Thalia stood on the floor with both legs and tried to straighten her back as much as possible.
A tingling pain spread from her knees to her back. It seemed something had gone wrong when she fell.
She wanted to collapse on the spot, but pretending to be calm, she looked straight up at her biological father.
It was the first time she had faced him in nearly half a year. Even then, all she had done was see him in passing from far away. It felt as though she were facing a complete stranger.
It seemed the same was true for the man before her. The Emperor, showing a hint of discomfort, turned his eyes away and said,
“I heard that you went through something difficult.”
It was a flat voice, as if he were talking about someone else.
“They say even your body was damaged.”
Thalia sent hostility into her gaze.
This man was no different from a total stranger. Anger surged up at such a person carelessly mentioning her shame.
“Did you call me because you were curious about that?”
Letting out a sharp laugh, Thalia lightly touched the hem of her skirt and added mockingly.
“Would you like to look at what sort of damage there is on my body?”
The man’s thick brows distorted fiercely.
Contrary to her expectation that a savage scolding would fly at her, Birus Roem Ghirta pressed his mouth shut and stared intently only at her face. It was as though he were seeing his daughter’s face for the first time in his life.
“There is no need for me to confirm it with my own eyes.”
The man, who spoke bluntly, turned his gaze to Varkas this time. Anxiety quietly rose at the look in his eyes, where all kinds of complicated thoughts were tangled together.
For what reason had he called both her and Varkas here?
As she glared at him with doubtful eyes, the Emperor, after delaying for a while, suddenly spoke in reproach.
“Varkas Raedgo Siarkan, I trusted you and entrusted you with the safety of my children. And the result is now right before my eyes.”
Thalia felt all the blood in her body turn cold.
The Emperor, who had been tapping the armrest of his chair with his fingertips, continued in a heavy tone.
“The Second Princess not only suffered fatal injuries due to your failure as an escort, but also sustained permanent damage to her body. Do you acknowledge that responsibility lies with you?”
Varkas’s gaze touched her briefly, then moved away.
“I acknowledge it.”
There was no emotion in his voice.
No resentment, no guilt, no hint of swallowing back an excuse. It was an utterly calm voice, as if he were merely stating the facts as they were.
“I will gladly accept any punishment.”
Thalia unconsciously stepped forward.
Varkas did nothing wrong.
She was about to shout that, then closed her mouth.
Had he really done nothing wrong?
She looked down at her legs, which had begun to tremble faintly, then turned her gaze back to his face. The sight of him running away with his back to her overlapped over it. Perhaps that sight, which she would never forget for the rest of her life, stole every word from her.
“Since you admit it so readily, this will be quick.”
The Emperor let out a heavy sigh.
“Because of this accident, the marriage talks with the count family have fallen through. It will probably be difficult to find a marriage partner suitable for the dignity of the imperial family in the future as well. She is a child with flaws in many ways…”
As if she did not exist there at all, the Emperor said this, glanced once at her pale face, and slowly continued.
“You must take responsibility for that. Break your engagement with Ayla Roem Ghirta and take the Second Princess, Thalia Roem Ghirta, as your wife.”
Thalia stopped breathing.
Unable to fully understand the words she had heard, she looked up blankly at the Emperor’s face, then turned her eyes toward Senevier.
On Senevier’s face was the smile of a snake that had swallowed its prey.
Suddenly, chills ran down her spine, and cold sweat broke out all over her body.
Thalia lowered her head, unable to even dare confirm Varkas’s expression.
There was no way Varkas would accept such an absurd demand.
He was the son of a lord.
No matter how much of an Emperor he was, he had no right to make such a demand of the heir to the Grand Duke of the East.
Of course, he would exercise his right to refuse.
Thalia clenched the hem of her clothes tightly with trembling hands.
After several seconds passed, he opened his mouth.
“If Her Highness the Second Princess also agrees, I will do so.”
Thalia snapped her head up.
Looking down at her as if piercing through her, he slowly added, as if rolling each word on the tip of his tongue.
“I will take Your Highness as my wife.”
For a moment, it felt as though her heart had stopped.
With stunned eyes, Thalia stared at his lips.
Were those words really spoken by that mouth?
Could she have heard things?
Yes. Surely she had heard an illusion.
There was no way Varkas had said something like he would marry her.
“So he says, Princess.”
The Emperor’s low voice pulled her consciousness, which was floundering in confusion, back to reality.
“If you agree, the position of Grand Duchess of Siarkan will be yours. Now, what will you do?”
His voice was filled with strong cynicism.
Only then did Thalia realize that the Emperor wanted her to refuse.
Although he was making this proposal because he could not withstand the Empress’s pressure, deep down, he surely did not want his illegitimate child to be joined with Ayla’s fiancé.
Perhaps Varkas, too, had said those words expecting that she would make a scene and refuse.
No. He surely had.
Suddenly, her mind grew calm.
If she accepted here, the man she had longed for all her life would become hers.
However, was that truly what she wanted?
She looked down at her legs hidden beneath the hem of her clothes.
Just the thought of showing this body to him made her feel as though her intestines were twisting.
If she were to see even the slightest trace of disgust or rejection appear on his face, then she truly would not be able to keep her sanity. She might become even more ruined and fall apart further than this.
Thalia raised her eyes and looked at him again.
He was a man who had always turned away from her and shown her his back.
The man who had saved Ayla, not her.
The man who would never love her even if she died.
Could she live a lifetime beside such a man? Did she really want to crawl into that kind of pain?
“I-I…”
Thalia opened her parched, cracked lips.
There was no way she could endure such a thing. She did not want to be hurt anymore.
She was about to say that, but Senevier’s face, now devoid of laughter, came into view.
Her eyes were quietly warning her that if she disappointed her, she would never forgive her.
Her stomach clenched painfully.
“I…”
She looked back and forth between Varkas’s face, the Emperor’s face, and Senevier’s face. Their faces blurred together dizzily.
Thalia felt a strong wave of dizziness and clutched her head.
At some point, her forehead was soaked with sweat. She wiped it again and again with her sleeve, but the sweat pouring down seeped stingingly even into her eyelids.
As she wiped it away somewhat irritably, her vision suddenly lurched, and her two legs gave way.
She drew in a rough breath from the impact that struck her body.
A shrill scream sounded from far away. It seemed Senevier’s maids were making a fuss.
Lying face down on the floor, she forced strength into her vision, which was blurred as if frosted over. Beyond the pale curtain, she could faintly see Varkas’s face, frozen cold.
Was it an illusion created by her foolish love that his complexion looked paler than usual?
Yes. It must be.
Was he not someone who had shown no agitation even after seeing her battered state? Why would he turn pale because of her?
Suddenly, fatigue swept over her.
Thalia, who had been struggling to hold him within her fading vision, soon let everything go.
***
The news that the engagement between the future Grand Duke and the First Princess had been broken and that the Second Princess was about to take her place spread widely throughout the entire Imperial Palace.
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