Ch#212
212
A pale hand, its veins visible beneath the skin, pushed desperately against his chest.
Varkas gathered both of her wrists in one hand and used the other to press her head down against his shoulder.
How long had they remained like that? Gradually, the strength drained from her body, which had been as tense as a pulled bowstring.
Once she was completely exhausted, he laid the heavily panting woman back against the bed and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have a fever.
As he let out a small sigh, she lifted her wet lashes and glared at him.
“I loathe you.”
Varkas showed no reaction. The woman lowered her eyes as if weary and murmured in a voice that seemed ready to fade away.
“And… I loathe myself even more.”
The season of rest was deepening.
A cold wind whipped across the training grounds, frozen white by the snow that had fallen overnight.
Despite the frost-like cold, Lucas—dressed only in a thin tunca over his bare skin—swung his wooden sword before suddenly looking up at the sky.
Gray clouds were blanketing the sun as if it were about to snow again. He was staring blankly at the sky with hazy eyes when a casual voice called out from nearby.
“Do you really not remember anything about how you got hurt?”
He turned his head to see Baredon perched on the fence of the sparring grounds, twirling a dagger in one hand.
Lucas let out an annoyed sigh.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t remember.”
“But you remember everything else about me, Lady Laina, and everyone else, don’t you?”
Baredon countered, tilting his head to the side.
Lucas, who had been repeatedly striking a straw training dummy with his wooden sword, stopped his movements and turned around.
“Are you saying I’m faking it?”
“Who said that? It’s just… it’s a bit hard to understand.”
“It’s the same for me.”
Lucas, sending a fierce look toward Baredon, muttered in a discouraged tone.
“It feels like someone rummaged through my head however they pleased. Even when memories start to surface… they cut off abruptly as if blocked by something. Especially…”
He was about to say that most of his memories regarding the wolf that supposedly attacked him and the wolf’s owner were as hazy as fog, but he held his tongue. For some reason, he felt extremely reluctant to speak of it.
He toyed with the scar on his neck and looked toward the forest path at the edge of the training grounds.
According to the soldiers’ testimony, he had been attacked somewhere over there by a direwolf raised by the Grand Duchess. And that woman had supposedly fled with the wolf, leaving him to die.
He had no way of knowing why his heart felt like it had a hole in it every time he dwelled on that fact. All he remembered about that woman were fragmentary bits suggesting they were on terrible terms.
He vaguely recalled arguing loudly several times right after Varkas returned to the East, but the woman’s actual face was unclear, as if hidden behind a veil.
Why was it that only his memories of that woman had vanished entirely?
As Lucas questioned himself, a sharp pain suddenly pierced his temple, and he clutched his head.
An instinctive repulsion washed over him. He felt as though he shouldn’t think about anything related to that woman.
“Are you alright?”
Seeing his face turn pale, Baredon rushed over and asked.
Lucas waved a hand to signal he was fine.
“It was just a momentary dizzy spell. Don’t make a fuss.”
“Didn’t you push yourself for no reason and make your condition worse again? The High Priest told you to rest for the time being.”
“I was stuck in bed for over a month. Isn’t that enough rest?”
Lucas snapped irritably.
“If you’re that worried, stop bothering me and go do your own work. Aren’t you busy enough handling my share of the duties?”
“I actually came to see when you’d be able to return. But looking at your state, it seems I’ll have to wait quite a while longer.”
Baredon let out a deep sigh as he tucked his dagger into his belt.
Lucas let out a hollow laugh.
“So, you were questioning me so closely just to see if I was malingering?”
“Given the intensity of the work you used to handle, I had a reasonable suspicion that you might be acting to extend your vacation…”
Baredon, who had been prattling on slyly, suddenly fell silent. From atop the castle walls, the sound of a trumpet echoed, signaling the arrival of an important guest.
Lucas turned his head toward the castle gate.
