Translator: Nox

Chapter 9

As soon as Talia opened her eyes, she groomed herself with more care than ever before. She silently endured the hands of the maids who scrubbed her until her skin turned red with stiff, harsh brushes, and she bore the relentless combing that made her scalp sting.

After finishing her preparations, she took out and put on the velvet dress her maternal grandfather—who had always looked at her with disapproval—had given her for the first time on the day she left the Taren family.

Looking into the mirror, she saw a girl with a face as beautiful as an angel. She thought this must be exactly what Senevia would have looked like if she were turned back to nine years old.

She stared intently at her deep blue eyes, the same shade as her mother’s, through the mirror before stepping out of the room with a determined expression. However, the boy who always trained at the same time was nowhere to be seen today.

After evading her attendants and wandering the castle courtyard for a long time, Talia’s shoulders slumped in discouragement. Her vision grew dark at the thought that she might never see him again.

She didn’t even know herself why she was so obsessed with a stranger she had spoken to only once.

No. Actually, she knew. On that day when the rain poured so heavily, he could have easily ignored a muddy child and walked past, but he didn’t.

He had stepped into the ditch, even at the cost of ruining his clothes and shoes, to pull her out.

He had held her body, chilled by the rain, in his warm arms and looked into her eyes for a long time.

He had carefully cradled the dying, pathetic bird and taken it to his quarters.

That alone was enough to become her hope.

Talia walked without rest along the outskirts of buildings that soared high toward the sky.

The Imperial Palace was like the belly of a giant beast. It was so vast and complex that even after living there for several months, places she had never seen before appeared endlessly.

She wandered through gardens thick with flowers and trees for a long time, then passed through a wide clearing and moved toward the back of the Main Palace.

Her legs, which had moved without rest from early morning until noon, throbbed with pain. Blisters must have formed, as the soles of her feet burned like they were touching fire with every step she took.

Wiping away the beads of sweat trickling down her forehead, she looked up at the blue sky through the lush leaves.

She stood there for a while, and just as she was straightening her posture to return to the Separate Palace, she saw the slender back of a boy standing among the straight birch trees. Talia’s eyes brightened with joy.

Even though he was quite a distance away, she recognized him instantly. No one else could dare imitate his agile and elegant movements as he walked silently with his back straight, flowing like water.

Talia immediately began to chase after him. But no matter how much she increased her speed, the distance between them did not close.

She realized the boy was in quite a hurry. Where could he be going in such a rush?

She thought about calling out to him loudly, but her breath was so short that no voice came out. In the end, she lost him.

Talia slumped down against the trunk of a tree with a hollow expression. The needle-like sunlight poured down painfully over her sweat-drenched face.

She squinted her dazzled eyes and stared blankly up through the thick leaves for a while, until a faint sound of laughter mixed into the wind. It was a sound like a small bird chirping.

Talia stood up and walked slowly toward the source of the sound.

Passing through the dense birches and thickets of lush foliage, a beautiful flowerbed overflowing with lavender, marigolds, and white baby’s breath revealed itself, along with a pure white marble pavilion and a small fountain. It was a lovely garden, like a palace for fairies.

Talia looked around the enchanting scenery, where golden particles seemed to float, as if she were possessed. Then, she discovered the boy sitting with one knee on the ground in front of a marble bench.

He was not alone. Sitting across from him was a lovely girl who appeared to be about her age. She was a cute girl with silky, dark brown hair and rosy cheeks.

As the girl chattered away incessantly, a faint smile played on the boy’s lips. Seeing that sight made her chest sting as if pricked by something sharp. It felt as if her own private treasure had been stolen.

Talia knew such feelings were irrational.

At a glance, the two looked like they had known each other for a long time. On the other hand, she was just a stranger.

So Talia made up her mind to approach them and politely introduce herself. She wanted to somehow squeeze into the warm air surrounding the two of them. More than anything, she wanted to make the boy’s blue eyes and faint smile turn toward her.

As if pushed by that intense impulse, she stepped out from behind the bushes and approached the front of the spraying fountain. At that moment, the boy’s beautiful silver-blue eyes and a pair of clear green eyes flew toward her.

Talia, who had never interacted with children her own age, felt her mouth go dry in an instant.

But she was the Imperial Princess of the Empire. She thought there was no way they would dare refuse her if she offered to be their friend.

She lifted her chin slightly and offered a confident greeting.

“Hello?”

The boy just stared at her blankly without moving a muscle.

Does he not recognize me? She thought that since she had been covered in muddy water when they first met, her appearance dressed up like a princess might be unfamiliar to him.

So she was about to bring up the story of how he had helped her a few months ago, when the girl, who had been sitting with a dazed face, suddenly let out a shrill scream.

“No! No! Not here, of all places!”

It was a desperate voice, as if she were facing a terrible nightmare.

The girl, looking at her with eyes filled with terror, threw herself toward the boy.

“Please, Barkas! Kick her out of here! Don’t even 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 sobbing girl as if to protect her, and over her narrow, violently trembling shoulders, he cast a cold gaze. Talia took a step back.

He issued a threat in a low voice.

“Get out of here right now!”

Talia, staring blankly at his frigid face, soon turned around and began to run.

It felt as if she had been doused with ice water from the crown of her head. She couldn’t think of anything, as if her brain were paralyzed.

She ran and ran for who knows how long, and just as she was nearing the Main Palace, something violently grabbed her by the hair. Her head snapped back, and her body tilted sharply. And before she could even understand what was happening, a heavy impact struck her body.

She clutched her aching stomach and rolled over the grass.

“How dare you set foot in a place like that!”

A youthful voice filled with rage thundered above her head.

Talia looked up with a bewildered face. A boy she had never seen before was glaring down at her.

Dark hair and flame-like green eyes… She could tell his face bore a striking resemblance to the girl she had seen moments ago, but she had no way of knowing how long he had been following her, or why he was so angry.

She was simply frozen in shock from the assault, the first she had ever experienced, when the boy kicked her in the abdomen once more.

“Die!”

At the impact that turned her vision white, she curled her body as much as possible and coughed.

The boy continued to kick her repeatedly, like kicking a small ball.

“Die! Die! Just die!”

Shouts like screams pierced her eardrums like long nails. The boy’s curses and violence did not stop until servants who witnessed the scene ran over in shock.

Talia crawled along the ground like an insect to escape the savage kicking. Even after beating her like that, the boy, who seemed unable to cool his rage, roared like a beast while his arms were held by two attendants.

“Disappear from this world! You filthy bastard!”