TFM 27

Chapter 27

***

The man’s eyes, glistening with anticipation, clung viscously to her chest before slowly drifting downward. He stared intently for a long while, tracing the outline revealed over the thin fabric, then crawled back up to stare fixedly into her eyes.

Talia felt every muscle in her body stiffen. She knew she had to flee immediately, but her legs wouldn't budge.

The man licked his lower lip and crept closer.

"If Your Highness would only grant me permission, I could..."

A rough, calloused hand touched the hair draped over her shoulder. She watched in terror as her hair wrapped around fingers like pieces of wood.

She couldn't breathe properly. She should have shouted at him, demanding where he thought he was putting his hands, but no sound came from her open mouth.

Taking her stillness as consent, the man who had been tenderly stroking each strand of her golden hair now reached toward her face.

His palm, rough as sandpaper, stung her delicate skin. As she cowered in terror, a large hand encased in a gauntlet suddenly shot out from the darkness and seized the man's wrist.

Talia recoiled as if waking from a trance. Lifting her head, she saw piercing silver-blue eyes.

In that instant, her heart dropped with a thud.

She instinctively pressed herself against the wall. Varkas, who had been watching her expressionless, slowly turned his gaze toward the monk.

Whatever he saw in those eyes caused the monk, who had been frozen stiff as a stone, to begin trembling violently all over, as if he had encountered a ghost.

"I, I was just... Your Highness..."

"Silence."

A deep, heavy voice cut off the man's excuse. The monk’s face, now deathly pale, contorted horribly in pain. Though it seemed like a light grip at first glance, it appeared the man's hand was clenched with enough force to break bones.

Varkas spoke slowly, his words dripping cold sweat onto the man's face.

"Neither of us wants to make this worse. Go back to your place quietly."

The monk, groaning in pain, nodded wildly.

Varkas released his arm and added.

"Until we leave this place, it'd be best if you stay out of my sight."

"Yes, I'll remember that."

The man clutched his swollen, bruised wrist and choked back sobs.

Varkas gave him a dismissive nod. Without hesitation, the man scrambled away. After watching that pitiful retreat for a moment, Varkas turned his head back toward her.

Talia instinctively lowered her eyes. Though she hadn't done anything wrong, her mouth went dry and heat rose to her neck for some reason. As she fidgeted, trying to gauge his mood, his voice rang out, eerily calm.

"Follow me. I will escort you to your lodgings."

Talia, who had been holding herself rigidly tense, let her arms fall in a strange sense of exhaustion. In that instant, a peculiar mix of resentment and sorrow washed over her.

She almost suffered something terrible just now. She was scared enough to die. So why was he so detached?

Talia, her face twisted in frustration, bit her lip and strode past him. She refused to show him any sign of weakness, even if it killed her.

With her head held high as if to defy him, she strode briskly across the garden. After a short distance, the lodgings for the female devotees came into view beyond the long corridor.

Keeping her gaze straight ahead, she snapped.

"We're here, so don't follow me anymore!"

Knights stood guard around the building. There wouldn't be another incident like the one just now.

She hurried her steps as if fleeing. But before she could take a few more steps, she found herself trapped between him and the building's outer wall.

Talia looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Wh-what... all of a sudden..."

"If playing with fire taught you something..."

His voice sounded like it was scratching the back of his throat. He paused briefly, perhaps noticing it himself. Soon, a calmer voice followed.

"Isn't it about time you learned to be careful?"

She felt the blood drain from her face. Varkas, who had been scrutinizing her face with piercing eyes as if dissecting it, twisted his lips.

"Or do you truly wish to throw yourself around carelessly?"

Talia lashed out without a moment's thought. But once again, her wrist was seized before her hand could even touch his face. Varkas added slowly.

"If that's the case, please restrain yourself for the time being. Until this journey ends, I'd prefer to avoid any troublesome complications."

She pressed her trembling lips tightly together. He released her arm and slowly turned around.

"I trust you understand."

In that moment, had a knife been in her hand, she would have plunged it into his back without hesitation.

Like a fish swimming through water, Talia stared murderously at his silently receding back. Then, feeling her vision blur, she hastily turned her head away.

Even knowing he wouldn't look back, she feared he might see her tears. Roughly wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Talia fled into the dormitory.

***

The next morning, the ceremony proceeded as if nothing had happened.

Perched at the window of her assigned bedroom, Talia watched the twin siblings heading toward the altar and Varkas following behind them as if escorting them.

Normally, she should have been among them. But she had excused herself, claiming illness. She had refused to participate in a ceremony obligatory for royalty, using a ridiculous excuse.

Normally, the ceremony should have been postponed, but it proceeded as scheduled due to the Crown Prince's firm insistence. Perhaps the monastery welcomed this situation. After all, bestowing divine blessings upon a bastard child was likely not something they relished either.

'………………Maybe I should have just participated.'

Talia, who had been chuckling, wiped the smile from her face when she saw Ayla and Varkas standing side by side before the altar.

If she had been there, she couldn't predict what she might have done. She might have even charged at one of them, intent on killing them.

‘Which one I hate more…… I don't even know anymore.'

Talia, who habitually brought her fingers to her lips, lowered her arm again, not wanting to ruin her newly grown nails.

She couldn't watch any longer. She drew the curtains and flung herself onto the bed.

Curled up in the dim darkness, memories of last night swirled in her mind. The gaze consumed by lust, the hands reaching toward her, and even Varkas’s cold stare……

"If playing with fire burned you badly once... isn't it time you learned to be careful?"

Talia pulled the blanket over her head.

Varkas believed she had seduced that creepy man. Perhaps he wasn't wrong. She always managed to corner herself with foolish actions... And it was his role to rescue her from crisis.

She had only just escaped that tiresome duty, and now something similar had happened again. It was only natural she felt utterly fed up. He must be sick of her by now.

She buried her face in the pillow and chuckled.

She recalled the moment he had walked out of her life. Perhaps because something similar had happened just yesterday.

Talia stared silently at the beam of light seeping through the curtains, then closed her eyes tightly. Buried memories unfolded chaotically in her mind.