Chapter 37
Talia could not find the words to excuse herself and only let her lips tremble. She wanted to feign her usual brazen attitude, but she was at her limit both physically and mentally, and her mind refused to function clearly.
She quickly pulled up her hood to hide her face, which was distorted by agitation. She tried to brush past her half-brother, who was blocking the entrance, but Gares swiftly grabbed her wrist.
“I asked why you were rummaging through Barkas’s tent.”
“Let go!”
She shook her arm violently, but Gares’s hand stuck to her like glue and would not budge.
He yanked her body toward him roughly, growling like an angry wolf.
“Tell me what kind of foul scheme you were up to!”
Talia bit her lip at the grip that felt as though it were crushing her very bones.
This man is nothing but a brute with mindless strength.
She kicked his shin without mercy. Perhaps he wasn’t wearing any armor yet, as Gares cursed under his breath and jumped back.
Not missing the opening, Talia quickly pulled her arm free. She bolted out of Barkas’s tent and began to run fiercely.
The sound of things being smashed behind her reached her ears, as if Gares were chasing her in a rage. However, Talia didn’t look back once as she sprinted between the tents.
Before long, her carriage came into view. She lunged inside, locked the door tight, and curled up in a corner.
A wave of worry washed over her, wondering if Gares, blinded by fury, would try to smash the carriage. But even after a long time passed, there were no signs of a commotion. It seemed he had stopped chasing her, likely conscious of the eyes around them.
Talia let out a sigh of relief and buried her face in her knees. Then, a sudden sense of disillusionment overcame her, and her face contorted. She felt a shudder of self-loathing for acting like a complete fool.
Why had she lost her reason just to check on his well-being? It also bothered her that she had shown such an emotionally shaken side to Gares.
He didn’t notice anything, did he?
Talia chewed on her lip nervously before cautiously peeking out the window.
She saw the knights dismantling the tents. It didn’t seem like they had noticed the disturbance she’d caused.
After pressing her face against the glass and darting her eyes around, Talia pulled the curtains shut again.
As the sky brightened, the knights mounted their horses and began to form ranks. Among them, she saw Barkas. She watched him through the gap in the curtains as he inspected the vanguard as usual, but when he moved toward her carriage, she hurriedly hid herself.
Was he going to interrogate her after hearing something from Gares?
As she squeezed her brain for various excuses, Barkas stopped near the carriage, gave some instructions to the knights, and moved back to the front of the line.
Talia’s shoulders slumped in relief. Just then, the booming voice of a royal guard echoed.
“We are departing now.”
She didn’t offer any response. As if he hadn’t expected one in the first place, the knight didn’t say anything more and immediately urged his horse forward. Soon, her carriage began to move as well.
Talia leaned back against the seat and looked up at the sky turning white through the gap in the curtains. In the end, it seemed a tedious day was beginning without anything further happening.
The march that had started at dawn was halted before the sun had even begun to set.
Gares, whose patience had reached its limit, unilaterally declared that they would move no further today.
Strictly speaking, the itinerary of this journey was under the decision of Barkas, the commander-in-chief. However, few dared to defy the orders of the future Emperor.
Ultimately, with Barkas’s silent acquiescence, they had to set up camp in the middle of a barren field, just before the second holy site, Ulgram Hill.
It seemed to be a frustrating situation for the soldiers, who wanted to leave the plains as quickly as possible, but for Talia, it was a blessing. Having spent the entire day confined in a swaying carriage without eating or sleeping properly, her physical strength had hit rock bottom.
She lay on the carriage seat, blinking her dizzy eyes.
Then, a loathsome voice drifted in from outside.
“Your Highness, I have brought some fruit.”
Talia knitted her brows. It felt inexplicable that the knight would interfere again after being so harshly rebuffed yesterday.
Unless he had some ulterior motive, was there any reason for him to flatter her to this extent?
She snapped sharply.
“Get lost.”
“You said you couldn’t eat because you didn’t know what was in the food, right? Fresh, unprocessed fruit should be fine.”
