The Empress Arrives
A heavy silence settled over the banquet hall.
Thalia noticed that every soul in the room was watching for her reaction, and she let a smile touch her lips.
"Then why are you standing about instead of bringing the guests in at once?"
When she rebuked the head steward in a deliberately casual tone, the man by the door wet his lips, his face tight with tension.
"That is… it seems Your Highness will need to greet the guests in person."
Thalia raised an eyebrow.
At present she held the highest rank in the entire East. There could be no guest she would need to rush out and receive herself.
Just as she was about to snap back, the man's trembling voice pierced her eardrums.
"Th-the representative of the envoy party is… Her Majesty the Empress of the Empire."
Thalia's mouth fell open. Her mind went blank all at once. Then the rising murmur of voices snapped her back to her senses.
She hurried out of the banquet hall. In that moment she had no leisure to fear that all eyes might fix on her unnatural gait.
Skirts swirling, Thalia crossed the vast hall and burst out of the building.
In the castle courtyard, hundreds of envoys stood arrayed beneath the imperial banners. At their head, a woman waved with a bright smile.
"Thalia!"
A woman who shone as brilliantly as the sun crossed the garden as if walking on clouds. She looked impossibly fresh and youthful for someone with a nineteen-year-old daughter.
"Have you been well?"
In an instant she was right before her, and she pulled Thalia into a fierce embrace with arms soft as cream. The sweet scent of her skin made Thalia's head swim.
Thalia looked up at her with eyes that mixed confusion, unease, fear, and longing.
"M-Mother, why are you here…?"
"Why, to see you, of course."
Senebier kissed her cheek and whispered tenderly.
"I was so curious how you were getting on that I begged Birus to send me as the envoy. And as always, he couldn't break my stubbornness."
Then, with lovely fingers scented of roses, she cupped her daughter's cheeks and studied her face.
"You look better than you did at the palace. Your husband must be treating you well."
For a moment, for reasons she could not name, a chill ran down Thalia's spine. She jerked away from her as if burned.
"Why… did you really come here? What scheme are you plotting this time…!"
"Your Majesty the Empress."
At that moment, a voice like frost cut off her words.
Thalia turned toward the sound. Barcas was crossing the garden, wearing a long black cotehardie with a gray-furred cloak over it.
He seemed to have heard the news mid-meeting at the cathedral and rushed over. Bringing with him the thick scent of frankincense, Barcas deftly stepped between Senebier and Thalia and bowed.
"Thank you for coming such a long way."
"My condolences, Grand Duke Sieorkan."
Swamp-deep blue eyes carefully surveyed the young man's form, carved as precisely as marble. A strange smile spread across her lips.
"Your father must have died without regret, having lived to see a son grown so splendidly."
At the tone that treated him like a little boy, a faint sneer touched Barcas's mouth.
He answered in his characteristic flat voice.
"Your words are more than I deserve."
"You're still so modest. Many at the palace miss you."
With a soft laugh, Senebier cast a meaningful glance at Thalia as she added,
"Especially the Crown Prince and the First Princess seem to feel your absence keenly. Small wonder—the three of you were particularly close."
Thalia clenched her teeth to keep from reacting.
Watching her carefully, Senebier turned a cheerful smile back on Barcas.
"Come to think of it, the two of them asked me to pass along a message. Might we have a moment alone?"
A sharp light flashed in Barcas's eyes.
Everyone in the world knew those two would never entrust anything to Senebier.
What did she want to discuss with him, going so far as to tell such an obvious lie?
Nothing but foreboding filled him.
With a hand that trembled, Thalia clutched at Senebier's skirts.
"You said you came to see me. Talk to me."
At the words she poured out in haste, a flicker of annoyance crossed Senebier's face.
Thalia felt a sudden helplessness, as if she had been thrown back to being a nine-year-old child. Pale and frozen as she had been in those days when she floundered under her mother's coldness—then a large hand settled on her shoulder.
"Your Highness should rest in your chambers."
Separating her from Senebier, Barcas gave orders to the maids waiting by the door.
"Escort the Grand Duchess at once."
The moment the order fell, the maids swarmed forward.
Thalia turned reluctantly. Then a gentle voice rang out behind her.
"We'll save the old mother-daughter talk for later."
Glaring over her shoulder, Thalia soon moved her feet.
Senebier, who had lingered long in Barcas's study, came looking for her only as the sun was setting.
Thalia, who had been pacing the room, ran at once to the door. But the nanny was faster by a step.
The nanny burst out and seized Senebier's skirts, pouring out fat tears.
"Your Majesty! To see you so close again… this humble one can die without regret!"
"Oh my, die? Why would you die?"
Senebier peeled the nanny off naturally and scattered a girlish laugh.
"You must live a long, long time. How could I ever rest easy if Thalia had no nanny at her side?"
The nanny gazed up at Senebier with a face full of emotion.
Watching the scene with loathing, Thalia grabbed her mother's arm with an impatient hand.
"Surely you can spare some time for me now?"
At the sarcastic question, Senebier's eyes curved.
"Of course. I came intending to speak with you, after all."
Then she cast smiling glances at the Sieorkan knights who had followed like watchdogs.
"I wish to speak quietly with my daughter. Would you give us a moment?"
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but for the safety of you both, I cannot obey that order."
Tairon El Drakan bowed his head and politely refused.
The Empress looked with interest at the knight who had defied her, then gave a light shrug.
"It seems we can't be alone after all. Shall we take a short walk?"
With a wary expression, Thalia picked up her coat and left the room.
All the way down the corridor and toward the garden, countless eyes followed them.
At the news that a figure politically opposed to the Grand Ducal house had come to the East of her own accord, everyone in the castle seemed to have gone on high alert.
But Senebier paid no mind to the sharp stares. With a majestic bearing she descended the stairs and glided across the hall. Thalia limped after her.
Matching Senebier's stride, her back was instantly soaked with sweat. Yet the Empress seemed to have not the slightest intention of accommodating her ailing daughter.
Stepping boldly into the garden where the sunset rippled, Senebier turned to the knights with an innocent expression.
"A little distance should be fine, shouldn't it?"
When the knights hesitated, she pressed them with a smiling face.
"Or have you been ordered to eavesdrop on our conversation?"
"…No, Your Majesty. We will wait here."
Tairon answered with a reluctant look.
Without delay, Senebier set off along the leaf-strewn path. Stumbling as she kept pace, Thalia opened her mouth the moment she judged the knights far enough away.
"What exactly did you come for? Don't lie and say you came to see me. I know that's not true."
"I really did come to see you. I wanted to check how you were doing."
Thalia snorted.
This was the woman who hadn't shown so much as the tip of her nose the day Thalia left for the East. And now she was spouting this nonsense?
Just as she was about to snap back, Senebier whispered in her ear as if sharing a secret.
"And I wanted to see whether your husband might turn to our side."
At the unexpected words, Thalia's eyes went wide.
Gazing down at the rippling surface of the water, Senebier continued calmly.
"Because of his marriage to you, Gareth seems to have begun doubting the Sieorkan family's loyalty. So he's reaching toward the North in search of a replacement power."
"That means… surely you're saying he's pushing a new marriage for Aila?"
"Yes. It seems Gareth hopes the Duke of the North will fill the vacancy your husband left."
A chilling smile hung at Senebier's lips.
"But I don't know whether that marriage will truly come about. Your husband is actively obstructing it, you see."
Thalia clenched her skirts so hard her fingertips went white.
Senebier added cruelly,
"Thanks to that, the palace is littered with tales of unfulfilled love between the First Princess and the young Grand Duke Sieorkan."