Chapter 2
Act 1. This Love Is Like a Curse.
Talia looked into the mirror. The face of the woman she had seen until she was sick of it since the day she was born was there.
If there were a few differences, it was that instead of an elegant smile and eyes shimmering with a mysterious, sensual light, the girl in the mirror had dry lips and anxious eyes clouded with agitation.
Talia, glaring at her own face with a dissatisfied expression, turned her head toward her nanny and asked.
“How do I look?”
“You look like an absolute angel.”
The nanny, who had been tirelessly brushing out her tresses, replied with her eyes crinkling into half-moons.
“Your Highness truly looks exactly like Lady Senevia. Now that you’re all dressed up with such care, it’s like looking at Lady Senevia when she was eighteen.”
Talia roughly swatted away the plump hand that was fiddling with her hair. Irritation flared at the nanny’s thoughtlessness in assuming that being told she looked like someone else was a compliment.
“That’s enough brushing. Just go get the clothes.”
With a face like a kicked puppy, the nanny waddled over to the chest.
Talia shot her a disapproving look. How could anyone be so dull?
The woman, rummaging through the chest with a series of grunts, pulled out a red satin dress and glanced tentatively at her.
“Look at this. It’s the dress Lady Senevia wore when she first set foot in the Imperial Palace. It seems she prepared it specifically for Your Highness.”
Talia’s expression soured.
“Nanny, do you really remember every single thing my mother wore that long ago?”
“Of course! How could I ever forget that day? Lady Senevia didn’t seem like a person of this world. She was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes just knowing such a person existed. Even His Imperial Majesty couldn’t take his eyes off her.”
The nanny let out a sigh, her expression dazed as if she were lost in a daydream.
Talia swallowed a hollow laugh. Did this woman think their meeting was some romance of the century?
At the time, the Emperor had an Empress he had been married to for six years, and she had even been on the verge of giving birth. The meeting between Senevia and the Emperor was a tawdry affair, nothing more and nothing less.
Even after the former Empress Bernadette died and Senevia became the official Empress, people did not forget that fact. As long as she herself existed, people would never forget the shameless sin they had committed.
Talia swallowed the sarcasm rising to her throat and snatched the dress from the nanny’s hands.
“If you have time to talk nonsense, spend it finishing my preparations.”
“Of course. I shall do it all for you.”
The nanny dressed her in a beautiful velvet bliaut.
Talia smoothed her hair and looked into the mirror once more. Wearing her mother’s dress, she looked more like her than ever.
Had that ominously thick aura of sensuality begun to sprout within her as well? Talia stared intently at the tops of her breasts, which had begun to rise in rounded curves above the deeply cut square neckline.
No one could call it dignified, but no one could deny that it was an utterly captivating sight.
Talia habitually moved her finger toward her mouth but quickly lowered her hand, fearing she might ruin her makeup. Today, of all days, she wanted to look prettier than anyone. If possible, prettier than her mother.
I want everyone to look at me. So that no one even spares a glance at someone like Aila.
An intense hunger flickered in the deep blue eyes reflected in the mirror. It was not the look of an Imperial Princess. It was the kind of look a beggar starving on the streets might have.
Talia picked up a candlestick from the table and ruthlessly struck the woman in the mirror. With a loud crash, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the surface of the glass. The nanny, who had been adjusting the hem of her skirt, collapsed to the floor in shock.
Talia threw the candlestick to the ground and spoke coldly.
“I’m tired of that mirror. Get a new one.”
The nanny looked up at her with a face gone pale, then pressed her lips thin and pushed herself up. Then, as if nothing had happened, she draped a luxurious fur-trimmed mantle over Talia’s shoulders.
Talia glared at her own image, splintered into dozens of fragments on the mirror, before turning away sharply.
As she left the room, she saw the escort knight Senevia had sent standing at attention on one side of the hallway. She ignored the man, who was staring at her with a flushed face, and headed down the stairs.
Waiting in front of the Separate Palace were a gold-trimmed four-wheeled carriage and eight guards. It seemed Senevia did not want her eldest daughter to look pathetic.
‘You probably want me to make your political enemies uncomfortable.’
She twisted her lips into a cynical smirk and climbed into the carriage. Just then, a new palace guard who had approached to close the door spoke as if vomiting up something hot stuck in his throat.
“Today… you are truly beautiful, Your Highness.”
At the longing in his voice, the fine hairs over her entire body stood on end for a moment.
Talia shot him a sharp look. She had no need for praise from a man like this.
“Stop talking nonsense and just start moving.”
The man closed the door with a look of embarrassment.
Soon, the carriage began to move. She buried her back deep into the seat and looked up at the blood-colored sky through the swaying curtains.
How wonderful it would be if tonight’s banquet were stained with that same color. I hope a great commotion breaks out and everything is ruined.
She unconsciously toyed with her lips, but quickly lowered her arm when she saw red pigment staining the tips of her nails.
Her nerves felt like they were being singed. Contrary to her mood, only beautiful melodies and brilliant lights flowed from the Main Palace.
Stepping out of the carriage, Talia frowned as she surveyed the wide path leading to the banquet hall and the lavishly decorated gardens. Hundreds of nobles dressed in silk were entering the hall of the Main Palace one by one along the marble stairs.
She ignored the knight who followed to escort her and strode toward the entrance of the banquet hall. Those who recognized her naturally made way.
It was only natural. The Imperial Palace was her home. She didn’t have the slightest intention of standing in line like the other guests.
Talia spoke nonchalantly to the servant who looked flustered.
“I’ve come to celebrate my siblings’ birthdays.”
The servant’s eyes went wide.
Talia snapped irritably.
“What are you doing? Announce my arrival at once.”
Only then did the man scramble out of the way beside the pillar and shout at the top of his lungs.
“Her Imperial Highness, the Second Princess, Talia Roem Guirta is entering!”
In an instant, a chilling silence filled the grand hall.
She kept her head held high as she stepped into the brilliant, gold-drenched banquet hall. She could feel hundreds of pairs of stinging eyes scanning her from head to toe.
Talia quietly savored their shock, anger, bewilderment, and the grudging admiration they were forced to exhale as she walked forward with light steps. As she did, people drew back from her like a receding tide.
It’s like I’m a plague.
Talia murmured inwardly, a malicious smile playing on her lips.
Just then, someone blocked her path.
“What brings you here?”
She stared up squarely at the man’s face. He was one of the foolish men who followed her noble half-sister, Aila.
Talia intentionally put on a mysterious smile. She had seen her mother enchant men that way thousands of times.
“Is this a place I’m not allowed to be?”
The man’s face, which had been stiff with wariness, flushed red. He took a step back in embarrassment.
Talia stepped closer, even more than he had retreated, and tilted her chin up high.
“This is my father’s palace, and today’s banquet is for my siblings. What is so strange about me being here?”
When she looked him straight in the eyes, the man seemed frozen, unable to move an inch.
She saw his large nostrils flare. It seemed he was catching the scent of the rose oil the nanny had painstakingly applied to every strand of her hair.
At the sight of his eyes clouding as if he were drunk on strong liquor, a strange sense of satisfaction and a deep loathing surged within her simultaneously. Talia walked past the man, who could only tremble his lips like an idiot, and headed toward the center of the hall.
