Ch#111
111
“Are you comparing me to a foal right now?”
Having decided to get angry, Thalia let a thorn prick her voice, but Varkas only let out a faint sigh.
“Stop picking fights and finish eating this.”
This time, he brought over a bowl filled with apricots. Thalia glared at the bowl as if it were a mortal enemy before turning her head away.
Varkas watched her quietly for a moment, then pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he picked up a small fruit and began to peel away the soft skin with a knife.
Thalia watched him with incredulous eyes as he calmly handled a task usually reserved for maids, her voice rising.
“Stop it. Who asked you to wait on me like this? Just leave a high-maintenance woman like me alone and go do your own work—!”
Thalia’s nagging was cut short as she winced, her face contorting when soft fruit was suddenly pushed into her mouth.
Having effectively silenced her, the man wiped his juice-stained fingers with a towel and spoke with annoying composure.
“If Your Highness would stop skipping meals, I would be able to focus solely on my work.”
Thalia glared at him over the slice of apricot held in her mouth.
She wanted to snap back and ask what business it was of his whether she skipped meals or not, but to do that, she first had to swallow what was in her mouth.
In the end, she crushed the soft flesh with her teeth. A sweet juice that made her tongue tingle spread through her mouth along with a refreshing fragrance. Unexpectedly, it wasn’t that unpleasant.
“Would you like some more?”
The man, who had been watching her eat intently, picked up another piece of fruit.
After a moment’s hesitation, Thalia gave a prim nod.
Varkas immediately began peeling the apricot. The way he carefully trimmed the fruit with the small knife made him look like a craftsman handling a delicate work of art. At that unfamiliar sight, her irritable mood quickly dissipated.
Thalia peeked at him again, as if observing a mysterious creature.
Whether he felt guilty for having forced medicine down her throat before, Varkas had begun to look after her meals with a somewhat obsessive diligence. At first, he had merely checked to see if she was skipping meals, but at some point, it had escalated to him personally feeding her. It seemed he had realized the severity of the situation after seeing how little she actually ate.
“Here, eat.”
He said, bringing a neatly peeled apricot slice to her lips.
Thalia opened her mouth as if giving in. Along with the sweet fruit, his firm fingers brushed against the tip of her tongue.
Just as she was about to pull her head back with a flush creeping up her face, Varkas cupped the back of her neck and lightly covered her mouth with his other hand. It seemed he thought she was trying to spit it out.
Thalia narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
Did this man think she was a child throwing a tantrum over her food?
“Just eat this much. I won’t force you any further.”
Varkas spoke coaxingly. Thalia glared at him through narrowed eyes but moved her jaw mechanically.
Only after she swallowed the softened fruit did his hand pull away.
“Would you like to go for a short walk today?”
Varkas, who had even tidied up the fruit bowl, suddenly made the suggestion.
Thalia, who was moistening her mouth with lukewarm water, looked back at him with surprised eyes.
“I can go out?”
“The healer said that fresh air and sunlight would help with your recovery.”
Varkas brought a cloak and draped it over her shoulders.
Thalia furrowed her brows.
“I didn’t say I was going yet.”
“Do you not want to?”
He tilted his head slightly.
Wearing a sullen expression, Thalia lowered her legs from the bed as if she had no choice. However, before her feet could even touch the floor, her body was lifted into the air.
She was flustered for a moment by his natural action of picking her up, but she soon relaxed her shoulders. She didn’t even have the energy left to be irritable.
“Are you cold?”
Varkas asked as he quickly exited the building, pulling the hood over her head.
Thalia shook her head. The garden was filled with the cool air of mid-autumn, but the sunlight was still warm.
He stepped onto the rustling grass and walked along a narrow path. A few blackbirds that had been pecking at flower seeds in the brown, ripened flowerbeds flew up with a flutter.
Thalia watched the scene blankly before turning her gaze to his face. The pale sunlight was tinting his light blond hair with silver. She remembered when Varkas had first stepped foot into her separate palace.
Back then, she couldn’t have imagined this man taking care of her in such a way.
But looking back, Varkas had always been generous to the weak.
He had carefully tended to a dying bird and took in a foal that was wasting away because it refused human touch.
That wasn’t all. He had taken it upon himself to act as a guardian to Gares and Aila, who had lost their mother at a young age, and he had even taken the woman he had been hostile toward as his wife because he couldn’t turn a blind eye to her broken state.
If he hadn’t been abused by the priests, he might have become a rather soft-hearted man.
As she was lost in such thoughts, he came to a halt.
She realized the reason shortly after. In a corner of the drying flowerbed, an autumn rose was in bloom. Thalia looked up at him in surprise.
“Do you like flowers too?”
“I neither like nor dislike them,” Varkas replied dryly.
Then why…
She was about to ask but closed her mouth. She realized belatedly that he had stopped to show them to her.
On an impulse, she blurted out, “Pick that for me.”
He immediately reached out toward the rose stem. She saw the sharp thorns digging into his fingers. But Varkas didn’t even blink.
With an expressionless face, Varkas snapped the rose off and scraped away the thorns with his fingertips. Once the stem was smooth, he held it out to her. A strange emotion welled up within her at the sight.
He was a man who had shown silent patience even toward Gares, who treated him poorly. He had been loyal to the Emperor and had played the part of a flawless fiancé to Aila.
And now, he was performing the role of her husband without a word of complaint.
Did this man intend to live his life according to the expectations and demands of those around him forever?
For the first time, a question about his life arose.
“Are you… planning to do everything I ask?”
“If it’s something I can do,” Varkas replied noncommittally, looking puzzled.
Thalia looked at him, lost for words, before dropping her gaze to the pale-colored rose.
To him, it was an object of no significance. A worthless flower handed over simply because it was requested. But she would likely love this flower until the moment she died.
At that moment, she could clearly see the identity of the emotion she felt.
It was resignation.
She would never receive this long-standing love back from him in her lifetime.
The feverish madness that had swept through her would never afflict this man. However, he would do everything he could as a husband.
Perhaps that was enough.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll pick a different one for you,” Varkas suggested, noticing the shadow cast over her face.
Thalia shook her head.
“This is enough.”
As she carefully cradled the large, yellow rose, he resumed walking.
She could see thin clouds gathering across the bright sky. As the sunlight gradually faded, he turned back toward the main castle.
Just then, a loud voice rang out from behind them.
“Your Grace!”
Thalia turned her head and her face paled when she saw Daren hurrying across the garden. Just seeing his serious expression told her that ominous news was coming.
As she expected, the man arrived breathless and spoke in a heavy tone.
“You must return to Raedgo Castle immediately.”
A trace of sorrow lingered in the man’s eyes. After catching his breath for a moment, he continued heavily.
“The Grand Duke… No, a telegram has arrived saying that your father is in critical condition.”
