He was a man who had always turned away from her.
A man who chose Aila over her.
A man who would never love her, even if she died for him.
Could she truly spend the rest of her life beside such a man?
Did she really want to crawl willingly into that suffering?
“I... I...”
Talia parted her cracked lips.
I could never endure that.
I don't want to be hurt anymore.
She was about to say it.
Then she saw Senevier's face.
The smile had vanished.
Her eyes quietly warned that disappointment would never be forgiven.
Talia's stomach clenched painfully.
“I...”
Her gaze moved from Varkas, to the Emperor, to Senevier.
Their faces blurred together.
A violent wave of dizziness struck her.
She pressed a hand against her head.
At some point, her forehead had become drenched with sweat.
She repeatedly wiped it away with her sleeve, but the perspiration kept pouring down, stinging her eyes.
She brushed it away irritably.
Then suddenly her vision lurched.
Her legs gave out beneath her.
The impact slammed into her body.
She sucked in a harsh breath.
Shrill screams echoed from somewhere far away.
It sounded as though Senevier's attendants were causing a commotion.
Lying sprawled across the floor, Talia struggled to focus through her frost-covered vision.
Beyond the haze, she could vaguely make out Varkas's face.
His expression looked colder than ever.
Was his complexion paler than usual?
Or was that merely another illusion born from her pathetic love?
Yes.
That had to be it.
This was the man who had shown no visible reaction even when she had been reduced to a broken wreck.
Why would he look pale because of her?
Suddenly, exhaustion swept over her.
Talia desperately tried to keep him within her fading vision.
Then she let go.
Of everything.
* * *
News that the engagement between the future Grand Duke and the First Imperial Princess had been broken—and that the Second Imperial Princess was poised to take her place—spread throughout the entire Imperial Palace like wildfire.