After that day, Talia became unable to eat almost any food at all.
She simply could not trust what might be hidden inside it.
The nanny, unable to understand the reason, grew increasingly frustrated. She merely assumed Talia was being difficult.
Without explaining anything, Talia survived on the fruits and honey the nanny occasionally brought her as snacks.
Loneliness and isolation were no longer the problem.
In the most luxurious and extravagant place in the world, she had been forced into a battle against starvation.
Some days, the hunger became so unbearable that she reluctantly touched the food the servants brought her.
But without fail, she would find insects, rats, or sometimes tangled clumps of hair so grotesque she could not even guess whose they were.
After enduring that several times, she eventually reached the point where she could no longer put anything into her mouth.
Within a few weeks, she had wasted away pitifully.
At that point, even the unbelievably dull nanny finally seemed to realize something was terribly wrong.
She immediately sought out the Empress and raised a commotion, insisting that her only daughter was dying.
Thanks to that, Talia was able to see her mother again for the first time in months.
“How did you end up looking like this?”
Those were the first words Senevier spoke after finally visiting the detached palace, having ignored Talia for so long it seemed she had forgotten her daughter even existed.
Talia’s eyes reddened as she looked at her mother, who bloomed with radiant vitality like a summer flower despite her daughter’s ruined appearance.
Seeing that face, so bright it bordered on innocent, caused bitter fury to surge inside her.
She had intended to scream at her.
She had planned to demand how someone could possibly be so selfish.
But the moment she opened her mouth, sobs burst out instead.
Crying like an infant, Talia poured out everything that had happened.
The horrifying things the servants of the detached palace had done to her, the cruelty she had been forced to endure all this time—she confessed every last detail.
Throughout the entire story, Senevier merely sat beside the bed and listened in silence.
Talia believed she was restraining her anger.
She thought her mother had been rendered speechless by the terrible things done to her only daughter.
So Talia grabbed her arm roughly and pleaded desperately.
“Mother! Please make them stop tormenting me! You must ensure no one can ever hurt me again!”
“Why should I?”
Senevier tilted her head slightly as she spoke.
The unexpected answer left Talia stunned.
There was nothing on Senevier’s face except pure curiosity.
It was the expression of someone who genuinely could not understand why an abused child was asking her for help.
“Talia, this palace is your palace, and every servant in this castle belongs to you. You are already nine years old now. How can you throw tantrums to your mother simply because you cannot properly control your own possessions?”
Talia was left completely speechless.
Senevier cupped her daughter’s cheek with one hand and sighed as though sincerely disappointed.
“You are the Emperor’s daughter. I truly cannot understand why you are allowing insignificant creatures to treat you this way without resistance. Frankly, I am bewildered by how foolish and weak my daughter is.”
“M-Mother......”
Senevier gazed thoughtfully at the candle burning by the window.
Not even the slightest trace of anger over the abuse inflicted upon her daughter could be found on that eerily beautiful face.
There was only faint disappointment, irritation, and the expression of someone contemplating how best to enlighten a defective child.
Talia suddenly felt as though she were speaking to an insect merely imitating the shape of a human being.
After sinking into thought for a long while, Senevier snapped her fingers.
“Let us do this instead. I shall leave behind a useful guard for you. He is a man I have spent a very long time thoroughly taming. If handled °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° properly, he should prove quite useful.”
As though that solved every problem, she rose from her seat.
Talia hurriedly grabbed the hem of her dress.
“I don’t need someone like that! I want to stay with you!”
At that desperate cry, a flicker of disgust briefly crossed Senevier’s face.
Talia’s complexion instantly turned pale with shock.
Senevier carefully peeled her daughter’s fingers from her clothing one by one, then bent down toward her.
Clicking her tongue as though she genuinely pitied her, she spoke softly.