I got out of bed, stood in front of the mirror, and stared at my emaciated face for a long time.
You're just like the rat in my stew.
Thinking about that, I laughed softly, and the maid who groomed me every morning came into the room.
"You got up early. Come here. I'll help you wash it."
"I don't need it."
The maid's piercing eyes distorted in a cold reply.
She looked down at me with a high-pressure gaze and admonished me.
"Your Highness is obliged to be perfect at all times and in all places according to the laws of the imperial family. What is a childish grit..."
"Nanny!"
The maid shrank my shoulders and shut my mouth. I scurried past my maid and rang the bell beside my bed.
"Nanny! Nanny!"
Then, the nanny, who had been sleeping late in the next room, hurriedly opened the door and rushed in.
I pointed to the nanny and said arrogantly:
"From now on, my nanny will be in charge of grooming me. Yesterday, my mother told me that I could do that. So you just have to leave."
"But..."
"Are you going to disobey the Empress's order now?"
I snapped sharply, and the maid who was looking down at me with a sour expression went outside. She didn't seem to have the heart to help me with my adornment.
Talia shouted fiercely at her nanny, who was rubbing her swollen eyes with a sleepless face.
"You heard it now, right? From now on, it's up to the nanny to wash and clothe me. Keep your mind straight."
"I see. Miss..."
The nanny yawned and replied dryly.
I raised my arm and slapped her cheek relentlessly. The nanny, who had been beaten in the face, looked at me in surprise.
I mimicked my mother's often angry facial expressions.
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me 'Your Highness' to understand?"
The nanny's brown eyes widened.
I looked straight into her eyes and chewed on each word.
"From now on, if you call me 'Miss', I'll get slapped in the face."
Then, I urged the nanny, who had a dazed expression, to start grooming me.
The nanny's hands were so stiff that by the time all the adornment was finished, several hours had passed. I hadn't eaten properly in weeks and felt like I was about to collapse, but I left the room with my back straight.
In the hallway stood a grim man dressed in black. I, who was surprised to see a stranger standing in front of my door, immediately remembered what my mother had said. Apparently, this ghostly man was a "useful bodyguard."
I jerked my chin once as if to ask the man to follow me, and walked towards the restaurant. As if they had been waiting for me to come down for a long time, some of the servants gave me a disapproving look.
I ignored their gaze and sat down at the end of the long table. Then I arrogantly jerked my chin.
"Bring food."
The servants, who had been hesitant when they heard my order, soon came with plates of various foods.
A maid in her mid-thirties supervised the whole work. At her direction, the servants set down the silver plates in order, and finally, the bowl of soup was placed in front of me.
I stared into the bowl. The whitish soup was filled with beans and meat. It looked fine, but it was obvious that the contents were not.
I picked up the spoon and rummaged through the thick liquid covered in white cream. When I scraped the bottom of the bowl, I found a sparrow that had broken its neck and died.
I could see a few maggots wriggling in the eye sockets of the decaying bird, which had been dead for a long time.
My internal organs twisted as if I were about to burst into vomit. However, I desperately hid my agitation and cried out sharply to the maid who brought me the soup.
"You! Come and sit down."
The woman, who had a puzzled expression on her face at the sudden Instructions, immediately gave her a wary look.
She paused for a moment and then said in a hard tone.
"I'm sorry, but Your Highness, I have a lot of work to do."
Then she turned around and tried to get out of the restaurant.
She always stood nearby and watched quietly after serving food, as if she wanted to enjoy my reaction. Judging from the fact that she was about to leave in a hurry today, she seemed to have a hunch that something bad was going to happen.
I jumped up from my seat and grabbed the brass kettle on the table. Then, I smashed with all my might the cheeky maid who dared to ignore the Princess's order and showed her back without permission.
Even with the strength of a skinny child, the blow would not have been small because she was hit on the head by a metal object.
The maid screamed sharply and slumped down on the carpet.
Not only the handmaiden who had been assaulted, but also the fifteen servants in the dining room froze as if they were paralyzed. Some of the maids screamed and silenced themselves.
However, I did not care about people's astonished gaze. I nodded arrogantly at the man standing in the shadow on the side of the restaurant.
"This woman, sit next to me right now."
The man, who had been standing still and staring at me with only his face staring at me, walked slowly and pulled the woman to her feet, who was halfway out of her spirit.
The woman came to her senses and resisted desperately, but she couldn't stand up to the strength of the hardened man. A handmaiden was forcibly seated at the table.
I returned to my seat and stared at the face of the woman sitting next to me. The scalp was torn by scratching the spout of the kettle, and dark red blood flowed down the woman's temples, creating two long stains on her whitened cheeks.
I didn't care about the horrible scene, and pushed the bowl of soup with the dead bird in front of the woman. Confused eyes descend to the soup beneath me, then back to her.
I forced the spoon into her fingers, which were damp with cold sweat.
"As a tribute to your hard work in preparing food every day, today I am going to share my meal with you."
"I... Your Highness, I..."
"Eat."
I dragged the maid's hand over the bowl and said forcefully:
"You brought it to me to eat. Why can't you eat it?"
"I'm just..."
The woman's lips trembled, and she looked at those around her, asking for help. However, everyone seemed to be stiffened by the sudden situation and did not know what to do.
I slammed repeatedly.
"Come on and eat!"
The maid flinched and shook my hand roughly. Then she got up and tried to run away. However, the man was holding on tightly from behind, and she seemed to be unable to move.
The woman, who alternated between the man's gloomy face and my face with a terrified expression, soon began to cry and plead.
"I... I... Wrong... Twice again... This won't happen. So please forgive... once."
"If you don't empty this bowl, you won't be able to walk out of here with your own two feet."
The woman's face turned blue. Her eyes fell to the waistband of the man who was holding her. She seemed to see the sword hanging there.
She gasped for breath and cried desperately.
"Please, please... Have mercy...!"
"I'm showing mercy."
Talia said bitterly.
"I could kill you right now. But aren't I giving you a chance to live like this?"
The woman's body trembled.
I pushed the soup of the rotting bird carcass in front of her.
"If you understand, put everything in your mouth."
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