Ch#68
68
Thalia gnawed at a hangnail on her thumb.
Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, trickling slowly down her temples.
Varkas gripped her shoulders and turned her body toward him. She felt his long, firm fingers cup one of her cheeks.
Thalia couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes, keeping her gaze fixed on the tip of his chin. Then, Varkas’s face descended.
His lips—startlingly warm and soft—brushed against the corner of her mouth for a fleeting moment before pulling away.
It was a kiss as light as a breeze. A mere formality, the minimum amount of contact required.
That momentary touch, which hardly deserved the name of a kiss, felt as though it were finely slicing her heart into pieces.
“I hereby declare that all rites have been completed.”
Following the priest’s final declaration, a round of formal applause echoed through the hall.
Thalia looked up at him with trembling eyes. His expressionless face, its depths impossible to read, was staring down at her.
What on earth was he looking for?
After searching her with a persistent gaze, Varkas finally turned toward the guests. Only then did Thalia exhale the breath she had been holding.
With his arm wrapped around her waist, he led her through the crowd of wedding guests.
Ghostly faces blurred past them as they walked with slow, deliberate steps.
Gares, his eyes gleaming with a chilling light; the Emperor, looking troubled; and Senebier, wearing a satisfied smile… Countless shadows flowed by like a river, and soon, the dark, rain-streaked sky appeared before them.
“Bring my coat.”
Stopping at the entrance of the cathedral, Varkas spoke to a knight standing on standby.
The knight immediately handed over the overcoat draped across his arm.
Varkas draped it over her shoulders, then leaned down slightly and effortlessly lifted her with one arm.
Thalia hurriedly wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling backward. Her nose brushed against his soft hair, which carried the faint, pleasant scent of soap.
Supporting her back with one hand, he began to walk slowly out into the rain.
Thalia watched as the soft, silvery raindrops washed over his face, turning it pale, before she shifted her gaze toward the garden where ominous shadows had settled.
“…Where are we going?”
“I have arranged a temporary residence outside the Imperial Palace,” he replied, his pace steady.
“We will stay there until we depart for the East.”
Thalia looked confused.
Was a wedding supposed to end like this?
Senebier had surely prepared a grand wedding reception. Hadn’t the entire palace been in an uproar for days, decorating the banquet hall and preparing food?
There would be guests who had come specifically to see him. Was it really alright to leave everything behind and walk away like this?
“We have done enough. There is no reason to remain here as a spectacle any longer.”
The coldness in his voice pulled her consciousness back to reality.
He was right.
This marriage was nothing more than fodder for vulgar rumors.
A crippled bastard princess and a swapped bride; a pitiful groom who had gone from an object of envy to one of pity overnight…
She didn’t need to hear it to know what people would be saying about them.
There was no reason for Varkas to endure such humiliation. No matter if he was the Emperor, he could not force that level of sacrifice upon the man who would rule the East.
He walked through the muddy path and stopped before a carriage emblazoned with the crest of the Si’eikan family. A servant sitting on the driver’s box rushed down to open the door.
Varkas stepped inside and lowered her onto a seat covered with thick cushions.
Thalia stared at Varkas with wide eyes; he had become soaked in that short span of time.
Sitting down across from her, Varkas loosened his restrictive formal collar and let out a long, weary sigh.
Water droplets from his hair ran down his straight forehead and gathered at the corners of his eyes. His gaze, which felt dry despite the dampness, moved straight toward her.
“How is your leg?”
Thalia’s lips twitched.
It bothered her that he was paying more attention to her leg than necessary.
Gares’s voice, mocking her for taking the seat beside Varkas with only one good leg, rang in her ears.
She bit down on the tender flesh inside her cheek.
I know.
I know, so why do you keep reminding me?
“It’s still attached, so mind your own business.”
When she snapped at him irritably, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Thalia turned her head toward the window to avoid his sharp gaze. However, his wet fingers immediately turned her head back.
