She rose from the bed and stood before the mirror, staring for a long while at her gaunt reflection.
I look exactly like the sewer rat that was inside my stew.
The thought made a hollow laugh spill from her lips.
Just then, the maid responsible for preparing her each morning entered the room.
“You are awake early, Your Highness. Please come here. I shall assist you with washing.”
“I don’t need you.”
At the icy reply, the maid’s sharp eyes twisted slightly.
Looking down at Talia with an overbearing gaze, she began lecturing her.
“Your Highness has a duty to maintain perfect decorum at all times in accordance with imperial etiquette. Childish tantrums are—”
“Nanny!”
At the shrill shout, the maid flinched and fell silent.
Talia brushed past her coldly and violently rang the bell hanging beside the bed.
“Nanny! Nanny!”
The nanny, who had been sleeping late in the adjoining room, came rushing in breathlessly.
Pointing at her, Talia spoke in an arrogant tone.
“From now on, the nanny will be solely responsible for preparing me. Mother said yesterday that it was acceptable. So you may leave now.”
“But......”
“Are you saying you intend to defy the Empress’s orders?”
At Talia’s sharp retort, the maid hesitated uncertainly before finally leaving the room.
It seemed she did not care enough about assisting with Talia’s appearance to argue further.
Talia turned toward the nanny, whose swollen eyes still looked half-asleep from being abruptly awakened, and shouted harshly.
“You heard me, didn’t you? From now on, washing and dressing me are entirely your responsibility. Pull yourself together and do your job properly.”
“Yes, Miss......”
The nanny answered absentmindedly through a wide yawn.
Talia immediately raised her arm and slapped the woman’s plump cheek without mercy.
The nanny stared at her in shock after being struck so suddenly.
Talia imitated the expression Senevier often wore when furious with frightening accuracy.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me ‘Your Highness’?”
The nanny’s brown eyes widened.
Talia stared directly into them and emphasized every word as though chewing them apart.
“If you call me ‘Miss’ again, you’ll be slapped.”
Then she hurried the bewildered nanny into preparing her.
Because the nanny was unbearably clumsy, several hours passed before Talia’s preparations were finally complete.
She had barely eaten properly for weeks and felt as though she might collapse at any moment, but Talia still walked out of the room with her back perfectly straight.
A gloomy-looking man dressed in black stood in the corridor.
Talia stiffened at the sight of a stranger guarding her door, but soon remembered what her mother had said.
This ghostlike man was likely the “useful guard.”
Talia tilted her chin once as though ordering him to follow and began walking toward the dining hall.
Several servants cast displeased glances at her, apparently having waited quite some time for her arrival.
Ignoring them, Talia sat down at the end of the long dining table.
Then she gestured arrogantly with her chin.
“Bring the food.”
Despite hearing her command, the servants delayed sluggishly before eventually carrying over dishes filled with various foods.
A maid in her mid-thirties supervised everything.
At her instruction, the servants placed silver plates down one after another, and finally a bowl of soup was set before Talia.
Talia stared fixedly into the bowl.
Beans and meat floated in the pale broth.
It looked perfectly normal on the surface.
But she knew the contents would not be.
Picking up her spoon, Talia stirred through the thick liquid covered in white cream.