Ch#53
Varkas, who had been handing a bundle of parchment containing the identities of the deceased to a priest, turned his head to look at her. Thalia quickly lowered her gaze.
Exposed so plainly under the summer sun, she felt a renewed sense of wretchedness, unable to hold her head high.
“The Second Princess requires immediate treatment, so please waive the palace entry procedures.”
The mage from the Taren family, who had stopped in front of Varkas, spoke politely.
When an answer didn’t come immediately, Thalia lifted her eyes again. Varkas was staring intently at her face, a faint furrow between his brows.
Did he find it strange that a woman who used to throw a fit at the mere touch of another was being so submissive?
Varkas’s narrowed eyes dissected her pale, haggard face before slowly traveling downward.
His cool gaze lingered for a moment on her back and the hands supporting her knees before descending to her limp calves dangling beneath her skirt. As if discovering the dark red stains on her bandages, the crease between his brows deepened.
A questioning glare immediately shot toward the Taren mages.
Ignoring it, the mage added smoothly, “Her Majesty will surely understand the Second Princess heading straight to her quarters.”
“Yes. Take the child at once.”
Instead of the silent man, a clear, ringing voice suddenly provided the answer.
Thalia turned her head toward the sound and stiffened as she saw Aila leading a group of maids across the cluttered clearing.
Standing beside Varkas, Aila looked down at her with a pitying expression.
“She has just endured a grueling journey with an injured body; it is only right she receives treatment and rest as soon as possible.”
Thalia gritted her teeth. A wave of humiliation washed over her at that lukewarm gaze full of sympathy. If she hadn’t been in a state where she couldn’t even lift a finger, she would have clawed those eyes out without hesitation.
Whether she noticed Thalia’s internal turmoil or not, Aila placed a hand on Varkas’s forearm with a gentle smile.
“I shall explain everything to His Majesty.”
She then gracefully turned, urging Varkas along.
“Now, let us head inside. His Majesty is waiting.”
Only then did the man, who had been standing like a statue, slowly begin to walk. Thalia watched his retreating back with lingering eyes before finally closing her eyelids.
The mages passed the main palace and entered a vast garden lush with flowers. Soon, a grand, ornately decorated building swallowed her whole.
Thalia felt as though she were being sucked into the entrails of a giant monster.
Crossing the marble hall in an instant, the mages climbed the stairs and entered Senebier’s study. After passing several large bookshelves lined with hundreds of volumes, a secret passage hidden between pillars was revealed. The mages entered it with practiced ease.
Soon, Senebier’s laboratory appeared.
Thalia frowned at the pungent scent of aromatic oils and various herbs that made her head spin.
“Lay her here.”
A mage crossed the laboratory in a few long strides and threw open a door located next to a display cabinet.
Though she had visited this place many times, it was a room she had never entered. The man carrying her set her down on a bed positioned in the center of the room.
Thalia looked around with eyes filled with anxiety.
The clean, organized room was filled with bizarrely shaped tools she had never seen before.
While she scanned them, she turned her gaze back to the two mages. They were laying out equipment on a table, its purpose unknown to her.
Is this how a calf feels entering a slaughterhouse? Her nape became drenched in cold sweat. If she hadn’t been under a spell, she would have screamed.
“I will check the wound first,” one of the mages said, taking a position by her legs.
Thalia felt her skirt being lifted and her body stiffened rigidly.
The man, unwrapping the bandages with clinical efficiency, clicked his tongue lightly.
“The condition is more serious than I thought.”
He added as he meticulously palpated her knee with hands as cold as ice.
“The clumsy way the bone was set is actually going to be a problem. If we let the wound heal like this, the nerves will be paralyzed, and she’ll never be able to use her leg again.”
“The clumsy skills of human mages, honestly…”
The mage muttered under his breath and picked up a small knife from the table.
“Nothing for it. We’ll have to reset it.”
In that instant, a ragged sob burst from her tightly constricted throat.
Only then did the mage see her deathly pale face; he lowered the cloth covering the lower half of his face and curled his lips into a smile.
“There is no need to worry so much.”
It seemed intended to reassure her, but Thalia felt her blood run cold instead. It looked less like a human smile and more like a fish mimicking a human expression.
The man continued to prattle on.
“It will be difficult to return it to the exact state it was in before, but I will at least ensure you have no trouble walking.”
She struggled to move her lips.
Stop it.
If it couldn’t be the same as before, there was no reason to endure such a process.
She wanted to scream that, but only rough sobs leaked from her mouth.
The man pulled the cloth back up and gave an instruction.
“Better light the sleeping grass.”
The mage who had been checking the equipment on the table brought a small brazier to her bedside and burned a bundle of dried herbs.
Thalia immediately stopped breathing. But she couldn’t hold out for long. Unable to withstand the sensation of suffocation, she inhaled the smoke, and her vision blurred instantly.
Thalia tried to force her eyes open to clear the hazy veil, but soon fell into a sleep that felt like fainting.
Raindrops fell upon the lake.
She realized she was dreaming. A landscape from an old memory was unfolding before her eyes.
Fourteen-year-old Thalia sat huddled under a large, spreading tree, staring at the grey surface of the water where the rain poured down as if it were her mortal enemy.
Varkas, soaked to the bone by the rain, approached her side.
“Is the game of hide-and-seek over now?”
She glared at him with venomous eyes.
He must have searched every inch of the palace grounds; his clothes, which were usually without a single wrinkle, and even his hairstyle were a complete mess. However, Thalia’s mood did not improve in the slightest.
She reached out, grabbed a handful of soggy mud, and hurled it at him.
“Go away! I don’t even want to see your face!”
Ugly stains appeared on his velvet uniform adorned with brilliant embroidery, but Varkas didn’t even blink.
His stoic reaction made her even more furious. Thalia continued to pelt him with mud.
“Get lost! Just go to Aila!”
“I would like nothing more.”
Varkas let out a short sigh and knelt on one knee beside her as he continued.
“But I am stuck here until Your Highness turns sixteen.”
Thalia glared at him, her face flushed with emotion.
Miserably, she felt like she was going to cry. To hide it, she strained her eyes and twisted her lips into a deliberate, spiteful smirk.
“To have to see your face for two more years… it’s horrible. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up.”
“…”
“I hate you most in the world. You’re creepy. You make me sick. You’re disgusting.”
“Are you finished?”
“I’m not finished. You smell like a horse.”
His eyebrows twitched upward slightly.
Thalia flinched and lowered her eyes. Having spent his childhood in a monastery, Varkas had an obsession with cleanliness.
He always smelled of fresh soap. Since he surely knew that himself, he would realize her accusation was nothing more than a petty grievance.
However, instead of pointing that out, Varkas took the coat he was holding in one hand, draped it over her shoulders with a thud, and stood up straight.
“I will listen to the rest of the insults back at the separate palace. Get up now. Your lips have turned blue.”
