Chapter 9
The moment Talia opened her eyes, she began preparing herself with more care than ever before. She endured, without complaint, the maids scrubbing her skin raw with stiff, coarse brushes until it turned red, and bore through the relentless brushing of her hair, even when it made her scalp sting.
Once she'd finished dressing, she put on the velvet dress her grandfather had given her—the first gift he'd ever offered her, on the day she left House Taren, after all those years of looking at her with visible distaste.
Looking into the mirror, she saw the reflection of a girl with a face as pretty as an angel's. She thought that if you turned Senevier back into a nine-year-old, she'd probably look exactly like this.
Staring through the mirror at her own deep blue eyes—the same shade as her mother's—she left her room with a determined expression. But the boy, who always trained at the same hour, was nowhere to be found today.
Slipping away from her attendant, Talia wandered the castle grounds for a long while, her shoulders eventually slumping in disappointment. The thought that she might never see him again made everything go dark before her eyes.
She didn't even understand, herself, why she was so fixated on someone she'd only spoken to once.
No—actually, she did know. On that day when the rain had poured down so hard, he could have simply ignored some mud-covered child and walked right past her. But he hadn't.
He'd stepped into the pit himself, ruining his clothes and shoes, and pulled her out.
He'd wrapped his warm arms around her body, chilled through by the rain, and looked into her eyes for a long while.
He'd carefully cradled the pitiful, half-dead little bird and taken it back to his own quarters.
That alone had been enough to become her hope.
Talia walked without stopping, following the outer edge of buildings that seemed to soar all the way to the sky.
The imperial palace felt like the belly of some massive beast. It was so vast and labyrinthine that even after months of living here, she kept stumbling into places she'd never seen before.
She wandered for a long while through gardens thick with flowers and trees, then crossed a wide clearing and made her way toward the back of the main palace.
Her legs, which had been moving nonstop since early morning until noon, throbbed painfully. Blisters must have formed, because her soles burned as though touched by fire with every step.
Wiping away the sweat trickling down her forehead, she gazed up at the blue sky through the thick canopy of leaves.
She wasn't sure how long she'd stood there before she straightened up, thinking she should head back to the annex. That was when she spotted a boy's slender figure walking away between the straight, pale trunks of birch trees. Talia's eyes lit up with joy.
Even from a considerable distance, she recognized him instantly. No one could possibly imitate the swift, elegant way he moved—back straight, walking on as quietly as flowing water.
Talia immediately took off after him. But no matter how much she quickened her pace, the distance between them refused to close.
She realized the boy was walking quite urgently. Where could he be headed in such a hurry?
She thought about calling out to him, but her breath had climbed all the way to her throat, and no voice would come. In the end, she lost sight of him entirely.
Talia sank down against a tree trunk, her face blank with exhaustion. Needle-sharp sunlight poured down mercilessly onto her sweat-drenched face.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there, squinting up through the thick leaves with dazed eyes, when a faint sound of laughter drifted in on the breeze. It sounded almost like a small bird chirping.
Talia got to her feet and slowly walked toward the sound.
Passing through the dense birch trees and the thickly overgrown brush, she came upon a breathtaking scene—a flower bed bursting with lavender, marigolds, and tiny white baby's breath, a pristine white marble gazebo, and a small fountain. It was a garden lovely enough to belong to fairies.
Talia gazed around, entranced by the dazzling scene, as though golden particles were drifting through the air. Then she spotted the boy, kneeling on one knee before a marble bench.
He wasn't alone. Seated across from him was a lovely girl who looked about her own age—a cute little girl with silk-smooth dark brown hair and rosy cheeks.
As the girl chattered away nonstop, a faint smile touched the corner of the boy's lips. Seeing that, a sharp sting shot through Talia's chest, as if she'd been pricked by something. It felt exactly like having her own private treasure stolen away from her.
Talia knew that feeling wasn't rational.
At a glance, the two of them clearly looked like they'd known each other for a long time. She, on the other hand, was nothing but a stranger.
So Talia decided to walk over and politely introduce herself to them. She wanted to somehow insert herself into the warm atmosphere surrounding the two of them. More than anything, she wanted to make the boy's blue eyes and faint smile turn toward her instead.
Driven by that overwhelming urge, she stepped out from behind the bushes and approached the fountain, its water bubbling upward. The boy's beautiful silver-blue eyes and a pair of clear green eyes both turned toward her at once.
Talia, who had never once interacted with children her own age, felt her mouth go instantly dry.
But she was an imperial princess. Surely no one would dare refuse her offer of friendship.
She lifted her chin with deliberate confidence and greeted them boldly.
"Hello."
The boy simply stared at her without moving.
Maybe he didn't recognize her? The first time they'd met, she'd been covered head to toe in mud, so it made sense that she might look unfamiliar dressed up like a proper princess.
She was about to bring up how he'd helped her a few months ago, when the girl, who had been sitting there looking dazed, suddenly let out a piercing shriek.
"No! No! Not here—not this place!"
Her voice was desperate, as though she were confronting some horrific nightmare.
Staring at Talia with terror-filled eyes, the girl flung herself against the boy.
"Please, Barkas! Make her leave! Don't let her set foot here! Please, don't ever let me see her again!"
Her slender arms wrapped tightly around the boy's neck.
The boy wrapped an arm protectively around the girl's back as she sobbed and trembled violently, and shot a cold glare over her shaking, narrow shoulder. Talia stumbled backward.
He growled in a low, threatening voice.
"Get out of here. Now."
Staring blankly at his icy expression, Talia turned and broke into a run.
It felt exactly like having ice water poured over her head. Her mind went completely blank, as though her brain had frozen solid.
She wasn't sure how long she ran, but by the time she neared the main palace, something violently seized her by the hair. Her head snapped backward, and her body pitched sharply off balance. Before she could even process what was happening, a heavy blow struck her body.
She curled up, clutching her aching stomach, and rolled across the grass.
"How dare you set foot there, you filthy thing!"
A young, rage-filled voice thundered from above her.
Talia looked up, startled. A boy she'd never seen before was glaring down at her.
Dark black hair, eyes like burning green flame... She could tell he closely resembled the girl she'd just seen, but she had no idea how long he'd been following her, or why he was so furious.
Frozen in shock at being attacked for the first time in her life, she barely had time to react before the boy kicked her in the stomach again.
"Die!"
The blow sent a blinding shock through her vision, and she curled up tightly, coughing weakly.
The boy kept kicking her, one blow after another, as though punting a small ball.
"Die! Die! Just die already!"
His shrieking cries drove into her eardrums like long, piercing nails. The boy's curses and violence didn't stop until the servants, alarmed by the scene, came running.
Talia crawled along the ground like an insect, trying to dodge his savage kicks. Even after beating her like that, his fury seemed nowhere near spent—held back by the arms of two attendants now restraining him, the boy roared like a wild animal, panting with rage.
"Disappear from this world! You filthy bastard!"
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