Chapter 265
“Have you finished saying everything you wanted to say?”
Thalia, who had been struggling to calm him, glared at the woman with an icy gaze.
However, the quarter dwarf ignored her and continued talking.
“Even if I stayed awake for a thousand nights, it still would not be enough time to say everything I want to say to you, young lady.”
The woman gave a small scoff and began speaking without restraint.
“Her Majesty the Empress made you the Grand Duchess of the East. Yet all you do is endanger the position you worked so hard to obtain! Shouldn’t you at least try to live up to Her Majesty’s expectations? She has done so much for you...!”
“She did so much for me?”
A sharp laugh escaped Thalia’s lips.
Her slender shoulders trembled as though she could no longer contain her fury.
“Are you honestly saying that?”
“Of course. I mean it sincerely.”
The quarter dwarf frowned deeply as though she could not understand Thalia at all.
“Have you already forgotten how devotedly Her Majesty cared for you while you were pregnant? She sent rare medicinal ingredients all the way to this distant eastern land several times because she wanted you to give birth to a healthy child.”
“She did all of that for her own benefit! It was no different from tending to a broodmare she owned so it would produce a foal!”
“How can you say something so ungrateful...!”
“That is enough.”
A solemn voice suddenly cut the woman off.
Khan, whose entire body had been drawn taut as though he might leap from Thalia’s arms at any moment, abruptly turned his head toward the door.
The head maid was striding down the corridor in a gray overgown worn over a dark navy dress.
“I will not tolerate any further disrespect.”
Crossing the room in moments, the head maid looked coldly down at the quarter dwarf.
“The person standing before you is the Grand Duchess of Siarkan. Unless you show her the respect appropriate to her station, you can no longer remain in the main castle.”
The quarter dwarf looked up nervously at the woman, who stood nearly twice her height, then flushed and protested loudly.
“Who are you to say such things? I am an attendant of the Imperial Palace! Her Majesty personally appointed me to take care of the young lady!”
“This is Raedgo Castle, not the Imperial Palace. If you have no intention of obeying the rules of the grand ducal house, that is even more reason why you cannot continue serving Her Highness.”
“You do not have the authority to make such a decision...!”
“I will make the decision myself.”
Thalia spoke coldly.
“As of today, Nanny is no longer my personal attendant. Have her move into the lodgings in the outer castle immediately.”
She turned toward the head maid and added firmly,
“Assign that woman another suitable position and set of duties.”
The woman’s face instantly turned white.
“I have cared for you for more than twenty years. I raised you with my own hands! How can you do this to me?”
“I tolerated you until now because of those twenty years. But that no longer carries any weight.”
Thalia spoke roughly, as though releasing an old resentment.
“You hated attending to me anyway. Do you know how many days it has been since you last came to see me?”
“That was because you did not summon me...”
“Stop making excuses! Even when I rang the bell, you never showed your face. The ones who have cared for me all this time are the maids of this castle and Tiuran! Did you think I did not know that you had been idling around while pushing every troublesome task onto the other maids?”
The woman’s face turned ashen after her negligence was exposed publicly.
Thalia added mercilessly,
“I do not need a nanny anymore. Get out of my sight at once.”
He felt his explosive rage begin to subside and gradually relaxed his rigid muscles.
Thalia gestured arrogantly toward the guards waiting in the corridor.
“Why are you standing there? Take her away.”
A soldier immediately entered the room and seized the quarter dwarf by the arm.
The quarter dwarf glared at Thalia with shock and betrayal in her eyes before finally leaving the room.
Thalia watched her retreating back coldly, then snapped at the servants holding the chests.
“Burn all of those!”
The servants hesitantly exchanged glances before bowing and filing out of the bedroom.
The head maid watched the scene with satisfaction, then bowed respectfully to Thalia.
“A wise decision.”
As the woman turned toward the door, Thalia hurriedly spoke.
“Wait. There is something I want to ask you.”
The woman, who had been about to leave the bedroom, turned back toward her.
Thalia gestured toward Tiuran standing beside the bed and the young maids leaning against the wall.
“You may leave us.”
The women immediately exited through the adjoining door.
Once silence finally returned, Thalia released her arms from around him, carefully climbed down from the bed, and approached the head maid.
“Is it true that the war is intensifying?”
“According to sources from the North, yes.”
Thalia stepped closer and pressed her anxiously.
“Have you received any separate news? Tell me exactly what it said.”
“I do not know the precise details. I only heard indirectly that a large-scale battle took place in the southern Balto region and that security along the northern border has been strengthened.”
“What about the region where Varkas is stationed? Is the situation dangerous there as well?”
“...I have not heard that any major battle has broken out there yet.”
The head maid studied Thalia’s bloodless face before continuing cautiously.
“However, it appears he intends to reinforce his forces in preparation for a possible full-scale war. I heard that he plans to visit the castle soon to recruit additional soldiers.”
Thalia’s complexion grew even paler.
Lowering her eyes as though avoiding the sight, the head maid calmly added,
“You will also need to discuss the matter of an heir in advance.”
He looked up at the head maid with anger in his eyes as she subtly pressured Thalia.
Then Thalia’s heavy voice sounded.
“I have learned everything I wanted to know. You may leave.”
The head maid bowed deeply once more and left the bedroom.
He moved close to Thalia and carefully licked her pale fingertips.
Thalia had been staring blankly at the floor with a thoughtful expression.
She flinched, raised her head, and looked at him, as though only then becoming aware of his presence.
A strange emotion rose within him.
Ever since awakening in the body of a wolf, he had always been her first priority.
All her attention had been focused on him, and the way she looked at him had always carried tender warmth.
Yet the moment she received news of “that man,” his existence seemed to be pushed to the edge of her awareness.
He knew perfectly well that the person Thalia worried about so deeply was his past self.
Even so, he could not stop his chest from aching.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can take you outside today.”
Thalia murmured distractedly, then collapsed onto the bed.
He immediately pressed himself close beside her.
She buried her face beneath the blanket and did not look at him.
He tried to attract her attention by slipping against her side and nudging her shoulder with his nose, but her gently closed eyelids did not move at all.
He struck the bed repeatedly with his tail in displeasure before lying down with his chin beside her face.
That day, she remained shut inside the room without moving until sunset.
Thalia sat by the window and stared blankly at a book until her worsening headache became unbearable.
She drank a powerful sedative and went to bed early.
After pacing anxiously around her, he eventually curled up quietly beside her.
He did not know how long they remained that way.
When he heard ragged breathing, he jerked his head up and saw her silently shedding tears.
His heart dropped.
He sprang up and repeatedly licked her face.
However, she did not react.
After staring blankly into space with empty eyes for a long time, she finally rose like a ghost.
He hurriedly jumped down from the bed and followed her.
Thalia had already opened the door and was walking into the dark corridor.
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