Ch#115
115
At that moment, a violent gust of wind swept through. Beyond her fiercely fluttering hair, Senebier’s form blurred into a hazy silhouette.
Thalia, frozen like a stone statue, lowered her gaze to the rippling pond. More than the news itself, Senebier’s attitude—treating Thalia’s agony as a source of entertainment—gouged at her heart.
Suppressing her churning insides, she managed to squeeze out a calm voice.
“Surely you didn’t come all this way just to deliver such a rumor? It seems the Empress is more idle than I thought.”
“Of course not.”
The Empress’s lips curled downward, her interest seemingly dampened by the dry reaction.
“I told you. I wanted to see with my own eyes how you and your husband are actually getting along. And if possible, I intended to win over the Grand Duke.”
A sigh of disappointment escaped her lips.
“But it wouldn’t budge. It seems your husband is determined to make Gares the Emperor at all costs.”
“Then what exactly did you expect?”
Thalia let out a cynical laugh.
“Did you think he would change his stance simply because he married me?”
“I can’t say I didn’t have any such expectations.”
Senebier replied nonchalantly, gazing at the fortress walls drenched in the glow of the sunset.
A fallen leaf, carried by the wind, brushed against her cheek. Senebier snatched it up, twirling it between her fingertips before crushing it as she continued.
“Varkas has always reacted emotionally when it comes to you. I noticed long ago that something about you provokes him. So, I expected you to shake him a bit more proactively.”
Letting the crumbled fragments of the leaf scatter in the wind, Senebier turned her head toward Thalia. Thalia’s face hardened as she read the hint of reproach in the woman’s eyes.
After directing a look of rebuke at the daughter who had disappointed her, the Empress turned toward the knights waiting in the distance and added:
“In fact, your husband seems to care for you quite a bit. It was quite refreshing to see him so wary that I might harm you.”
“…….”
“But unfortunately, it seems he doesn’t value you enough to break a long-standing promise.”
Looking up at her with a bloodless face, Thalia forced herself to maintain her composure, fighting back the urge to crumble.
It was a fact she already knew. There was no reason to be hurt by it now.
She lifted her head high.
“I don’t care at all who Varkas supports. Whether Gares becomes Emperor or Asros does, it has nothing to do with me. So don’t even think about dragging me into your fight!”
“You are already a part of this fight.”
The Empress’s pupils, dark as an abyss, suddenly loomed close. Leaning in toward her, she spoke as if searing the words into Thalia’s mind.
“That was decided the day you were born. Do you really think Gares will tolerate your existence once he becomes Emperor?”
Thalia’s lips parted, but she could find no words to counter her.
The Empress declared in a cold tone:
“Gares won’t care in the slightest that you are the Grand Duchess of the East. He will seek to ruin you even if it means turning against the Si’eikan family. Varkas Raedgo Sheikan seems to believe he can stop Gares, but he fails to realize that to do so, he would have to kill him with his own hands.”
The words, sounding like a prophecy, chilled Thalia to the bone.
Before she could even think to argue, Senebier pressed on.
“Your husband is as good as blind when it comes to emotions. Locked within the fortress of logic, he can never see human madness. That man sees neither Gares’s hatred nor Aila’s love. He doesn’t understand how destructive hatred can be, or how ugly love can make a person. Your husband will ultimately contribute to the ruin of you, me, and Asros.”
Thalia stepped back as if to deny that reality. At that, strong fingers tightened around her skin.
Gripping her daughter’s shoulders firmly, Senebier finally came to her point.
“So Thalia, you must help me.”
“What… what could I possibly do? I have no power…!”
“You are to bear the heir of the Grand Ducal house.”
Thalia’s eyes froze. At the sudden statement, all her thoughts evaporated.
Even amidst the chaos of her mind, where the sound of the whistling wind felt miles away, Senebier’s demand continued.
“And you will make that child Asros’s friend. Just as your husband is loyal to Gares, your son will become a loyal subject to my son.”
“Stop… stop talking nonsense!”
Thalia twisted her body and screamed to throw her off.
“Am I not enough? Now you want to use a child who isn’t even born for your ambition? Why should I? Why must I…!”
“Because it is the only way you will survive.”
Senebier’s tone grew even harsher.
“Why can’t you understand that if Asros doesn’t become Emperor, you are finished too? Gares is your enemy as well. For the past ten years, you have relentlessly picked at those children’s wounds. Surely you didn’t believe you could escape all that karma just by leaving the Imperial Palace? After even stealing Aila’s fiancé?”
“That was because you made me…!”
“Every choice was yours.”
The fierce voice cut off Thalia’s protest.
“Even without my demand, you must eventually bear a child. If you fail to produce an heir, not only Gares but the nobles of the East will push for a divorce. What do you think your husband will do then?”
A sharp sneer hung on the corners of Senebier’s lips.
“Answer me, Thalia. Will Varkas Raedgo Sheikan protect you even if it means turning his back on the Crown Prince, Aila, and his own blood and vassals?”
After being frozen by the cruel question for a moment, Thalia cried out desperately.
“If Varkas wants a divorce, then let it be! If Gares wants to kill me… let him! It’s not like I wanted to be born anyway…!”
Thalia, wailing like a cornered beast, suddenly gasped. The contempt in Senebier’s eyes instantly stripped away her will to resist.
The woman who was once her entire world stared her down with a face full of disillusionment.
“Do you know something? Many beasts abandon their weak offspring. That way, the survival rate for themselves and their other young increases.”
Thalia met those swamp-like eyes with a look of utter despair. The Empress finally gave voice to the threat she had long whispered only with her eyes.
“But unlike animals, humans cannot abandon their own children so easily. That is the reason I haven’t abandoned you yet.”
Fingers as soft as petals descended upon cheeks that had turned pale as if all life had been drained from them. Only then did Thalia realize she was crying.
Mimicking the tender touch of a mother comforting her daughter, Senebier whispered softly into her ear.
“You may not believe it, Thalia, but I have feelings too. I felt them the day you were born. You, who looked exactly like me, were beautiful, and I enjoyed watching you grow. Those feelings made it so I couldn’t bring myself to discard you, even when you ceased to be useful.”
Beyond her ceaseless tears, her mother’s form blurred. But the voice echoing in her ear only grew clearer.
“So, do not disappoint me any further.”
Thalia bit her lip.
The bitter saltiness of tears and the metallic taste of blood spread across the tip of her tongue. She felt suffocated by the sobs blocked in her throat.
“You understand what I mean, don’t you?”
When she barely managed a nod, ice-cold lips touched her eyes.
Is this what it would feel like to be kissed by a corpse?
Thalia, gazing vacantly at Senebier’s face as she wore a smile of satisfaction, lowered her eyes to the garden where dusk had settled. Their shadows, tangled together in the twilight, stretched long like a deformed monster.
