Chapter 89
Varkas turned away without complaint.
As she left the room almost being dragged by him, Thalia looked around with anxious eyes. The worry that someone might take issue with the ruined succession ceremony belatedly flooded in.
However, most of the retainers looked relieved, as if a burden had been lifted.
“With this, the discipline of the East will be set straight as well.”
A man who had somehow come up beside them spoke. His face seemed somewhat familiar. He appeared to be someone she had met on the day of Varkas’s duel.
The man, dressed neatly in luxurious ceremonial clothes, bowed his head lightly to her, then shifted his gaze back to Varkas.
“Do you plan to begin the territorial tour today?”
“If there are no particular problems.”
Varkas replied bluntly, then looked down at Thalia and asked.
“Can you depart right away?”
“…Where are we going?”
“It is one of the main procedures of the succession ceremony. It is a ceremonial event where the new ruler tours the eastern regions, shows his face to the people of the territory, and examines the local conditions.”
The man abruptly cut in and explained. Thalia looked up at him with a flustered expression.
“Do I have to go too?”
“Usually, it is customary for the Grand Duchess to accompany him as well…”
He vaguely trailed off and glanced sideways at Varkas. Varkas, who had been quietly walking down the corridor, suddenly stopped.
Thalia shrank her neck when she felt a hand touch her cheek. Varkas lifted her chin and spoke in a calm tone.
“Your Highness must go as well.”
Thalia’s eyes widened. Since she had injured her legs, this was the first time he had forced something on her like this.
“Did you not tell me not to try to hide you?”
He sent her a cool gaze and added stiffly.
“I intend to do exactly as you said. From now on, there will be no one in this land who does not know that you are the Grand Duchess of Siarkan.”
She opened her mouth in shock. She had thought it would end with simply showing herself to the retainers, but she had never dreamed he would make her show her face to the entire East.
Thalia swallowed dryly.
“I-I can’t leave right now. I have to pack, and Nanny and my healer…”
“I informed Your Highness’s attendants in advance. By now, all travel preparations should be complete.”
He cut her off as if blocking her escape route.
Thalia rolled her eyes. But before she could find a new excuse, Varkas bent down and lifted her easily with one arm.
Thalia swallowed a scream and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Ignoring her flustered reaction, Varkas strode down the stairs, crossed the grand hall, and gave orders to the retainers.
“Have the Lancers stand by. We are heading to the Norden Plain.”
Then he passed through the arched door where rays of light poured in. Thalia narrowed her dazzled eyes. Once she grew accustomed to the sunlight, she saw the attendants filling the courtyard.
At their gazes, as if they were looking at a strange creature, Thalia stiffened.
She remembered the strange bird she had seen in the Imperial Palace one day. The excited gazes of the people watching the monster trapped behind iron bars also flickered in her mind.
As the nauseating feeling grew stronger, Thalia buried her face in his shoulder.
“Tell them all not to stare at me. It feels disgusting.”
“…I wonder if they will actually obey my order.”
Varkas replied in a dry tone. Thalia glared at him as if dumbfounded.
“You’re the Grand Duke now. Tell them anyone who disobeys your order will be executed. Or that you’ll pierce them with a spear like last time.”
Suddenly, a faint sneer passed over his lips.
“Do you wish me to massacre all the easterners?”
Thalia furrowed her brow. Had this man just made a joke?
As she stared into his expressionless face as if dissecting it, Varkas added in an indifferent tone.
“If I execute everyone who looks at you, the Khan people will soon go extinct.”
“Don’t say something stupid. I’m just telling you to threaten them.”
“Easterners do not make empty threats. Once something is spoken, it must be carried out.”
Thalia was swept up in faint confusion. She could not believe she was having such a ridiculous conversation with Varkas. Even though she had not burned sleep herb, one corner of her head grew blank.
She moistened her dry lips and muttered irritably.
“You sure took a long way around just to tell me to endure it.”
“I am glad you understood.”
Varkas twisted the corner of his mouth cynically and turned her head so she faced forward. Thalia hunched her shoulders. A soft low voice brushed past her ear.
“Raise your head.”
Varkas adjusted his hold so that her head was above his and whispered in a low voice.
“You said that even if you hide yourself, I must not hide you.”
Just then, a gust of wind swept over their bodies. As if drawn by something, Thalia lifted her head.
Cool air carrying the scent of dry grass leaves filled out the hems of their clothes. The unpleasant sensation crawling over her body gradually faded.
Thalia slowly blinked.
Thin silk softly wrapped around her skin. After looking up for a moment at the brightly shining sky, Thalia lowered her gaze back to the open ground.
People were still looking at her without even blinking. However, Thalia could find something different in their gazes.
It was an emotion that might be called awe.
A strange thrill swept down her back. They were looking at her as if they were looking at Senevier.
When Thalia realized that fact, she turned her eyes back to Varkas.
Was it because this man was beside her? She could not believe that no one had noticed she was ruined.
“I greet His Grace the Grand Duke.”
When Varkas crossed the wide yard and reached the castle gate, one of the knights lined up neatly stepped forward and paid his respects. It was the mounted warrior named Tyrone.
Varkas stopped before the large travel carriage and replied indifferently.
“I am only acting Grand Duke for now.”
“Have you not already grasped all real power?”
The man folded his arms before his chest and let out a playful laugh.
“Everyone is excited at the emergence of a young and powerful new leader. Please do not throw cold water on it for no reason.”
As if the words were not worth answering, Varkas quietly passed him and opened the carriage door.
Thalia narrowed her eyes as she looked around the comfortably furnished space. She felt as though she understood why he had not shown even the tip of his nose for a week. To earn the retainers’ loyalty, pressure the Grand Duke into forcing the succession ceremony through, and also complete the travel preparations perfectly, even two bodies would not have been enough.
He climbed into the carriage and set her down on the wide seat.
Then, just as he was about to pull the carriage door shut, the mounted warrior waiting outside grabbed the door.
“There is one matter I would like to suggest. Please allow Young Master Lucas to accompany you on this journey.”
“Did you not hear that I placed that boy under house arrest?”
The man let out a small sigh.
“I know. But Young Master Lucas is the younger brother of Your Grace the Grand Duke. In a few years, he is someone who must become Your Grace’s aide, is he not? Rather than sitting him at a desk like a ten-year-old child, would it not be better to let him learn by directly experiencing things?”
A faint crease formed between Varkas’s brows. He looked at the man’s dark face thoughtfully, then spoke as if sighing.
“Fine. Attach him to me as my squire.”
The man withdrew with a satisfied face. Varkas immediately closed the door and sat down across from her.
Thalia glanced at him with an awkward expression. Whenever Varkas had to travel, he always rode Tork. When he showed no sign of getting out of the carriage even after quite some time, Thalia carefully opened her mouth.
“Aren’t you riding?”
Varkas, who had been unfastening the trailing ornaments wrapped around his wrist, cast her a cool gaze.
“Do you want me to get out of the carriage?”
“Who said that? I was just asking because I was curious.”
At his sharper-than-usual manner, Thalia lowered her eyes and muttered quietly.
Because she had done what she had done, she could not come on as strongly as usual. She pressed herself against the carriage wall and needlessly pretended to look outside.
He leaned back against the seat and scratched up his disheveled hair.
“As Your Highness has likely guessed, there are all sorts of rumors circulating because of our marriage. To quiet the controversy, we need to look like a normal married couple for the time being.”
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