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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and ‌enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 12
She rose from her bed and stood before the mirror, studying her gaunt reflection for a long moment.
I looked like ‌a sewer rat that had fallen into my stew.
With that thought, a hollow laugh escaped my lips when the Handmaid ‌‌‌who attended to ‌‌my grooming each morning entered the chamber.
"You've risen early, Your Highness. Come here. Allow me ‌‌to assist with your bath."
"That won't be necessary." ‌‌‌‌
At my cold response, the Handmaid's sharp eyes narrowed slightly.
She looked down at me with an imperious gaze and began to lecture.
"Your Highness has a duty to maintain perfect propriety at all times and in all places, in accordance with Imperial Family law. Such childish tantrums are...."
"Nursemaid!"
At ‍‌my sharp cry, the ‌‌Handmaid flinched and fell silent. I swept past her and seized the bell hanging beside my bed, shaking it frantically.
"Nursemaid! Nursemaid!"
At that, the Nursemaid who had been sleeping in the adjacent chamber ‌‌burst through the door in ‌‌‌a flurry.
I pointed at the Nursemaid and spoke with arrogant authority.
"From now on, you shall handle all of my grooming. Mother said yesterday ‌‌‌that this arrangement was ‌‌‌acceptable. So you may leave now."
"But...."
"Are you refusing the Empress's command?"
At my sharp retort, the Handmaid, who had been regarding me with uncertainty, departed. She seemed to have no desire to assist with ‌‌‌‌‌‌my toilette if it meant engaging ‌‌in such conflict.
I turned sharply toward the Nursemaid, whose face was ‌‌still heavy with sleep, her eyes puffy and swollen.
"Did you hear that? From now on, all bathing and dressing shall be your responsibility. Pay attention and do your work properly."
"Yes, Miss...."
The Nursemaid answered perfunctorily, stifling a yawn. ‌
I raised my arm and ‌‌‌‌struck her soft cheek without mercy. The Nursemaid stared at ‌‌me ‌‌‌in shock, her eyes ‌wide with surprise at the sudden blow.
I mimicked the expression Mother often wore when her anger reached its peak.
"How many times must I tell you to address me as 'Your Highness'?"
The Nursemaid's brown eyes widened in astonishment.
I met her gaze directly and emphasized each ‌‌word as though spitting them out.
"From now on, if ‌you call me 'Miss,' you will receive a slap."
Then I hurried the bewildered Nursemaid to begin my grooming.
The Nursemaid's movements were so sluggish that several hours had passed by the time my toilette was ‌‌‌complete. Though I had eaten nothing properly for weeks and felt as though I might collapse at any moment, I left the chamber with my back held rigidly straight.
In the ‌‌‌‌Corridor stood a man in dark clothes with a gloomy countenance. Startled to find a stranger guarding my chamber door, I ‌‌‌‌froze—then recalled Mother's words. This ghost-like Nobleman ‌must be the "capable guard" she had mentioned.
I gestured to the Nobleman with a slight nod of my chin, signaling him to follow, then proceeded toward the Dining Hall. The servants who had apparently been waiting for my arrival cast disapproving glances. ‌‌‌
Ignoring their stares, I ‌‌seated myself at the head of the long table. Then I gestured with arrogant authority.
"Bring the food."
Upon ‌‌hearing my command, the servants, who had been reluctant, soon brought plates laden with ‌‌various dishes.
A Handmaid in her mid-thirties oversaw all of this. Following her instructions, the servants placed silver plates in order, and finally a bowl of soup was set before me.
I ‌‌‌stared intently into the bowl. The pale broth was filled with beans and meat. It ‌‌appeared intact on the surface, but the contents were clearly otherwise.
I picked up a spoon and stirred the thick liquid covered in white cream. When I scraped the bottom of the bowl, a dead sparrow with a broken neck emerged.
It had clearly been dead for quite some time—from the eye sockets ‌‌‌of the decaying bird, several thin maggots writhed visibly like threads.
