Talia pushed aside the half-finished bowl and rose from the bed.
As she approached the window, she saw more than a dozen knights clad in golden armor standing in formation in the castle courtyard. They were the Roem Knights.
Judging by the fact that they had dispatched an entire elite unit rather than just one or two knights, it didn't seem they had come merely to deliver a message from the Imperial Palace.
Could they have come to take me back?
The thought drifted through her mind for a moment before she shook her head.
Even the Emperor could not forcibly take away the Grand Duchess of the East. In truth, there was no reason for him to go that far. More likely, the conflict with the North had entered its next stage.
She, too, had sensed that war was no longer far away. She also knew that Varkas was being pressured from every direction because of it.
If a war of independence broke out in the North, the East would inevitably suffer severe military and economic losses as well. For that reason, the eastern nobles undoubtedly felt the need to crush the northern rebellion before it could fully erupt. The lords whose territories bordered the North, in particular, must have been gripped by an overwhelming sense of crisis.
The conservative nobles were also likely watching Varkas's every move with cold eyes. After all, hadn't his political standing already been weakened because of his marriage to her?
Everything around him was urging him to abandon her.
And yet...
Why was that man still holding on to me?
Without warning, she remembered the man quietly embracing her beneath the moonlight. She remembered the way he had seated her on his lap and gently caressed her stomach, and how he had sought out rare fruits and prepared them for her himself.
Those moments that had felt so much like love threatened to kindle fresh embers within the heart that had long since turned to ashes.
'No.'
A powerful sense of alarm washed over Talia as she muttered to herself.
If time continued like this, she would surely begin nurturing another foolish hope.
And then she would fall into the abyss of despair all over again.
I don't want that.
I don't want to hurt like that anymore.
"Your Highness, are you feeling unwell? Shall I summon a healing mage?"
Resting her feverish head against the cold windowpane, she heard one of the maids ask with a worried expression.
Talia shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. I just..."
At that moment, her eyes fell upon the sleeping medicine sitting on the shelf.
Almost on impulse, she added,
"I think I'm a little thirsty. Bring me a bottle of wine."
"Ah... Please wait just a moment. I'll bring it right away."
Startled by the sudden request, the maid searched the shelf, only to discover that there was nothing but herbal tea and cold water. She hurriedly left the room.
After instructing the remaining maid to feed more wood into the fireplace, Talia waited until the girl turned away before swiftly snatching the medicine bottle and hiding it beneath her sleeve.
A short while later, the maid returned carrying a wine pitcher.
Hidden beneath the blankets, Talia quietly uncorked the medicine bottle. At the same time, with her other hand, she snatched the wine pitcher almost greedily.
The maid looked at her in confusion.
Pretending not to notice, Talia lifted the lid and leaned over it. She dipped a fingertip into the wine as though merely tasting it, while secretly emptying the sleeping medicine concealed within her sleeve into the pitcher.
Fortunately, her long veil-like hair and flowing sleeves completely concealed what she was doing.
She hid the empty bottle beneath ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the blankets before looking up at the maid with deliberately suspicious eyes.
"You two drink it first."
The maids merely blinked in bewilderment.
"Why?" Talia pressed in a spiteful tone. "Did you put something strange in it?"
The frightened girls finally poured themselves wine and drank.
Apparently, they had become so accustomed to her unreasonable accusations that neither of them suspected she might have another motive.
Talia accused them of only pretending to drink and forced them to have more.
In the end, both maids had to finish an entire cup of the strong wine.
Watching them closely, Talia suddenly declared that she had changed her mind, pushed the pitcher aside, and flopped back onto the bed.
She herself had no idea why she was doing any of this.
She simply hid beneath the blankets, holding her breath, obeying nothing more than a vague impulse.
After some time had passed, she cautiously raised her head.
The two maids had collapsed against the wall, sitting on the floor.
Recently she had developed a tolerance to the sleeping herb, so the medicine had been prepared at a much stronger concentration.
Both women looked almost completely unconscious.