Passing by the Main Palace, I could see the servants who recognized me hastily slamming their foreheads against the ground. Perhaps they were afraid the notorious Second Imperial Princess might decide to drag them by the hair.
Talia swept past the maids, who wore expressions of shock at her unannounced arrival, and stepped into the Empress’s Palace—a structure decorated more luxuriously than any fortress in the capital. At sunset, Bernadette usually enjoyed a banquet with the Emperor in the Main Palace or spent time quietly in her private residence. Talia assumed it would be the latter today.
As expected, Bernadette was resting inside a secret workshop behind her private study.
Descending into the basement through an entrance hidden behind bookshelves, Talia caught the scent of various herbs that made her head swim: the intense aroma of perfume layered over the faint, nose-tickling bite of smoke. Inside the spacious room, where violet particles seemed to drift in the air, medicinal bottles containing alchemical ingredients and experimental tools were scattered about. Stacks of books written in the languages of countless races were piled high beside a large, roaring fireplace.
It was a scene of chaos—hardly the environment one would associate with a woman who dealt only in the most flamboyant and valuable treasures.
Talia habitually strode across the room to the desk where Bernadette sat. The Empress was leaning back against a chair thick with velvet cushions, scanning a parchment scroll. Seeing her not even acknowledge her presence made my stomach burn as if I had swallowed a lump of fire.
Talia leaned over the desk, her teeth clenched.
“Asros came to see me a little while ago.”
Only then did deep blue eyes finally drift toward her. Talia continued, her tone cynical.
“He said that I would be getting married soon.”
“I didn’t realize Asros took such an interest in you.”
Bernadette said indifferently, putting down the parchment. The sight of her focusing only on her son filled me with a sudden, violent urge to grab whatever was nearby and throw it. Talia gripped her skirt, barely suppressing the impulse.
“Why must I hear about my marriage through him? And what is this about me joining the pilgrimage, too? What on earth are you plotting?”
“Plotting? How unpleasant.”
Bernadette let out a small sigh and stood up. For a moment, I was captivated by her elegant movements—devoid of even a hint of disarray—before I looked at my mother’s face, softened by a gentle smile, with wary eyes.
Bernadette spoke cheerfully, her voice that of an innocent young girl.
“It is about time you married, isn’t it? A proposal arrived from a suitable partner at a suitable time, so I simply moved things along.”
“Is this ‘suitable partner’ that snake-like man, what’s his name? Cerian?”
Talia twisted her lips, recalling the sleazy-looking man who had escorted her at the banquet.
“I suppose he is a man Mother has verified inside and out, then?”
“If you are asking whether Count Cerian is capable of performing as a man… he is. He possesses a very excellent talent in that regard. If you wish, he will gladly serve you.”
As a far more terrible counterattack returned the words I had thrown to mock my mother’s history with men, Talia lost the composure she had been struggling to maintain. Every word from Bernadette felt like a spider crawling over her skin.
Talia screamed, as if to vent the pressure.
“I don’t need a man as repulsive as that! I’d rather bite off my tongue and die than let him lay a hand on me!”
“Oh, dear…”
Bernadette clutched one of her cheeks and sighed, feigning distress.
“Then I shall find a different groom. I was in the middle of narrowing down a list of other suitable candidates anyway.”
She pointed to the parchment on the desk. Talia shuddered, recognizing a few of the names. They were all Bernadette’s fanatical followers. *Does this woman intend to make one of the men who lusts after me my husband?*
Anger and fear boiled in her stomach.
“I don’t want to get married! Stop pretending to care and please, just leave me alone as you have always done!”
“Does that mean… you are saying you do not want any man other than the heir of the Grand Duke Siorcan?”
Stung in her weak spot, Talia stepped back, her face draining of color. Bernadette pulled at the corners of her lips, her venomous tongue lashing out sharply.
“If you wanted him that badly, you should have used every means necessary to get your hands on him. I kept that man by your side for seven years. What on earth have you been doing all this time?”
She shook her head in pity.
“The man you wanted will belong to another woman in a few months. Do you intend to just stand by and watch?”
Talia trembled. It made her skin crawl that Bernadette had been peering through her so clearly all this time. Bernadette, watching her daughter’s pale face, wore the mask of a benevolent mother once again. She continued in an affectionate, coaxing tone.
“Talia, I planned this specifically for you. To present my precious daughter with a way out of her current, miserable situation.”
A long, white finger brushed lightly against her cheek. It felt like a snake slithering over her skin, and Talia stiffened as if paralyzed. Bernadette gazed intently at her daughter’s terrified face and whispered, as softly as a feather.
“You have two paths. One is to use any means necessary to claim the man you want, and the other is to become a slightly less miserable loser.”
Her mellifluous voice clung stickily to her ears like thick sap.
“I chose the former method, and I obtained everything I desired. But if you lack the ability to do so, choosing another partner who is satisfactory enough and pretending to be just as happy as a winner is also an option. It is somewhat pathetic, but if you are going to be a loser anyway, wouldn’t it be better to at least preserve your pride?”
Talia tore herself away from her like a beast escaping a trap. Bernadette offered a sweet smile toward her daughter.
“This trip is the final opportunity I am giving you. Think carefully about which path you will choose.”
Talia, who had been shooting rebellious glares at her, soon fled the laboratory. A cheerful, bird-like laugh followed her like a shadow. That sound clung to her mind for a long time, refusing to fade.
* * *
In the end, Talia ended up on the journey with her half-siblings, who despised her.
Thanks to the Empress’s Palace providing the personnel and equipment, there was nothing she had to worry about on her own. Bernadette had even intended to attach her own private soldiers and high-ranking mages as guards.
However, this was thwarted by Gareth’s fierce opposition. The Crown Prince was already furious enough about having to go on a journey with a half-sister who was an eyesore to him; he would never obediently follow an order to bring along the Empress’s men as well.
Rumor had it that Gareth had gone directly to the Emperor to engage in a heated dispute to have Bernadette’s order rescinded. It was a good thing for Talia. She had no desire to be surrounded by her mother’s fanatics.
‘For my sake? Don’t make me laugh…’
Talia glared at the servants moving luggage onto the carriage and picked at a hangnail on her finger.
There was no way Bernadette would plot such a troublesome thing for her own sake. There had to be some other motive. She watched the servants sent by the Empress’s Palace with a suspicious gaze.