Too exhausted to even argue, she fell silent. At that, the knight impertinently threw open the carriage door and thrust a tray of fruit in front of her face.
“I’m doing this because I’m worried this will actually turn into a funeral procession. Please stop being so stubborn and eat at least this.”
She glared at his face with an appalled expression before lowering her gaze to the silver tray. There were ripe red apples, plums, and green grapes.
Talia stared at them blankly, then murmured in a low voice, as if she didn’t even have the energy to be angry.
“How do I know you haven’t smeared poison on the skin?”
One would think he’d give up by now, but the knight didn’t budge. Letting out a heavy sigh, the knight picked up an apple from the tray. He took a large bite out of it and then held the apple with the bite mark out toward her.
“Is this enough now?”
“Are you telling me to eat something you’ve already bitten? It’s filthy, take it away!”
The knight looked as if he wanted to strangle her. Regardless, Talia turned her back on him. In truth, she was ravenously hungry, but she didn’t want to touch food that had been handled by others. Even if she forced it into her stomach, she was certain she would just throw it all up.
“I’ve had enough, so stop bothering me and just get lost.”
“Is ‘get lost’ the only thing Your Highness knows how to say?”
The knight’s increasingly boundary-crossing behavior sparked a surge of irritation.
Talia bolted upright. A brief spell of dizziness hit her, but she forced strength into her legs, refusing to show weakness.
Once her vision cleared, she left the knight, who was watching her warily, and stepped out of the carriage.
The sky was already changing from deep blue to a pale orange. After watching it for a moment, Talia moved to the edge of the campsite, avoiding the eyes that were glancing her way.
She wanted to go somewhere where no one was and rest quietly. However, if she left the group, the knights would surely follow her immediately.
After a moment of thought, Talia headed toward a dense forest a short distance away from where the luggage wagons were stationed.
At this distance, they would be able to see her position with the naked eye, so they wouldn’t pester her under the guise of protection.
Talia sat down, leaning her back against a large tree, and took a deep breath of the cool evening air. How long had she been like that? A faint sound of laughter reached her from nearby.
Talia’s eyes flew open. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who had sought out a secluded spot for rest; through the sparsely placed spruce trees, she saw Aila walking with a leisurely pace.
Talia’s face twisted.
She was exhausted in both body and mind. She didn’t think she could endure seeing that face brimming with happiness.
She stood up abruptly. Just as she was about to leave, the figure of another person, hidden behind a tree, came into view.
It was the man who, until this morning, had made her pray just for him to stay alive.
Talia stared at him with hollow eyes. Holding Torque’s reins in one hand and quietly following Aila, Barkas looked more peaceful than ever before.
She had seen nothing but his cold expressions or his furrowed brow so often that this serene face felt foreign to her.
Does he always make that kind of expression in front of Aila?
As she watched him blankly, Aila pulled on Barkas’s arm, stood on her tiptoes, and tilted her head up. Talia held her breath, realizing what she was asking for.
She didn’t want to see it. She didn’t want to witness a scene that she would be unable to cut out of her mind for the rest of her life, a scene she would chew over and over again.
Even as she screamed internally, Talia couldn’t tear her eyes away from the two of them. Perhaps, she might have wanted to see him coldly refuse her. But Barkas, like a faithful hound, responded to Aila’s wish.
Seeing him lean down toward her, Talia turned and began to run. But before she could get far, someone caught her.
Her eyes widened in shock. Gares, his cheeks flushed red as if he had been drinking, was clutching her arm and staring down at her.
Talia quickly lowered her head at his gaze, which seemed to be observing her. But he had already caught the moisture lingering around her eyes.
“Could it be that you…”
Gares let out a hollow laugh and muttered.
Talia twisted her arm violently to escape him. But the Crown Prince did not budge.
Gares looked down at her face, which had not yet managed to erase its emotional turmoil, as if it were a rare spectacle. Eventually, he burst into laughter.
“So that’s what it was?”
