Ch#110
110
“Since this whole mess was caused by the Si’eikan family’s healer, it’s the least we should do.”
Lucas’s expression clouded over. His heart felt heavy as he thought of Tiuran, who was currently confined to a solitary cell for reflection.
“What do you think will happen to Tiuran?”
“Who knows? Since Her Highness woke up safely, it’ll probably end at detention,” Daren replied in a nonchalant tone.
“That woman is lucky. If the Grand Duchess’s condition had been any worse, she would have been headed for the gallows.”
Lucas frowned, feeling a wave of discomfort.
Tiuran was a retainer who had been loyal to the Si’eikan family for over a decade. He felt a flicker of resentment toward Daren for speaking so casually of her death.
“It only happened because that woman is excessively frail. Does she really have to be punished so harshly?”
“Master Lucas.”
A note of warning crept into Daren’s voice.
After tossing a leather pouch of silver coins to a merchant as if throwing trash, Daren pulled Lucas to one side of the hall.
“I am well aware that you harbor ill will toward the Grand Duchess. However, stop openly displaying such hostility.”
“I wasn’t really…”
“You are more concerned about the fate of a mere healer than the health of the Grand Duchess,” he said rebukingly.
“She is the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor and the mistress of the East. By principle, she should be executed just for causing her harm. Letting her off with mere reflection is a very generous mercy.”
Lucas stared intently at Daren’s face.
“Are you actually accepting the Second Princess as the mistress of this house?”
“Does it matter whether I accept it or not? It is already done.”
Daren shrugged his massive shoulders.
“It’s not as if we can undo a marriage arranged by His Majesty the Emperor now. Like it or not, we have to accept it. Right now, strengthening the unity of the East is the more pressing matter.”
Lucas met Daren’s serious gaze with a heavy heart.
Traveling through various Eastern regions with Varkas, he had felt it too.
The local influential figures were solely focused on consolidating their own power while neglecting public security, and as a result, marauders were rampant throughout the East.
There were capable administrators, but they too maintained an attitude of subtle wariness rather than offering unconditional loyalty to the new Grand Duke.
Just as Tyrone had warned, the order of the East was silently crumbling. Perhaps they should be grateful that a powerful new leader like Varkas had emerged.
Having reached an unwelcome conclusion, Lucas struggled to lower his rebellious eyes.
“I know that.”
Still, not wanting to be treated like a submissive child, he added sharply, “I just have to behave while Brother is whipping the Eastern nobles into shape, right?”
“Please, do exactly that,” Daren growled like a bear.
Undeterred, Lucas flashed a sarcastic smile.
“I’m already doing it. Didn’t you see me scurrying around like a sewer rat just to avoid running into that woman? I’m keeping my head low in front of Brother, too.”
Daren arched a thick eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned down, casting a threatening look.
“That is not enough. You must show proper respect to the Grand Ducal couple in official settings. If you continue to use such disrespectful language, the discipline of the East will—”
“Alright, alright! I get it. So stop nagging me.”
Fed up, Lucas hurried up the stairs.
Over the railing, he could see Daren glaring fiercely up at him.
He gave a mocking snort for Daren to see and then sprinted down the hallway. He came to a sudden halt when he spotted a group of maids.
The Grand Duchess’s attendants were carefully carrying trays laden with dozens of dishes.
‘She’s acting like a regular queen.’
Lucas twisted his lips into a cynical sneer, but then his brow furrowed.
He didn't understand why he felt such hostility toward her. Technically, hadn't he been the one to cross the line first?
He scratched his head in irritation.
Lucas was well aware that he had been despicable.
Yet, when he recalled the moment he had argued with her, irrational anger rose before guilt. Perhaps it was because of the way she had looked at him.
‘…She looked at me like I was a bug.’
The moment he met those eyes that seemed to be looking at the most disgusting thing in the world, he was swept away by a foul impulse he had never felt before.
He wanted to break that woman who acted so arrogant. He wanted to make her cry until she was a mess.
That base desire boiled in his blood, making him unable to control himself.
Tracing back that intense impulse, Lucas felt a wave of nausea and turned away. A horrifying realization flashed through his mind: the reason he avoided her wasn’t just because of Varkas’s warning.
He felt that if he got close to her, he would witness something filthy within himself that he never wanted to face.
As if shaking off that ominous premonition, he hurried out of the dim hallway.
* * *
“One more bite.”
Thalia stared at the man holding out the spoon as if he were a two-headed monster.
Could a wicked incubus have taken over Varkas’s skin and be masquerading as him?
Whether he knew she was observing him with such suspicion or not, the man urged her on in his characteristically flat tone.
“What are you doing? Eat.”
“…I’m fine. I don’t want any more.”
“Just one more spoonful.”
“I said I don’t want it.”
When she snapped her head away to avoid the spoon hovering near her mouth like a persistent fly, he cupped her chin with his other hand.
Her head forced back toward him, Thalia glared at him with a flushed face.
But Varkas didn’t even blink.
“If you eat this, I will let you have the fruit Your Highness likes for dessert.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I don’t want to eat this or that—!”
The spoon was shoved between her lips the moment they parted to protest.
Thalia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
He pressed the tip of her tongue down with the spoon as if telling her to hurry up and swallow.
In the end, she had no choice but to gulp down the mushy contents. A grimace naturally formed on her face at the terrible sensation of the slimy porridge sliding down her throat.
She shot him a venomous look.
Regardless, Varkas stood up with a relaxed expression and cleared the bowl.
His actions were so natural that another suspicion reared its head.
He was a man who had lived his whole life being served by others. Why was a man who had never bowed his head to anyone except the Imperial family so adept at something like serving a meal?
“Have you… fed someone else before?”
Thalia narrowed her eyes and suddenly interrogated him.
Varkas, who was organizing the dishes on the tray, cast an indifferent glance over his shoulder.
A blunt reply followed.
“To the point of boredom.”
Thalia froze in shock, her gaze sharpening in the next second. She felt as if the food she had just forced down was about to come surging back up.
She forced a smile onto her twitching face.
“Well, that’s a shame. To think you’re reduced to playing nursemaid for a woman like me while leaving behind a fiancée you were so devoted to…”
“The First Princess was not this high-maintenance,” Varkas remarked casually.
“The one I fed until I was sick of it was not a person, but a horse. When Torque was a foal, he was even more of a handful than Your Highness.”
Thalia looked at him, utterly dumbfounded.
She couldn’t tell whether she should be relieved by his words or offended.
