Chapter 90
Thalia turned to him with a stiff face.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we must stay together from now on.”
He answered calmly.
“While touring, there will be times when I must ride, but I intend to use the carriage with you as much as possible.”
She swallowed dryly.
“Then, lodging…”
“We will also share lodging.”
Her heart dropped with a thud.
She could not tell whether it was because of fear or because of the emotion that had tormented her for so many years.
Twisting the jade ornament around her wrist, Thalia spoke anxiously.
“Do we really have to?”
Varkas gave no answer. Thalia soon began pouring out words aggressively.
“It’s not like you didn’t know what people would say if you married me. Since the whole world already knows the circumstances behind our marriage, pretending to be a loving couple will look even more ridiculous.”
“We do not need to look loving.”
Varkas let out a long breath.
“It is enough if we look capable of having a marital relationship.”
Thalia, who had been wearing a puzzled expression, suddenly widened her eyes in shock.
Was marital relationship what she thought it was?
As she blankly stared at his ascetic face, where not even the tiniest trace of human desire could be found, he continued calmly.
“Whatever the circumstances, we have become husband and wife, and Your Highness should know at least what duties follow for a married noble. If we merely look like a normal couple, it will help not only you, but also my position.”
Thalia’s face flushed bright red.
It seemed that the “marital relationship” he was talking about was indeed what she was thinking.
Foolish words flowed from between her trembling lips.
“So you mean we have to look like we… share a bed?”
A faint crease formed near his eyes. It was a strange expression that seemed both like a smile and a frown.
“If said plainly.”
Thalia bit her lip tightly and slowly looked him over.
Beneath the thin, glossy silk, his healthy body without a single unnecessary line was clearly revealed.
Broad shoulders, a chest tightly woven with delicate muscles, a slender waist, and long, firm legs like a horse’s…
Suddenly feeling short of breath, she hurriedly lowered her eyes. Through the thin hem of her skirt, her bony legs were faintly visible.
Her stomach stung.
These were scars even her mother had furrowed her brows at, as if they were disgusting.
Even the nanny who had raised her since she was an infant could not hide how painful it was to wash her body.
Just imagining revealing something so hideous to him made cold sweat flow.
She tore at the hem of her clothes and poured out sharp words.
“I don’t want to. Let everyone say whatever they want. People always talk however they like anyway. That’s what mouths are for. Why should I care about the eyes of those beneath me and perform such a ridiculous play…”
“Thalia.”
A large hand covered the stiff back of her hand.
Thalia flinched and looked up at him.
Varkas, who strongly clasped her cold hand, spoke firmly.
“I am not telling you to act.”
“……”
“We only need to show publicly that we are spending time together.”
Varkas’s words sounded closer to a request than an order. That fact blocked the words of refusal gathered in her throat.
With eyes trembling faintly, Thalia examined his face, which carried a hint of fatigue. Judging from the Grand Duke of Siarkan’s attitude, perhaps Varkas’s position was also unstable. While she had shut herself inside the bedroom, he must have driven himself without rest in order to solidify his place.
Suddenly, her mouth grew dry.
If Ayla had come here, she would have rolled up her sleeves for Varkas. Displaying her natural leadership and dignity, she would have helped Varkas solidify his position.
He would never have needed to make such a request.
The two would have spent a normal first night together and naturally continued their married relationship.
Thalia bit her lower lip.
Self-destructive thoughts followed one after another.
How would Varkas have treated Ayla?
Considering that he showed such generosity even toward herself, who snarled at him like an enemy, he would have been even more so with Ayla, never less.
Just as he tried to touch her whenever he had the chance, he would have touched Ayla’s body without hesitation too.
She pictured Varkas stroking Ayla’s cheek or ear and wrapping an arm around her waist.
In her imagination, the two did even more than that without hesitation.
The more she thought, the more her heart burned as if scorched.
Thalia roughly pulled her hand from his grasp.
Then she turned her gaze out the window and struggled to swallow the boiling emotion.
“Do as you like.”
A heavy silence settled.
She wanted to check his expression, but for some reason, she was afraid.
Thalia placed her elbow on the windowsill and pretended to watch the cavalrymen.
Before long, with the loud sound of a horn, the carriage began to move forward.
Thalia slightly leaned her head out the window.
When the carriage passed through the castle gate, a vast field unfolded before her eyes.
A fierce gust swept over the plain touching the sky.
As she watched the grassland turning yellowish-brown, Thalia spied on him from the corner of her eye.
Varkas was also looking out at the field.
The white sunlight cast a dazzling backlight over his face.
Her chest tightened with a strange emotion.
In this unfamiliar yet beautiful land, she had to spend time with him.
Would she be able to protect the walls she had barely built?
***
Lucas swung the reins without hesitation.
It was his first time riding in almost a week.
Turgan, who had been left alone for days and had grown as angry as he could be, blew out rough snorts and powerfully crossed the grassland.
He felt the taut muscles of the stallion ripple beneath his thighs.
He stood up in the stirrups and let out a loud cheer.
The dry wind scraped roughly past his body.
It was terribly refreshing.
“Do not break away from the formation!”
Tyrone, who had caught up beside him, shouted.
Lucas turned to him with a dissatisfied expression.
“What’s wrong with this much!”
“I barely managed to get permission to accompany you under the pretext of teaching you how to conduct yourself as a retainer! If you act however you please like that, what does that make me?”
Lucas clicked his tongue roughly and pulled the reins.
When he barely managed to calm the excited horse, Tyrone also slowed down and closed the distance.
“As I said earlier, Young Master will serve as His Grace the Grand Duke’s squire for a while. Do not move away from the carriage.”
“You don’t understand. I’m doing this out of consideration for Brother.”
Lucas said sarcastically.
“Brother would hate it more if I lingered around him. That woman would too.”
He said in a barbed tone and looked at the carriage slowly crossing the hill far behind them.
The face that woman had struck still itched.
His cheeks, which had been swollen red for a while, only settled down after two days.
He pouted.
“You saw what that woman did to me that day.”
“I also saw Young Master bring your nose to the nape of her neck.”
He flinched and blushed.
“When you say it like that, you make me sound like a real pervert! I only smelled it because there was a strange scent!”
“…No matter how you say it, it sounds perverted.”
Tyrone shook his head.
“As His Grace the Grand Duke said, both of you need to learn the manners expected of nobles. Under the excuse that the former Grand Duke was bedridden, you have lived far too freely until now.”
Lucas glared at him with displeased eyes.
He was angered by the words that subtly sided with Varkas.
“You’ve completely fallen for Brother.”
Tyrone did not particularly deny it.
It seemed he had already accepted Varkas as his lord.
This was not something that applied only to Tyrone.
The old-fashioned elders expressed concern over Varkas’s drastic actions, but the hot-blooded warriors sent him enthusiastic support.
Everyone had been starving for strong leadership.
If he were to be honest, Lucas, too, was half captivated by the overwhelming force Varkas had shown.
However, he did not want to admit that obediently.
“Fine. I admit I was a little rude. But that woman was no pushover either! Why are we the only ones being punished?”
“She is royalty, is she not?”
Tyrone said in a dull tone.
“Moreover, she has now even become the Grand Duchess. So from now on, you had better choose your words carefully. You heard what Sir Daren said earlier, did you not?”
He made a gesture of cutting his throat with his fingertip.
“She is someone who spits poison without blinking even before the great Grand Duke of Siarkan himself. She would strip even Young Master down to the bone with that three-inch tongue. So, for the peace of the East, do not provoke her temper for no reason.”
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