Along with the loud noise of hooves drumming on the stone floor, half a dozen cavalrymen mounted on sturdy warhorses entered the training grounds in formation.
Recognizing the Roem Knights’ emblem embroidered on their cloaks, Lucas immediately dropped his wooden sword and ran toward the gate.
“What brings you here?”
When he shouted the question, the man at the lead turned his head.
It was a familiar face. Was his name Edric Luvon? He was a man who had frequently visited Raedgo Castle as an imperial messenger.
He hopped down from his horse and offered a polite greeting.
“I apologize for arriving without notice. We have come to deliver a message from His Imperial Majesty.”
“A message from His Majesty?”
When Lucas cast a doubtful look, the man nodded with a grave expression.
“A popular uprising has broken out across the Northern regions. Fearing the situation will spread the longer the suppression is delayed, His Majesty has ordered the lords of each region to immediately dispatch reinforcements.”
A strong stir broke out among the soldiers. The imperial messenger looked around and shouted as if making a proclamation.
“The East is no exception. The Shikan Grand Duchy must immediately uphold His Majesty’s command and join the suppression efforts!”
The Grand Duke appeared at the meeting hall an hour after the emergency meeting had been convened.
As Varkas crossed the hall with his usual flawless composure and sat in the seat of honor, the buzzing room fell into a sudden silence.
Since the incident of the direwolf subjugation, the Grand Duke had remained holed up in the annex, handling all official business through writing.
This was his first appearance in an official capacity in nearly a month. Naturally, the gazes of the vassals watching him were filled with deep mistrust. They seemed worried that the Grand Duke might try to defy the Emperor’s orders.
“Issue a mobilization order across the Southeast immediately. I will commit an additional four thousand lancers to the North.”
The Grand Duke, who had been carefully reading the Emperor’s letter, finally spoke.
One of the imperial messengers seated at the end of the long table stood up and raised an objection.
“His Majesty ordered the deployment of ten thousand additional troops!”
“The Shikan Grand Duchy has already sent eight thousand cavalry to the North. With the security of the East also unstable, I cannot give up an additional ten thousand men.”
“But the East has over fifty thousand…”
“If I dispatch four thousand more, I will have already sent nearly a quarter of my total strength to the North.”
The Grand Duke firmly cut the messenger off.
“Anything more is an excessive demand. If His Majesty does not wish to lose the support of the Eastern people as well, advise him to be satisfied with four thousand.”
The faces of the other messengers, excluding Edric Luvon, hardened at the words laced with a subtle threat. However, the Grand Duke remained indifferent.
As if he would not allow any further counterarguments, the Grand Duke stood up with a decisive air. Seeing this, Edric Luvon spoke up urgently.
“What answer should I deliver regarding the command to appoint Your Excellency as the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Allied Forces?”
A pair of blue-gray eyes flickered over him. Soon, a dry response followed.
“Tell him I accept with profound gratitude.”
With those words, the Grand Duke exited the hall once more.
Only then did the buzzing return to the room where a suffocating tension had lingered.
While a heated debate broke out among the vassals over the matter of recruiting the four thousand additional troops, the imperial messengers stood up one by one.
Baredon, who had been quietly watching the situation from the end of the table, rose to escort them to their quarters. While he could have left it to the servants, he couldn’t allow rumors to spread that the imperial messengers had been treated poorly.
He approached the Imperial Guard with a sociable attitude and spoke.
“Please follow me. I will show you to your rooms.”
“Thank you.”
Edric Luvon replied politely.
Baredon led them out of the hall. Just then, a low voice called out from the corridor leading to the main castle.
“You, come out and speak with me for a moment.”
Baredon turned his head and his eyes widened upon finding the Grand Duke leaning his back against a corridor pillar.
Edric Luvon pointed a finger at himself and asked.
“Do you mean me?”
“Yes.”
Stepping out from the shadows, the Grand Duke replied in his characteristic indifferent tone.
“There is something I wish to ask of you privately.”
