Ch#127
The fingers that had been stroking her hair slid down the nape of her neck.
Talia unconsciously tilted her head back. The tongue that had spat out painful words whenever it had the chance now softly explored every corner of her mouth.
Her breath grew ragged, and her vision blurred. She felt their touching bodies heating up to an almost unbearable degree, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop him.
She moved her tongue in a languid rhythm, following Barkas’s lead.
How long had they been like that? By the time her lips began to tingle, he lifted his head.
Talia gasped for breath, looking up into his eyes. Unlike his hotly throbbing body, the silent face looking down at her showed no trace of desire. That inscrutable gap made her uneasy.
Gathering her ragged breath, Talia quietly turned her body away.
“I’ll… go now.”
Just as she was about to step down from the bed, his arm wrapped around her waist.
“Stay a little longer.”
The sweet bass voice pouring into her ear felt as if it were melting her very bones. Pressing his body flush against her back, the man pressed his lips to her nape.
Talia stiffened with tension.
The reason she had come here was to secure an heir for the Grand Duchy.
Giving herself to him in the darkness was merely a procedure to accept him without pain.
Those lies, which were closer to self-hypnosis, threatened to collapse helplessly at a single soft touch. She desperately clung to her resolve.
“There’s no reason for me to be here.”
“There’s no reason not to stay, either,” he said, stroking her hair.
“I’m a patient. Just stay by my side until I fall asleep.”
Talia bit her lip at the voice that carried a hint of languor.
Why do you want me by your side?
She wanted to demand an answer, but she was afraid of what disappointing response she might receive.
Hesitating, Talia eventually blurted out something else entirely.
“……Then go to sleep quickly.”
She felt his lips move ever so slightly.
Could he have smiled?
No, that couldn’t be. Those were corners of a mouth that never moved unless he was scoffing or sneering.
Suppressing the urge to look back, she stared intently at the window where raindrops were splattering. Just then, a flash of light flickered, followed by a rumbling sound like a growl.
“Are you afraid of thunder?” he asked suddenly.
Only then did Talia realize she was trembling.
She had never been afraid of storms or lightning, but she didn’t bother to deny it. She didn’t want him to discover that she was shaken by the emotions he stirred within her.
After a while, the sound of steady breathing reached her. The heavy thumping of his heart also gradually slowed.
Was he asleep?
But then again, maybe not.
She spent a long time stalling, guessing at facts she could confirm just by turning around, until sleepiness washed over her like a tidal wave.
She gradually sank into the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness. Then, at some point, she was pulled away as if sinking into a dense darkness.
The warmth that had been pleasantly enveloping her body vanished in an instant, and the darkness became a mace, crushing her entire being.
She struggled to move toward the light, but only the pathetic sound of crushed bones clattering echoed through the void. Then, a growling breath mingled with the sound.
She saw two eyes glittering in the darkness.
A red-eyed monster crawled slowly toward her to devour her. She could vaguely see the hideous form of a beast covered in scales. The monster opened its mouth and gnawed at her ruined lower body. Not even a scream would come out.
Talia watched with terror-stricken eyes as the monster submerged in darkness ate her body.
But something was strange. The monster’s form gradually shrank and transformed into a familiar shape.
A woman with a peculiar smile on her lips embraced Talia’s blood-soaked upper body with pale, glowing hands. Then, she opened her blood-stained lips and tore a piece of flesh from Talia’s neck.
Finally, she could recognize the monster’s face.
It was her mother.
Senebier was nibbling away at what little remained of her body.
Talia, who was soon reduced to only a head, shed tears.
Fair hands lifted the decapitated head.
“Poor thing.”
Whispering as if she truly felt sorry, Senebier kissed her wet cheek.
“Talia!”
Just then, someone shook her body violently.
Talia snapped her eyes open, gasping for air like someone who had just been pulled from underwater.
The scenery of the dark bedroom entered her panicked vision. For a moment, she couldn’t clearly perceive where she was.
As she trembled like a leaf, someone stroked her hair.
“Shh, shh…. It’s okay.”
Talia turned her head. She saw a beautiful face clouded with worry.
He cupped her cheeks with both hands and wiped her wet eyes with his thumbs.
“Calm down. It was just a dream.”
“……A dream?”
Talia’s eyes darted around, chasing the afterimage of Senebier that clung to her retinas, before her shoulders slumped. However, the trembling did not easily subside.
He pulled her into a tight embrace with both arms and stroked her back with a steady rhythm. Her heart, which had been pounding wildly as if it would burst out of her chest at any moment, gradually regained its pace.
She muttered in a tearful voice.
“Have you ever had a nightmare?”
The hand patting her back stopped for a moment.
“A long time ago.”
“What kind of dream was it?”
“Well….”
Noticing that his voice had dropped slightly, she tried to lift her head, but his hand pressed down on the back of her head.
“It was so long ago, I don’t remember it well.”
Yet you clearly remember the fact that you had a nightmare. It must have been a very painful dream.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you if it seems like a nightmare is coming again,” he whispered, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders. Talia naturally snuggled into his arms.
The thought occurred to her that she hadn’t intended to sleep here in the first place, but she immediately brushed it away. Right now, she simply couldn’t pull herself away from those arms.
She closed her eyes, her cheek pressed against his bare chest.
* * *
The next day, she learned exactly how he had been injured.
A large box containing well-groomed silver fur had been placed in front of her door.
The servant who had delivered it personally explained with pride.
“This is the belly skin of a Drakar that the Grand Duke personally subjugated. It is a top-grade material that does not burn in fire and perfectly blocks the biting winds of midwinter. He commanded that a coat be made for Her Grace the Grand Duchess with this.”
The Nanny touched the fur with trembling hands, her mouth hanging open.
The silky white fur emitted a faint blue glow as it caught the sunlight.
“My goodness, it’s so beautiful.”
The maids who had come to help her dress also burst out in admiration.
It was understandable. The Drakar was an entity belonging to the highest tier among dragon-subspecies monsters. Its only weakness was its belly, which was covered in soft fur.
Because of this, even first-class hunters had to risk their lives to obtain a clean pelt without any damage. Even her mother had likely never seen a top-grade material like this.
However, Talia’s face as she looked down at the precious treasure was frozen like ice. It was because anger flared up to the top of her head when she thought of him engaging in such a reckless battle just to obtain this.
She shot a cold gaze at the servants.
“Where is the Grand Duke now?”
“That is… he should be attending to official business in his office.”
The servant, noticing her foul mood, answered with a dejected face.
Talia left the room without delay. She intended to snap at him that she didn’t need such a gift and never to do something so useless again.
However, as she descended the stairs, a scene unfolded before her eyes that seemed to mock such anger.
