Chapter 64
“Do you know why I’m trying to marry you?”
Varkas silently stared at her. Into that expressionless face, she spoke as if pressing each word in.
“To watch you become unhappy. That’s why I’m trying to marry you.”
“……”
“I want you to hurt. Very, very much.”
His eyes sank deeply.
Holding her breath, she waited for his answer. She hoped that indifferent face would collapse, that he would get angry, shudder, and shake her off.
Say that it won’t do after all.
Say that you could never take a woman like me as your wife.
Although her own heart would crumble without even leaving a fragment, at least the rest of their lives might be saved.
But as always, he betrayed her expectations.
As if he had heard something insignificant, Varkas let out a short sigh, removed her hands clinging to his clothes, and straightened his body.
“The wedding will be held as soon as possible.”
Then he walked to the window and opened the glass pane.
The wind that brushed past him poured over her face.
Thalia quietly took in the sight of him, submerged in the sunset light. His low, heavy voice sounded from far away.
“That would be better for both me and you.”
What did he mean by that?
Did he mean that troublesome matters were better dealt with quickly?
Thalia watched his eyes as if searching for an answer, but soon felt a deep fatigue and lowered her eyelids.
It did not matter anymore. She would no longer try to dig into his true feelings.
If he had accepted her out of responsibility, then she had chosen the place beside him in order to return the wounds she had received. So she would not do something foolish like expect anything from him.
She repeated the vow she had made thousands of times.
That tonight would be the last time, and she would put an end to this cursed love.
However, she knew.
The love she killed today would come find her again tomorrow.
***
The entire Imperial Palace was in an uproar over the Second Princess’s wedding, which would be held soon.
Under the Empress’s direct command, the maids of the Main Palace began to decorate the ceremony hall splendidly, and the servants went endlessly back and forth between the food storage and the kitchen, busy preparing wine and food to serve the guests.
However, despite such bustle, a heavy and unsettled atmosphere hovered somewhere inside the palace.
Edrick, who was leaving the logistics base, found apprentices gathered in a group in one corner of the training ground and narrowed his brows. A deeply unpleasant conversation had entered his ears.
“In the end, mother and daughter both had their men stolen across generations.”
He carefully observed the boy who was snickering frivolously. He was the son of Viscount Kendon and a troublemaker who had formed a faction among the squires.
The boy placed a training weapon on the rack and continued speaking.
“I hear the Second Princess is the spitting image of Her Majesty the Empress. With that face, it’s no wonder Sir Siarkan fell for her.”
“You think the Commander is like you?”
A large boy shook his head.
“To begin with, it was a marriage that would never have happened if not for His Majesty’s order. I only feel sorry for Her Highness the First Princess.”
“Oh, you innocent fool. What kind of family is Siarkan? Do you think they would change fiancées just because of one order from His Majesty?”
The boy clicked his tongue.
“It all means he accepted because he wanted to! Besides, they say Sir Siarkan was the Second Princess’s guard knight, right? For all we know, maybe the two of them had eyes for each other long ago. If you listen to the people who participated in this pilgrimage event, they say the two were a little strange…”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you know how much the Second Princess tormented the Commander when he was her guard knight? What good is a pretty face? He watched that temper of hers right beside her. As if he would fall for her.”
An apprentice who was arranging arrows for archery training snorted loudly.
“Besides, the Second Princess was even crippled in this accident. Who would willingly marry a woman like that when he could have someone like Her Highness the First Princess? She must have used some wicked trick behind the scenes…”
“It seems training these days is done with the mouth.”
Unable to listen any longer, Edrick abruptly cut in, and the squires startled and straightened their postures.
He looked over the boys with a cold gaze.
“Do you know that the conversation you just had could be considered the crime of insulting the imperial family?”
The boys’ complexions immediately turned pale.
Edrick carefully looked over each of their faces one by one and added sternly.
“The Roem Knights are an organization formed to protect the imperial family. If you intend to become a member of it, you had better at least understand that you must not speak carelessly about the imperial family in a public place.”
