Chapter 12
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 12 Chapter Title: Forgotten Field -----------------------------------------------------------------
She rose from the bed and stood before the mirror, staring for a long time at her haggard reflection.
Just like a gutter rat that fell into my stew.
As that thought crossed her mind and she let out a hollow chuckle, the maid who attended to her morning grooming entered the room.
"You're up early, Your Highness. Come here. I'll help you wash."
"No need."
At her curt reply, the maid's sharp eyes narrowed slightly.
She looked down at Talia with a haughty gaze and began her lecture.
"Your Highness has a duty to maintain perfect composure at all times, in accordance with imperial protocol. Childish tantrums like this..."
"Nurse!"
The maid flinched at the sharp cry and fell silent. Talia brushed past her and wildly rang the bell hanging by the bed.
"Nurse! Nurse!"
From the next room, the nurse who had been sleeping in burst through the door in a frenzy.
Talia pointed at her imperiously and declared,
"From now on, you'll be handling all my grooming. Mother said it was fine yesterday. So you can leave."
"But..."
"Are you defying the Empress's orders right now?"
At Talia's sharp retort, the maid, who had been eyeing her uncertainly, finally left the room. It seemed she had no intention of helping with the dressing amid the scuffle.
Talia snapped at the nurse, who was rubbing her puffy, sleep-swollen eyes.
"You heard that, right? From now on, washing and dressing me is all your job. Get your act together."
"Yes, miss..."
The nurse replied half-heartedly through a wide yawn.
Talia raised her arm and slapped the nurse's plump cheek without mercy. The nurse stared at her in shock, her face suddenly struck.
Talia mimicked the expression her mother often wore when furious to perfection.
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me 'Your Highness'?"
The nurse's brown eyes widened in circles.
Talia stared straight into those eyes, enunciating each word deliberately.
"Call me 'miss' again, and you'll get another slap."
With that, she urged the stunned nurse to begin the grooming.
The nurse was so slow that by the time they finished, several hours had passed. Though she hadn't eaten properly for weeks and felt like she might collapse any moment, Talia left the room with her back ramrod straight.
A gloomy-faced man in black stood in the corridor. Talia froze at the sight of the stranger guarding her door, but soon recalled her mother's words. This ghostly man must be the "reliable guard."
Talia jerked her chin for him to follow and headed toward the dining hall. The servants, who had apparently been waiting a long time for her, shot her displeased glances.
Ignoring their glares, Talia sat at the end of the long table and haughtily gestured with her chin.
"Bring the food."
The servants dawdled with indifferent expressions even after her command, but soon brought plates laden with various dishes.
A maid in her mid-thirties oversaw the entire process. At her direction, the servants placed silver platters in order, and finally, a bowl of soup was set before Talia.
Talia peered into the bowl. The milky broth was filled with beans and chunks of meat. It looked fine enough on the surface, but she knew better than to trust the contents.
She picked up the ladle and stirred the thick, cream-covered liquid. Scraping the bottom revealed a sparrow that had died with its neck snapped.
It had clearly been scavenged from somewhere after rotting for some time—thin, thread-like maggots writhed in the bird's eye sockets.
Her stomach twisted as if she might vomit on the spot. But Talia desperately hid any sign of distress and sharply called out to the maid who had brought the soup.
"You! Come here and sit down."
The woman, bewildered by the sudden order, soon eyed her warily.
After a pause, she replied stiffly,
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I have a lot of work to do."
With that, she turned to leave the dining hall.
This was the woman who always lingered nearby after serving the food, watching Talia's reaction with apparent enjoyment. Her haste to leave today suggested she sensed something bad was about to happen.
Talia shot up from her seat and seized the brass pitcher on the table. She swung it with all her might at the insolent maid's head, who had dared ignore a princess's command and turn her back without permission.
No matter how scrawny a child's strength, a blow from a metal object to the head wouldn't be light.
The maid let out a piercing scream and collapsed onto the carpet.
Not only the struck maid but all a dozen or so servants in the dining hall froze as if paralyzed. Some maids stifled screams with their hands over their mouths.
But Talia paid no heed to their shocked stares. She imperiously nodded toward the man standing like a shadow in one corner of the dining hall.
"Make this woman sit right next to me. Now."
The man, who had been staring piercingly at her face, slowly approached and hauled up the woman, whose soul seemed half departed.
She struggled desperately once she came to her senses, but she stood no chance against the trained man's strength. Dragged kicking and screaming, the maid was forcibly seated at the table.
Talia returned to her seat and stared intently at the woman's face beside her. The spout of the pitcher had torn her scalp, and dark red blood trickled down her temple, forming two long streaks across her pallid white cheek.
Talia shoved the bowl of soup with the dead bird in front of her, unfazed by the gruesome sight. The woman's confused eyes dropped to the soup below, then flicked back to Talia.
Talia forced a spoon into the woman's sweaty, clammy fingers.
"To commend your daily efforts in preparing my meals, I'm sharing my breakfast with you today. Finish every bit out of appreciation for your sincerity."
"Y-Your Highness, I..."
"Eat."
Talia said forcefully, dragging the maid's hand toward the bowl.
"You brought it for me to eat, didn't you? What's the reason you can't?"
"I-I just..."
The woman's lips trembled as she cast pleading glances around for help. But everyone was frozen in the sudden chaos, unsure what to do.
Talia barked savagely,
"Eat it now!"
The maid flinched violently and shoved Talia's hand away. She tried to bolt, but the man held her fast from behind; she couldn't budge.
Alternating terrified glances between the man's gloomy face and Talia's, the woman began to sob and beg.
"I-I... I was wrong... I won't... d-do it again. Please, just forgive me this once..."
"If you don't finish this bowl, you won't leave here on your own two feet."
The woman's face drained to a bluish pallor. Her eyes dropped to the sword hanging at the man's waist—he was clearly gripping her.
Gasping raggedly, she cried out desperately,
"Please, please... have mercy...!"
"I'm showing mercy right now."
Talia said indifferently.
"I could kill you on the spot. But instead, I'm giving you a chance to live."
The woman's body shuddered uncontrollably.
Talia pushed the soup with the rotting bird's corpse right in front of her.
"If you understand, shove it all in your mouth."