Chapter 111
“Did you just compare me to a foal?”
In the end, she decided to get angry and sharpened her voice with thorns, making Varkas let out a faint sigh.
“Stop picking a needless fight and finish eating this.”
This time, he brought over a bowl filled with apricots.
Thalia glared at the bowl as if it were her sworn enemy, then turned her head away.
Varkas quietly looked down at her, then pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down.
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he picked up a small fruit and began peeling its soft skin with a knife.
Thalia stared at him in disbelief as he calmly did something only maids would normally do, then raised her voice.
“Stop it. Who asked you to wait on me during my meal? Leave a troublesome woman like me alone and go do your own—!”
Thalia, who had been snapping at him, grimaced fiercely when the soft flesh of the fruit was suddenly pushed into her mouth.
The man, who had effectively shut her mouth, wiped his juice-wet fingers on a towel and spoke in an annoyingly smug tone.
“If Your Highness does not skip meals, I will be able to focus only on my own work as well.”
With the piece of apricot still in her mouth, Thalia glared up at him.
She wanted to snap back, asking what it had to do with him whether she skipped meals or not, but to do that, she first had to swallow what was in her mouth.
In the end, she crushed the soft flesh with her teeth.
Along with juice sweet enough to make her tongue tingle, a refreshing fragrance spread through her mouth.
It was not as unpleasant as she had expected.
“Would you like a little more?”
The man, who had been watching her eat closely, picked up another fruit.
After hesitating for a moment, Thalia primly nodded.
Varkas immediately began peeling the apricot.
The way he carefully trimmed the flesh with the small knife made him look like a master craftsman handling a piece of delicate handiwork.
At the unfamiliar sight, her irritated mood quickly faded.
Once again, Thalia stole glances at him as if observing an unknown creature.
Perhaps he felt guilty for forcing medicine on her all this time, but Varkas had begun to look after her meals somewhat obsessively.
At first, it had only been to the extent of checking whether she was skipping meals, but at some point, he had started putting food directly into her mouth.
It seemed he had realized the seriousness of the problem after seeing how little she actually ate.
“Now, eat this.”
He brought the cleanly peeled piece of apricot to her lips and spoke.
Pretending she had no choice, Thalia opened her mouth.
Along with the sweet flesh, his firm finger touched the tip of her tongue.
Her face flushed, and she tried to jerk her head back, but Varkas wrapped one hand around the nape of her neck and lightly covered her mouth with the other.
Apparently, he thought she was trying to spit it out.
Thalia narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief.
Did this man think she was a child throwing a tantrum over her food?
“Please eat just this much. I will not force you any further.”
Varkas coaxed her gently.
Thalia glared at him through narrowed eyes and mechanically moved her jaw.
Only after she swallowed the mushy fruit did his hand move away.
“Would you like to go out for a short walk today?”
After neatly clearing even the fruit bowl, Varkas suddenly made the suggestion.
Thalia, who had been rinsing her mouth with lukewarm water, looked back at him in surprise.
“I can go out?”
“The healer said fresh air and sunlight would help your recovery.”
Varkas brought over a coat and draped it over her shoulders.
Thalia frowned.
“I haven’t said I’ll go yet.”
“Do you dislike the idea?”
He tilted his head.
Thalia put on a sullen expression, then lowered her legs from the bed as if she had no choice.
However, before her feet could even touch the floor, her body floated into the air.
She was flustered for a moment by the way he lifted her as though it were completely natural, but soon relaxed her shoulders.
She no longer had the strength left to snap at him.
“Are you not cold?”
After leaving the building in no time, Varkas asked as he pulled the hood over her head.
Thalia shook her head.
A chilly late-autumn air lingered in the garden, but the sunlight was still warm.
He stepped on the rustling grass and walked along the narrow path.
A few blackbirds that had been pecking at flower seeds in the brown flower bed fluttered up into the air.
Thalia blankly watched the scene, then shifted her gaze to his face.
The pale sunlight was dyeing his light blond hair silver.
She remembered the day Varkas first set foot in her detached palace.
Back then, she could never have imagined this man taking care of her like this.
But thinking back on it, Varkas had always been generous to the weak.
He had carefully cradled a dying bird and taken in a bony foal that rejected human touch.
And that was not all.
He had taken it upon himself to act as protector to Gareth and Ayla, who had lost their mother at a young age, and he had even taken a hostile woman as his wife because he could not ignore how broken she had become.
If he had not been abused by the priests, he might have become quite a softhearted man.
While she was dazedly thinking such thoughts, he stopped walking.
It did not take long for her to understand why.
On one side of the drying flower bed, an autumn rose had bloomed.
Thalia looked up at him as if surprised.
“Do you like flowers too?”
“I neither like nor dislike them.”
Varkas replied dryly.
Then why?
She was about to ask, but closed her mouth.
She belatedly realized that he had stopped to show it to her.
She blurted out impulsively.
He immediately reached toward the rose stem.
She saw a sharp thorn dig into his finger.
But Varkas did not even blink.
With an expressionless face, Varkas broke off the rose and scraped away the thorns with his fingertips.
When the stem was finally clean, he held it out to her.
At the sight, a strange emotion surged up inside her.
He had been the kind of man who silently showed patience even toward Gareth, who treated him recklessly.
He had been loyal to the emperor and had acted as a flawless fiancé to Ayla.
And now, he was even fulfilling the role of her husband without a single complaint.
Did this man intend to live his life according to the expectations and demands of those around him?
For the first time, a question about his life arose in her mind.
“Do you… intend to do everything I ask of you?”
“If it is something I can do.”
Varkas, who looked puzzled, answered as if it were nothing.
Thalia stared at him, at a loss for words, then lowered her gaze to the faintly colored rose.
To him, it was an object with no meaning at all.
It was merely a worthless flower he handed over because she had asked for it.
But she would probably love this flower until the moment she died.
At that moment, she clearly saw the true nature of the emotion she felt.
It was resignation.
She would never, for the rest of her life, have this old love returned by him.
This man would never suffer from the feverish madness that had swept over her.
And yet, as her husband, he would do everything he could.
Perhaps that was enough.
“If it is not to your liking, I will pick another for you.”
Varkas, who had been studying her face, made the offer.
It seemed he had noticed the shadow that had fallen across her expression.
Thalia shook her head.
“This is enough.”
As she carefully embraced the large yellow rose, he began walking again.
Beyond the bright sky, pale clouds were gathering.
As the sunlight gradually faded, he turned his steps back toward the main castle.
At that moment, a booming voice sounded from behind them.
“Your Grace!”
Thalia turned her head and saw Daren urgently crossing the garden, and her complexion darkened.
Just from seeing his grave expression, she could guess that ominous news was about to arrive.
As she had expected, the man who had run over in a single breath spoke in a somber tone.
“It seems we must return to Raedgo Castle immediately.”
There was sorrow in the man’s eyes.
After briefly catching his breath, he continued heavily.
“Your Grace… no, Your Grace’s father is in critical condition. A telegram has arrived.”
No comments yet. Be the first to leave a review!