Chapter 83
But his gleaming pupils were still fixed on her face.
The man looked down at her with an expression where confusion, rage, and a strange heat were all mixed together, then muttered.
“Who on earth are you…”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
Thalia lifted her chin and said mockingly.
“I’m the ‘wicked woman who is nothing more than an illegitimate child’ you were babbling about.”
The man’s face flushed red.
As if the situation had finally arranged itself perfectly in his head, his eyes, which had been hazy with shock, grew clear.
The man blew out hot breath through his nose and spat out an agitated voice.
“Even so, what kind of outrage is this! I am a knight and a noble! Where in the world is there a law that allows a noble to be treated like this…!”
“Is there a special law somewhere that allows someone to openly insult royalty?”
Thalia cut off the man’s words and twisted the corner of her mouth.
“If you humiliated an Imperial Princess in public and committed insubordination against the future ruler, wouldn’t you have nothing to say even if your head flew off? You should be grateful it ended with nothing more than a baptism of wine.”
“I merely offered direct counsel born of loyalty…!”
“Save the barking for dogs.”
Her eyes glinted venomously as she fiercely drove the man back.
“Loyalty? Direct counsel? Don’t make me laugh. You were just barking out your own dissatisfaction at random.”
As if pressed down by the poison she gave off, the man flinched and took one step back.
Looking at that sight as if mocking him, Thalia spoke in the gentle voice she always used when deliberately scraping at someone’s nerves.
“If Ayla is so pitiful and heartbreaking to you, why don’t you go running to comfort her? Who knows? Perhaps the perfect Princess admired by the entire Empire might bestow her grace upon you.”
Then she slowly looked him over from head to toe and let out a light, frivolous laugh.
“No, I suppose you won’t do. Elder sister looks at faces more than you’d expect.”
The man’s face had now turned so red it looked almost as if it were burning.
Varkas silently watched the heat in his eyes change into intense hostility.
Fascination quickly turned into enmity, and desire into rage.
Most men who encountered her showed that kind of reaction.
The man leaned toward her as if he might rush at her at any moment, the whites of his eyes bloodshot.
This was enough patience.
Varkas pulled the hood over her head, wrapped his hand around the small back of her head, and pulled her firmly against his chest.
Thalia drew in a startled breath and flailed her arms.
Holding her tightly as she tried to escape him, he carefully observed the man’s expression.
Even while fuming with humiliation, the man seemed impatient, as if he wanted somehow to snatch the woman from Varkas’s arms.
The man, eyes wide open, ground his teeth with a grating sound and shouted loudly.
“Hand her over to me at once! I cannot simply let this insult pass!”
“If you don’t let it pass, what are you going to do? Have a sword fight with me? Or what…”
Thalia, who had been pushing at his hand and shouting fiercely at the man, suddenly closed her mouth.
It seemed she had finally sensed the ominous air surrounding him.
Varkas carefully covered her face with the hood, then observed the reactions of everyone present.
Most wore dumbfounded expressions, but not a few among them were sending gazes mixed with interest and curiosity.
Of course, several also revealed open hostility.
It seemed his plan to gradually earn the obedience of the retainers and build his foundation without gaps had already gone wrong.
He swallowed a sigh and turned his gaze back to the enormous man.
“I suppose I must repeat the question my wife asked. If you do not let it pass, what will you do?”
“I must receive an apology for the insult done to me!”
Varkas pretended to consider the man’s demand and stroked his chin.
Alek Gutvan was an influential figure who wielded considerable power in the southeastern region.
Among the warriors of the Khan people, who revered martial prowess, there were likely many who blindly followed this man.
As he commanded a cavalry force made up of hundreds of powerful warriors and had built a firm base as a local magnate, he must have been arrogant enough to think he could handle a young man in his early twenties as he pleased.
His coming here and causing a disturbance as soon as Varkas returned was likely an attempt to seize the initiative.
Varkas twisted the corner of his mouth.
“Must you receive an apology?”
“Yes! Please apologize politely for insulting and mocking me, in front of everyone!”
“What do you think?”
Varkas lowered his gaze and threw the question to Thalia.
“Do you intend to grant that demand?”
A gaze filled with betrayal flew at him immediately.
The chandelier light shimmered over her deep blue irises, which always scraped at his foundation.