“I asked if you were in pain.”
After a brief moment of tensing her shoulders at his stiff voice, Thalia roughly brushed his hand away.
“If I say I’m fine, does it make you feel better?”
“…”
“But what can I do? Not a single day has passed since then that it hasn’t hurt.”
She stared intensely at his mask-like face, her words stinging like a wasp’s venom.
“So don’t grate on my nerves with pointless questions. It’s annoying.”
The warm, soft lips that had touched her earlier were now pressed into a cold, hard line.
Even though she was the one who had silenced him with cruel words, it was she who felt suffocated by his silence. Thalia bit her dry lips out of agitation.
Still, coldness was better than pity. The lukewarm kindness that had been poured upon her since her leg became like this was more horrifying than anything else.
To hide her anxiety, Thalia snapped even more irritably.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t we moving? Are we going to spend the whole night here?”
Varkas stared at her for a moment before turning and lightly rapping on the wall of the carriage.
A moment later, the sound of reins snapping was heard, and the carriage began to move forward slowly.
Thalia looked out at the rain-soaked garden through the fogged-up glass window. The unfamiliar scenery, which had never once felt like home, glided quickly past the hazy veil.
As she stared blankly, she was suddenly lifted into the air, and the plush seat met her back.
Thalia looked up, startled.
After laying her down on the wide carriage seat, Varkas reached behind the backrest, pulled out a cloak embroidered with the crest of the Roem Knights, and draped it over her body.
“It is a long journey. Get some sleep in the meantime.”
Thalia reached out to throw it off. But Varkas was faster.
He grabbed her hand and pinned it down against the seat. Then, looking down into her eyes—which were still hazy from the lingering effects of her medicine—he threatened her in the rough tone he used to use occasionally during their teens.
“Don’t be stubborn and sleep. Don’t make me uneasy with those unfocused eyes.”
Thalia flinched at his threatening tone, but soon pulled the cloak up to the bridge of her nose. Varkas watched her for a moment before letting out a weary sigh and sitting back down on the opposite seat.
For some reason, she felt like crying.
Thalia buried her face in the fabric that carried his scent and closed her eyes.
She must have fallen asleep at some point.
Realizing that the rattling vibration of the carriage had stopped, Thalia clutched her throbbing forehead with one hand and rubbed her gritty eyes.
As she managed to force her eyes open, the sight of the empty carriage interior filled her vision. Thalia blinked blankly before bolting upright in shock. Her eyes darted around in fear as she looked for Varkas, when a rough, gravelly voice reached her from outside.
“What do you plan to do about the First Princess?”
Thalia’s shoulders stiffened as she pressed her body close to the window. Through the water-streaked glass, she saw the evening sky, where the rain had finally stopped. Beneath that reddish sky stood a massive, rugged stone building and about a dozen men.
It wasn’t hard to find Varkas among them. The man, standing with his back to the sunset, spoke dryly.
“With what intention are you asking?”
“Do you really intend to abandon her like this…?”
“You are saying strange things.”
A sharp, mocking laugh sliced through the damp, humid air.
“Wasn’t my engagement to her made in the first place to keep the Empress in check?”
“…”
“Marriage isn’t the only way to protect two people.”
“That means…”
Confusion colored the man’s voice. However, Varkas didn’t seem inclined to explain in detail.
He cut the knight off as if he were a nuisance.
“Was I in a position to be interrogated by you?”
“I-I apologize. I overstepped my bounds.”
The man hurriedly bowed his head.
Varkas looked down at him with cold eyes before speaking tonelessly.
“Nothing changes. You continue to monitor the Empress’s movements as you have been doing. And, if the Crown Prince should do anything reckless, report it to me immediately.”
“I understand.”
As if that was all he had to say, Varkas turned around.
Thalia hurriedly laid her head back down on the seat. But before she could even pretend to be asleep under the cloak, the carriage door opened, and Varkas appeared.
Thalia looked up at him with frozen eyes.
