Chapter 265

“Have you said everything you wanted to say?”

Talia, who had been struggling desperately to calm him down, glared at the woman with an icy gaze. But the quarter-dwarf paid no heed and continued running her mouth.

“Even if I stayed up for a thousand nights, it still wouldn’t be enough time to say everything I want to say to you, my lady.”

The woman gave a quiet snort and began firing off her words without restraint.

“Her Majesty the Empress made you the Grand Duchess of the East. And yet all you ever do is jeopardize the position you worked so hard to obtain! Shouldn’t you at least try, just once, to live up to Her Majesty’s expectations? After everything Her Majesty has done for you......!”

“She did it for me?”

A sharp laugh escaped Talia’s lips. Her slender shoulders began to tremble as though she could no longer contain her anger.

“Are you seriously saying that?”

“Of course. Naturally, I mean it.”

The quarter-dwarf furrowed her brow deeply, as though she simply could not understand.

“Have you already forgotten how devotedly Her Majesty looked after you while you were pregnant? Hoping you would give birth to a healthy child, she sent precious medicinal herbs all the way out here to the distant East time and time again.”

“She did all of that for her own benefit! It was nothing more than taking care of a broodmare she owned so it would produce a foal!”

“How can you say something so ungrateful......!”

“That is enough.”

A solemn voice suddenly cut the woman off. Khan, whose entire body had been wound taut as though he might leap out of Talia’s arms at any moment, whipped his head toward the door.

The chief maid, wearing a gray overgown over a dark navy dress, was striding briskly across the corridor toward them.

“I will tolerate no further disrespect.”

Crossing the room in moments, the chief maid looked coldly down at the quarter-dwarf.

“The person standing before you is the Grand Duchess of Siorcan. If you cannot show Her Highness the respect befitting her station, I can no longer allow you to remain in the main castle.”

The quarter-dwarf stared up uneasily at the woman, who stood nearly twice her height, then flushed and protested loudly.

“Who are you to say something like that! I’m an attendant of the Imperial Palace! Her Majesty the Empress personally appointed me to look after my lady!”

“This is Laedgo Castle, not the Imperial Palace. If you have no intention of observing the customs of the Grand Ducal House, then that is all the more reason why you cannot remain an attendant to Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”

“You don’t have the authority to make that decision......!”

“I’ll make the decision myself.”

Talia’s voice was frigid.

“As of today, Nanny is no longer my personal attendant. Move your quarters to the outer castle immediately.”

Then she turned toward the chief maid and added firmly,

“Assign that woman some other suitable position and duties.”

The woman’s face instantly went white.

“I’ve taken care of you for more than twenty years, my lady. I raised you with my own hands! How can you do this to me!”

“Those twenty years are the reason I’ve tolerated you until now. But even that has finally run its course.”

As though expelling a long-festering resentment, Talia spoke in a rough voice.

“You hated attending to me anyway. Do you even know how many days it’s been since you last came to see me?”

“That’s because you never summoned me, my lady.......”

“Don’t make excuses! You didn’t even show your face when I rang the bell. The ones who’ve been taking care of me all this time are the maids of this castle and Tiuran! Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that you’ve been dumping every troublesome task onto the other maids while you sat around doing nothing?”

The woman’s face turned ashen in an instant at having her negligence exposed so openly.

Talia added mercilessly,

“I don’t need a nanny anymore. Get out of my sight. Now.”

He felt his explosive anger begin to subside and slowly relaxed his rigid muscles.

Talia gave an imperious jerk of her chin toward the guards waiting in the corridor.

“What are you standing around for? Take her away.”

One of the soldiers immediately entered the room and seized the quarter-dwarf by the upper arm. She glared at Talia with eyes filled with shock and betrayal before finally leaving the room.

Watching her retreating back with a cold gaze, Talia snapped at the servants standing there holding the chests.

“Burn all of it!”

The servants hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances, but soon bowed their heads and filed hurriedly out of the bedroom.

The chief maid, who had watched the scene with satisfaction, bowed respectfully to Talia.

“A wise decision, Your Highness.”

As the woman turned toward the door, Talia hurriedly called out.

“Wait. There’s something I want to ask you.”

The woman, who had been about to step out of the bedroom, turned back toward her.

Talia glanced toward Tiuran standing beside the bed and the young maids leaning against the wall.

“You can all leave.”

The women immediately departed through the adjoining door.

When silence finally returned, Talia released her arms from around him, carefully climbed down from the bed, and approached the chief maid.

“Is it true that the war is escalating?”

“According to our sources in the North, yes.”

Talia stepped closer to the chief maid and pressed her anxiously.

“Have you received any separate reports? Tell me exactly what you’ve heard.”

“I do not know the specifics. I have only heard secondhand that a major battle has taken place in southern Valto and that security along the northern border has been tightened.”

“What about the region where Varkas is stationed? Is the situation dangerous there too?”

“......I have heard no reports of any major battle breaking out there as of yet.”

The chief maid quietly studied Talia’s bloodless face before continuing cautiously.

“However, it seems His Grace intends to reinforce his forces in preparation for the possibility of all-out war. I heard that he plans to stop by the castle soon to replenish his troops.”

Talia’s face grew even paler.

Lowering her eyes as though deliberately avoiding the sight of her, the chief maid calmly added,

“You will also need to discuss the matter of an heir in advance.”

He looked up at the chief maid with an angry glare, recognizing the subtle pressure she was putting on Talia. Then Talia’s heavy voice sounded.

“I’ve learned everything I wanted to know. You may leave.”

The chief maid bowed deeply once more before leaving the bedroom.

He moved close to Talia’s side and carefully licked her deathly pale fingertips.

Talia had been staring blankly at the floor, lost in thought, when she flinched and raised her head to look at him. It was as though she had only just remembered he was there. A strange emotion stirred within him.

Ever since he had awakened in the body of a wolf, he had always been her first priority. All of her attention had been focused on him, and the gaze she directed at him had always held a tender warmth.

Yet the moment news of ‘that man’ reached her, it was as though his existence had been pushed to the furthest reaches of her awareness. Even though he knew perfectly well that the person Talia was so worried about was his former self, he could do nothing about the ache spreading through his chest.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can take you outside today.”

Talia murmured distractedly, as though her mind were somewhere else, then collapsed onto the bed.

He immediately pressed himself close beside her.

She buried her face in the blankets and showed no sign of turning toward him. Trying to attract her attention, he cautiously burrowed against her side and nudged her shoulder several times with the tip of his nose, but her gently closed eyelids did not so much as twitch.

He slapped his tail against the bed in displeasure for a while, then finally rested his chin beside her face and lay down.

That day, she remained shut inside her room without moving until sunset.

Talia sat by the window, staring blankly at a book, until her worsening headache became unbearable. She drank a powerful sedative and went to bed early.

After pacing anxiously around her for some time, he eventually curled up quietly beside her.

How long had he been lying there?

At the sound of her ragged breathing, his head snapped up, and he saw tears silently streaming down her face.

For an instant, his heart plummeted.

He sprang to his feet and repeatedly licked her face. But she showed no reaction whatsoever.

After staring vacantly into empty space for a long while, she finally rose like a ghost.

He hurriedly followed her and jumped down from the bed.

Talia had already opened the door and was walking out into the darkened corridor.