She rose from the bed and stood before the mirror, staring for a long while at her gaunt reflection.

I look exactly like the sewer rat that was inside my stew.

The thought made a hollow laugh spill from her lips.

Just then, the maid responsible for preparing her each morning entered the room.

“You are awake early, Your Highness. Please come here. I shall assist you with washing.”

“I don’t need you.”

At the icy reply, the maid’s sharp eyes twisted slightly.

Looking down at Talia with an overbearing gaze, she began lecturing her.

“Your Highness has a duty to maintain perfect decorum at all times in accordance with imperial etiquette. Childish tantrums are—”

“Nanny!”

At the shrill shout, the maid flinched and fell silent.

Talia brushed past her coldly and violently rang the bell hanging beside the bed.

“Nanny! Nanny!”

The nanny, who had been sleeping late in the adjoining room, came rushing in breathlessly.

Pointing at her, Talia spoke in an arrogant tone.

“From now on, the nanny will be solely responsible for preparing me. Mother said yesterday that it was acceptable. So you may leave now.”

“But......”

“Are you saying you intend to defy the Empress’s orders?”

At Talia’s sharp retort, the maid hesitated uncertainly before finally leaving the room.

It seemed she did not care enough about assisting with Talia’s appearance to argue further.

Talia turned toward the nanny, whose swollen eyes still looked half-asleep from being abruptly awakened, and shouted harshly.

“You heard me, didn’t you? From now on, washing and dressing me are entirely your responsibility. Pull yourself together and do your job properly.”

“Yes, Miss......”

The nanny answered absentmindedly through a wide yawn.

Talia immediately raised her arm and slapped the woman’s plump cheek without mercy.

The nanny stared at her in shock after being struck so suddenly.

Talia imitated the expression Senevier often wore when furious with frightening accuracy.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me ‘Your Highness’?”

The nanny’s brown eyes widened.

Talia stared directly into them and emphasized every word as though chewing them apart.

“If you call me ‘Miss’ again, you’ll be slapped.”

Then she hurried the bewildered nanny into preparing her.

Because the nanny was unbearably clumsy, several hours passed before Talia’s preparations were finally complete.

She had barely eaten properly for weeks and felt as though she might collapse at any moment, but Talia still walked out of the room with her back perfectly straight.

A gloomy-looking man dressed in black stood in the corridor.

Talia stiffened at the sight of a stranger guarding her door, but soon remembered what her mother had said.

This ghostlike man was likely the “useful guard.”

Talia tilted her chin once as though ordering him to follow and began walking toward the dining hall.

Several servants cast displeased glances at her, apparently having waited quite some time for her arrival.

Ignoring them, Talia sat down at the end of the long dining table.

Then she gestured arrogantly with her chin.

“Bring the food.”

Despite hearing her command, the servants delayed sluggishly before eventually carrying over dishes filled with various foods.

A maid in her mid-thirties supervised everything.

At her instruction, the servants placed silver plates down one after another, and finally a bowl of soup was set before Talia.

Talia stared fixedly into the bowl.

Beans and meat floated in the pale broth.

It looked perfectly normal on the surface.

But she knew the contents would not be.

Picking up her spoon, Talia stirred through the thick liquid covered in white cream.

When she scraped along the bottom of the bowl, this time a dead sparrow floated upward with its neck twisted grotesquely.

It appeared to have been dead for quite some time.

Thin maggots writhed like threads inside the rotting bird’s empty eye sockets.

Her insides twisted violently as though she were about to vomit on the spot.

But Talia desperately suppressed any sign of disturbance and sharply called out to the maid who had brought the soup.

“You. Come sit here.”

The woman looked bewildered by the sudden order before wariness quickly filled her eyes.

After a brief pause, she answered stiffly.

“My apologies, Your Highness, but I have much work to do.”

Then she immediately turned as though intending to leave the dining hall.

She was the woman who always remained nearby after serving meals, silently watching as though savoring Talia’s reaction.

The fact that she was trying to leave in a hurry today meant she had instinctively realized something unpleasant was about to happen.

Talia abruptly rose from her seat and seized the brass kettle sitting atop the table.

Then she swung it with all her strength at the maid’s head.

The insolent woman had dared ignore an imperial princess’s command and turn her back without permission.

Even the strength of a severely undernourished child became dangerous when metal was involved.

The maid screamed sharply and collapsed onto the carpet.

Not only the assaulted maid, but all fifteen or so servants in the dining hall froze as though paralyzed.

Several maids even covered their mouths with shrill cries.

But Talia paid no attention to the horrified stares around her.

She tilted her head arrogantly toward the man standing silently in the corner like a shadow.

“Sit this woman beside me immediately.”

The man, who had merely stood there staring intently at Talia’s face, slowly approached and hauled the half-conscious woman to her feet.

The maid finally came to her senses and struggled desperately, but she was no match for the strength of a trained man.

Dragged almost forcibly across the floor, she was shoved into a chair beside the table.

Talia returned to her seat and stared directly at the woman sitting next to her.

The kettle’s spout had torn open her scalp.

Dark red blood streamed down her temple, leaving two long streaks across her deathly pale cheeks.

Ignoring the miserable sight entirely, Talia pushed the bowl of soup containing the dead bird in front of her.

The maid’s confused eyes lowered toward the bowl before slowly lifting back to Talia.

Talia forced the spoon into the woman’s damp, trembling fingers.

“As a reward for your hard work preparing my meals every day, I’ve decided to share today’s meal with you. You should finish every last drop to show your gratitude.”

“Y-Your Highness, I.......”

“Eat.”

Talia seized the maid’s hand and forced it toward the bowl.

“You brought this for me to eat, didn’t you? Then why shouldn’t you be able to eat it yourself?”

“I-I merely.......”

The woman’s lips trembled blue as she desperately looked around for help.

But everyone else remained frozen by the sudden situation, completely unable to react.

Talia shouted viciously.

“Eat it already!”

The maid jerked violently and roughly shoved Talia’s hand away.

Then she tried to leap from her seat and flee.

But the man behind her held her firmly in place, making escape impossible.

Terrified, the woman’s eyes darted frantically between the guard’s sinister face and Talia.

Soon she began pleading tearfully.

“I-I...... I was wrong....... It will never happen again....... Please, just this once, forgive me.......”

“If you fail to empty that bowl completely, you will not be walking out of this place on your own two feet.”

The woman’s face turned deathly pale.

Her eyes dropped toward the sword hanging at the guard’s waist.

Apparently she had finally seen it clearly.

Panting harshly, she cried out desperately.

“Please, please...... mercy......!”

“I am showing mercy.”

Talia answered indifferently.

“I could have you killed right now. Instead, I’m giving you a chance to live.”

The woman’s body shook uncontrollably.

Talia pushed the soup containing the rotting bird carcass closer toward her.

“If you understand, then shove every # Nоvеlight # last bite into your mouth.”