Chapter 74
He tilted his head to one side. His broken senses sometimes malfunctioned.
After waiting for the humming sound to fade, he passed the woman and entered the tent.
Perhaps she had burned medicinal herbs again all night, because the dim space was deeply soaked with the bitter smell of smoke. But mixed within it was also a strange scent, like fruit just before it began to rot.
It was the strange scent that had begun to come from that woman’s skin at some point.
He stopped breathing for a moment, then slowly inhaled the air.
And quietly, he called her.
“Thalia.”
No answer came.
But he could feel her presence.
He stepped into the disorderly space where bowls, wine bottles, and cups lay scattered, moving his eyes busily. Then, seeing a pile of clothes stacked beside the disheveled bed, he stopped.
He bent down in front of the large chest placed on one side of the tent.
When he carefully opened the lid, he saw a small figure sitting curled up into a ball.
Once again, his body reacted strangely. It felt as though a horse’s hoof had kicked him in the pit of the stomach.
He calmed the stirring inside him and placed his hand on her shoulder.
The woman, who had buried her head on her knees, lifted her head.
Beneath her wet lashes, pure blue eyes without the slightest impurity were revealed. Clear tears spread over her transparent skin, like that of a creature living in the deep sea.
He cupped her wet cheek, stroked the slightly reddened tip of her chin, then tilted her withdrawn head slightly back.
Perhaps she had scratched against something, because there were several thin cuts on her slender nape. As he examined them closely, a cracked voice flowed from between her red lips, which looked as though they held blood.
“Did you… drive away all the monsters?”
He looked back into the woman’s eyes.
Her deep blue irises, submerged in water, rippled precariously.
He remembered the first time he had met these eyes.
It was the first color he had seen on the day he regained color.
At the sensation of his throat tightening, he inhaled deeply and lifted her stiffened body.
Her flexible, soft arms wrapped around his neck as if it were only natural. Thin sobs dampened his taut skin.
“I thought I was being taken away again.”
Varkas tightened the arms around her.
That will never happen again.
The words circling the tip of his tongue flowed back down his throat. Since the accident, he had found himself swallowing words in front of her constantly.
The words he swallowed again and again piled up inside his stomach like layers of sediment.
Frowning at the uncomfortable feeling of stones pressing down on his insides, he gently stroked down her narrow back, which trembled intermittently.
Her stiff body slowly relaxed and wrapped around him softly. He slightly drew away the head resting on his shoulder and looked into her face, seeing eyelids closed as if from exhaustion.
He stroked her drooping golden lashes with his thumb, then adjusted her body as it kept slipping and quickly looked around the room.
He saw a coat hanging on the wall post of the tent. He snatched it, draped it over her body, and went outside.
As he quickly crossed the campsite, several mounted warriors busily dismantling tents sent curious looks at him. He pulled the gown up over the top of her head.
The men had been sending her gazes like hungry stray dogs since before she had even reached five cubits in height. And this woman, while fearing it, would sometimes expose herself defenselessly before their eyes. As if it would be fine even if she were bitten to death.
He pulled her closer to his chest and quickened his steps as if shaking off the irritating gazes.
When he entered his own tent and laid her on the bed, her body, which had become noticeably thinner over the past few months, entered his sight.
A sigh rose in his throat.
The irritating thing was that her emaciation was drawing her beauty in a dangerous direction. Varkas’s gaze slid along the woman’s bony nape, slender shoulders, and prominent collarbones before turning toward the entrance of the tent.
The young squire who had followed to attend him was glancing at her. His half-dead nerves stood sharply on edge.
He dismissed all the attendants and fastened the entrance tightly. It was not a very good idea. The inside of the tent became filled with the sweet scent she gave off.
At the strange thirst that made his throat feel as though it were burning, he swallowed dryly.
Roughly sweeping up his still-damp bangs and casting an impatient look, her pale cheek, stained with tear marks, filled his retina.
The words she had poured out in fear several years ago rang in his mind.
“He, he said that. Like I was addicted, I would have no choice but to keep… keep seeking it…”
He gently chewed the soft flesh inside his cheek with his molars. A faint taste of blood spread.
Tapping his temple with his fingertips, he picked up the coat placed on one side of the room.
When he came outside, the fishy smell of blood filled his lungs.
As he breathed it in deeply, as if wiping away the sticky scent gathered at the back of his throat, Barakan, who had finished arming himself at some point, approached his side.
“We are roughly finished preparing. Once we take down your tent, we can leave immediately. Shall we dismantle it now?”
“In an hour.”
After hesitating briefly, Varkas spoke in a subdued voice.
“We will depart after taking a short rest.”
An amused smile passed over the man’s lips.
He shrugged and answered in a light tone.
“As you command.”
The man immediately turned to relay the order to his subordinates.
Varkas sat on the water container and looked at the Norden Plain faintly revealed between the densely packed trees.
A dry gust of wind roughly scratched past his cheek.
Somewhere in the air, a familiar scent spread.
When had he smelled this scent before?
As he was searching through his hazy memories, a wolf’s howl came from afar.
He turned his head.
The mournful sound stretched long from the edge of the forest.
***
Her weakened body could not withstand the long journey and suffered from fever for days on end.
Looking up at the swaying ceiling, Thalia shifted her body and breathed shallowly. The carriage moved at a speed hardly different from walking, but even that faint vibration was no different from torture to her.
Thalia held her head at the headache that felt as if her skull would split.
At that moment, a sharp whistle sounded outside. Had they finally reached their destination? She unsteadily raised herself and looked out the window. In her feverish vision, the sight of a vast plain filled her eyes.
At the unfamiliar scene, Thalia widened her eyes. A deep blue grassland stretched endlessly as though it would touch the sky. Over that fresh field of grass, gusts of wind swept violently.
She opened the window and cooled her hot face in the chilly wind.
“That is Kalmor.”
At the sudden voice, she flinched and turned her head. A man riding a horse nearby entered her sight. He came closer and gave her a friendly smile.
“I am Tyrone. I greeted you once before. Do you remember?”
She kept her mouth tightly shut and only sent him a wary gaze. The man’s smile faded slightly. After looking at her for a moment as if probing her, the man continued gently, undeterred by the cold treatment.
“You seem to be feeling very unwell.”
“……”
“We will soon arrive at Raedgo Castle. There, can you see the walls?”
The man pointed ahead.
Thalia turned her eyes along his fingertip.
At the end of the horizon, she saw gray-brown walls that looked as if they had been made from ash and sand. To see them more clearly, she leaned her head far out the window.
Raedgo Castle looked as though it had been built by stacking enormous rocks.
Thick outer walls, built without ornament, tightly surrounded the foot of the hill, and above them rose large and small castles and fortresses made only of straight lines.
She unconsciously wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck.
Was it because the place where she would live from now on looked excessively desolate? A chill climbed up her spine.
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