TFM 52

Chapter 52

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Overcome by a strange emotion she couldn’t put into words, Talia gazed at the castle gates drawing ever closer.

Soon, she would be freed from this excruciating pain.

It wouldn’t be some quack healer too busy trying to please Gareth, but the first-rate mages of the Empress’s Palace who would restore her to her former, flawless self.

Moistening her parched lips, she cautiously lowered her gaze to examine her body.

Her body, wrapped in a cream-colored, sheer dress, was in no condition that could be called beautiful, even by the most generous standards.

The rough outlines of the thick bandages wrapped from her thighs to her ankles were grotesquely visible through the thin skirt, and while the burn scars on her palms had been neatly healed by magic, her fingernails remained bruised and stained a dark red.

Having gone almost without food throughout the journey, her gaunt, unattractive appearance likely contributed to her shabby appearance.

Suddenly, a wave of anxiety washed over her.

Seeing her like this, won’t everyone laugh at her?

As she recalled the maids cackling that she had brought this upon herself, cold sweat broke out on her back.

Talia quickly drew the curtains over the window. If anyone were to see her and snicker that she had been struck by divine punishment, she feared she would lose her composure.

She pulled the thin linen blanket tangled on the floor over her head.

A moment later, she heard the sound of a carriage passing through the city gates.

Peeking out from beneath the blanket, Talia strained her ears to listen to the various noises coming from outside. The clatter of hooves and the booming commands of the infantry echoed loudly, and the melody of the slow funeral march grew even more somber.

Mixed in with it was the murmur of the crowd. It was as if thousands of flying insects were chirping all at once. Feeling her nerves gradually grow taut, Talia pulled the blanket back up over her head.

After what seemed like a while, the carriage, which had been moving slowly along the cobblestone road, came to a halt, and the surroundings grew even more chaotic. It seemed as though every servant in the imperial palace had come pouring out.

She crouched in the corner of the carriage, waiting for the commotion to die down. She intended to stay holed up there until Gareth and Ayla went to pay their respects to the Emperor according to palace protocol. She didn’t want to expose her disheveled appearance to their followers.

Talia rubbed her tingling legs and held her breath, staying completely still.

Just then, without warning, the door burst open, and a dark shadow invaded the carriage.

Talia looked up and her eyes widened at the familiar silhouette standing with her back to the sunlight. Her nanny, stumbling as she climbed into the carriage, wrapped her plump arms around Talia and hugged her tightly.

“Oh my, my poor little lady. What has become of you?”

Then, cupping her face with her large hands, she examined her from every angle before tears began streaming down her cheeks like rain.

“How could you have grown so thin? As if being injured weren’t enough, your face has practically wasted away to half its former size…………….”

Talia, who had been staring up at her blankly, soon contorted her face and threw her arms around the nanny’s neck.

As she nestled into the woman’s ample bosom like a young animal burrowing into its mother’s embrace, the nanny stroked her back up and down.

Moved by the touch, as if she were soothing a newborn baby, Talia choked up and burst into tears. She buried her face in the nanny’s warm, cinnamon-scented hair and sobbed uncontrollably.

“Nanny, I… I’m in so much pain. It hurts so much I feel like I’m going to die.”

“Don’t worry. Her Majesty will make you all better.”

Wiping the tears from her cheeks, the nanny pointed toward the carriage entrance. Talia spotted a strange man standing there and shrank back.

The man, his face covered in a snow-white cloth, scrutinized her intently with his dark gray eyes rimmed in gold.

At that gaze, which seemed to be inspecting her as if she were an object, Talia instinctively clung to her nanny. The nanny gently patted her back and spoke soothingly.

“As soon as Her Majesty Senevere heard that you had been injured, she summoned the mages of the Taren family. They will restore you to your former self.”

Then, firmly prying her hand away, the nanny stepped aside to let the mages enter.

Watching the shadows approaching her, Talia stumbled backward. Her habitual wariness reared its head.

“I’ll walk on my own—step aside.”

“With that leg?”

The gaunt man, who had been bending toward her, tilted his head in confusion. Talia flushed with humiliation.

“I have no problem walking all the way to the Empress’s Palace!”

The man’s eyes narrowed beneath his veil. Talia was overcome by a strange sense of unease.

The man, who had been stroking his chin as if deep in thought, suddenly grabbed her leg with a firm grip.

The pain was so intense that everything went white before her eyes, and Talia let out a scream. He squeezed the wound so hard that blood seeped through the bandage.

“If we let you walk on a leg like that and the wound bursts open, it’s us who’ll suffer. Don’t be so stubborn.”

Talia looked up at him with eyes wide with shock.

The man released her leg and gestured to another man standing across from them.

“You carry her.”

The man immediately bent down and slid his arms under her back. A chill ran through her entire body, as if a snake had touched her.

Talia twisted her upper body to avoid his hand and swung her arm.

“Don’t touch me!”

The man, struck in the jaw, muttered something unintelligible in a rough, metallic voice. Realizing it was the language of the Elves, Talia stiffened.

Through the hood, she could see abnormally long ears, plaster-like skin, and pale hair tinged with blue. He was undoubtedly an Origin Elf, not a half-elf or a quarter-elf.

Fully aware of just how inhuman these beings were, Talia was overcome with terror.

The two men, who had been discussing something in their own language, gripped her arms tightly from both sides. Talia opened her mouth to scream.

At that moment, a cold, damp hand covered her eyes, and all strength drained from her body. It felt as if her bones and muscles had completely melted away.

“You’re making me waste my magic for nothing.”

The man who removed his hand from her face muttered under his breath. Talia looked up at him with dilated pupils.

She wanted to scream, “What are you doing?!” but only a rasping sound came out of her throat.

The man straightened up and gave an order to the man sitting across from him.

“She won’t be able to move now. Now, take her to the infirmary.”

The man who had been struck in the jaw immediately obeyed the order.

Lifted up like a sack of potatoes, Talia cast a pleading glance toward her nanny. But as always, the nanny remained oblivious to her terror.

“Just bear with it a little longer, young lady. Everything will be all right.”

Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, the nanny leaped down from the carriage. The man carrying Talia followed her out.

As the intense sunlight poured into her eyes, Talia squinted.

After blinking a few times, she saw soldiers from the Empress’s Palace surrounding the carriage.

As she scanned them with anxious eyes, she spotted the figure of a royal knight pacing restlessly beyond the wall of soldiers.

Just as he tried to push past the Empress’s guards to reach her, a mage from the Taren family firmly stopped him.

“Your duty is done. We will take care of Her Highness the Princess, so step aside.”

“But I am her personal guard. I must attend to her……”

“Given Her Highness’s current condition, isn’t it as good as saying your authority has already been revoked?”

The knight was at a loss for words and fell silent. The mage clicked his tongue in disdain, pushed him aside with a single hand, and then crossed the chaotic open space lined with supply wagons.

Talia looked around in a panic. Before long, she spotted a head of faintly amber hair among the knights waiting at the palace entrance. Just as she was about to call out his name without thinking, Talia snapped back to her senses and bit her tongue.

Varkas would never step forward to help her.

In fact, she didn’t even know why she felt the urge to ask him for help.

These were the mages sent by Senevere. They certainly wouldn’t do anything to harm her.

As she repeated this to herself, trying to quell her anxiety, the man who had been holding her took a step toward him.

Talia tensed as she watched Varkas’s face draw closer.