Ch#126
126
Talia, watching his back—which had been plunged into darkness in an instant—with a stiff expression, hurried across the room.
She could vaguely see him turning around. Talia reached out immediately. She felt the texture of stiff bandages covering his bare skin.
“Are you hurt?”
“It is merely a light scratch from a monster subjugation.”
“A light scratch…? What kind of monster was it?”
How could a man with such monstrous strength that he could easily overpower even a Wyvern sustain an injury?
As she looked up at the silhouette of his face with wide eyes, Barkas answered in a voice laced with a sigh.
“A pair of Drakars had nested in the North. They are rare beasts, and in my attempt to avoid damaging the hides…”
He stopped speaking abruptly as her hand touched his bare chest.
With the sole intent of checking the depth of the wound, Talia moved her fingertips along the bandages. The thick cloth wrapped diagonally around his left shoulder and chest.
“How bad is it?”
“It is nothing.”
“Light a fire. I can’t see well.”
Taking a deep breath, Barkas reached out and pulled back the curtains draped over the window.
Though thick, ink-colored clouds covered the entire sky, it wasn’t pitch black, so she could see his body without much difficulty.
Barkas stood barefoot on the carpet, wearing only a pair of loose, Eastern-style woolen trousers.
She stiffened for a moment at his somewhat savage appearance, but upon spotting the medicine bottle in his hand, Talia’s voice rose sharply.
“Why didn’t you call a healing sorceress? If you use magic to fix it…!”
“Drakar claws are coated in a poison that possesses magic resistance. Healing magic is completely ineffective until the poison is naturally neutralized.”
Barkas replied bluntly and turned toward the shelf. This allowed Talia to examine his exposed back from inches away.
Barkas’s body was like a structure where every unnecessary element had been thoroughly stripped away. Dense muscles were packed tightly over a sturdy skeletal frame of perfect sculptural beauty, and taut tendons stood out like exquisite embossed patterns on his marble-like skin. Even the bandages wrapped around him looked like ornaments intended to emphasize his powerful physique.
“The toxin will be gone in about a week; I can apply healing magic then,” Barkas added indifferently as he set the medicine bottle down.
Talia, who had been wearing a dazed expression, snapped back to her senses and awkwardly lowered her gaze.
“…Does it hurt?”
“Not in the least.”
Talia looked skeptical at his excessively dry response.
Certainly, there was no sign of pain in the way Barkas moved as he slipped on his shirt. Nevertheless, she couldn’t ease her mind and asked again anxiously.
“Are you really okay?”
“It will not be an issue for performing our business, so do not worry.”
Talia looked up at him with an expression as if she had been slapped.
“Do you think I’m obsessed with doing that with you?”
“Did you not come to find me to share a bed?”
The man looked at her with a questioning gaze. Since his tone seemed more like he was simply confirming a fact rather than trying to be sarcastic, she was momentary speechless. It was true that she had come to sleep with him, just as he said.
She stammered, her face flushing red.
“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t come because I wanted you. I just… to have a child…”
“Do not worry. I have never once misconstrued your intentions.”
Barkas cut off her excuse in a calm tone.
Talia tucked her lips inward. She should have been relieved that he didn’t doubt her words. But why did her chest feel so tight?
“Anyway, I have no intention of doing that with an injured person. So, light the fireplace.”
“…Are you going to stay in this room?”
For a moment, a flash of surprise crossed Barkas’s face.
Talia’s complexion clouded over. It seemed this man truly believed she only dealt with him for that single purpose.
Even though she was the one who had worked so hard to make it seem that way, it felt strange when Barkas didn’t seem to notice her feelings at all.
She took a step back, her eyes fixed on the floor.
“If you don’t want me here, just say so. I’ll go back to my room…”
“Please stay here.”
He suddenly grabbed her hand.
“You were always the one saying you didn’t want to be in this place. I have always asked you to stay.”
Talia looked up at him with confused eyes, then soon dropped her gaze to her hand captured in his.
She always felt vulnerable after having relations with Barkas. She grew tense, not knowing when his hand might touch her leg, and she was anxious that her unsightly appearance might be revealed to eyes that had grown accustomed to the darkness.
