And Talia would never have ruined her health in a strange land.
‘No, what does it matter whether that woman falls ill or not?’
Lucas hastily slammed the brakes on his own thoughts.
The only things he should concern himself with were House Siorcan and Raina.
The Empress and her daughter were nothing more than troublesome threats to the East.
Gathering his scattered thoughts, Lucas quietly left the banquet hall.
If he continued watching his cold elder brother, the fox-like Empress, and his ghostly pale sister-in-law, he felt his head might explode.
Pulling at the collar of his stifling doublet, he crossed the hall.
He already missed the days when he could ride without a care across the open fields.
He even found himself feeling sympathy for his brother, who had spent his entire life burdened by such headaches.
Rubbing his stiff neck, he looked out over the rear garden through the corridor window.
‘Should I go see Turgan at least?’
Thinking of his beloved horse, which had practically been neglected for nearly two weeks, he kneaded his stiff muscles when two figures standing in one corner of the rear garden caught his eye.
Servants wandering around the backyard were hardly an unusual sight, and yet Lucas halted and observed them closely.
A woman whose face seemed vaguely familiar was having a serious conversation with a young man who appeared to be one of the envoys.
Only after some time did Lucas remember that the woman was Talia Roem Gwirta's personal healing mage.
‘Do they already know each other?’
Tilting his head, he examined them.
Judging by his attire, the young man seemed to belong to the Empress's entourage.
Since the healer herself was also from House Taren, there was nothing strange about her meeting someone she knew among the Empress's attendants.
And yet something vaguely unsettling tugged at the back of his mind.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
While he was intently studying the movement of their lips, a deep voice sounded behind him.
Lucas turned his head.
Tyron, loosely draped in a black silk tunka, was strolling down the long corridor. Apparently he had followed after him when he silently left the banquet hall.
Lucas opened his mouth to explain what he had just seen.
Then he remembered that there was no real reason to find the sight suspicious and closed it again.
Turning his eyes toward the window, he saw that the two had already disappeared.
After sweeping his gaze over the garden with a dissatisfied expression, Lucas shook his head as though it were nothing.
“It's nothing.”
The Imperial delegation departed after staying exactly one week.
Sitting on the windowsill and watching the procession disappear into the distance, Talia finally drew the curtains shut.
Even until the very last moment before her departure, Senevier repeatedly urged her to follow her wishes.
Talia never gave an answer, yet the Empress seemed convinced that she would be unable to disobey her orders.
No.
Perhaps she was not completely certain.
She had simply fanned the flames in the heart of her faithful devotee before leaving.
“You absolutely must share a bed with His Grace tonight.”
Holding up the translucent piece of cloth that the Empress had presented as a gift, the nanny spoke stubbornly after taking it out of the chest.
“Now that the funeral rites are over, there's no longer any reason to postpone it.”