Ch#63
63
Once the uninvited guest had departed, Thalia hurried the healer to fill the room with a thick, hazy smoke.
As she inhaled deeply of the acrid air, which shimmered like a heat haze, her roiling senses began to settle.
A profound sense of relief washed over her.
A little longer, and the murky fog would occupy her mind entirely.
Then, she wouldn’t have to think about anything. She simply wanted to sleep as if she were dead.
Lying limp upon the bed, she closed her eyes. Yet no matter how long she waited, a single thread of consciousness refused to snap, keeping her tethered to reality.
Desperate to fall asleep, she brought her face closer to the brazier and inhaled the stinging smoke even more deeply, but it only triggered a fit of coughing.
As her body jolted with the violent coughs, even the slight drowsiness that had gathered around her eyes vanished.
Overwhelmed by a sense of frustration, Thalia looked out the window. Before she knew it, the sky had been dyed a deep, blood-red hue.
After staring at that dizzying sunset—the kind that sent a chill down one’s spine—for some time, Thalia felt drawn by something. She slipped out of bed and stood, bracing her weight on her own two legs.
Perhaps the medicine was working properly, as she felt no particular pain.
She took a few experimental steps.
Her left leg moved a beat late, her foot dragging across the floor. However, the sharp pain she usually felt whenever she bent the joint remained quiet. It seemed she could walk well enough.
She slid her thin feet into slippers and pulled a hooded robe from the wardrobe.
Draping it loosely over herself, she left the bedroom with a swaying gait.
By now, Nanny would be lounging in her own room.
The healer would have finished their work and returned to their quarters, and the maids would likewise be resting in their respective rooms.
Just as she thought, she encountered no one as she moved through the long corridor and down the stairs.
Thalia passed through the grand hall and exited the Separate Palace through a side door used by the servants.
A cool breeze brushed softly against her face.
Inhaling the cold air, thick with the scent of grass and flowers, Thalia moved with slow, sluggish steps.
She wandered aimlessly for a while until she suddenly realized she was near the training grounds.
A faint question flickered in her numb mind.
Why did I come here?
Surveying the empty lot surrounded by the red light of dusk with vacant eyes, Thalia sensed a presence and instinctively hid behind some bushes.
A few knights were swinging their swords on one side of the training ground, perhaps engaged in a spar.
She watched them blankly for a moment before moving on again.
After walking with a swaying gait for quite some time, not even knowing where she was going, her clear vision began to ripple and surge. It seemed the effect of the herbs was finally taking hold.
Thalia continued her crawl-like pace, dragging her limp legs behind her.
Then, noticing her long shadow on the ground being swallowed by a deeper darkness, she lifted her head. She had unknowingly entered a dimly lit building.
Where is this now?
As she furrowed her brow in confusion, a single door at the end of a long hallway caught her eye.
She stumbled toward it and knocked cautiously.
After a moment, a low, deep voice drifted through.
“What is it?”
Thalia blinked her eyelids slowly.
Only upon hearing that voice did she remember why she had come here.
She forced out a slurred response.
“I came because… I have something I want to say to you.”
A cold silence followed.
Thalia wondered if her voice had been too quiet, so she cleared her throat and opened her mouth again.
At that moment, heavy footsteps approached, and the door swung open.
Thalia looked up.
Perhaps he had been resting after finishing his day’s work; Varkas was dressed only in dark cotton trousers and a thin linen shirt, worn loosely.
As she scanned him with glazed eyes, a cold voice struck down from above her head.
“Did you really come all this way dressed like that?”
Thalia looked down to inspect her attire.
Through the gaps in her robe, she could see the summer nightgown Nanny had dressed her in.
What was wrong with this?
As she frowned, a large garment was draped over her shoulders.
Thalia looked up at him with a bewildered expression.
Having wrapped her body tightly in his own coat, Varkas looked around the corridor where the darkness had begun to settle heavily.
“Where is your escort?”
“Escort?”
His gaze sharpened.
Varkas lightly gripped her chin and tilted it upward. Then, leaning down toward her, he stared intently into her eyes.
“How much sleep-grass did you burn?”
Thalia strained her eyes to clearly see his face, which kept blurring.
Varkas was wearing a strange expression she had never seen before.
No. Perhaps it was her own mind that was strange.
The whole world looked distorted; how could this man possibly look normal?
She pulled his hand away from her face with a somewhat rough motion and parted her lips.
“I told you, I came because I have something to say.”
She saw his eyes narrow. He seemed displeased about something.
After sending her a chilling look, Varkas straightened his posture and looked up at the sky outside the window, which had begun to darken. Then, he glanced over his shoulder to survey the inside of his room.
Seeing him seemingly lost in thought made her increasingly anxious.
Did I speak in the language of Elves or Dwarves? Why isn’t he responding?
“Can’t you hear me? I said I have something to say…”
Suddenly, her body tilted to one side.
Thalia hurriedly grabbed the doorframe. It seemed her legs had cramped from walking all the way from the Separate Palace. She felt the muscles in her left thigh twitching faintly.
She leaned against the wall with both hands, putting her weight on the opposite leg to keep from collapsing onto the floor.
In that instant, her body was lifted into the air.
Startled, she looked up, and a face lined with fatigue filled her vision.
He carried her in his arms and stepped into his spacious bedroom, where candles were lit.
Thalia lowered her gaze again, scanning the familiar yet foreign scenery.
She had come here several times to meet him, but this was the first time she had stepped inside the room.
A hollow laugh escaped her. It seemed she only gained the right to enter his sanctuary now that her legs were in this state.
“We will talk after the medicine wears off.”
Varkas spoke as if sighing, setting her down on his bed.
Thalia tightly gripped the hem of his shirt as he tried to pull away. Through the thin fabric, she could feel his solid, perfectly trained upper body tense slightly.
Had he perhaps realized what she was about to say?
Struggling to steady her failing focus, she held onto his shirt as if it were a lifeline.
“No. I’m going to say it now. Because once I’m sober, I definitely won’t be able to say it…”
“…”
“You said if I agreed, you would take me as your wife, right?”
He didn’t answer, only staring obsessively into her eyes.
Thalia managed to move her tongue, which felt as loose as a strand of noodles.
“Then do it. Cast aside Aila Roem Guirta and take me as your wife.”
A heavy silence descended.
An unreadable light flickered across his face as he stood with his back to the sunset.
Was he perhaps flustered?
She thought that since he had likely made the offer assuming she would refuse, he might be feeling frustrated by her answer.
However, a chillingly calm voice flowed from his lips.
“I shall do so.”
Thalia traced his face with blurry eyes. A hollow laugh leaked out at his dry expression, which showed no trace of emotion.
Because of this man, Aila had to seek out the half-sister she so despised and swallow her pride.
And she herself was suffering from the impulse to ruin everything.
Yet why was this man so composed?
At his cold face, which even seemed to carry a hint of boredom, something inside her began to crack.