Above all, she was terrified that her heart’s longing for his touch and warmth was becoming uncontrollably large.
However…
She carefully traced his silhouette, surrounded by the bluish light, with her eyes.
With his wet hair pushed back, revealing his forehead, he looked like a lonely boy for some reason. That harmless-looking appearance broke down her guard.
“Then, I’ll stay for just a little bit before I go. If I go back like this, Nanny will nag me…”
At her clumsy excuse, fine wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes. Realizing that those words were no different from a confession that the nanny was pressuring her to get pregnant, Talia awkwardly avoided his gaze.
Watching her silently, Barkas spoke coldly.
“If that woman is being troublesome, I will send her back to the Imperial Palace.”
“No!” Talia cried out as if having a fit. “Just you try! I won’t let you get away with it!”
He gave her an indescribable look. It was an expression as if he couldn’t understand why he shouldn’t cast out a woman who treated him so poorly.
Talia raised her voice in defense.
“She’s the person who’s taken care of me since I was a baby. She’s like a real mother to me.”
“…”
“If you send Nanny back to the Imperial Palace, I’m going back with her.”
As she snapped at him firmly, his brow hardened.
The man’s lips flickered as if he were about to say something, but he soon let out a sigh and turned toward the fireplace.
“Don’t just stand there; please sit down.”
Then, instead of calling a servant, he began to light the fire himself.
Relieved that the subject had changed, Talia stepped closer to him.
“Leave that to the servants and just sit still and rest.”
“This much is fine.”
In no time, flames flickered atop the firewood. Talia, who had been pacing restlessly, immediately tugged at his sleeve.
“Now, sit down quickly.”
As she pulled him to the side of the bed and pressed down on his shoulders, Barkas gave her a strange look.
Was he dumbfounded that the woman who always pushed him away was clumsily trying to take care of him?
After staring down at her for a while, the man sat on the edge of the sheets. Talia relaxed and turned toward the cabinet.
“You said there’s poison? Shouldn’t you take something like a fever reducer? Or a painkiller…”
“I am not in pain, nor do I have a fever.”
She let his response go in one ear and out the other as she rummaged through the drawers haphazardly. Before long, she found a medicine bottle containing Mandrake Extract.
After opening the lid and checking the contents, Talia poured an appropriate amount into a teacup and held it out to him.
“Here, drink it quickly.”
Barkas just stared down at the teacup.
Was he suspicious that she might be feeding him something strange?
As she glared at him with stinging eyes, Barkas spoke while stroking her waistline.
“I will drink it if Your Grace feeds it to me.”
Talia blinked blankly. Without a change in his complexion, Barkas was calmly waiting for her answer. At that composed attitude, her stalled thoughts finally began to function.
“U-use your own hands!”
“I have always fed you. It is time to repay the debt.”
Talia looked back and forth between him and the medicine bottle with a face flushed bright red.
She was suddenly piqued by the way he made such a brazen demand so casually.
Talia, who was about to shout at him to forget it if he didn’t want to drink, changed her mind and took a sip of the bitter extract.
His eyes widened slightly, as if he hadn’t expected her to actually comply.
As if to show him, Talia grabbed his face and pressed her lips against his, which carried the faint scent of soap. Then, as if it were natural, his arms wrapped around her waist.
Talia, who had reflexively grabbed his shoulder, felt the texture of the thick bandages and pulled her hand away in surprise. In the meantime, a slick tongue smoothly traced between her lips.
Unable to resist that silent urging, she let the fluid flow little by little into his mouth. However, it didn’t go as skillfully as he had done it. Feeling the overflowing liquid wetting the corners of her mouth, she lifted her head, only for Barkas to cup her cheek and lick her chin.
Before they knew it, they were lying on the bed, holding each other tightly. Feeling his body, hardened with arousal, pressing against her stomach, Talia hurriedly raised her upper body.
“No. I told you we weren’t doing it until your wound heals.”
“I won’t do anything more than this. Just stay still like this.”
Barkas murmured in a low voice, gently stroking her hair. Talia, who had been trying to push him away, soon relaxed her body.
Amidst the noisy sound of rain and the crackling of firewood, the dull sound of a heartbeat mingled in.
