Chapter 38
38
“Let go!”
Talia kicked his shin. But her brother was not one to be fooled by the same trick twice. Gareth quickly shifted his feet to avoid her attack, then grabbed her arm and twisted it brutally, snickering insolently in her face.
“I had my suspicions, but… to think the Imperial family’s nuisance was harboring feelings for the young lord of the East!”
Talia looked up at him with terror-stricken eyes.
The blood in her veins felt as if it were freezing. She scrambled to pull her composure together.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Who would…”
“Exactly. It is complete nonsense. For a bastard who doesn’t know her place to dare covet the heir of Duke Siyeokan!”
Gareth was now shaking with laughter, clearly delighted to have caught a weakness in the sister he had always considered a thorn in his side.
He grabbed her chin with one hand and exhaled a fishy, alcohol-laden breath into her face.
“Blood truly will out. Then again, where would the nature of a vulgar whore who ogles another woman’s man go?”
Talia glared at him with burning eyes. Gareth, looking down at her venomous expression with a smirk, released her with a shove. He then added with a sly drawl.
“Wake up from your delusions. Barkas is not someone the likes of you can dare to look at…”
“You’ve forgotten one thing, Brother. In my veins flows not only the blood of a ‘vulgar whore,’ but also the blood of a man who played around with a young girl while his wife was full-term with child.”
In an instant, the smile on the Crown Prince’s face vanished as if it had been wiped away.
Looking straight up at his eerily distorted face, Talia continued slowly.
“Now that I think about it, that shameless man’s blood flows through your body too, doesn’t it?”
She saw his large, muscular frame tense up.
She knew she should stop there, but she couldn’t let it end with him holding all the cards. Talia mirrored his earlier behavior, flashing a fishy smile right in his face.
“Since you’ve dug up my secret, Brother, shall I dig up one of yours?”
A faint flicker of unease appeared in Gareth’s eyes. Talia, looking at him mockingly, leaned in and whispered softly into his ear.
“There’s a secret rumor circulating among the maids. They say His August Highness the Crown Prince seeks only women with dark honey-colored hair and sea-blue eyes every night.”
The color drained from Gareth’s bronzed face.
Facing his pale, livid countenance, Talia bared a smile full of malice.
“For some reason, I think I know who the woman in your dreams was on the day you first became a man and soiled your bed sheets… Shall I take a guess?”
His entire body convulsed as if he had been electrocuted. Talia felt that if she didn’t stop now, she might actually be murdered this time. However, as always, she listened to the demonic voice goading her on.
“No need to tremble so much. I’m a good sister, so I’ll keep your secret to the end. The fact that the Crown Prince seems to have inherited His Majesty the Emperor’s blood very, very strongly.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than her head snapped to the side from a heavy impact.
Talia collapsed to the ground, clutching her face, which felt as if it were on fire.
Her vision swam as if she had a concussion. As she tried to pull herself up while holding her dizzy head, Gareth climbed on top of her and began to strangle her with both hands. It felt as if her eyeballs might pop out at any moment.
Talia resisted desperately. She scratched at his forearms with her sharp nails and kicked at his rock-hard body, but her weakened physical state was utterly powerless.
After thrashing like a fish out of water, Talia eventually let her limbs go limp. Just then, the grip that had been tightening around her neck as if to crush her bones suddenly slackened.
Talia twisted her body convulsively, gasping for air. Through a vision blurred by tears, she saw Barkas holding Gareth’s arm.
Barkas, looking down at her with a face like a mask, shifted his gaze to Gareth.
Gareth was still glaring at his half-sister as if he wanted to kill her. He looked as if he were driven mad by resentment and fury. The sight of him playing the victim was so pathetic that a laugh burst out through her dry coughs.
Gareth’s face turned beet red as he raised a fist.
“You damn bitch…!”
But his hand never reached her.
Barkas, who had gripped the massive, muscular forearm as easily as twisting a child’s wrist, glared at her with sharp eyes. He seemed revolted by her, seeing how she was still bent on provoking her brother even after nearly dying.
“Escort the Princess to her quarters.”
He issued the order to the Imperial Guard who had come running with a pale face.
The knight immediately moved to support her.
Talia coldly brushed his hand away and staggered to her feet. Then, with a nonchalant expression as if nothing had happened, she patted the dust off her skirt. Gareth, watching this with burning eyes, bellowed at Barkas.
“Let go of me this instant!”
“Stop this at once!”
Aila, who had been watching the scene from a short distance away, raised her voice. Her face was white as a sheet, as if it were her first time witnessing her brother’s violent behavior so closely.
She hurriedly approached her brother’s side and spoke in a stiff voice.
“What on earth are you doing? You are the Crown Prince of this Empire! How could you commit such an outrage…!”
“Stay out of this!”
Gareth growled like a beast.
Aila flinched and took a step back. She seemed considerably shocked that the brother who had always been like an obedient puppy to her was now baring his teeth. Talia spoke mockingly toward her half-sister.
“That’s right. Sister, stay out of our business.”
Aila’s emerald eyes flashed sharply as she glared at her. Then, seeing Talia’s wretched state, she stiffened. Talia touched her swollen cheek with one hand and gave a strange smile.
“It was just a light quarrel between siblings. Isn’t that right, Brother?”
As she tilted her head as if seeking agreement, the sound of teeth grinding came from his clenched jaw.
She stepped toward the huffing Gareth. A knight stepped forward to stop her, but she ignored him and looked straight into her half-brother’s dark green eyes.
“Actually, we’re close enough to share secrets, aren’t we?”
His face was now so flushed it looked ready to explode. He looked as if he wanted to chew her up and swallow her whole right then and there.
However, perhaps not wanting to risk having his sordid secret exposed in front of his sister, he relaxed his body and spoke in a tight, strained voice.
“…Get your hands off me.”
Barkas, who had been silently watching Gareth’s face, released his hand. He must have been applying considerable pressure, as clear handprints were visible on the bronzed skin. Gareth clutched his arm, nursing it while glaring back and forth between Barkas and Talia with eyes full of hostility, before abruptly turning and heading toward the camp.
Talia chuckled as she watched his retreating figure, looking like a defeated soldier, when she felt a cold gaze. She wiped the smile from her face and lifted her head high. As always, an impassive face that was hard to read was looking down at her.
However, Talia could clearly read the emotions of disillusionment and anger within his icy eyes.
He grabbed her arm with his gauntleted hand and nodded toward the knight.
“Escort Her First Highness the Princess to her quarters.”
Then, after a brief bow to the stiffly standing Aila, he led Talia away through the trees as if he were taking a criminal into custody.
Talia’s face twisted venomously.
No matter what anyone said, she was a Princess of the Empire. He, a vassal of the Imperial family, could not dare to drag the Emperor’s daughter around like a stray dog.
Talia violently wrenched her arm from his grasp.
“You insolent bastard! Let go of me this inst…”
At that moment, her body was hoisted into the air. Talia let out a scream. Barkas, who had slung her over one shoulder like a piece of luggage, strode through the tents, ignoring the shocked stares.
Talia’s face turned bright red as she struggled like a cornered animal. However, no matter how much she pounded on his back and shoulders with her fists or kicked wildly, Barkas did not budge.
