Thalia straightened her back as if she had been struck by lightning.
The woman turned gracefully and continued speaking.
“Her Majesty the Empress has commanded that Your Highness be adorned perfectly, so that you will not be lacking in any way when meeting the supreme ruler of the Empire. Please cooperate.”
Then she lightly gestured to the maids. The four maids standing in the front row approached the bedside carrying garments.
Thalia jerked backward.
“All of you, leave. I have no intention of meeting that sort of person.”
“Please refrain from irreverent speech.”
The woman’s gentle voice suddenly became sharp as frost.
“No matter how much you are Her Highness the Princess, speaking carelessly about His Majesty the Emperor cannot be tolerated. I will overlook it this once, so please be careful from now on.”
After hunching her shoulders for a moment, Thalia sharpened her gaze.
“And what will you do if you don’t overlook it? Are you going to run and tell the great His Majesty the Emperor?”
“That would not be impossible.”
The woman responded coldly.
Thalia let out a dry laugh.
“Really? Then run to the Main Palace right now and tell that person. Tell him the ill-mannered Second Princess was screaming that she doesn’t want to see his oh-so-great face!”
At that moment, a burning pain flared on the back of her hand.
Thalia looked up at the woman with a dumbfounded face.
The woman, who had struck her with the thin switch she was holding, sent her an icy look.
“The authority Your Highness enjoys as a Princess originates from His Majesty the Emperor. I cannot overlook such absurd remarks.”
“How dare… how dare you…”
Thalia trembled violently, unable to continue speaking.
The woman looked down at her with indifferent eyes, then moved toward the door.
“Her Majesty the Empress repeatedly instructed us to bring Your Highness safely before His Majesty the Emperor by any means necessary. Do you wish us to use forceful methods?”
The woman, who murmured as if threatening her, flung the bedroom door wide open with one hand.
Thalia stopped breathing when she saw soldiers belonging to the Empress’s Palace lined up in the corridor.
As if quietly appreciating her face, which had turned blue with fear, the woman continued softly.
“There is no need for us to make things unpleasant for each other. If Your Highness cooperates, it will be over quickly.”
It meant that if she did not cooperate, they would force her even if they had to use armed force.
Thalia clenched her fists so tightly that her joints turned white. Her eyes grew hot with humiliation.
At this moment, if Senevier were before her eyes, she felt as though she could drive a dagger into her chest.
Did she have to trample even Thalia’s last dignity so mercilessly like this?
She felt that she would never, ever be able to forgive that person.
“Now, hurry and wash Her Highness clean.”
At the head maid’s command, two maids bent over the bed.
Thalia roughly struck away their hands.
“Do not touch my body!”
Startled by the shrill shout, the maids quickly withdrew as if avoiding sparks. They seemed worried she might retaliate against them later.
Noticing their hesitation, Thalia adopted an even more overbearing attitude.
“I will leave the bathing service to my nanny. So all of you, get out of my room.”
The woman looked down at her with thoughtful eyes, then soon let out a sigh of resignation.
“Very well. However, you must leave your adornment to me. I cannot yield on that.”
The head maid soon led the maids outside.
A short while later, the nanny rushed into the bedroom.
She was someone who had always hurt Thalia with thoughtless words. And yet, the moment Thalia saw her face, she felt so relieved that tears almost came.
Thalia buried her face in the nanny’s shoulder as the nanny approached to support her.
Not knowing how rotten Thalia felt inside, the nanny was simply delighted.
“You heard what the head maid said, didn’t you? His Majesty has asked for you, Young lady! Surely he must be concerned after hearing that you were injured.”
Thalia let the nanny’s chatter go in one ear and out the other as she struggled to plant her feet on the floor and stand up. A tingling pain climbed up through her bones.
Anger surged up inside her.
What did they mean, they would make her walk without any problem? Her ruined legs could not even properly support her own weight.
Clenching her teeth, Thalia dragged her aching legs and stood behind the screen.
As she staggered and pushed herself into the marble bathtub, the nanny poured warm water over her body.
Soaking in the lukewarm water, Thalia looked down at her legs. The reddish scars looked just like swollen earthworms.
