Chapter 9
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 9
The moment Thalia opened her eyes, she began to groom herself with more care than ever before. She endured the maids’ hands in silence, even as they scrubbed her skin raw with coarse brushes and tugged at her scalp with persistent combs.
Once she was finished, she pulled out a velvet dress. It was the first gift she had ever received from her maternal grandfather—a man who had looked upon her with nothing but cold disapproval until the day she finally left House Taren.
Looking into the mirror, she saw a young girl with the face of an angel. She thought that if Senevia were turned back into a nine-year-old, she would look exactly like this.
Through the glass, she stared intently into deep blue eyes—the exact same shade as her mother’s—before stepping out of the room with a look of grim determination. However, the boy who usually trained at this hour was nowhere to be found.
After eluding her attendants and wandering the castle’s inner courtyard for a long time, Thalia’s shoulders slumped. The thought that she might never see him again made the world turn dark before her eyes.
She didn’t know why she was so obsessed with a stranger she had spoken to only once.
No. In truth, she did know. On that day when the rain poured in sheets, he could have easily ignored a mud-covered child and passed her by. But he hadn’t.
He had stepped into the pit, ruining his fine clothes and shoes just to pull her out. He had held her cold, rain-chilled body in his warm arms and looked into her eyes for a long, silent moment. He had cradled a pathetic, dying bird in his hands and brought her to his own quarters.
For her, that was more than enough. He had become her hope.
Thalia walked tirelessly along the perimeter of buildings that soared high enough to pierce the clouds. The Imperial Palace was like the belly of a giant beast—vast and complex. Even after living there for several months, she kept discovering places she had never seen before.
She wandered through gardens thick with flowers and trees for a long while, eventually passing a wide clearing and moving toward the rear of the Main Palace. Her legs, which had been moving without rest since early morning, began to throb. Blisters must have formed; every step felt like her soles were pressing against open flames.
Wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead, she looked up at the blue sky through the lush canopy. After standing there for a moment to catch her breath, she straightened her posture, intending to return to the Annex Palace.
It was then that she spotted him—the slender silhouette of a boy standing among the straight white trunks of the birch trees. Thalia’s eyes brightened with instant joy.
Even from a distance, she knew it was him. No one else possessed his agile, elegant movements—the way he walked with his back perfectly straight, as silent as flowing water.
Thalia immediately began to chase after him. But no matter how much she quickened her pace, the distance between them wouldn’t close. The boy was clearly in a hurry. Where was he going in such a rush?
She thought about calling out to him, but she was so winded that her voice failed her. In the end, she lost sight of him.
Dejected, Thalia slumped down and leaned her back against a tree trunk. The needle-like sunlight poured down harshly over her sweat-drenched face. She squinted against the glare, staring blankly up through the thick leaves. After a while, a faint sound of laughter drifted on the wind. It sounded like the light chirping of a small bird.
Thalia stood up and walked slowly toward the source.
Passing through the dense birches and thickets of lush shrubbery, she discovered a beautiful flowerbed overflowing with lavender, marigolds, and white blossoms. There stood a pristine white marble pavilion and a small, dancing fountain. It was an enchanting garden, like a palace built for fairies.
Thalia looked around the landscape, where golden particles seemed to float in the air as if she were under a spell. Then, she spotted the boy. He was sitting on one knee in front of a marble bench.
He was not alone. Sitting across from him was a lovely girl who looked to be about Thalia’s age. She was a cute child with silky, dark brown hair and rosy cheeks.
As the girl chattered away incessantly, a faint smile played on the boy’s lips. Seeing that, Thalia felt a sharp sting in her chest, as if she had been pricked by a needle. It felt as though her own personal treasure was being stolen.
Thalia knew such feelings were irrational. By all appearances, the two of them had known each other for a long time. She, on the other hand, was merely a stranger.
Steeling herself, Thalia made up her mind to approach them and introduce herself politely. She wanted to force her way into the warm atmosphere surrounding them. More than anything, she wanted to make the boy’s blue eyes and that faint smile turn toward her.
Driven by that intense impulse, she stepped out from behind the bushes and stood before the spraying fountain. At that moment, the boy’s beautiful silver-blue eyes and a pair of clear green eyes snapped toward her.
Having never interacted with children her own age, Thalia felt her mouth go dry. But she was an Imperial Princess. She believed there was no way they would dare refuse her if she offered her friendship.
She lifted her chin slightly and offered a confident greeting.
“Hello?”
The boy did not move, merely staring at her.
Does he not recognize me? She realized that since she had been covered in mud when they first met, her appearance now—dressed as a princess—might be unfamiliar to him.
She was about to bring up the time he had helped her months ago when the girl, who had been sitting with a dazed expression, suddenly let out a shrill scream.
“No! No! Not here, of all places!”
It was a desperate, panicked voice, as if she were facing a living nightmare. The girl, looking at Thalia with eyes full of pure terror, threw herself toward the boy.
“Please, Barkas! Kick her out of here! Don’t let her set foot in this place! Don’t ever let me see her again!”
Her slender arms wrapped tightly around the boy’s neck.
The boy held the girl as she wailed in grief, shielding her. Over her narrow, violently trembling shoulders, he cast a gaze of absolute ice. Thalia took a reflexive step back.
He issued a low, threatening command.
“Get out of here. Right now.”
Thalia stared blankly at his frigid face before turning around and bolting.
It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head. Her mind went numb, paralyzed by the rejection.
She ran and ran, and just as she reached the vicinity of the main castle, something violently grabbed her by the hair. Her head snapped back, and her body tilted sharply. Before she could even process what was happening, a heavy impact slammed into her.
She rolled onto the grass, clutching her throbbing stomach.
“How dare someone like you set foot in a place like that!”
A young voice, thick with fury, thundered above her.
Thalia looked up, bewildered. A boy she had never seen before was glaring down at her. Dark hair and flame-like green eyes... He looked remarkably like the girl she had just seen, but she had no idea how long he had been following her or why he was so angry.
As she sat frozen in shock from the first assault she had ever experienced, the boy kicked her in the abdomen once more.
“Die!”
The impact turned her vision white. She curled her body as tightly as she could, coughing raggedly. The boy continued to kick her repeatedly, as if he were striking a ball.
“Die! Die! Just die!”
His screams pierced her eardrums like nails. The boy’s curses and violence did not stop until the servants, witnessing the scene, came running in alarm.
Thalia crawled along the ground like an insect to escape the savage kicks. Even after delivering such a beating, the boy’s rage seemed unquenched. Held back by two attendants, he roared like a cornered beast.
“Disappear from this world! You dirty illegitimate child!”