Like someone who hated drawing more attention to himself than necessary, he raised one hand to stop the attendant from announcing his name and descended the staircase with elegant, perfectly measured composure.

But despite that effort, every eye in the hall turned toward Varkas. Even the presence of the future emperor seemed to dim beneath the weight of his arrival.

Talia devoured him greedily with her gaze from head to toe.

As always, he wore the formal uniform of the imperial guard with flawless precision. The only difference from usual was that beneath the lavish cloak issued by the knight order, instead of the golden armor symbolizing the Roem Knights, he wore a black breastplate engraved with the crest of the black horse.

It meant he had attended the banquet not as an imperial knight, but as the heir to House Siorcan and Aila’s betrothed.

Just as Talia had expected, Varkas headed straight toward the center of the hall where Gareth and Aila stood.

“Greetings to Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

After offering Gareth a bow neither excessive nor lacking in courtesy, he turned toward Aila, who smiled shyly at him.

Talia’s fingertips {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} began to tremble violently. She gripped her wineglass so brutally that her knuckles turned deathly white.

When Varkas extended a hand toward the “legitimate imperial princess,” Aila gently placed hers in his.

At that instant, agony twisted through Talia’s insides.

Don’t touch him. Don’t put your hands on Varkas.

She wanted to scream it despite having absolutely no right to do so. Talia had to bite down on her lip to stop herself from making a hideous spectacle.

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave the banquet hall now?”

The man who had been observing her expression spoke carefully. Coming from someone who had seemed genuinely entertained by conflict, the suggestion snapped her back to her senses.

She had not come here to retreat in misery and humiliation.

Talia steadied the expression that had nearly collapsed for a moment and crossed the hall with graceful steps. The people surrounding the Crown Prince, the First Imperial Princess, and the eastern nobleman naturally parted to make way for her.

Surely they too were secretly hoping something delightfully scandalous would happen.

Talia intended to satisfy those expectations perfectly.

“Hello, my respected brother, and... beloved sister.”

Deliberately ignoring Varkas’s existence, she greeted only the two of them in a slow voice. If she looked directly into his face, she felt the fragile thread of reason she was barely clinging to would snap completely.

Keeping her back turned toward Varkas, she fixed her eyes solely on Aila’s face.

Then, in a voice dripping with mockery, she said, 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

“I’m relieved to see you’ve recovered safely. Before... you showed us quite an unfortunate sight.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

Aila answered with a gentle smile utterly devoid of shadow.

For a moment, goosebumps crawled across Talia’s skin.

This woman could not possibly be unaware that it was her half-sister who had drugged her wine.

And yet there was not the slightest trace of anger in the way she looked at her.

It was the gaze one gave to some common object scattered everywhere around them.

A wineglass. A plate. A candlestick.

How could someone feel rage toward such things?

The calmness of her attitude — no, the utter indifference of it — filled Talia with overwhelming regret.

She should have fed this woman poison instead of a mere vomiting agent.

Even if it meant suffering a horrific execution because of it...

Even if it meant burning in hellfire for eternity...

Compared to this woman, her brother’s naked hatred almost felt human.

“How dare you show your face here.”

Gareth leaned toward her with gritted teeth. His gleaming eyes swept over her up and down with unconcealed disgust.

“And dressed like that, no less. Did your whore of a mother order you to seduce my loyal subjects?”

“How harsh.”

Talia spread the hem of her dress wide as if displaying it proudly.

“This dress was the one my mother wore the first day she met His Majesty the Emperor. It’s a very meaningful dress.”

Instantly, silence descended over the hall.

Flames of fury ignited in the Crown Prince’s eyes.

Unfortunately, Talia loved playing with fire.

“Our father must have adored this dress very much. Don’t you think?”

Gareth’s shoulders jerked upward. It looked as though he was moments away from losing his temper and striking her across the face.

But his clever sister would never allow such a thing to happen.

At the perfect moment, Aila laid a hand over Gareth’s arm to stop him, then turned toward her half-sister with a clear, flawless smile.

“Yes. It truly suits you.”

Amazingly, there was no malice in her voice whatsoever.

The tone was so calm, so matter-of-fact, as though she were merely commenting on something plainly visible before her eyes, that it made Talia’s blood boil.

Perhaps this woman believed responding to the provocations of a worthless bastard at all was beneath her dignity.

After sending her twin brother a calm look urging restraint, Aila stepped closer to her fiancé.

Then she gently leaned against his side and spoke with a face full of bliss.

“In any case, thank you for coming. Today is... an especially meaningful day for us. I wanted as many people as possible to celebrate it with us.”

Aila’s slender hand came to rest lightly on the arm of the man standing beside her as silent as a shadow.

Talia stared at that hand as though she wanted to tear it apart piece by piece.

She could not bring herself to lift her gaze any higher.

If she happened to see him smiling at Aila — even once — she felt certain she would lose her mind completely.

In a voice soft as feathers, Aila continued,

“Our official wedding date has finally been decided. On the day the season of winds begins, I will travel east to become a member of the Siorcan family. Of course, before that, I must first embark on a pilgrimage to receive the blessings of the saints. I’ll have to leave before the weather grows too warm, so this may very well be the last time I see you.”

She wore the expression of regret beautifully.

“I’m glad we could meet like this before I leave the imperial palace. At the very least, I wanted us to exchange a final farewell.”

Then, as though wishing to end the conversation there, she leaned softly against Varkas’s shoulder and added gently,

“Please, enjoy the banquet held in our honor to your heart’s content.”

Aila turned gracefully with a benevolent smile upon her lips.

Talia, who had been staring fixedly at her back, suddenly spoke.

“If today truly is the last time... then I absolutely must bless your future.”

The moment she stepped toward Aila, the man who had been silently observing the soundless war between the two women reacted immediately.

Seeing him thrust an arm out protectively in front of his fiancée made Talia’s vision flare red.

Before Varkas could completely block her path, she swiftly hurled the wine across Aila’s chest.

The dark wine soaked the upper half of the pure white dress covered in pearls and streamed downward across the skirt.

It looked as though someone had stabbed her through the heart and left her bleeding.

“I’ll pray every single day that you end up looking exactly like this someday.”

At the horrific curse, everyone inhaled sharply.

Even Aila’s composed face turned pale.

The sight of her looking genuinely frightened was so absurdly satisfying that Talia nearly burst into loud laughter.

But the pleasure lasted only an instant.

A powerful hand seized her wrist and yanked her back roughly.

As a result, Talia was finally forced to face directly the man she had tried so desperately to avoid looking at.

A pair of pale blue eyes glimmered coldly as they glared down at her with terrifying fury.