When she fiddled with them with her fingertips, the nanny slapped her on the back.
For an instant, a feeling of sorrow flooded in, but Thalia silently moved her hand away. She was afraid the nanny might get angry and leave the room just like that.
“Now, I will rinse your hair, so tilt your head back.”
When Thalia rested her head against the bathtub as instructed, the nanny tilted a large pitcher and poured lukewarm water over her.
At last, when the soap had been thoroughly washed from her body, Thalia staggered out of the bathtub.
The nanny brought a large towel, wiped the water from her body, then dressed her in fresh underwear and an underskirt.
“Now, the head maid will do the rest.”
After finishing all her work, the nanny left the room with a relieved face, and the head maid returned with the maids.
Thalia silently endured the gaze that looked her up and down as if assigning a score.
The woman circled around her, then finally clapped her hands toward the maids.
“Braid her hair up and dress her in the clothes we prepared. I will choose the jewelry myself.”
Soon after, dozens of fingers began busily moving around her.
Thalia silently endured them handling her like a doll, feeling as though she were being tortured.
Three or four maids repeatedly dressed and undressed her body, and in the meantime, the other maids began braiding and rolling up her hair, which reached down to her waist, into several sections.
The head maid, who had watched the entire process with a strict face, nodded after a long while.
“This will do.”
The maids who had been arranging her clothes immediately stepped back.
Thalia looked up at the head maid with weary eyes. The woman draped a pearl-colored silk cape over her shoulders and turned toward the entrance.
“It is time to go.”
After hesitating, Thalia left the room. She wanted to walk as naturally as possible, but her legs, whose nerves had grown dull, did not move according to her will.
With every off-beat step, she felt the soldiers’ eyes pouring down on her. She wanted to crush every single one of those eyeballs.
Suppressing her humiliation, she left the detached palace and saw a carriage waiting in front of the garden. Beside it stood an unfamiliar man dressed in armor.
Had the previous knight quit?
The face of the man who had bothered her throughout the journey flashed through her mind.
But soon she thought that it did not matter either way. After all, he was a guard knight changed out every season. It was about time he was replaced.
With an apathetic face, Thalia climbed into the carriage. The head maid, who boarded after her, parted her tightly closed lips and spoke in a stern voice.
“Today, His Majesty the Emperor will speak of an important matter. Please refrain from words and actions that violate etiquette.”
“What important matter?”
“That, I do not know either.”
“Then how do you know whether it is an important matter or some pointless matter?”
The woman pressed her lips tightly together. It seemed her patience was slowly running out.
Thalia turned her gaze away from the woman rubbing her temple and looked out the window.
At some point, the carriage had left the detached garden and was crossing the vast imperial grounds at a vigorous pace.
Looking anxiously at the scenery flowing past quickly, Thalia rubbed her knees, which had already begun to throb.
Even though a thick cushion had been laid down, the faint vibrations of the carriage seemed to stab into her joints. Wiping away the beads of sweat forming on her skin, she desperately swallowed the pain.
How long had she been doing that? The rattling carriage finally came to a stop.
Thalia staggered outside and frowned at the wide plaza where the sunlight poured down white.
In front of the Main Palace, there were especially many people swarming today. As she looked at them with bleak eyes, the head maid approached her side and urged her on.
“His Majesty is waiting. Let us go.”
Thalia bit her lip and moved her feet.
The sight of those who recognized her flinching and whispering intruded into her vision. Trying hard to ignore it, she was about to pass by the people blocking the entrance when someone stopped her.
“You must not pass through now. I am sorry, but through the side door…”
The soldier who had hurriedly blocked her path belatedly checked her face and drew in a rough breath.
Thalia glared at him with a cold gaze.
“How dare you block my path?”
“I-I apologize. Your Highness the Princess.”
The soldier hurriedly stepped aside.
Thalia passed by those who awkwardly bowed their heads to her and entered the building.
Her entire body was soaked with sweat from trying to hide her unnatural gait. Despite that effort, it did not seem to be going the way she wanted.
She glanced sideways, checking the reactions around her. At that moment, a huge birdcage placed on one side of the hall entered her sight. Seeing what was inside it, Thalia widened her eyes.
“…What is that?”
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