Ch#199
199
Immediately after rising from his sickbed, he maintained a grueling schedule of external affairs without a single day of rest.
It was necessary to show his robust presence everywhere to quell the ominous rumors surrounding Talia.
As if nothing had happened, Varkas reorganized the subjugation squads and immediately began patrolling the eastern region to restore public order. Simultaneously, he devoted all his efforts to cracking down on heretical gatherings and tracking the movements of plunderers.
When the initial plan to secretly wipe out the Zram people fell through, he changed strategies and launched a full-scale crackdown.
Whether the hardline policy worked or not, the frequency of the plunderers’ appearances, which had been rampant, noticeably decreased, and the clandestine gatherings of the Great Spirit Faith held throughout the east also subsided.
It was more accurate to say the roots of the heretical forces had sunk beneath the surface rather than being completely eradicated, but he had succeeded, at least, in settling the immediate chaos.
“It seems the heresy hunters will be returning to the capital soon.”
Beirop, placing a report on his desk, spoke with a tone of relief.
Varkas picked up the yellowish parchment and scanned it quickly. The document detailed the movements of the Cathedral Guardians over the past few weeks.
“It seems the paladins have judged that the group of heretics fled to the frozen lands. They appear to have concluded that further pursuit is unnecessary.”
Varkas stroked his lips with a pensive expression.
After obtaining permission from him to investigate, the Cathedral Guardians had swept through the Kalmor area without hesitation before moving west a short while later.
Their judgment was that there was a high possibility the heretics had hidden in the Nederan Mountains, which divided the eastern and central regions.
After staying there for a while and scouring the west-eastern region, the investigation team tracked the heretics’ traces northward. However, it seemed they ultimately failed to capture those who had fled.
“Should we begin recalling the units we attached for surveillance?”
Beirop cautiously broached the subject.
Varkas pressed his throbbing forehead, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his stiff hands.
In the current situation, where available manpower was already scarce, keeping the elite Wolfram units trailing behind the Cathedral Guardians was a clear waste of resources.
According to inquiries made through various channels, Roman Talis’s identity was also confirmed. Further surveillance was unnecessary.
Even as his head reached that conclusion, Varkas could not easily lower his guard.
It was a sensation close to instinct. An intuitive sense of crisis one feels when facing a predator that has intruded into one’s territory…
After staring at the report for a long time, Varkas eventually shook his head.
“Tell them not to slacken the surveillance until those men have completely left the east.”
“But, Your Excellency. Is there really a need to go that far…?”
“Public order in the east has stabilized to some extent anyway. Allocating manpower for a few more weeks won’t cause a disaster.”
Varkas flatly dismissed his aide’s counterargument and stood up.
Having processed the mountain of public affairs, it was now time for his afternoon schedule.
He left the office, mentally mapping out his next destination. Just then, a sharp shout reached his ears.
Stopping abruptly in the hallway, Varkas glanced out the window. In the open space connected to the rear garden, his half-sister was screaming at someone.
Varkas stiffened when he realized the person she was facing was his wife.
Clad in a pitch-black robe of unknown origin, she was looking at Laina with a face that seemed half-crazed.
Varkas looked down at the scene with a hardened expression before turning away. He ran straight down the stairs and stepped out the back door, where Laina’s shrill voice struck his ears.
“Confess honestly! What kind of wicked scheme are you plotting this time? The whole castle is in an uproar because of you, so how can you again…!”
“What is happening?”
The sister, who had been fiercely interrogating his wife, flinched and fell silent.
Varkas crossed the clearing in a single stride and stood beside them.
“I asked what is happening.”
After showing a moment of flustered hesitation, his sister regained her bold attitude and pointed a finger at Talia.
“Just look at this! This woman was trying to sneak out of the castle again! She must have been trying to lure the plunderers in once more!”
Varkas glared at his sister with eyes like ice before slowly turning his gaze toward his wife. She had become noticeably haggard in just a few weeks.
The woman, looking as if she might crumble at any moment, sent him a shrinking glance.
“It’s not like that. Khan is gone…”
She continued anxiously, picking at her chapped lips with fingernails stained dark with bruises.
“I haven’t seen Khan since dawn. So… I was just trying to find him.”
Varkas, standing rigid as he looked down at her, took a deep breath.
A hot, heavy anger crawled up his spine to the top of his head.
It wasn’t clear exactly what he was so angry about.
Was it because of her wretchedly thin appearance? Or was his stomach turning because she was helpless before a mere young sister-in-law?
If not either of those, it might be the fact that she had tried to sneak out of the castle looking like she could collapse at any moment.
He swallowed whatever was surging inside him and spoke coldly.
“Did you find my order for your confinement amusing?”
She winced and lowered her eyes.
He could see her fingertips trembling as they gripped her robe. For some reason, seeing her cower like that made his blood boil even more.
She was a woman who had always held her head high, no matter the situation.
An indescribable sense of displeasure washed over him at the sight of the person who used to raise her voice even when she was in the wrong, now trembling like a criminal.
Varkas turned his head as if to shake off that emotion and barked at the soldiers standing awkwardly at the edge of the clearing.
“What on earth were you doing until the Grand Duchess managed to leave her room?”
“We—we are sorry, Your Excellency.”
The guards hurriedly bowed their heads.
Varkas glared at them with cold eyes and gestured with his chin.
“Take her to her room immediately. If this happens one more time, I will have your heads.”
The pale-faced soldiers rushed over and surrounded his wife.
Just as they were about to escort her away, the woman, biting her lip with an anxious face, suddenly grabbed his forearm.
“Wait, I’ll just go out for a moment and come back. I’m sure Khan has left the castle. I have to find Khan…”
He stood stiffly, looking down at her desperate face.
It felt as if a fire was spreading from the spot where her hand touched him.
As if denying that sensation, he heartlessly pried her hand away and urged the soldiers.
“What are you doing? Take her at once.”
The hesitant soldiers stepped toward her again.
Talia, looking up at him with hollow eyes, finally turned away weakly.
He consciously looked away from her, only for Laina’s face—smirking as if delighted—to catch his eye.
In that instant, he was seized by a violent impulse to snap the neck of his sister, who looked so smug in the sunlight.
“Laina Raedgo Siyeokan.”
Perhaps sensing the anger in his voice, the smile vanished from his sister’s lips.
Varkas stepped close to her and spoke ominously.
“I suppose the title of Grand Duchess is a joke to you?”
Laina, who had been looking up at him with a terrified expression, soon arched her eyebrows.
“Grand Duchess? What Grand Duchess! That woman is a terrible witch. She poisoned Brother’s cup and lured plunderers into the castle! So why are you protecting a woman like that? Because of her…!”
