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He wrenched his head aside and gripped her wrist tight.
Talia held fast, digging her nails into the soft flesh. His face, crimson a moment before, turned a sickly, pale blue.
He thrashed against her, letting out choked, strangled groans. She ignored them, bearing down harder as though she meant to crush his tongue.
A sharp shriek pierced the air. Hurried footsteps followed, and a hand clamped down on her shoulder.
Talia snarled.
“Let go! I’m going to rip his tongue out so he never speaks another filthy word!”
“Heavens above! Someone stop her!”
A shrill cry rang out in the corridor.
Still, Talia seized Lucas’s jaw and shoved her fingers deeper.
Just as her nails dug toward the root of his tongue, a heavy arm locked around her waist and hoisted her off the floor.
Panting with fury, Talia turned her head. Varkas, hauling her under his arm like luggage, was glaring down with eyes cold as ice.
“What in the world is happening here?”
His gaze shifted between her and Lucas, struggling to parse the sight before him.
Lucas, who had slumped to the floor in stunned disbelief, scrambled hastily to his feet.
“Th-that woman just tried to rip my tongue out! Look at this!”
Trembling, he thrust out an accusing finger and showed his mangled tongue.
The veins corded in Talia’s neck.
“Stick it out again! I’ll tear it out by the roots!”
The boy stumbled back in horror.
“See? You saw that, right? She’s a lunatic! Completely out of her mind! Why did you marry a woman like that instead of the First Princess? You need to annul this marriage right now—!”
“Lucas Raedgo Shearkan.”
A low, sighing baritone settled heavily over the hallway.
Lucas froze, and even Talia, blind with rage, stiffened.
After a brief pause to catch his breath, Varkas spoke deliberately.
“What did you say to my wife?”
“I only…”
Lucas trailed off, his face flustered.
Looking down at him with cold eyes, Varkas stated plainly,
“Evidently something you cannot repeat in front of me.”
The color drained from Lucas’s cheeks.
His eyes darted about before he muttered petulantly, “Well, yes, but still… does anyone actually go this far…?”
As Talia glared murder at him, Varkas turned his sharp gaze upon her.
Her shoulders grew rigid.
He questioned her like an inquisitor in a courtroom.
“Would Your Highness care to explain the circumstances?”
Talia stared up at him, her eyes burning with spite.
The vile insults his brother had spewed rushed back into her head, and her whole body began to tremble.
He expected her to repeat those filth-soaked words with her own mouth?
She ground her teeth and forced the words out.
“Not if I die for it.”
Varkas’s eyes narrowed.
Drawing a slow breath to steady his patience, he said coldly, “You must give me the reason so I can dispense a proper punishment.”
Lucas’s face twisted in wounded indignity, looking for all the world like the victim.
Talia, staring at him as though she would tear his face apart, wrenched her body against Varkas’s hold.
“I don’t want it. Put me down.”
· · ·
“Didn’t you hear me? I said put me down.”
Eventually, he set her on the floor.
Steadying her trembling legs, Talia looked around at the onlookers gathered in the corridor.
Flushed, drunken faces stared back, wondering what was happening. A sickening wave of disillusionment washed over her.
Glaring viciously in every direction, Talia turned on her heel and strode toward the bedchamber. The few paces felt like miles. She shoved the door open, threw herself inside, and collapsed onto the bed.
Moments later, Varkas followed her in.
Talia buried her face in the pillow and ignored him. If she didn’t, she felt she might lunge at him like a lunatic and demand answers, just as she had with Lucas.
Is what your brother said true?
Did you truly go that far with Ayla?
“Talia Roem Shearkan.”
The mattress dipped, and a deep shadow fell over her head.
Talia felt the tension tighten down her spine.
A rough hand took hold of her shoulder. Before she could resist, she was hauled over onto her back, and her tear-blurred vision filled with his face, hard and sharp as a forged blade.
He questioned her sternly.
“Explain properly what happened.”
“What more is there to say?”
Talia spat back.
“You saw it all. I tried to rip your brother’s tongue out, and you stopped me. What else is there to explain?”
“Why would you do such a thing?”
“Because I wanted to.”
His patience exhausted by her childish petulance, Varkas’s eyes frosted over.
He caught her chin in a tight grip and spoke with heavy authority.
“Just how long do you intend to act like a child?”
Talia’s face contorted.
Lucas Raedgo Shearkan was the one who had crossed the line. Why was she the one being scolded?
Slapping his hand away, Talia snapped,
“I only paid back an insult. If you want to place blame, blame your father for raising him that way.”
He pressed his fingers against his temples as though nursing a headache.
“Retribution is handled through an intermediary. Not by brawling on the floor yourself like a ten-year-old street urchin.”
“And who is going to be my intermediary? Are you going to bring me your brother’s head?”
Talia scoffed.
“I expect nothing from you. If someone attacks me, I’ll strike back with my own hands.”
The chill in his gaze grew deeper.
“Are you saying you’ll climb on top of another man and roll in the dirt like a dog again?”
“I wouldn’t put it past me.”
Talia glared back, unyielding.
“If you can’t bear the sight of it, keep your brother out of my sight. If that brat ever crosses my path again, I’ll finish him for good.”
The line between his brows deepened.
Her fingertips itched at the sight of that look, as if he were dealing with some intolerable nuisance.
Fighting down the urge to rake her nails across his face, Talia retreated into the far corner of the bed and pulled the duvet over her head.
How much time had passed?
She felt Varkas rise. Soon, the door clicked shut, leaving behind a cold silence in the room.
Talia peeked out slightly and glanced around the empty space.
Only when she was certain she was alone did the tears she had held back spill over.
Biting her lip to stifle her cries, Talia buried her face into the pillow, letting out muffled, ragged sobs.
At some point, exhaustion dragged her under. When she opened her eyes in the dim room, a faint clinking made her start and turn her head.
Varkas had returned and was arranging medicine bottles on a shelf. As she stared at him blankly, he glanced quietly back at her over his shoulder.
“You kept whimpering in your sleep, so I brought a painkiller. Drink it and go back to sleep.”
His calm demeanor, as though he had never been angry in the first place, made a strange, suffocating pressure swell in her chest.
Talia pulled the blanket up to the bridge of her nose.
“I don’t need it.”
A weary sigh escaped his lips. The rough way he raked his hair back betrayed a flicker of irritation.
Was he holding back his temper as well?
Talia watched his face in the lamplight, transfixed. On that pale visage, his lips—the only touch of vivid color—were drawn in a rigid, cold line. As she stared at them, Lucas Raedgo Shearkan’s sneering voice echoed in her mind.
‘Could it be that our elder brother hasn’t forgotten his former fiancée?’
Talia bit her lower lip. Before she could think, nonsensical words slipped past her mouth.
“If you feed it to me with your mouth, I’ll drink it.”
Varkas, who had been setting down a bottle of medicinal liquid, stopped and looked back at her.
Only when she saw his eyes widen faintly did she realize what she had just said.
END