Talia planted both feet on the floor and straightened her back as much as she could.
A sharp pain spread from her knees all the way up her spine.
It seemed something had gone wrong when she fell.
She wanted to collapse right then and there, but she forced a calm expression onto her face and looked directly at her biological father.
It had been nearly half a year since she had last seen him.
Even then, she had only caught distant glimpses of him.
Facing him now felt no different from facing a complete stranger.
The same seemed true for the man before her.
The Emperor, visibly uncomfortable, averted his eyes and spoke.
“I heard you have been through a difficult ordeal.”
His voice was flat, as though discussing someone else's affairs.
“I also heard your body was permanently scarred.”
Hostility flashed through Talia's eyes.
This man was little different from a stranger.
The fact that he casually brought up her greatest humiliation filled her with rage.
“Is that why you summoned me?”
A sharp laugh escaped her lips.
Lightly smoothing her skirt, she added mockingly,
“Would you like to see it for yourself? The damage done to my body?”
The man's thick brows twisted.
Instead of the furious rebuke she expected, Virus Roem Gwirta merely stared at her face in silence.
His expression resembled that of a man seeing his daughter for the first time in his life.
“There is no need for me to inspect it personally.”
His reply was blunt.
Then he shifted his gaze to Varkas.
The look in his eyes was tangled with countless complicated thoughts.
A vague unease crept over Talia.
Why had he summoned both her and Varkas?
She glared at him suspiciously.
After a long pause, the Emperor suddenly spoke.
“Varkas Laedgo Siorcan. I entrusted the safety of my children to you. And the result of that trust is standing before me now.”
Talia felt the blood drain from her body.
The Emperor tapped the armrest of his chair with his fingertips as he continued in a heavy voice.
“The Second Imperial Princess suffered life-threatening injuries due to your failure as her protector. Furthermore, she has sustained permanent physical damage. Do you acknowledge your responsibility in this matter?”
Varkas's gaze briefly brushed against her before moving away.
“I acknowledge it.”
There was no emotion in his voice.
No resentment.
No guilt.
No sign that he was swallowing excuses.
He sounded as though he were simply stating an objective fact.
“I will accept whatever punishment is deemed appropriate.”
Without realizing it, Talia took a step forward.
Varkas did nothing wrong.
The words nearly left her mouth.
Then she fell silent.
Did he truly do nothing wrong?
Her eyes drifted down to the leg that had begun trembling faintly before returning to his face.
The image of him running away with his back turned to her overlapped with the man standing before her.
That memory—the one she knew she would carry for the rest of her life—stole every word she might have spoken.
“You admit it readily enough. That certainly simplifies matters.”
The Emperor released a heavy sigh.
“This incident destroyed the marriage negotiations between the Count's family and the Second Imperial Princess. And I imagine it will be difficult to find another match worthy of the Imperial Family. She is, after all, a child burdened with many imperfections...”
Speaking as though she were not present, he glanced briefly at her pale face before continuing.
“You must assume responsibility for that loss. Break your engagement to Aila Roem Gwirta and take the Second Imperial Princess, Talia Roem Gwirta, as your wife.”
Talia stopped breathing.
For several seconds she simply stared blankly at the Emperor.
She could not fully comprehend what she had heard.
Then her gaze slowly shifted toward Senevier.
A smile like a serpent that had just swallowed its prey rested upon her face.
A chill ran through Talia's entire body.
Cold sweat ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) erupted across her skin.
She could not bring herself to look at Varkas.
Instead, she lowered her head.
There was no way he would accept such nonsense.
Varkas was the son of a sovereign ruler.
No matter how powerful the Emperor was, he had no right to impose such a demand upon the heir of the Grand Duke of the East.
Naturally, he would refuse.
Talia gripped her skirt so tightly her hands trembled.
Several agonizing seconds passed.
Then he spoke.
“If Her Highness the Second Imperial Princess agrees, then I shall do so.”
Talia's head snapped upward.
He looked down at her as though piercing straight through her.
Slowly, deliberately, he added,
“I will take Your Highness as my wife.”
For a moment, her heart seemed to stop.
Talia stared at his lips with vacant eyes.
Had those words really come from him?
Had she imagined them?
Yes.
Surely she had misheard.
There was no way Varkas would ever say he intended to marry her.
“So it seems, Princess.”
The Emperor's low voice dragged her confused mind back to reality.
“If you agree, the position of Grand Duchess of Siorcan will become yours. Well? What is your answer?”
Strong mockery lurked beneath his words.
Only then did Talia realize that the Emperor wanted her to refuse.
Though he had proposed this marriage under pressure from the Empress, he clearly had no desire to see his illegitimate daughter married to Aila's fiancé.
Perhaps Varkas had spoken those words because he expected her to reject the proposal in outrage.
No.
That had to be it.
Suddenly, her thoughts became clear.
If she accepted, the man she had desired her entire life would become hers.
But was that truly what she wanted?
Her eyes lowered to the leg hidden beneath her skirts.
Just imagining having to reveal this body to him made her stomach twist.
If she ever saw even a flicker of disgust or revulsion on his face, she would truly lose her mind.
She might break even further than she already had.
Talia looked at him again.
He was a man who had always turned away from her.
A man who chose Aila over her.
A man who would never love her, even if she died for him.
Could she truly spend the rest of her life beside such a man?
Did she really want to crawl willingly into that suffering?
“I... I...”
Talia parted her cracked lips.
I could never endure that.
I don't want to be hurt anymore.
She was about to say it.
Then she saw Senevier's face.
The smile had vanished.
Her eyes quietly warned that disappointment would never be forgiven.
Talia's stomach clenched painfully.
“I...”
Her gaze moved from Varkas, to the Emperor, to Senevier.
Their faces blurred together.
A violent wave of dizziness struck her.
She pressed a hand against her head.
At some point, her forehead had become drenched with sweat.
She repeatedly wiped it away with her sleeve, but the perspiration kept pouring down, stinging her eyes.
She brushed it away irritably.
Then suddenly her vision lurched.
Her legs gave out beneath her.
The impact slammed into her body.
She sucked in a harsh breath.
Shrill screams echoed from somewhere far away.
It sounded as though Senevier's attendants were causing a commotion.
Lying sprawled across the floor, Talia struggled to focus through her frost-covered vision.
Beyond the haze, she could vaguely make out Varkas's face.
His expression looked colder than ever.
Was his complexion paler than usual?
Or was that merely another illusion born from her pathetic love?
Yes.
That had to be it.
This was the man who had shown no visible reaction even when she had been reduced to a broken wreck.
Why would he look pale because of her?
Suddenly, exhaustion swept over her.
Talia desperately tried to keep him within her fading vision.
Then she let go.
Of everything.
* * *
News that the engagement between the future Grand Duke and the First Imperial Princess had been broken—and that the Second Imperial Princess was poised to take her place—spread throughout the entire Imperial Palace like wildfire.
