“It seems the court mages have purchased another monster.”
The head maid, who had been quietly following behind her, answered with a sigh.
As though drawn by something, Talia approached the cage.
The creature wrapped in black wings slowly raised its head.
Talia flinched and hunched her shoulders.
The massive body of a monstrous bird, covered in dark brown feathers, had a human woman's head attached to it.
Yet it looked less like a living woman and more like a corpse stitched onto another body.
As Talia stared blankly at the pale face threaded with blue veins, a fishy voice, like rotting seafood, reached her ears.
“Do you feel a sense of kinship?”
Talia whipped around.
Gareth stood directly behind her, dressed in a crimson doublet.
A mocking smile curved his lips as he spoke lazily.
“A woman's face attached to a monster's body... Doesn't it remind you of someone?”
His narrowed eyes traveled down her body and stopped upon the leg concealed beneath her dress.
The smile on her half-brother's face deepened.
“I heard the scar is absolutely horrific... Though unlike that monster, you at least have the luxury of hiding your body.”
At that instant, something bitter as bile surged up her throat.
Talia spun around and struck the exalted Crown Prince across the face.
Someone nearby let out a sound like a pig being slaughtered.
It was probably the head maid who had been shadowing her like a jailer. At the edge of her vision, Talia vaguely saw the woman staggering backward.
She paid no attention.
With fingernails still stained from bruising, Talia raked them across Gareth's bronze face.
Four vivid crimson lines appeared from the corner of his eye to his jaw.
It was not nearly enough.
She raised her arm again.
The Imperial Guards rushed forward and seized her from both sides before she could strike a second time.
Talia thrashed like an animal caught in a trap.
No matter how violently she struggled, she could not break free.
Tears burst from her eyes in helpless fury.
She glared at her half-brother with bloodshot eyes.
That perfect body.
No.
It was no longer perfect.
The moment Talia saw blood trickling down his face, she burst into laughter.
“Say it again. Go on. I'll leave you with a face that can never smile again. I have nothing left to lose now. That's why I'm not afraid of anything.”
Gareth stared at her in stunned disbelief, one hand pressed against his cheek.
Then his expression twisted into something terrifying.
A rough hand seized her hair.
Grabbing the carefully braided hairstyle that had taken hours to create, he yanked hard enough to feel as though he intended to snap her neck.
“How dare you... How dare a thing like you lay a hand on my face?”
His blood-smeared features flushed a furious red.
Talia laughed even harder.
She could see reason draining from his eyes.
His other hand clamped around her face.
The pressure increased until it felt as though her bones would shatter.
Even through the agony that threatened to split her skull apart, Talia did not stop laughing.
Then suddenly, another powerful hand intervened and pulled Gareth away from her.
Talia collapsed to the floor.
The crushing pressure vanished.
Her blurred vision cleared, and a familiar silhouette entered her sight.