TFM 93

Chapter 93

***

"You're touring the estate with the steward. Since His Highness has just taken office, there must be plenty to look into, don't you think?"

The nanny replied half-heartedly as she set the food on the table.

"Now, stop pretending to be busy and come sit down. You need to eat quickly and get ready to leave."

Talia swallowed a heavy sigh and pulled out a chair to sit at the table. She still had no appetite, but she didn’t want to argue with her nanny, who seemed to be in a good mood for the first time in a while.

“I’ll just have a tiny bit.”

“Of course you will.”

With a broad smile on her face, the nanny cut the food into bite-sized pieces and served them onto a plate.

Talia broke the bread, which was already cut into pieces the size of her fingernail, into even smaller bits to check for any foreign objects. Once she was convinced the food was safe, she forced the crumbled bread down her throat along with the sticky jam. She was about to finish her meal but the nanny handed her more meat cooked in a mysterious brown sauce and a steamed egg.

She couldn’t bring herself to eat the gamey-smelling meat, so she barely managed to finish one egg before getting up from her seat. Just then, she sensed another presence outside the barracks.

“Your Highness, I’ve come to check on your condition.”

It was the healer Senevere had assigned to her. Talia replied in a listless voice.

“Come in.”

Upon receiving permission, a middle-aged woman with delicate features stepped inside. She asked gently,

“How is the pain today?”

“It’s not too bad today.”

Talia sat up on the bed and replied curtly. The woman naturally bent down in front of her and unwound the bandage wrapped around her leg. As the mottled scar was revealed, the nanny immediately turned her head away.

Talia pretended not to notice and looked down at her leg with an expressionless gaze. The healer smeared a sticky, cream-like substance thickly over the scar, then rewrapped the bandage.

“Your skin might get chafed, so I’ll wrap it a little looser today.”

“It’s fine, so wrap it tight. Make sure it doesn’t come undone.”

“Do you intend to make the scar even bigger?”

The healer scolded her in a stern tone. Talia, who had been glaring at her with sharp eyes, bit her lip and shook her head. The woman, a faint smile playing at the corners of her mouth, wrapped the bandage loosely and added soothingly,

“I’ve tied the knot tightly so it won’t come undone. Don’t worry.”

Instead of answering, Talia felt the bandage. It certainly didn’t look like it would come undone unless she pulled at it with her hands. Just as she let out a small sigh of relief, the woman took a small incense burner out of the bag she’d been carrying under her arm.

“I’ll burn some herbs for you before you leave. It’ll make the carriage ride easier to bear.”

She then placed a bundle of dried herbs, shaped into an incense stick, into a porcelain jar. Talia grabbed her hand to stop her.

“It’s fine.”

The healer’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? The pain will get worse once you’re in the swaying carriage.”

“I’ll just endure it. Varkas…”

She opened her mouth to say that Varkas disliked the smell of burning herbs, but closed it again. She didn’t want him to know she was worried about him. Even though there was no one left to mock or ridicule her feelings now.

Talia snapped, trying to brush it off.

“If you say so, then that’s that.”

After casting a brief, worried glance, the healer pushed the incense burner back into her bag.

Talia rose from her seat, washed her face briefly, and changed her clothes with the nanny’s help.

Once she had finished getting ready and stepped outside, her view was filled with the jumbled rows of yellowish-brown tents and the people bustling back and forth between them.

Faced with this unfamiliar scene, Talia squared her shoulders. Children running barefoot across the grass, women crouching before large fire pits to bake bread and roast meat, men riding horses with their upper bodies bare… Everything was utterly foreign to her.

“You’re finally up.”

As she stared blankly around her, a familiar voice drifted in from somewhere.

Talia turned her head and frowned upon spotting a slender boy with golden-brown eyes. Varkas’s eccentric younger brother was perched on a large chest, glaring at her.

“Are all royals as lazy as you? Everyone was waiting with bated breath for you to get ready.”

Talia raised the corners of her eyes. At that, a fleeting look of intimidation flashed across the boy’s insolent face.

“No, the sun’s already high in the sky, and you didn’t even show your face…”

“How about the greeting?”

Talia snapped coldly. The boy shrugged his shoulders and retorted brazenly.

“I don’t even greet my own father.”

“Is being a brat something to be proud of?”

The boy’s eyes narrowed in anger.

“Who’s a good-for-nothing! I’m just a little free-spirited!”

Talia turned away, not seeing him as worth her time. He quickly followed her.

“Are you naturally that nasty? No, how on earth did you end up like this?”

“….”

“Rumor has it you beat and chase away your maids at the drop of a hat, and even poisoned the First Princess’s wine? Is all that true?”

Talia, who had been walking slowly, came to a sudden halt. As if afraid of being struck, the boy took a step back.

She glared at him silently for a moment, then slowly curled the corners of her mouth upward.

“That’s right. It’s all true.”

The boy’s hazel eyes widened in shock. Looking him straight in the eye, Talia continued in a soft, steady voice.

“I used to beat the maids when I was bored, and I’ve even laced my half-sister’s wine with poison.”

The boy’s pupils trembled violently. It was hard to tell if he was serious or just bluffing. Talia moved in close to him, thrusting her face menacingly toward his.

“Do you think that’s all? I even sharpened my knife every night, planning to tear that pretty little face of yours to shreds.”

She could see the fine hairs on his smooth, glossy cheeks bristle. Leaning close to his ear, which had flushed crimson as if blood were rushing through it, Talia whispered menacingly.

“So you’d better watch your back. I’ll stop at nothing.”

As she straightened up, she saw a face frozen in horror. Talia snorted derisively, as if to show off, then limped toward the carriage.

***

After spending the night in the pastures near Raedgo Castle, they traveled east to explore a fairly large village before turning north.

As they traveled along the dirt roads connecting the villages, large and small encampments appeared sporadically. It seemed that a significant number of the Khan people still adhered to a nomadic lifestyle. To raise hundreds of livestock, a life of moving from pasture to pasture with the seasons must have been inevitable.

In contrast, the settled villagers lived lives similar to those of the people of the Empire. They lived in houses built of stone and earth, cultivated fields, and some opened workshops to make handicrafts or traded foodstuffs at the market.

The wool market, in particular, was thriving; high-quality fabrics and felt made from sheep’s wool appeared to be one of the East’s key sources of income.

Large-scale markets were held in major cities, and hundreds of merchants flocked from all over the empire to purchase expensive textiles. Naturally, vast amounts of gold flowed into the trade exchange. Varkas’s primary task was to assess the operational status of this exchange.

“The market is growing significantly every year. Trade in various textiles, as well as foodstuffs and handicrafts, is also thriving.” "

The administrator standing beside Varkas continued his explanation in a calm tone.

“The entries recorded here are the tax records collected this season. In addition, I have meticulously compiled all other revenue, including rental income, tolls, and the profits from the horse market currently operated directly by the Grand Duke’s household.”

Varkas quickly scanned through the thick ledger. Talia, who had been staring blankly at him, couldn’t bear the boredom any longer and turned her gaze toward the window. The cityscape, filled with well-maintained roads and densely packed stone buildings, filled her field of vision.

The East was truly a strange place. Those who lived in tents on the open plains and those who led an imperial lifestyle within the high castle walls… it was as if two different worlds were chaotically intertwined.

“It looks like this will take a little while. Would you like to step outside for a moment and take a look at the marketplace?”

Talia, who had been staring blankly out the window, startled and turned her head.

***

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