Chapter 29
Episode 29
Fidgeting awkwardly with her hands, Talia spoke in a dry, raspy voice.
“If you… if you break even a single strand of my hair, I won’t let you get away with it.”
He didn’t offer a response. However, his touch seemed to grow a bit more cautious. Talia swallowed hard at the sensation of his hands moving as if they were caressing her hair.
Through the gap in his open shirt collar, she could see his thick Adam’s apple and collarbones that stood out as elegantly as a bird’s wings. She could vividly feel his supple yet strong forearms rippling with every movement, and she was more conscious than necessary of his long legs, clad in woolen trousers, positioned right next to her thighs.
Talia lowered her head deeply to hide her flushed face.
“Is… is it much longer?”
Could untangling a few strands of hair caught in a button really take this long? Or was she just so nervous that she was perceiving this moment as unrealistically lengthy? Her palms began to grow damp with sweat.
She rubbed her hands against the pile of clothes on the floor. Then, she flinched upon seeing a rosy tint even on the inside of her wrists.
Surely her whole body hadn’t turned red, had it? How unsightly she must look! She raised her voice irritably.
“That’s enough, just cut it off!”
Barkas, who was usually keen and swift, had been dallying for a while. Now, he lowered one hand to his waist.
She stiffened as she saw him draw a dagger. He reached his arm behind her back again. Talia unconsciously gripped his sleeve tightly.
“Wait, don’t cut too much… my hair…”
Before she could even finish her sentence, a soft snip sounded, and the faint pressure on her scalp vanished. Fearing he might have hacked off a huge chunk of her hair, Talia hurriedly turned around.
Fortunately, no severed tresses were in sight. Instead, a glittering gold button lay lonely on the floor.
She picked it up and examined it closely. The crest of the Roem Knight Order was engraved upon the finely crafted button.
She turned her head again to look up at him. Barkas was already standing up, sheathing his dagger at his waist.
“How long do you intend to remain sitting there?”
Barkas spoke in a blunt tone as he straightened his disheveled clothes.
Talia stood up hesitatingly. For some reason, she felt awkward. She let out a fake cough and held the button out toward him.
“Here, this.”
“I don’t need it. Throw it away.”
Barkas spoke dismissively and glanced out the window. Without her noticing, the sky had been stained by the red glow of the sunset.
He turned his head back to scan the messy room before letting out a weary breath.
“May I take my leave now?”
Talia nodded without a word. He gave a slight bow and immediately walked out of the room.
Talia stood still, listening to his receding footsteps, then quickly dashed to the side of her bed and pulled out her jewelry box. She tucked his button into the very bottom of the box.
That night, she couldn’t sleep due to a strange fluttering in her heart. Unidentifiable emotions made her chest ache.
She replayed his words, his actions, and the look in his eyes over and over again.
Maybe. No. There’s no way. But maybe…
Disjointed thoughts filled her head. It felt like her brain might explode. And yet, she couldn’t help but smile.
She tossed and turned all night, soaked in a sense of happiness.
However, it didn’t take long for the nonsensical fantasies of adolescence to be shattered. A few days later, news of Barkas and Aila’s engagement arrived.
It felt like waking from a daydream. No, it was worse than that. It felt as if she had been floating among the clouds one moment, only to be plummeted to the ground the next.
She immediately rushed out of the Separate Palace and headed for the training grounds. He would come to find her at noon to fulfill his duties as a Royal Guard, but she couldn’t wait until then.
Crossing half the Imperial Palace in a single breath, Talia burst recklessly into the wide open lot where the knights were training. She felt the wary gazes of those who saw her, but at that moment, she didn’t care in the slightest.
Talia’s eyes darted around urgently, searching for that pale, shining ash-blonde hair. Then, realizing that those filling the training grounds were trainees rather than regular knights, she turned away. If he wasn’t at the training grounds, he was likely handling paperwork in his office.
She moved toward the military office located right next to the training grounds. As expected, Barkas was in his office. However, it didn’t seem like he was working.
Talia, reaching for the doorknob, stopped in her tracks upon hearing a faint sound of weeping. Through the crack in the door, she saw Barkas standing with his back to the window, and a woman burying her face in his chest, sobbing.
While she stood frozen at a sight she had never even imagined, the mysterious woman raised her head and looked up at him with pleading eyes.
“You don’t love her, do you?”
It was a pitiful voice, enough to make one’s stomach churn. The woman clung to him desperately, as if begging.
“You’re only marrying her for political reasons. Please, tell me that’s it.”
Suddenly, Talia’s throat tightened. The fact that a woman existed who could plead with him in such a manner felt like a blow to the head.
She watched his face with a racing heart. Finally, his firmly closed lips parted.
“I fail to see what meaning my answer has for you.”
His voice was so dry it was chilling.
Talia unconsciously hunched her shoulders. Barkas, staring down at the woman with a face like a lifeless wax doll, tilted his head as if he truly didn’t understand.
“Whether it is for political reasons or not, what does it change? I have promised to take Her Imperial Highness the First Princess as my wife, and I intend to fulfill that promise.”
The woman’s slender back stiffened visibly. She was likely feeling a pain as if her heart were being torn apart.
But the man didn’t stop there.
“I do not know what you expected of me, but I made it clear from the beginning that I have no intention of reciprocating your feelings.”
The color drained from the woman’s neck. As if her state wasn’t even worthy of pity, he added with a tired sigh.
“I hope there will be no more of these uncomfortable encounters in the future. Now that the engagement has been officially decided, I wish to avoid unnecessary scandal.”
The woman stumbled backward and collapsed as if the strength had left her body. A flicker of annoyance crossed Barkas’s face.
Talia felt a chill at that insensitive face, where not a single trace of sympathy could be found. That expression, that look… everything was terrifyingly familiar.
Talia fled the scene in a hurry.
If she had been just a little bit faster, the one collapsed there sobbing would have been her, not that woman.
Just imagining the scene made her skin crawl. If Barkas had directed such a look at her while she begged for his love, she might have died on the spot. No. She definitely would have died.
Because of that, Talia became truly afraid of him. She was genuinely terrified of the man who could drive her to death with just a few words.
Naturally, her attitude toward Barkas became even more defensive than before.
He was less an object of unrequited love and more a natural predator. If she couldn’t perfectly suppress these feelings, she would have to live in agonizing pain from now on.
