Chapter 11
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 11 Chapter Title: 잊혀진 들판 11화 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ```html ----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 11 Chapter Title: The Secret of Fear -----------------------------------------------------------------
After that day, Talia could barely bring herself to eat most foods. She simply had no idea what might be lurking inside them, and trust was out of the question.
The nurse was at a complete loss, utterly frustrated. She just assumed Talia was throwing a tantrum and being picky.
Talia didn't explain a thing. She endured by nibbling on the small portions of fruit and honey the nurse brought as snacks.
Loneliness and isolation were no longer problems. In the most glamorous and opulent place on earth, she now had to battle starvation.
Some days, her hunger grew so intense that she reluctantly reached for the food the servants had left. But every time, without fail, worms or mice turned up inside—or sometimes clumps of curly hair from who-knows-where.
After enduring that a few times, she reached the point where she couldn't touch anything at all. In just a few weeks, she had withered away pathetically.
By then, even the hopelessly dense nurse seemed to catch on that something was seriously wrong. She stormed off to find the Empress, raising a fuss about how her only daughter was on the brink of death.
Thanks to her, Talia finally got to see her mother's face after months apart.
“What on earth happened to leave you in this state?”
Those were the first words from Senevia, who visited the Detached Palace for the first time—acting as if she'd completely forgotten her daughter even existed.
Talia gazed at her mother, vibrant and blooming like a summer flower, a stark contrast to her own broken-down state. Her eyes welled up with tears at the sight of that innocently pure face. Rage bubbled up inside her.
She had planned to lash out in anger. To scream at her for being so self-absorbed. But when she opened her mouth, sobs poured out instead.
Like a newborn babe, Talia bawled her eyes out and confessed everything that had happened. She spilled every horrific deed the Detached Palace servants had committed, every brutal ordeal she'd endured, from start to finish. And through it all, Senevia sat silently by the bed, just listening.
Talia assumed she was holding back her fury, speechless at the horrors inflicted on her only daughter.
So Talia grabbed her arm roughly and demanded, her voice accusatory.
“Mom! Make them stop tormenting me! You have to do something right now so no one can ever hurt me again!”
“And why should I do that?”
Senevia tilted her head, puzzled.
Talia was stunned by the unexpected reply. Her mother's face showed only innocent curiosity—as if she genuinely couldn't fathom why her abused child was begging her for help.
“Talia, this palace is yours. Every servant in this castle belongs to you. You're nine years old now. How can you come crying to me because you can't even manage your own possessions?”
Talia was utterly speechless.
Senevia cupped her daughter's cheek with one hand and sighed, genuinely disappointed.
“You're the Emperor's daughter. I just can't understand why you're letting these lowly things walk all over you. It's embarrassing how clueless and feeble my own child has turned out to be.”
“M-Mom...”
Senevia stared thoughtfully at the candle flickering by the window. Her eerily beautiful face showed no trace of anger over her daughter's abuse—just mild disappointment, frustration, and contemplation on how to wise up this dim-witted kid.
Talia felt like she was facing an insect mimicking human form all too convincingly.
After a long moment of reflection, Senevia snapped her fingers.
“Here's what we'll do. I'll leave you with a useful bodyguard. I've trained him thoroughly for years. Handle him right, and he'll be quite handy.”
With that, as if every problem were solved, she rose to leave.
Talia desperately clutched at her hem.
“I don't need someone like that! I want to be with you, Mom!”
A flicker of disgust crossed Senevia's face at the desperate plea. Talia paled in shock.
Senevia pried her daughter's fingers from her skirt one by one, then leaned down close. She clicked her tongue with what seemed like sincere pity.
“Talia, all of this started with me. Do you know why no one ever puts rats in my soup?”
Talia froze like a live mouse before a snake, unable to respond.
Senevia continued softly.
“Why my bathwater is always warm and fragrant... why my table is always laden with abundance... Why they never dare try those tricks on me that they pull on you... Want Mom to tell you the secret?”
Her blood-red lips brushed Talia's ear.
“They fear me. They wouldn't dream of trying that nonsense. Some even revere me. Of course, plenty more despise and scorn me. But even they see me as a threat to beware—not a target to torment. Because I'm very, very dangerous.”
She peered straight into her daughter's eyes. Talia glimpsed something dark and coiled lurking in Senevia's gaze.
Senevia straightened up, leaving one final piece of advice.
“Remember this: the strong and beautiful inspire fear and envy. But the beautiful and weak? They're ripe for plundering. Especially in this imperial palace. If you don't want to be trampled mercilessly by all the beasts who'll come for you, at least make sure they never catch on how weak you are.”
With that, she departed—leaving her fragile, broken daughter behind.
That night, Talia mulled over her words again and again.
The weak get crushed. And Senevia had no intention whatsoever of protecting her pitiful little girl from that fate.
Was this how it felt to be a routed soldier losing their last stronghold? Terror shook her whole body at the thought of even worse horrors ahead.
No one would shield her from harsher treatment than this. Not even her own mother, so why would the Emperor spare a glance for his illegitimate bastard, his own shame?
Huddled deep under the covers, she anxiously gnawed her nails. Images flashed of the servants' feet she'd seen while vomiting on the dining room floor.
Indifferent feet bustling around her pathetic, sprawled form... She could easily imagine those feet stomping her like the worthless bug she was to them.
Her eyes burned hot. Mom was right. Soon, I'd be ground to dust without a trace.
And I'd ended up in this mess because I'd branded myself a sinner. Guilt had turned me into prey.
Once I started acting helpless, as if I deserved whatever they dished out, they instinctively knew I wouldn't fight back. They saw it in my cowering posture, my timid gaze, my hesitant words... Spotting weakness, they unleashed their cruelty without restraint.
As dawn broke, Talia finally knew exactly what she had to do.
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