Why had she been so startled just because she had opened her eyes in the middle of the night?
Taking a deep breath, Talia tried desperately to calm her violently pounding heart. But the feeling of suffocation only grew stronger.
Forcing air into her constricted airway, she finally could not endure the oppression any longer and pushed herself upright.
The leg secured with a splint imdiately protested with pain, but she felt as though she would suffocate at any mont and had no ti to care. Almost tumbling out of the carriage, Talia staggered forward with her mouth wide open, desperately drawing in air.
Before long, she spotted flickering firelight in the distance.
Relief spread through her chest.
Dragging her stiff, spasming leg behind her, she approached the large tent where a bonfire had been lit.
Then a bright, mocking voice drifted over on the wind.
“She got what Heaven had coming to her.”
Talia stopped dead.
A woman seated before the fire poked at the logs with a long branch as she spoke loudly.
“Everyone knows about it, don't they? How that woman cursed Her Highness the First Imperial Princess. And she even barged into Her Highness's birthday banquet and caused a scene!”
The maid's voice rose with excitent.
Talia examined the face illuminated by the firelight.
She didn't recognize her.
Judging by that, the woman was likely one of Aila's or Gareth's attendants.
The maid took a sip from her cup before eagerly continuing.
“It was divine punishnt, obviously. Her own curse rebounded onto her. She got exactly what she deserved!”
“I heard she might end up crippled. Is that true?”
“Apparently there's a high chance! I heard it from a maid who serves the Second Imperial Princess. They said her leg bones were shattered so completely they had to spend hours putting them back together like a puzzle.”
Talia flinched and glanced down at her own leg.
The woman's voice lowered slightly.
“And apparently she got horrible scars all over her body. They say the skin twisted so badly even magic can't remove them properly. Red and ugly. Absolutely disgusting.”
“At least we won't have to watch her stomp around the Imperial Palace doing whatever she pleases anymore.”
“Exactly. The only thing she ever had to boast about has been ruined. How is she supposed to strut around arrogantly with a body like that?”
Laughter broke out from all around the fire.
Standing motionless, Talia slowly began dragging her leg forward behind the woman.
The mont the others noticed her shadow, their faces turned deathly pale.
But the maid, carried away by her own excitent, still hadn't realized Talia was there.
She continued prattling on.
“At this point her marriage prospects are finished too. What family would ever want a crippled bastard woman—”
“Kyah!”
A shrill scream tore through the night.
Talia had seized a fistful of the woman's braided hair.
Without a hint of rcy, she yanked hard.
The mont the woman saw her face, all color drained from her skin in shock and terror.
Staring down at her, Talia slowly curled one corner of her mouth upward.
“Well? Why did you stop talking?”
“Y-Your Highness...”
“A crippled bastard woman isn't so frightening, is she? Why are you shaking like that?”
The woman's eyes widened.
The smug grin that had been plastered across her face monts ago disappeared, replaced by trembling sobs.
“I-I was wrong, Your Highness. I-I committed a terrible sin—”
“What sin?”
“I-I...”
Her lips quivered uncontrollably.
“I-I insulted Y-Your Highness the Imperial Princess with disrespectful words. P-Please find it in your rcy t-to forgive ...”
“If you've done wrong, you should be punished.”
Talia's voice was soft.
“Why are you thinking about forgiveness first?”
The woman's complexion had turned nearly gray.
Talia stared at the ashen face before slowly turning her head.
Her gaze swept across everyone gathered around the fire.
The maids lowered themselves until they were practically folded in half, frozen like mice before a snake.
Among them, Talia noticed a knight standing rigid with tension.
She tilted her chin toward him.
“You. Co here.”
The knight hesitated before reluctantly approaching.
Still gripping the maid's hair, Talia dragged her downward and forced her to kneel before him.
“She insulted a mber of the Imperial Family with that loose tongue of hers. She should pay the price.”
Talia's eyes glead.
“Draw your sword and do your duty.”
The knight's shoulders visibly stiffened.
The maid was openly sobbing now, on the verge of hyperventilating.
Watching her with dark eyes, the knight placed a hand over his chest and bowed deeply.
“Your Highness, at present we are already short of manpower due to the funerary preparations and the care of the wounded. Holding an execution now would only cause unnecessary disturbance and unrest. Therefore, I beg you, please calm your anger—”
“Are you refusing my order?”
The knight pressed his lips together.
Without answering, he lowered his head even further.
Talia let out a short laugh.
Then her face twisted.
“If you won't do it, I will.”
She threw the maid's hair aside and lunged at the knight.
Startled by the sudden movent, the man instinctively grabbed her shoulders.
Talia glared at him furiously.
“How dare you put your hands on !”
As though burned, he imdiately released her.
Talia seized the opportunity and grabbed the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist.
But a knight's longsword was far heavier than she had expected.
And her injured leg was no longer capable of supporting even her own weight.
As she pulled the blade free, she lost her balance and collapsed to the ground.
A dreadful silence descended upon the camp.
Clutching her spasming leg, Talia looked up.
The stiff faces of knights and maids filled her vision.
An old mory tore through her mind.
Dozens of cold eyes looking down at her as she lay sprawled helplessly in her own vomit.
The sha.
The humiliation.
The primal terror.
All of it returned, scorching her brain.
Planting a trembling hand against the ground, Talia forced her upper body upright.
She wanted to rise.
To stand.
To reclaim the dignity and authority of an Imperial Princess.
But her leg refused to move.
As she struggled desperately to force it upright, she noticed the woman staring blankly at her from only a few steps away.
Talia's face hardened.
The woman who had mocked her was now watching her crawl on the ground.
That was unacceptable.
Feeling blindly around the earth, Talia grabbed a burning log from the fire.
The heat scorched her fingers.
But physical pain could never surpass the agony of a crushed pride.
She swung the blazing log directly into the woman's face.
A shriek exploded through the camp.
Unsatisfied, she raised it again to strike once more—
A dark shadow burst from the darkness and snatched her away.
Talia struggled like a furious beast.
Then she caught a familiar scent.
Every movent stopped.
Varkas had lifted her effortlessly with one arm.
Looking down at her with icy eyes.
Trapped beneath that gaze, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Talia breathed heavily.
Without a word, he took the burning log from her hand and threw it far into the darkness.
Just as he had taken the sword from her before, he had stolen her weapon yet again.
Bitterness surged inside her.
This man never stood on her side.
He would never fight for her.
And yet he would not even allow her to defend herself.
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