with the firewood, whose embers were blazing.
A shrieking cry burst out.
Not satisfied with that, she was about to swing the firewood once more when a pitch-black shadow sprang out of the darkness and snatched her body up.
Thalia struggled like an enraged beast.
Then she smelled a familiar scent and stopped all movement.
Varkas, who had easily lifted her in one arm, was looking down at her with cold eyes.
Bound by that gaze, she panted roughly, and he took the firewood from her hand and threw it far away.
Just as he had taken the knife from her before, he had once again robbed her of her weapon.
Resentment surged up.
This man never stood on her side.
He would not fight for her, yet he would not even let her protect herself.
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