“We-we apologize, Sir Lubon.”
The boys bowed with stiff faces.
After silently looking down at them for a while, Edrick slowly turned and began walking toward the knight order lodgings.
At that moment, a heavy forearm dropped onto his shoulder.
Edrick turned his head and widened his eyes when he saw his senior knight, Sir Theoric Hart.
He grinned and said,
“You’ve got them well disciplined.”
“What brings you to the training ground at this hour?”
Edrick looked up at the bell tower with a puzzled face.
It was not yet noon. Was this not the busiest time, when all the senior knights were occupied with their duties in the Main Palace?
At his questioning gaze, Sir Hart let out a small laugh and ruffled his hair with a large hand.
“I ran over in one breath because I had good news to tell you. Your probation has finally been lifted. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be serving in my direct unit again.”
Edrick paused and looked up at him. Although it was certainly welcome news, for a moment, complicated feelings surged up.
He asked hesitantly.
“Then who will be in charge of guarding Her Highness the Second Princess?”
His superior’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Removing the arm he had placed on Edrick’s shoulder, he let out a heavy sigh.
“The Roem Knights have been completely excluded from guarding the Second Princess. Her Majesty the Empress raised the issue of whether we had deliberately neglected Her Highness the Second Princess’s escort. She even made it clear that she would no longer entrust the escort of His Highness the Second Prince to the Roem Knights either.”
Edrick’s face hardened. That treatment was no different from dragging the honor of the Roem Knights through the mud.
Since the founding of the Empire, the Roem Knights had assisted and protected the imperial family at their side. That very identity had been denied.
Edrick lowered his head weakly.
“I am sorry. Because I failed to fulfill my role, the knight order suffered such humiliation…”
“It’s not your fault. This incident was an accident no one could have predicted. So there’s no need to blame yourself.”
Theoric patted his shoulder and offered comfort.
Still, when Edrick’s face did not ease, Theoric, who had been rubbing the nape of his neck as if pondering something, suddenly led his subordinate out of the training ground. Edrick followed him with a bewildered expression.
After walking silently for a while, only when they reached a deserted open ground did Theoric open his mouth.
“I know you’re a guy with a strong sense of responsibility. But this really isn’t your responsibility, so don’t waste your heart on it.”
Edrick furrowed his brows.
“I was her guard knight. If you look at it that way, the primary responsibility for the escort failure lies with me. So how can I…!”
“The attack that day happened because of the Empress’s scheme.”
Edrick stopped all movement and stared blankly at his superior’s face.
Theoric, who had been looking down at the ground with a dark expression, continued in a calm tone.
“Don’t you think it’s strange? That wyverns attacked the army in a group at such a time… Originally, large magical beasts like wyverns do not attack an armed army unless their habitat is invaded. Besides, our campsite was located far away from their habitat.”
“Well, I did think it was strange, but… even so, we cannot conclude that the Empress plotted it…”
“There was a report that the Second Princess’s attendants showed suspicious movements before the attack.”
His tone hardened.
“In addition, traces of high-level magic being performed were found in the area near the accident. Most likely, someone deliberately stirred up the wyvern habitat.”
Edrick opened his mouth blankly.
As the meaning of his superior’s words became clear, cold sweat formed down his back.
“But the Second Princess was also participating in this pilgrimage journey. Her own daughter could have been hurt, so how could she do such a thing…”
“That is precisely how she could easily avoid suspicion.”
Edrick looked at him with a bloodless face, at a loss for words.
Theoric continued in a gloomy tone.
“The Empress is a frighteningly meticulous person. We conducted a secret investigation immediately after the accident, but other than a few pieces of circumstantial evidence, she left no decisive physical evidence. On top of that, the greatest victim of this incident is the Empress’s own daughter. In such a situation, who would dare raise doubts?”
Edrick slowly lowered his gaze.
The image of the Princess buried beneath a pile of rocks, shedding tears, came to mind.
He also remembered how she had writhed in pain throughout the emergency treatment.
That woman had ended up like that because of her own biological mother.
He felt as though his stomach was turning.
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