Overcome by a strange emotion that words cannot explain, I looked at the gate as it drew closer.
Soon, I will be able to be freed from this terrible pain.
Instead of the quack healers who are busy watching Gareth's eyes, the elite mages in the Empress Palace will restore me to my former perfect form.
Wetting my parched lips, I cautiously lowered my gaze to examine my body.
The body wrapped in a thin creamy dress was in a state that could not be called beautiful, even in empty words.
The crude outline of the thick bandage, which stretched from thigh to ankle, was ugly over the thin skirt, and the burn marks on the palms of my hands had been magically healed, but my fingernails were still bloodied and stained with dark red. The fact that I was so thin because I had been fasting throughout the trip must have contributed to my ugly appearance.
Suddenly, a sense of anxiety came over me.
Seeing this, wouldn't everyone laugh at me?
When I remembered the maids who were laughing at me for their own gain, sweat formed down my spine.
I quickly drew the curtains over the window. If someone looked at me and giggled at me, I wouldn't be able to keep my sanity.
I pulled a thin linen blanket from the floor and threw it over my head.
After a while, I heard the sound of a carriage being checked to see if it was passing through the gate.
I poked my head through the blanket and listened to all the noises outside. The sound of horses' hooves and the shouts of the infantry rang out loud, and the melody of the slow dirge became even more gloomy.
The crowd's drunkenness was mixed in with it. It was as if thousands of flying Insects were crying at once. Feeling my nerves sharpen, I pulled the blanket back to my head.
The carriage, which had been slowly traveling on the gravel road, stopped moving, and the surroundings became even busier. It seemed that all the servants of the imperial palace had rushed out.
I crouched in the corner of the wagon and waited for the commotion to subside. I intended to stay here until Gareth and Ayla went to see the Emperor, according to the entrance procedure. I didn't want to show my ugly face to their followers.
I rubbed my numb legs and held my breath quietly.
Then, without warning, the door suddenly opened, and a thick shadow invaded the carriage.
I lifted my head and opened my eyes wide to see a familiar silhouette standing with her back to the sun. The nanny waddled up on top of the carriage and hugged me with her chubby arms.
"Oh, poor young lady. What is this about?"
Then she covered my face with her big hands and looked at the me, and tears flowed down her face like chicken poop.
"How could you be so thin? You weren't injured, and your face was half full..."
I looked up at her in a daze, and then my face contorted, and I hugged her neck.
As the young beast was embraced by its mother's bosom as if it were burrowing into its plump breasts, the nanny stroked me back and down.
Even a newborn baby burst into tears at the caretaker's touch. I buried my face in her cinnamon-scented wavy hair and let out a sob.
"Nanny, I... It hurts so much. I feel like I'm going to die of pain."
"Don't worry. Senevere will heal you."
The nanny, wiping tears from my cheeks, pointed to the entrance of the carriage and said. I shrugged my shoulders when I saw a strange man standing in the doorway.
The man, who covered his crown with a pure white cloth, glanced down at me with his dark gray eyes with a gold border.
With a look as if I were looking at something, I instinctively clung to my nanny. The nanny gently patted me on the back and said soothingly.
"As soon as she heard that you were injured, Senevere summoned the wizards of House Tarren. They'll put you back to your old self."
Then she firmly removed my hand, stepping aside to allow the mages to enter.
Looking at the shadow approaching me, I stepped back. A habitual sense of caution reared its head.
"I'll go with my feet, so back off."
"With that leg?"
The thin man who was bending over me tilted his head. I blushed with contempt.
"There's no problem getting to the Empress Palace!"
The man's eyes narrowed over the veil. I felt a strange sense of unease.
The man caressed his chin as if he were lost in thought, and suddenly grabbed my leg.
I screamed in pain. He squeezed the wound so hard that blood oozed out of the bandage.
"If we let you walk with these legs and the wound bursts, we are the ones who suffer. Don't be stubborn."
I looked up at him in shock.
The man took his hand off my leg and nodded to the man standing across from me.
"You move It."
The man immediately bent down and thrust his arm under my back. I felt goosebumps all over my body as if a snake had touched me.
I dodged my hand and twisted my upper body, and swung my arms.
"Don't touch my body!"
The man who had been hit in the jaw muttered an unintelligible word in a harsh voice. Recognizing that this was the language of the elves, I stiffened.
Through the hood, I could see abnormally long ears, plastered skin, and grayish hair with a bluish tinge. It must be an original elf, not a half or a quarter.
I knew how inhuman they were, and I was terrified.
The two men were discussing something in their own language, and they pressed their arms against me from either side. I opened my mouth to let out a scream.
At that moment, a cold, damp hand covered my eyes, and my whole body drained my strength. It was as if all the bones and muscles had melted away.
"It makes me waste mana unnecessarily."
The man took his hand away from my face and muttered softly. I looked up at him with dilated pupils.
I wanted to scream at him for what he was doing, but all I could hear was a colorful sound coming out of my throat.
The man straightened himself up and gave instructions to the man sitting across from him.
"She won't be able to move anymore. Now, move to the treatment room."
The man who had been slapped in the jaw by me immediately obeyed the order.
Lifted up like a sack of sacks, I looked at my nanny and asked for help. But as always, the nanny reacted insensitively to my fear.
"Be patient, Miss. Everything will be fine."
The nanny, who had stolen the corner of my eye with her sleeve, jumped off the carriage. The man who hugged me followed her outside.
As the intense sunlight poured into my retina, I frowned.
After blinking my eyelids a few times, I saw soldiers from the Empress Palace surrounding the carriage.
As I looked at them anxiously, I saw a restless Praetorian knight behind the barrier-like rows of soldiers.
He tried to get past the soldiers of the Empress's palace and approach me, but the Taren sorcerer firmly restrained him.
"Your mission is over. We will take care of Your Highness, the Princess, so please step back."
"But I am her guard. I have to take..."
"Your Highness has come to this point, and you have already been disqualified."
The knight was speechless and silent. The light-tongued mage pushed him away with one hand and then crossed the cluttered clearing lined with wagons.
I looked around in dismay. Before long, I was able to find faint flax-colored hair among the knights waiting at the entrance of the main palace. I, who was about to call his name, came to my senses and bit my tongue.
Barcas would never stand up for me.
In fact, I didn't know why I was so compelled to ask him for help.
These were wizards sent by Senevere. They won't do anything that hurts me.
As I struggled to suppress my anxiety, the man holding me took a step toward me.
I tensed up when I saw Barcas' face getting closer.
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