“I’d rather die. I’d bite my tongue first!”
“So she says.”
When he cast a dry gaze at the man again, he saw damp malice blooming inside his bloodshot eyes.
The man spat out the words as if chewing them.
“Then, Young Master, please apologize on behalf of your wife. Whatever happens, I must receive compensation for the insult I suffered.”
The sound of rough intakes of breath came from all over.
Even those who had tried to test him seemed flustered by a demand that had gone too far.
Varkas paused briefly, then slowly opened his mouth.
At that moment, an urgent hand stopped him.
Varkas lowered his gaze, saw her bloodless face, and furrowed his brows.
Thalia, gripping his arm tightly, cried out urgently in a cracked voice.
“Don’t. If you apologize, I won’t let you off!”
Again, something stirred inside his stomach.
Previously, he had thought that sensation was close to discomfort.
But the thought crossed his mind that perhaps that was not it.
He removed her hand and slowly approached the man.
The man’s gaze was still fixed on her.
As if blocking that gaze, Varkas spoke softly to the face reeking of strong wine.
“We are easterners, are we not? If there is something you want, you should win it by force.”
“You mean…”
Deep suspicion appeared on the face of the man, who had been huffing and puffing.
Varkas calmly added,
“Let us resolve it in the traditional way. If you defeat me in a duel, I will apologize politely in front of everyone.”
Violent murmuring swept through the banquet hall.
Contrary to his expectation that the man would immediately leap at his offer, the man withheld his answer and sent him a probing look.
Varkas thought that perhaps half of the rough words and behavior this man showed might be an act.
The man, who had been studying him with crafty eyes, finally opened his mouth.
“Do you even properly understand what a duel means? A duel in this land is different in kind from the childish games held in the Imperial Palace. To us, a duel means a desperate confrontation with one’s life on the line.”
Thalia drew in a rough breath and abruptly tugged at his coat.
Ignoring it, he answered in an indifferent tone.
“So, are you afraid?”
A thick vein rose on the man’s broad forehead.
After openly looking him over, the man soon sneered.
“At least your spirit is worthy of an easterner.”
“Your answer?”
“Fine. I accept the duel.”
No sooner had the man answered than murmurs erupted everywhere.
Varkas gestured with his chin toward Daren, who was wearing a dazed expression as if flustered by the sudden situation.
“Prepare a horse and armor.”
“The sun has already set. It would be better to wait until daybreak tomorrow…”
“What need is there to drag it out until then?”
Cutting off Daren’s words, Varkas looked up at the man as if provoking him.
“The Khan people learn how to ride horses and fight before they even learn to walk. Is the sun setting a problem for us?”
“It is no problem at all.”
The man replied with a growl.
“You there! Bring my armor and weapon at once!”
“Sir Gutvan, please calm down first. Let us discuss this again tomorrow…”
When a young man who seemed to be his aide urgently tried to stop him, the man struck him across the face with his fist.
“Do not make me say it twice!”
The young man, clutching his bleeding nose, hurriedly ran out of the banquet hall.
Now the hall began to fill with the heat of excitement.
The man, too, seemed agitated.
He spoke as if chewing each word.
“The duel will be held in front of everyone. If I win, you will bury your head in the ground and apologize right there. Since victory or defeat will be decided with lives at stake, should such compensation not follow?”
“V-Varkas!”
Thalia, who had frozen at the uncontrollable situation, blocked his path.
Only then did he turn his gaze to her.
Thalia muttered in a voice that seemed to shrink inward.
“I-I’ll just apologize… I’ll apologize, so… don’t do something unnecessary.”
Her tearful voice scraped mercilessly at his stomach.
He pulled the robe and covered her face even more carefully, then looked up at the man with emotionless eyes.
“Fine. I will do as you want.”
The man’s smile deepened. It was the face of someone certain of his own victory.
Alek Gutvan smacked his lips like a bear before prey and asked,
“What will you demand if you win, Young Master?”
Just then, attendants rushed into the hall carrying armor.
Varkas received a gauntlet from a nimble boy and tilted his head.
The answer that flowed out sounded dry even to his own ears.
“There is nothing I want to demand from you.”
Sliding his hand into the metal glove, Varkas slowly added,
“If I win, you will never be able to speak again.”
Bye bye Gutvan ദ്ദി・ᴗ・)✧