Chapter 100
Lucas immediately turned and fled.
Daren, who had been watching the scene nearby, clicked his tongue with a worried expression.
“Was that not a little excessive? What will you do if he starts harboring resentment toward Your Grace?”
“At present, Lucas is the only heir of the Grand Duke’s house. If something happens to me, that boy must continue the family.”
Varkas said flatly.
“If anything, I want to ask what you were thinking, leaving him alone until he ended up like that.”
“Your Grace is this young and strong. What reason is there to prepare the second young master as heir?”
Daren shrugged lightly.
“Besides, you are married now, so surely you will have a direct heir before long.”
Varkas gave no reply and opened the water bottle tied at his waist to wet his mouth.
Between the busily moving soldiers, he could see fourteen baggage wagons and a large four-wheeled carriage made for travel.
In front of it, a quarter-dwarf carrying a large basin approached.
It seemed she was going to attend to his wife’s body.
Suddenly, a bitter taste like chewing old metal spread through his mouth.
After injuring her legs, Thalia reacted extremely sensitively to revealing her body.
Except for that woman and the healer her mother had assigned, she would not even allow anyone to touch her legs.
When he remembered how she had fallen into a fit every time he tried to personally examine her wounds, the fishy taste in his mouth grew stronger.
He poured another sip of strong liquor down his throat, which felt rough as if filled with sand, then consciously changed the subject.
“Was there anything unusual inside Dorkaen Castle?”
“I found nothing particularly suspicious. It seemed they invited you simply to create a connection with the Grand Duke’s house.”
Daren stroked his beard and continued calmly.
“While Your Grace had a private audience with the castle lord, I inspected the training ground as well. It also seems true that they are short on soldiers.”
“Is there a special reason their military force has decreased?”
“I suspect it is because of financial hardship.”
Daren let out a deep sigh.
“The lord of Dorkaen seems to have little talent for managing his territory. Because he failed to properly pay stipends, many warriors left Dorkaen, and on top of that, raiders have been running rampant, resulting in serious troop losses. I do not think he is likely to rebel against the Grand Duke’s house.”
Varkas looked at the grass dyed by sunset while lost in thought.
His judgment was not very different from Daren’s.
While his father had been sick in bed, the local magnates had each increased their forces and expanded their power.
To a castle lord who did not possess a proper military force, the existence of neighboring lords growing stronger day by day must have felt threatening.
For his own safety, he must have judged it better to support the new Grand Duke.
The question was whether that man would be useful to him.
“Do you intend to support Darken and keep the other retainers in check?”
While he was calculating in his head, Daren asked a question.
Varkas slowly shook his head.
“First, I will decide after meeting the remaining local magnates.”
“A wise judgment.”
After ending the conversation with Daren, Varkas moved toward the center of the campsite.
The soldiers had already gathered near the campfire and were eating.
He looked around the campsite, then turned his steps toward his own tent.
When he entered the dark tent, the strong scent of rose oil and sticky sweetness pricked his nose.
Varkas stopped at the entrance and turned his eyes to the bed lit by candlelight.
He saw the woman, wearing a loose blue linen nightgown, lying limply over the blanket.
For an instant, cold air seeped between his ribs.
He strode to the side of the bed and placed the back of his hand against her cheek.
On the smooth skin like glazed porcelain, faint cold sweat had formed.
Was she suffering from pain again?
Varkas furrowed his brow, rose, and rummaged through the display cabinet.
If she was suffering enough even while asleep, it seemed better to burn herbs for her.
He pushed a thoroughly dried bundle of herbs into the small incense burner the healer had prepared in advance.
Just as he was about to light it, a thin voice came from nearby.
“…Varkas.”
When he turned his head, hazy eyes not yet free of sleepiness entered his sight.
At her appearance, as if she were intoxicated by something, he narrowed his eyes.
Had she already burned sleep herb?
He bent his upper body toward her and placed his nose near her collar, but he could not smell smoke.
Instead, the sweet scent of skin filled his breath so tightly it made his throat feel sticky.
At the overly rich stimulus, his mind blurred for a moment.
It felt as though senses that had rotted away long ago were awakening all at once.
Struggling to shake off that strange feeling, he carefully lifted his head, and saw her shoulders hunched as much as possible, as if the shortened distance made her uncomfortable.
Pretending not to notice, he asked in a deliberately calm tone,
“Do you have a fever?”
She pulled the blanket toward her chest and answered bluntly.
“I’m fine. I just fell asleep for a moment.”
“Did you eat properly?”
“I ate a little while ago.”
She gestured with her chin toward the tray beside the bed.
He looked down at the bowls full of food and narrowed his brows.
There was almost no sign that she had eaten.
She had probably only put honey wine or a few pieces of fruit into her mouth again.
Feeling the strange sensation that had been shaking his nerves instantly turn into irritation, he rather roughly swept up his hair.
Thalia watched his mood.
At her restless appearance, his nerves grew sharper and sharper.
It seemed it would be better to stay outside until she fell asleep again.
He turned toward the entrance of the tent.
“Go to sleep now.”
“Va… Varkas!”
At that moment, an urgent hand reached out behind him.
He turned back with surprised eyes.
Thalia, gripping the cuff of his coat tightly and moving her eyes around, released a cracked voice.
“My… legs hurt.”
When he showed no reaction, Thalia swallowed dryly and struggled to continue.
“Feed me the medicine.”
Varkas, who had been blinking blankly, lowered his gaze to her lips.
The swollen red flesh was like crushed pomegranate seeds.
He remembered the sensation of putting it in his mouth and sucking it.
The feeling of the wet inner flesh softly wrapping around his tongue vividly returned as well.
Suddenly, a thirst like burning rose deep in his throat.
He slowly walked to the shelf and took out a small glass bottle.
When he sat on the bed holding it, deep anxiety appeared over her face.
As if testing her, he held out the medicine bottle.
“This?”
A pink flush spread over her transparent skin, clear enough to seem see-through.
With her ears and nape flushed red, the woman moved her eyes around, then slowly nodded.
He immediately opened the bottle cap and took the thick liquid into his mouth.
When he cupped her fragile nape, which looked as if it might snap, he felt a fast, strong pulse.
He remembered the time he had held a small bird in his hand.
Just as he had felt the heart pounding strongly beneath its soft, tender skin, an anxious feeling came over him.
He cupped her delicate chin, like a sculpture, and brought his lips to the plump flesh that seemed made of drops of blood.
When he pushed his tongue into the slightly parted gap, a moan like a cat in heat tickled his throat.
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