Then, as though nothing had happened, she draped a luxurious fur-lined cloak over Talia’s shoulders.
Talia stared at her reflection fractured into dozens of pieces across the mirror before abruptly turning away.
The moment she stepped outside the room, she saw one of the escort knights Senevier had sent standing rigidly in the corridor.
Ignoring the man’s flushed face as he stared at her, she descended the stairs.
Outside the detached palace waited a four-wheeled carriage trimmed in gold alongside eight guards.
Apparently, Senevier had no intention of allowing her eldest daughter to appear shabby.
‘She probably wants me to make her political enemies uncomfortable.’
Twisting her lips cynically, Talia climbed into the carriage.
Just then, a newly assigned guard knight approached to close the door and blurted out, as though vomiting up something burning in his throat,
“Tonight... you are truly beautiful, Your Highness.”
The longing in his voice made every hair on her body stand on end.
Talia shot him a sharp glare.
She had no need for praise from a man like this.
“Stop saying useless things and get moving.”
The knight closed the door with an embarrassed expression.
Soon, the carriage began to move.
Leaning deep into the seat, she gazed through the fluttering curtains at the blood-red sky.
How wonderful it would be if tonight’s banquet were stained in colors like that.
She wished some great uproar would erupt and ruin everything completely.
Unconsciously, she brushed her lips with her fingers before noticing crimson dye staining the tips of her nails. Startled, she quickly lowered her hand.
Her nerves felt as though they were being burned alive.
In contrast to her mood, beautiful melodies and brilliant lights poured endlessly from the main palace ahead.
After stepping down from the carriage, Talia frowned as she surveyed the broad road leading toward the banquet hall and the lavishly decorated gardens.
Hundreds of nobles dressed in silk ascended the marble staircase and entered the palace hall one after another.
Ignoring the knight who followed behind to escort her, she walked toward the entrance.
The moment people recognized her, they instinctively stepped aside.
Naturally so.
This palace was her home.
She had not the slightest intention of standing in line like ordinary guests.
Talia calmly addressed the servant staring at her in confusion.
“I came to celebrate my siblings’ birthday.”
The servant’s eyes widened.
Talia snapped irritably,
“Why are you just standing there instead of announcing my arrival?”
Only then did the startled servant hurriedly step beside a pillar and shout loudly,
“Her Highness the Second Imperial Princess, Talia Roem Gwirta, has arrived!”
An icy silence instantly filled the magnificent hall.
Talia lifted her chin proudly as she stepped into the brilliant banquet hall drenched in gold light.
She could feel hundreds of piercing gazes crawling over her from head to toe.
Quietly savoring their shock, anger, bewilderment, and reluctant admiration, Talia walked gracefully forward.
As though the tide itself were retreating, people distanced themselves from her.
Like I’m some kind of plague.
A malicious smile touched Talia’s lips.
Then someone blocked her path.
“What brings you here?”
She slowly looked up at the man’s face.
He was one of the witless fools who worshipped her noble half-sister, Aila.
Deliberately, Talia smiled in a strangely seductive way.
She had watched her mother enchant men like this thousands of times.
“Did I come somewhere I’m not allowed?”
The man’s rigid face, stiff with caution, instantly flushed red.
Startled, he took a step backward.
Talia advanced even closer than he had retreated and lifted her chin arrogantly.
“This is my father’s palace, and tonight’s banquet is for my siblings. What exactly is wrong with me being here?”
The moment she met his eyes directly, the man froze completely.
His nostrils flared visibly.
It seemed he was breathing in the scent of the rose oil the nursemaid had painstakingly worked into every strand of her hair.
As his gaze blurred like a man drunk on strong liquor, Talia felt both strange satisfaction and intense disgust rise within her at once.
Leaving behind the man who could only tremble soundlessly like an idiot, she walked toward the center of the hall.