Because she had driven out every single person the main palace had sent over the years, there were currently fewer than ten maids assigned to the detached palace. Even those had been forbidden from coming anywhere near her, leaving only a handful of attendants she could actually bring with her.
For that reason, Talia found herself forced to embark on the long journey surrounded by servants sent by Senevier. If it were up to her, she would have thrown every last one of them out immediately, but after seeing Gareth and Aila flaunting their authority with hundreds of attendants each, she could not bring herself to do it.
Talia bit down irritably on her lip as she glared at the crowds swarming around the Crown Prince’s carriage and the First Imperial Princess’s carriage.
She hated having people hovering around her. For years, she had allowed no one except Varkas and her nanny near her ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) side. She had never wanted those who might crush her at any moment to linger within arm’s reach.
But while her two half-siblings proudly displayed the dignity of the imperial family with hundreds of servants trailing behind them, the thought of herself appearing pitiful with only three or four attendants at her side made her stomach churn.
In the end, Talia had no choice but to accept the maids Senevier had sent. Even so, she could not relax for even a moment, wondering what schemes they might attempt. She watched them with obsessive vigilance as they carried her luggage, scrutinizing every tiny movement like a predator stalking prey.
Then, from nearby, a voice rang out, sounding utterly overwhelmed.
“Do you truly intend to bring all of these belongings with you?”
She lifted a sharp gaze toward the man who had somehow approached her side without her noticing.
Not long after she had thrown out the witless imperial guard knight who trembled before the Crown Prince, this newly assigned knight had begun speaking to her this casually. And Talia did not like that attitude in the slightest.
She coldly asked the man, who awkwardly scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression,
“Do you have some complaint about my luggage?”
“I understand your desire to maintain dignity as a member of the imperial family. But isn’t this excessive? Hundreds of dresses, expensive jewelry... Unless you plan on changing clothes five times a day, most of this is unnecessary baggage.”
“You understand nothing. I intend to change clothes not five times a day, but ten if necessary. We’ll be riding in carriages all day long. Dust will cling to everything. I have no intention of allowing filthy clothes to touch my body for even a moment.”
“What kind of joke is that...”
The knight let out an awkward laugh.
Apparently, he still had not realized she never spoke carelessly.
Leaving the dumbfounded man behind, Talia walked toward the carriage she would be riding in.
Positioned toward the rear of the long procession, her carriage was every bit as massive and extravagant as the Crown Prince’s.
The doors and roof were lavishly decorated with gold and ivory. Inside was a seat broad enough to serve as a bed, layered with thick wool felt and silk cushions.
She climbed inside the carriage and pulled back the curtain spread behind the seat. A surprisingly spacious dressing area and a massive storage cabinet came into view.
Talia opened the drawers connected to the luggage compartment and meticulously inspected the contents. She had packed every dress made from the finest fabrics she owned, along with all manner of jewelry, yet not a single piece satisfied her.
This was still not enough to outshine Aila.
Rummaging violently through the drawers, Talia bit down harshly on her lower lip.
Perhaps she should have stolen the diamond necklace Senevier received from the Emperor.
No.
She should have taken her mother’s entire jewelry chest.
Senevier clearly wanted her to destroy Aila’s engagement. Otherwise, she would never have provoked her so openly. If Talia had asked for dresses and jewelry in the name of fulfilling her mother’s wishes, Senevier likely would have lent them willingly.
‘Should I go to the Empress Palace right now?’
Staring anxiously at the drawers, Talia soon stepped down from the carriage.
Then she turned toward Senevier’s residence—
And among the soldiers, she saw Varkas dressed in the uniform of the Roem Knights.
Talia stopped walking as though frozen solid.
There were over a hundred and fifty men wearing the same uniform standing throughout the castle courtyard, yet Talia’s eyes saw only Varkas.
Her obsessive gaze clung to his straight back, broad shoulders, and faintly gleaming ash-blond hair.
Varkas crossed the courtyard with disciplined strides, issuing orders to his subordinates. He appeared to be inspecting the procession before departure.
Talia swallowed dryly.
The closer Varkas came, the more her throat stung as though she had swallowed a fistful of shattered glass.
That indifferent gaze moving along the endless line beginning at the castle gates finally settled upon her carriage.
Even from a considerable distance away, Talia could see the faint crease forming between his brows.
It was the expression he always wore whenever he looked at her.
That cold face which wounded her so brutally every single moment slowly drew nearer.
“You still haven’t finished preparing for departure?”
Without even acknowledging her existence, Varkas reprimanded her imperial guard knight instead. The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“As you can see, it seems we’ll need another baggage carriage.”
At the knight’s sigh-filled reply, Varkas’s pale blue eyes turned toward the servants desperately trying to cram the mountain of luggage into the carriage somehow. Talia could see irritation spreading faintly across his expressionless face.
At last, his gaze reached her.
“This procession will pass through six major cities. Anything necessary can be procured along the way, so remove the unnecessary luggage.”
Talia deliberately lifted her chin high.
“No. How would I know what I might need?”
“In the end, it’s all clothes and jewelry anyway.”
His tone was dry.
“There are many commercially developed cities in the northwest. You’ll be able to purchase enough goods to satisfy yourself there, so refrain from exhausting the servants before departure even begins.”
Talia scoffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re trying to make me look like some immoral imperial princess indulging in luxury during a pilgrimage so people can compare me to Aila, aren’t you? Did you really think I’d fall for that?”
“When have you ever cared about your reputation...?”
The corner of his mouth twisted ever so slightly, as though dumbfounded.
“To begin with, no one would ever place you and the First Imperial Princess on the same level for comparison. So stop worrying about pointless things.”
There was no one in the world she wanted less to hear those words from.
Talia abruptly raised her hand.
But Varkas was not the sort of man who would stand still and allow himself to be struck. He swiftly seized her wrist and jerked his chin toward the servants.
“Leave only the necessities and unload everything else. We depart in fifteen minutes, so hurry.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?!”
Talia struggled violently to wrench her arm from his grasp, practically shrieking the words. But the man did not budge in the slightest.
Driven completely mad with rage, Talia kicked his shin and screamed,
“How dare someone like you tell me what I can or can’t bring?! Are you already acting like you’re something important? You’re not the Grand Duke yet! You’re nothing more than an imperial guard knight! A mere knight dares to treat an imperial princess of the Empire like—!”
“What are you standing around for?”
Ignoring the rampaging Talia entirely, he cast a freezing stare toward the servants. The attendants who had been nervously watching the situation immediately scrambled to unload the luggage from the carriage.
Nothing could have demonstrated more clearly that Varkas’s authority—as the future Grand Duke of the East and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Guard—held greater weight than the orders of a princess in name alone.
Talia glared at the servants with maddened eyes before finally losing all reason and lunging at one of the maids.
“Take your hands off my luggage right now! If even one of my belongings goes missing, I’ll have every last one of you hanged—!”
Her words never finished.
Varkas abruptly lifted her with one arm and shoved her into the carriage as though tossing aside an annoying burden.
Forced down onto the carriage seat, Talia’s face turned bright red with fury.
Varkas was a man whose very bones were filled with loyalty toward the imperial family.
He would never dare lay rough hands on Aila.
The reason this man could treat her so carelessly was because he did not truly consider her part of the imperial family.
The humiliation burned so fiercely her eyes grew hot.
The man who always behaved with flawless courtesy toward her half-sister became endlessly rude only when facing her, and the misery of it was almost unbearable.
