TFM 29

Chapter 29

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*Past

Talia fidgeted awkwardly with her hands before spitting out in a sharp, harsh voice.

"If you... if you cut even a single strand of my hair, I won't let you get away with it."

He didn't respond. But his movements seemed to grow slightly more cautious. Talia swallowed dryly at the touch, as if he were caressing her hair.

Through the gap in his shirt collar, his thick Adam's apple and collarbone, protruding elegantly like a bird's wing bone, were visible. His supple yet powerful forearms visibly rippled with each movement, and the long legs encased in woolen trousers positioned right beside her thigh felt uncomfortably conscious.

Talia bowed her head deeply to hide her flushed face.

"Is it... much longer?"

Could untangling a strand of hair caught in a button really take this long? Or was she so tense that this moment felt unrealistically drawn out? Sweat began beading on her palms.

She rubbed her hands on the pile of clothes on the floor. Then she gasped, noticing the flush spreading to the inside of her wrists.

Surely not her whole body? How embarrassing would that look! She raised her voice irritably.

"It's fine now, just cut it off!"

Unlike his usual quick and agile self, Varkas fumbled around for a long moment before lowering one hand to his waist.

She stiffened as she saw him draw the dagger. He wrapped his arm around her back again. Talia unconsciously gripped the hem of his robe tightly.

"But... don't cut too much, my hair..."

Before her words had even finished, a sharp snip sounded, and the faint pressure on her scalp vanished. Talia spun around in panic, fearing he'd chopped off a chunk of her hair.

Fortunately, no severed locks were visible. Instead, a gleaming golden button lay alone on the floor.

She picked it up and examined it closely. The finely crafted button bore the emblem of the Roem Knights.

She turned her head again and looked up at him. Varkas had already risen from his seat and was tucking a dagger into his waistband.

"How long do you intend to sit there?"

Varkas said gruffly as he adjusted his disheveled clothes.

Talia stiffly pulled herself to her feet. For some reason, she felt awkward. Clearing her throat deliberately, she held out the button toward him.

"Here. This."

"I don't need it. Throw it away."

Varkas spat out curtly, then glanced out the window. A crimson sunset was already staining the sky.

He turned his head, surveyed the chaotic room, and sighed wearily.

"May I leave now?"

Talia nodded without a word. He gave a slight nod of his own and promptly left the room.

Talia listened quietly to his receding footsteps, then darted swiftly to the bedside and retrieved the jewel box. She placed his button deep inside it.

That night, a strange excitement kept her awake. Indefinable emotions made her chest ache.

She chewed over his words, his actions, his gaze, over and over.

Maybe. No. That couldn't be. But maybe.

Disjointed thoughts crowded her mind. Her brain felt like it might explode. Yet, somehow, a smile escaped her.

She tossed and turned all night, drenched in happiness.

But it didn't take long for her adolescent, wild fantasies to shatter into pieces. A few days later, news of Varkas and Ayla's engagement reached her.

It felt like waking from a daydream. No, worse than that. It felt like being lifted up to the clouds only to plummet back down to earth in an instant.

She immediately dashed out of the palace and headed for the training grounds. He would come looking for her at noon to fulfill his duty as a guard knight, but she couldn't wait that long.

Talia crossed half the palace in a single bound, bursting unhesitatingly into the wide open space where the knights were training. She felt the wary glances of those who saw her, but in that moment, she didn't care in the slightest.

Talia scanned the area anxiously, searching for the pale, ash-blonde hair. Then she realized the people filling the training ground weren't regular knights but trainee cadets, and she turned away. If he wasn't at the training ground, he was most likely handling affairs in his office.

She moved toward the military affairs office located right next to the training ground. As expected, Varkas was in his office. But it didn't seem like he was handling affairs.

Talia, who was about to pull the doorknob, froze upon hearing a faint sob. Through the open crack, she saw Varkas standing with his back to a window, and a woman buried her face in his chest, weeping.

She froze at the sight she had never even imagined. Then, the mysterious woman lifted her head and looked up at him with desperate eyes.

"You don't love her, do you?"

Her voice was so pitiful it made Talia’s stomach churn. Clinging to him desperately, as if begging, she pleaded.

"You're only marrying her for political reasons, aren't you? Please, tell me that's true."

Suddenly, Talia’s throat tightened. The realization that a woman could plead with him like this felt like a blow to the head.

She watched his face anxiously. Finally, his tightly sealed lips parted.

"I don't know what my answer means to you."

His voice was so dry it made her shudder.

Talia instinctively hunched her shoulders. Varkas, staring down at the woman with a face like a lifeless wax doll, tilted his head as if puzzled.

"Whether for political reasons or not, what difference does it make? I pledged to take Her Highness the First Princess as my wife, and I intend to fulfill that promise."

The woman's slender back visibly stiffened. She must be feeling a pain like her heart was being torn apart.

But the man didn't stop there.

"I don't know what you expected from me, but I made it clear from the start that I have no intention of reciprocating your feelings."

The color drained from the woman's neck. Whether he felt pity or not, he added with a weary sigh.

"I hope we can avoid such awkward encounters in the future. Now that my engagement is formal, I wish to avoid unnecessary scandal."

The woman staggered backward, then collapsed like someone drained of strength. A fleeting look of annoyance crossed Varkas’s face.

Her skin crawled at that utterly emotionless face, devoid of even a shred of sympathy. That expression, that gaze... everything was eerily familiar.

Talia hurriedly left the place.

Had she been just a little faster, it would have been her, not that woman, who had collapsed there, sobbing.

The mere thought of that scene sent a chill down her spine. If Varkas had given her that look while she was begging for love, she might have died right there. No. She would have died, without a doubt.

That's why Talia genuinely began to fear him. She was truly afraid of him—the man who could drive her to death with just a few words.

Naturally, her attitude toward Varkas became more defensive than before.

He was less an object of unrequited love and more like a natural enemy. If she couldn't perfectly restrain this feeling, she would live in excruciating pain from now on.