Chapter 81
“I apologize. I was thoughtless.”
The man immediately bowed his head. Varkas gave no reply and entered his bedroom.
A squire quickly followed him. Varkas sent him out with a light gesture, sat on a chair, removed his armor and clothes himself, neatly arranged them, and then immersed himself in the bathwater the servants had prepared in advance.
After riding all day, his body must have been deeply steeped in dust and the smell of horses.
He washed his entire body thoroughly in the clear water, then took out a deep navy doublet and wool trousers and put them on. When he put on boots that rose to his shins and stood before the mirror, a neatly arranged silhouette entered his sight.
His body, tempered by long training, had been perfectly disciplined to maintain a flawless posture at any moment.
He looked for a while at the man who seemed to have been forged by the imperial family, then picked up his coat and left the room.
Just as he was about to head to the hall, he saw a woman coming down the stairs. Recognizing her as the healer dispatched from the Imperial Palace, Varkas immediately called her to a stop.
“Why are you coming down from upstairs?”
The woman hurriedly bowed her head.
“Her Highness the Princess summoned me…”
He narrowed his brows. He had expected Thalia not to listen to him, but now that he had confirmed it with his own eyes, faint irritation rose.
He asked in a stiff tone.
“How is Her Highness’s condition?”
“Perhaps because she rested well for a full day, she seemed better than usual. Her fever has also completely gone down. However, the pain in her legs still seems to remain…”
“Did she burn sleep herb again?”
Perhaps reading the criticism in his tone, the healer’s face visibly stiffened. The woman spoke as if making an excuse.
“Her Highness suffers from extreme chronic pain. Using sleep herb is the best measure to ease that suffering.”
He examined the woman’s face with sharp eyes.
Could he really trust a healer assigned by the Empress? She was a woman who treated her own daughter like a chess piece. There was no telling what other tricks she might play behind the scenes.
He carefully studied the woman’s face as if trying to gauge her true thoughts, then nodded as if telling her she may leave.
The woman bowed her head and descended the stairs at a pace neither particularly fast nor slow.
Varkas watched her retreating figure as if observing her, then headed to Thalia’s bedroom.
When he knocked on the firmly closed door, a slightly hoarse voice flowed out.
“Come in.”
The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, cool air brushed his cheek. He furrowed his brows. Contrary to his expectation that the spacious bedroom would be filled with stale smoke, only a faint floral scent and the smell of dry grass leaves lingered inside.
He calmed the stirring inside him and slowly looked around the disordered room.
Before long, he found a small shadow sitting on the windowsill.
Varkas was about to call her name, but suddenly closed his mouth. He did not know what had blocked his words.
The woman, who had been receiving the pouring sunset light with her whole body, turned her head toward him. When their eyes met, an inexplicable impatience grew even stronger.
He pulled at the neckline of his doublet and strode toward her. After firmly shutting the wide-open window, he brought the back of his hand to her pale, glowing cheek and felt a chill as cold as ice.
“How long have you been sitting like this?”
“Doing what?”
“I am asking how long you have been exposed to the cold wind.”
Her eyes narrowed. When a sulky expression filled her small face, she looked about two years younger than her age.
She knocked his hand away and said bluntly.
“I don’t know. How would I know?”
“What if your fever rises again?”
“Then my fever rises.”
He frowned. When he exchanged words with this woman, strange impulses raised their heads. He felt the desire to make her listen to him even by force, and at the same time, the peculiar impulse to coax her gently somehow.
As if shaking off that strange feeling, he took one step back. When he put a little distance between them, he saw the tension leave her stiff shoulders, as if she felt relieved.
Thalia, hugging her knees with both arms, looked him up and down and spoke sullenly.
“More importantly, why are you dressed like that?”
“Guests have arrived, so a simple banquet will be held.”
“Guests?”
“They are regional lords of the East. I was told they came to make an impression on me.”
“Hm…”
She made a strange sound while fiddling with the end of his coat. He quietly looked down at that hand.
After tearing at the hem of his clothes for a while, the woman opened her mouth hesitantly.
“Shouldn’t I attend too?”
He lifted his gaze again. A face that felt strangely beautiful filled his vision.
She was a woman who stimulated other people’s emotions in an odd way. Even he, whose senses were mostly restrained, felt strange impulses because of her. He could already tell what kind of chaos she would cause here without even seeing it.
After hesitating briefly, he slowly shook his head.
He could not hide her forever, but at least until he completely seized control of the East, he did not want her to catch people’s eyes if possible.
“There is no need for you to do so. I will explain it well to the retainers, so Your Highness should rest for the time being.”
“…It’s because I embarrass you, isn’t it?”
Suddenly, her voice sharpened. Varkas, who had been about to turn toward the door, paused and looked down at her.
She tore at her blood-scabbed lips and spoke mockingly.
“Do you already regret taking a cripple as your wife?”
He clenched his fist tightly. If he did not, he felt he might do something terrible. Varkas inhaled deeply, waited for the sharp emotion to settle, and looked down at her with cold eyes. Then the hostility in her eyes became even clearer. At that moment, the words he had been holding back finally scraped up his throat.
“Sometimes I get confused. Whether the words you say are meant to stab me, or to wound yourself…”
As if at a loss for words, the line of her mouth stiffened.
He silently looked down at her face, thick with distrust, then let out a faint sigh and turned away.
“I will call a maid, so dress yourself. If you truly wish to attend, I will not stop you.”
“No thanks.”
Thalia jumped down from the windowsill and snapped coldly.
“If I keep staying with you, my fever will probably rise again.”
Then she staggered to the bed and threw herself onto the sheets. Varkas watched her silently for a moment, then left the room.
When he went down the stairs and entered the grand banquet hall, hundreds of gazes flew toward him.
They all rose from their seats at once.
“You have arrived, Young Master.”
One of the retainers seated near the entrance bowed politely.
He accepted the greeting with a nod and slowly crossed the hall.
High-ranking nobles and his relatives dressed in splendid attire occupied the tables at the center of the banquet hall, while men in far simpler clothing sat around them as if surrounding them.
When he passed them and reached the seat of honor, the faint melody flowing through the hall stopped abruptly. He slowly looked around at those present and offered a formal greeting.
“Thank you for coming such a long way. I ask your understanding if the hospitality is lacking.”
“Lacking? This is the finest wine I have tasted in my entire life!”
One of the men sitting around the long table shouted heartily.
Varkas turned his gaze toward him. On the dazzling coat wrapped around the man’s body was embroidered the crest of a black bear. It was the symbol of House Gutvan, which controlled the southeastern region.
The man raised his glass high and continued in a provocative tone.
“As expected, a gift bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor is different. I hardly know whether people like us dare put it to our lips. Is this not the reward the Young Master received in exchange for a lifetime of devotion?”
The man, who shouted in a theatrical tone, gulped down the wine, then slammed the glass down loudly with a bang.
“When I think of it as the sweat and tears shed by the Young Master, this fine wine tastes bitter.”
A heavy silence settled inside the hall.
Varkas leaned against the back of his chair and twisted the corner of his mouth.
“It seems you have come to pick a fight.”
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