TFM 12

Chapter 12

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Talia got out of bed and stood in front of the mirror, staring for a long time at her shriveled frame.

She looked like the rat in her stew.

As she thought this, she smiled wryly, and the maid who groomed her every morning entered the room.

"I see you're up early. Come here, I'll help you wash up."

"No need."

The maid's sharp eyes narrowed at the cold response.

She looked down at Talia with a stern stare and lectured her.

"Your Highness is obligated by imperial law to present yourself in perfect grooming at all times and in all places. Childish tantrums are no excuse for..................."

"Nanny!"

The sharp exclamation made the maid flinch and shut her mouth. Talia glared at the maid and rattled the bell beside her bed.

"Nanny! Nanny!"

The nanny, who had overslept in the next room, burst through the door, panting.

Talia pointed at the nanny and said haughtily.

“From now on, my nanny will be in charge of all my grooming. Yesterday, my mother said it was okay for me to do so. So, you go now.”

"But..................."

"Are you going to disobey the Empress's orders?"

Talia shot back sharply, and the maid, who had been looking at her with a puzzled expression, stepped outside. She didn't seem inclined to help Talia with her grooming by arguing.

Talia turned to the nanny, who rubbed her puffy eyes with a groggy face, and shouted sternly.

"Sis you hear me? From now on, it's all up to you to bathe me and dress me, so get to work."

"I understand, Miss.................."

The nanny replied dryly, yawning.

Talia raised her arm and slapped the nanny hard across her pudgy cheek. The nanny, caught off guard, looked at her in surprise.

Talia did a convincing imitation of the look her mother often wore when she was at the end of her rope.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me 'Your Highness' before you get it?"

The nanny's brown eyes widened.

Talia looked straight into them, chewing each word for emphasis.

"From now on, if you call me Miss, you'll get a slap on the face."

She then turned away from the nanny, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression, and began to groom her.

By the time she was done, hours had passed because the nanny was so slow. Though she hadn't eaten in weeks and felt like she could collapse at any moment, Talia stood up straight and left the room.

In the hallway stood a grim-faced man dressed in black. Stiffening at the sight of a stranger standing guard at her door, Talia quickly remembered her mother's words. Somehow, this ghostly man seemed to be the 'useful bodyguard'.

Talia jerked her chin at him, as if to indicate that he should follow her, and started toward the dining hall. Several servants gave her disapproving glances, as if they had been waiting for her to descend for some time.

Talia ignored their glares and took a seat at the head of the long table, then jerked her chin in a haughty manner.

"Bring the food."

The servants, who were still grimacing at her command, soon returned with platters of food.

A maid in her mid-thirties oversaw the whole affair. Following her instructions, the servants set the silver plates down in order, and finally, a bowl of soup was placed in front of her.

Talia stared into the bowl. The whitish broth was filled with beans and meat, and while it looked fine on the outside, she knew it wasn't.

Talia picked up her spoon and skimmed the thick liquid, which was covered in white cream. Scraping the bottom of the bowl, she pulled out another dead sparrow, this time with its neck broken.

It had been dead for a while, and she could see a few thread-thin maggots wriggling around in the decomposing bird's eye sockets.

Her guts twisted as if she was about to burst into vomit. But Talia desperately hid her agitation and called out sharply to the maid who had brought the soup.

"You, come here and sit down."

The woman looked bewildered at the sudden instruction, followed by a wary glance.

She paused for a moment, then spoke in a stiff tone.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I have a lot of work to do."

Then she turned and walked out of the dining room.

She always stood nearby after serving the food, as if she was enjoying Talia’s reaction. Today, she was in such a hurry to leave, she must have sensed something bad was about to happen.

Talia jumped to her feet and grabbed the brass kettle on the table. Then, with all her might, she smashed the head of the insolent maid who had dared to defy the Princess’ orders and turn her back on her without permission.

Even with the strength of a skinny child, the blow must have been no light one, for the metal object struck her head.

With a piercing scream, the maid fell onto the carpet.

The maid, as well as the dozen or so servants in the dining room, froze as if paralyzed. Some of the maids covered their mouths in screams.

Talia, however, was unperturbed by their stunned gazes, and she gestured haughtily toward the man standing like a shadow at one side of the room.

"Get this woman to sit down next to me now."

The man, who had been standing still and staring at her face, slowly walked over and helped the half-dazed maid to her feet.

She struggled desperately, but the man's strength was too much for her. The maid was dragged to her feet and forced to sit at the table.

Talia returned to her seat and stared into the face of the maid next to her.

Her scalp had been torn open by the kettle's spout, and dark red blood trickled down the woman's temple, forming two long streaks across her pale cheeks.

Talia, unfazed by the gruesome sight, shoved the soup bowl with the dead bird in front of the woman. Her confused eyes darted down to the soup in front of her, then back up to Talia.

Talia forced a spoon into her cold, sweaty fingers.

"In honor of your hard work in preparing food for me 

 every day, I'm sharing my meal with you today. Please, out of kindness, finish it all.”

"Your Highness, I.........."

"Eat."

Talia said forcefully, dragging the maid's hand over the bowl.

"You brought it to me to eat, why wouldn’t you?"

"Well, I'm just..................."

The woman pursed her lips and looked around for help. But everyone seemed to be frozen in place, unable to do anything.

Talia snarled ferociously.

"Eat it!"

The maid recoiled violently and swatted Talia's hand away, then scrambled to her feet and tried to flee, but the man's hold on her from behind seemed to immobilize her.

With a look of horror, she alternated between the man's grim face and Talia's, and soon began sobbing and pleading.

"I, I............... I...... I've done wrong................ It won't happen again............... this, so please forgive me just once..................."

"If you don't drain this bowl, you won't be able to walk out of here on your own two feet."

The woman's face turned a deep blue. Her eyes drifted down to the waist of the man holding her. She clearly saw the sword hanging there.

She gasped raggedly and cried out desperately.

"Please, please....... have mercy....... have mercy!"

"I’m showing mercy right now."

Talia said harshly.

"I could kill you at this moment, but I'm giving you a chance to live."

The woman's body shuddered.

Talia shoved the soup with the rotting bird carcass in front of her.

"If you understand, put it all in your mouth."

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