My stomach twisted as though I might retch at any moment. Yet I desperately suppressed any sign of distress and cried out sharply at ‌‌the Handmaid who had brought the ‌‌soup.
"You there! Come sit down."
The woman, who had been wearing a bewildered ‌‌‌expression at the sudden command, soon cast a wary glance in my direction.
After a brief pause, she spoke in a clipped tone.
"Forgive me, Your Highness, but I have much work to attend to."
With that, she turned to ‌‌‌‌leave the Dining Hall.
This was the same Handmaid who always lingered nearby after serving food, as if savoring my reaction. Her ‌‌sudden haste to depart suggested she sensed something unpleasant was about to unfold. ‌‌‌
Talia rose abruptly from her seat and seized the brass pitcher sitting on the table. With all her strength, she brought it down upon the ‌‌‌insolent Handmaid's head—one who dared ignore a princess's command and had the audacity to turn her ‌‌‌‌back without permission.
Even the meager strength of ‌‌a gaunt child would deliver a considerable blow when the object striking her head was made of metal.
The Handmaid let out a piercing shriek and crumpled onto the carpet.
Every servant in ‌‌‌‌‌the Dining Hall—a dozen or more—froze as if paralyzed. Several of the ‌‌maids gasped in horror, their hands flying to their mouths.
But Talia paid no heed to their shocked stares. She turned toward the man standing like a shadow in the corner of the Dining Hall ‌‌and nodded at him with arrogant authority.
"Seat this woman next to me at once."
The ‌Nobleman, who had been standing silently ‌‌‌with his gaze fixed upon my face, walked over slowly and hauled the half-conscious woman to her feet.
The woman, regaining her senses too late, resisted desperately, but she was no match for the trained strength of the Nobleman. She was dragged before the table and forced into a seat.
Talia returned to her own place and stared intently at the woman now sitting ‌beside her. The pitcher's spout had scraped her scalp, tearing the skin, and dark blood trickled down her temple, leaving two long streaks across her ashen cheeks.
Talia, unmoved by this gruesome sight, pushed ‌‌‌‌a bowl of soup containing a dead ‌‌‌‌bird in front of the woman. The woman's confused eyes dropped to the soup before her, then rose again to meet hers.
Talia forced a ‌‌‌‌spoon into the woman's trembling, sweat-dampened fingers.
"In recognition of your ‌‌‌daily labor in preparing food, I have decided to share my meal with you today. Out of consideration for your sincerity, I expect you to finish every last drop."
"I, Your Highness, I..."
"Eat."
Talia dragged the Handmaid's hand over the bowl and spoke with coercive force.
"You brought it for me to eat, didn't you? What reason could you possibly have for not eating it?"
"I, I was only..."
The woman's lips trembled as she cast pleading glances around the room, seeking help. But everyone stood frozen, uncertain what to ‌‌do in the face of this sudden turn of events.
Talia spoke with savage menace.
"Eat it now!"
The Handmaid flinched violently and roughly pushed away Talia's hand. She tried to rise and flee, but the Nobleman behind her held her firmly in place, leaving her unable to move.
The woman, her face contorted with terror, alternated her gaze between the Nobleman's grim visage and Talia's face, then began to whimper and plead.
"I, I... I have made a mistake... Never again... this will never happen again. Please, just forgive me once..."
"If you do not empty this bowl completely, you will not be able to walk out of here on your own two feet."
The woman's face turned ashen. Her eyes dropped to the Nobleman's waist, ‌‌where she clearly saw the sword hanging there.
She gasped ‌‌‌roughly and cried out in desperation.
"Please, please... have mercy...!"
"I ‌‌am showing you mercy right now."
Talia spoke with cold indifference.
"I could kill you this very instant. Yet I am ‌‌‌‌giving you a chance to live."
The woman's body trembled violently.
Talia pushed the bowl of soup containing the rotting bird's corpse toward her.
"If you understand, force it all into your mouth."

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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team ‌and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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