Chapter 19
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 19
Because she had driven away every person sent from the Main Palace, fewer than ten maids were currently assigned to the annex. Even then, Thalia had forbidden them from coming anywhere near her, meaning the number of attendants she could actually bring on the journey could be counted on one hand.
For that reason, Thalia found herself forced to set out on this long trek surrounded by servants sent by Senevia. Her temperament urged her to kick them all out, but seeing Gareth and Aila accompanied by hundreds of attendants, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Thalia bit her lip irritably, glaring at the crowd surrounding the carriages of the Crown Prince and the First Imperial Princess.
She had spent years ensuring no one but Barkas and her nanny came near her, simply because she loathed having people hovering around. She refused to have anyone by her side who might try to trample her the moment she let her guard down.
However, the sight of her own pathetic display—accompanied by a mere three or four attendants while her two half-siblings flaunted the dignity of the Imperial family with hundreds of servants—made her stomach churn with resentment.
In the end, Thalia had no choice but to accept the maids Senevia had provided. Yet, she didn’t lower her guard for a single second, wondering what schemes they might be plotting. She watched those moving her belongings with a hawk-like gaze, monitoring their every move.
Just then, a voice filled with exasperation drifted from nearby.
"Do you truly intend to take all of this with you?"
She looked up, her gaze sharp, at the man who had approached her side before she even realized he was there.
Not long after she had dismissed the dim-witted personal guard who had been groveling before the Crown Prince, this newly assigned knight had begun speaking to her without the slightest hesitation. Thalia did not care for his attitude.
As the man scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression, she shot back coldly, "Do you have some grievance with my preparations?"
"I understand your desire to maintain your dignity as a member of the Imperial family, but isn’t this a bit much? Hundreds of dresses, even expensive jewelry... Unless you plan on changing your clothes five times a day, this is all unnecessary baggage."
"You know nothing. I intend to change my clothes not five, but ten times a day if I wish. Traveling in a carriage all day will leave me covered in dust, and I have no intention of keeping filthy clothes on my body for even a moment."
"She can’t be serious..."
The knight let out an awkward, disbelieving laugh. It seemed he still hadn’t realized that she never spoke idle words.
Thalia left the stunned man behind and walked toward her carriage. Positioned toward the rear of the long procession, her carriage was as large and magnificent as the Crown Prince’s. The doors and roof were ornately decorated with gold and ivory, and inside, the seats were wide enough to serve as beds, covered with thick wool felt and silk cushions.
She climbed inside and pulled back the curtains draped behind the seats, revealing a spacious dressing area and a large storage cabinet.
Thalia opened the drawers connected to the luggage compartment and meticulously inspected the contents. She had packed dresses made of the most luxurious fabrics she owned and every piece of jewelry she possessed, but nothing seemed to satisfy her. To outshine Aila, this was not enough.
She rummaged through the drawers haphazardly, biting her lower lip in frustration.
Maybe I should have stolen that diamond necklace Senevia received from the Emperor. No, I should have just taken my mother’s entire jewelry box.
Senevia clearly wanted her to ruin Aila’s engagement; wasn’t that why she had so blatantly encouraged her? If Thalia had asked for clothes and jewelry to achieve that goal, Senevia would have likely lent them gladly.
Should I go to the Empress’s palace even now?
Thalia, who had been staring down at the drawers with an anxious gaze, soon stepped down from the carriage. She was about to turn toward Senevia’s quarters when she spotted Barkas, dressed in his Roem Knights uniform, among the soldiers.
Thalia froze in her tracks. Even though there were over a hundred and fifty other men in the same uniform in the courtyard, only Barkas was visible to her.
Her obsessive gaze clung tenaciously to his straight back, his broad shoulders, and his faintly shimmering ashen-blonde hair. Barkas was crossing the courtyard with disciplined strides, giving instructions to his subordinates. It appeared he was checking the formation before departure.
Thalia swallowed hard. As Barkas drew closer, her throat stung as if she had swallowed a handful of glass shards.
His indifferent gaze, which had been moving along the long procession starting from the castle gate, finally fixed on her carriage. Even from a distance, Thalia could see the slight furrow in his brow. It was the expression he always wore whenever he faced her.
That cold face, which caused her such agonizing pain at every moment, slowly drew near.
"Are the preparations for departure still not finished?"
Barkas rebuked her personal guard without even glancing at her. The man scratched the back of his head with a troubled look.
"As you can see, it seems we’ll need to procure another separate luggage wagon."
At the knight’s sigh-filled answer, Barkas’s pale blue eyes turned toward the servants who were struggling to cram the mountain of luggage into the carriage. Thalia saw a flash of irritation cross his expressionless face.
Finally, his gaze landed on her.
"This procession is scheduled to pass through six major cities. You can procure whatever you need along the way, so lighten this useless load."
She tilted her chin up defiantly. "I refuse. How do you know what I might need?"
"It’s only clothes and jewelry anyway, isn’t it?" he said in a dry tone. "There are many cities in the northwest with developed commerce and industry. You will be able to buy enough goods to satisfy yourself later, so refrain from exhausting the servants before we even start."
Thalia scoffed. "Don’t be ridiculous. You’re just trying to make me look like a graceless princess who indulges in luxury during a pilgrimage so I’ll be compared to Aila, aren’t you? Do you think I’ll fall for your words?"
"Since when did you care about your reputation..."
The corner of his mouth twisted slightly, as if he found her words absurd.
"In the first place, no one is going to put you on the same level as the First Imperial Princess. So, put aside your useless worries."
Those were words she never wanted to hear from his mouth—not if she died.
Thalia raised her hand in a fit of rage. But Barkas was not one to stand by and be struck. Catching her wrist with agile precision, he gestured with his chin toward the servants.
"Leave only the essentials and take down the rest of the luggage. We depart in fifteen minutes, so hurry."
"By whose authority!" Thalia screamed, struggling with all her might to pull her arm from his grasp. But the man didn’t budge.
Consumed by venomous rage, Thalia kicked his shin and shrieked, "Who do you think you are to tell me to take down my things? Do you think you’re someone important already? You’re not the Grand Duke yet! You’re just a personal guard! How dare a mere knight treat a Princess of the Empire—!"
"What are you doing? Hurry up."
He didn’t even look at the rampaging Thalia, instead casting a chilling gaze toward the servants. At that, those who had been hesitantly watching the situation began hurriedly unloading the luggage from the carriage.
There could be no clearer demonstration that the orders of Barkas—the future Grand Duke of the East and the Commander of the Imperial Guard—held more weight than the commands of a princess who was royal in name only.
Glaring at the servants with eyes full of spite, Thalia lost her reason and lunged at one of the maids.
"Take your hands off my luggage this instant! If even one of my things is missing, I’ll hang you all—!"
Her words were cut short. Barkas hoisted her up with one arm and shoved her into the carriage as if clearing away a bothersome piece of baggage.
Forced into the carriage seat, Thalia’s face turned beet-red with fury.
Barkas was a man whose loyalty to the Imperial family was ingrained in his very marrow. He would never lay a hand on Aila so carelessly. The reason this man could treat her so roughly was that he did not consider her a true member of the Imperial family.
She was so indignant that her eyes grew hot with tears. It was unbearably sorrowful that the man who was always so courteous to her half-sister became infinitely disrespectful only to her.