Ch#120
Thalia felt a warm sensation filling her body as she let her limbs go limp.
The man who had been lying over her pushed himself up. At the same time, the heat that had filled her slowly ebbed away.
Thalia bit her lip at the unfamiliar sensation and pressed her thighs tightly together.
Just then, his hand descended onto her bandage-wrapped leg. Thalia let out an instinctive scream.
“Don’t touch me!”
In the darkness, she saw Varkas’s shoulders stiffen visibly.
Ignoring him, she hurriedly pulled down her hiked-up skirt and stepped off the bed.
She tried to move her trembling legs toward the door, but a firm forearm wrapped around her waist. In an instant, she was hauled back onto the bed.
Thalia flailed her arms instinctively.
“L-let go! It’s over now. I’m going back to my room!”
He grabbed her wrists, his eyes burning intensely.
“You’re just going to leave after finishing your business?”
“I told you that was the plan from the start.”
Thalia swallowed back the tears threatening to spill and glared at him with venomous eyes.
“I have no further business with you.”
For a moment, the air in the room froze solid.
She felt his grip on her wrists tighten painfully. She shook him off violently and crawled toward the edge of the bed.
I didn’t sleep with him out of love. So there’s no reason to linger here.
Muttering to herself as if under self-hypnosis, she stepped unsteadily off the bed.
In that moment, Varkas spat out something unintelligible in the Eastern tongue, snatched the duvet from the floor, and wrapped it tightly around her.
Trapped in his solid embrace, Thalia lost her composure and began to struggle fiercely.
“No! Let me go!”
But he didn’t even pretend to listen.
Having bound her body in the blanket in an instant, Varkas strode out of the room, wearing nothing but his trousers.
The servants guarding the door gaped at them. Varkas didn’t even blink.
Carrying her in his arms, he marched down the hallway and up the stairs to the bedroom on the third floor.
Thalia glared at him, her face stained with sweat and tears. The light from the candelabras illuminated his slick, sweat-drenched torso, his disheveled silver hair, his blue eyes, and his handsome face.
Though he looked more vulnerable than ever before, he still seemed as cold and impenetrable as a fortress.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Varkas spoke coldly as he set her down on the bed.
Thalia pulled the duvet up to her chin and looked away. She knew Varkas was angry, but it was none of her concern.
“I want to be alone. Get out.”
“…….”
“Please, just get out.”
When she cried out harshly with a trembling voice, his expressionless face finally contorted.
Taking a deep breath, Varkas leaned down toward her.
“Just tell me this. Did I hurt you?”
Yes. You always hurt me.
She opened her mouth to retort but then fell silent. She knew in her head that it was an unfair answer.
She was the one who had barged in and forced the encounter. She knew she must look ridiculous, acting like a victim of an assault after initiating it herself.
But at this moment, such rational thoughts were of no help. She shook her head, hugging her knees like a caterpillar curled in its cocoon.
“I just want to rest. So please, leave me alone. I don’t want to look at your face anymore.”
Perhaps his patience had reached its limit at her selfish attitude. His entire body went rigid, and veins bulged across his bare torso. He looked threatening enough to make her heart lurch with fear.
But as always, he calmed down in an instant. Taking another deep breath, Varkas stood up with a hardened face.
“I will call a healer to check your condition.”
“I don’t need one.”
“I will not leave unless you promise to receive proper treatment.”
Varkas’s tone sharpened suddenly.
Thalia glared at him with wet eyes before finally nodding.
“Fine… just go.”
His jaw muscles tightened into a hard line.
The man stood motionless for a long time as if wanting to say something, but he finally turned away.
Soon, the sound of the door opening and closing echoed, followed by a desolate silence. Thalia listened to his rhythmic footsteps until they faded, then curled into a ball and closed her eyes.
She was devastatingly tired. So tired she felt she might simply melt away and disappear…
A flock of kites circled in the sky above the fields, which were now fully tinged with the colors of autumn. A few of them glided down toward the ground in graceful curves. They were headed for the carcass of a stallion that had been torn apart by a predator.
It was the aftermath of a sudden wolf attack that had occurred early that morning.
“Fortunately, there were no human casualties. However, I’m told the ranch has suffered significant losses.”
Varkas watched a grey-brown bird of prey tear flesh from the horse’s ribs before turning his gaze toward the gently rolling ridges.
Beyond a collapsed stone wall, he could see three or four mares lying dead. Their throats and bellies had been ripped open. Daren, following his gaze, let out a deep sigh.
“I suppose we should be grateful the Normeksan stallions are safe, but still…”
“Have you organized a hunting party?”
“The guards have been scouring the Armund Forest since early morning. But they say the pack vanished without a trace. It seems they are led by a very clever alpha.”
“Double the tracking personnel and station guards at the ranch and the outskirts of the village.”
Gripping Torque’s reins with his gloved hand, Varkas gave the order in a heavy, low voice. Daren immediately gestured to the subordinates standing behind him.
“You heard him. Convey His Excellency’s orders to the units immediately.”
Two soldiers leaped over the broken fence and galloped toward the fortress.
After turning back to confirm the damage to the ranch once more, Varkas headed toward the village.
The small village located north of Kalmore was bustling with people who had come out to catch a glimpse of their new lord. Without sparing them a glance, he walked along the gravel-paved road. Daren, following quietly behind, spoke up cautiously.
“Troubles seem to be piling up lately. As if the Zramian raiders weren’t enough, now we have wolf packs running wild.”
“…….”
“I know you must be troubled by the string of bad luck following the succession ceremony, but please take care of yourself. You haven’t looked like your usual self lately.”
Varkas, who had been walking in silence, came to a sudden halt and looked back at him. Thinking he had caused offense, the man immediately bowed his head.
“Forgive me if I overstepped. I was only concerned for Your Excellency’s well-being…”
“Do I look so tired that you feel the need to worry?”
Varkas asked, rubbing his chin.
The man studied his face for a moment before scratching the back of his head and saying awkwardly, “You’ve seemed particularly sensitive these past few days. I wondered if perhaps you weren’t sleeping.”
Varkas frowned and turned back to his path, replying with something like a sigh.
“I seem to have caused concern. I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was true that he hadn’t slept more than three or four hours a day for the past week. It wasn’t just because of the mountain of paperwork.
He turned his head to look up at the fortress perched on the hill.
The midday autumn sun was pouring down on the massive stone building where she would be staying.
That woman is probably still shut away in her room.
Suddenly feeling a fishy bitterness spread in his mouth, he ran the tip of his tongue along the lining of his cheek. Blood seeped from where he had bitten into the flesh with his molars. It was a strange habit he had developed recently.
He scraped the ragged flesh inside his cheek with his tongue and swallowed the metallic fluid. As the scent of blood brushed past his nose, an unpleasant afterimage flickered in his mind.
Varkas knitted his brows at the strange heat swirling in his gut and ran a hand roughly through his hair.
