The moment Talia opened her eyes, she groomed herself with greater care than she ever had before. She silently endured the maids’ hands as they scrubbed her until her skin turned red under the stiff, coarse brushes, and she bore the relentless combing that made her scalp sting.
Once finished, she took out and put on the velvet dress her maternal grandfather—who had always looked upon her with displeasure—had given her for the first time on the day she left the Taren household.
Looking into the mirror, she saw a girl with the face of an angel. She thought this must be precisely how Senevier had looked when she was nine years old.
She stared fixedly into the mirror at her deep blue eyes, the very shade of her mother’s, before stepping out of the room with a determined set to her jaw. Yet the boy who always trained at this hour was nowhere to be seen.
After slipping away from her attendants and wandering the palace courtyards for a long time, Talia’s shoulders slumped in dejection. Her vision darkened at the thought that she might never see him again.
She could not fathom why she was so obsessed with a stranger to whom she had spoken only once.
No. In truth, she knew. On that day of torrential rain, he could easily have ignored a mud-caked child and walked past, but he had not.
He had stepped into the ditch, ruining his clothes and boots, solely to pull her out.
He had gathered her rain-chilled body into his warm arms and held her gaze for a long time.
He had gently cradled that dying, pathetic bird and carried it off to his quarters.
That alone was enough to become her hope.
Talia walked without rest beneath the edges of buildings that soared high into the sky.
The Imperial Palace was like the belly of a monstrous beast. It was so vast and labyrinthine that even after living there for months, unfamiliar places appeared without end.
She wandered through gardens dense with trees and blossoms for a long while, then crossed a wide clearing and made her way toward the rear of the Main Palace.
Her legs, which had moved without pause from early morning until midday, throbbed with ache. Blisters must have formed, for the soles of her feet burned as though touching fire with every step.
Wiping away the beads of sweat trickling down her forehead, she peered up at the blue sky through the lush leaves.
She stood there for a spell, and just as she straightened her posture to return to the Separate Palace, she caught sight of a boy’s slender back standing among the straight birch trees. Talia’s eyes lit with delight.
Even from a distance, she recognized him at once. No one else could imitate that agile, elegant grace, walking silently with back straight, flowing like water.
Talia immediately gave chase. Yet no matter how she hurried her pace, the distance between them would not close.
She realized he was in a great hurry. Where could he be heading in such a rush?
She thought to call out to him, but her breath was so shallow that no sound would come. In the end, she lost him.
Talia sank down against the trunk of a tree, her expression hollow. The needle-sharp sunlight beat down painfully upon her sweat-drenched face.
Squinting against the glare, she stared blankly through the thick leaves until a faint sound of laughter drifted on the wind. It sounded like the chirping of a small bird.
Talia rose and walked slowly toward the sound.
Passing through the dense birches and lush thickets, she found a flowerbed brimming with lavender, marigolds, and white baby’s breath, beside a pure white marble pavilion and a small fountain. It was a lovely garden, like a palace built for fairies.
Talia looked around the enchanting scene, where golden motes seemed to drift in the air, as though bewitched. Then she saw the boy kneeling on one knee before a marble bench.
He was not alone. Sitting across from him was a lovely girl who looked about her own age, with silky dark-brown hair and rosy cheeks.
As the girl chattered on without end, a faint smile hovered on the boy’s lips. Seeing it made Talia’s chest sting as though pricked by a needle. It felt as if her own private treasure had been stolen away.
She knew such feelings were unreasonable.
At a glance, the two of them had clearly known each other for years. She, by contrast, was nothing more than a stranger.
So Talia steeled herself to step forward and introduce herself politely. She wanted to slip into the warmth that wrapped around them. Above all, she wanted those blue eyes and that faint smile to turn toward her.
Driven by that fierce urge, she stepped out from behind the bushes toward the spraying fountain. At that moment, the boy’s beautiful silver-blue eyes and a pair of clear green ones snapped in her direction.
Having never interacted with children her own age, Talia felt her mouth go dry in an instant.
Yet she was an Imperial Princess. She told herself there was no way they would dare refuse her if she offered to be their friend.
Lifting her chin slightly, she offered a poised greeting.
“Hello.”
The boy only stared at her blankly, without twitching a muscle.
‘Does he not recognize me?’ She thought that since she had been covered in mud when they first met, seeing her dressed as a princess might seem strange to him.
She was about to bring up how he had saved her a few months ago when the girl, who had been sitting in dazed silence, suddenly let out a piercing shriek.
“No! No! Not here, of all places!”
Her voice was desperate, as though she were staring into a waking nightmare.
Looking upon Talia with eyes full of terror, the girl threw herself toward the boy.
“Please, Varkas! Throw her out! Don’t let her set foot in this place! Make it so I never have to see her again!”
Her slender arms wrapped around the boy’s neck.
The boy held the weeping girl as though to shield her, and over her narrow, violently trembling shoulders, he leveled a freezing glare. Talia took a step back.
He issued a low, menacing command.
“Get out of here. Right now.”
Staring blankly at his cold, unyielding face, Talia turned and bolted.
It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. Her mind went blank, paralyzed with shock.
She ran and ran, lose track of time, and just as she approached the Main Palace, a hand violently caught her by the hair. Her head snapped back, her body tilted violently, and before she could even grasp what was happening, a heavy blow struck her.
She rolled across the grass, clutching her throbbing stomach.
“How dare you set foot in a place like that!”
A young voice, boiling with fury, thundered down from above.
Talia looked up in sheer bewilderment. A boy she had never seen before stood glaring down at her.
Dark hair and blazing green eyes… His features bore a striking resemblance to the girl from the garden, but she had no way of knowing how long he had trailed her, nor why he was so enraged.
She remained frozen in shock at this violence, the first she had ever endured, when the boy kicked her in the stomach once more.
“Die!”
The impact bleached her vision white. Curling into a tight ball, she began to choke and cough.
The boy kicked her again and again, as though she were a small ball.
“Die! Die! Just die!”
Shrieks like screams drove into her ears like long nails. His curses and blows did not stop until servants who witnessed the scene came running over in horror.
Talia crawled across the dirt like an insect to escape the savage blows. Even after beating her so mercilessly, the boy’s fury remained unquenched; he roared like a beast as two attendants seized his arms.
“Disappear from this world! You filthy bastard!”
END