TFM 38

Chapter 38

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"Let go of me!"

Talia kicked him in the shin. But her brother wasn't one to fall for the same trick twice. Gareth swiftly dodged her attack, then roughly twisted her arm and chuckled lightly in her face.

"I never imagined... that the royal family's thorn in the side would harbor feelings for the Eastern noble!"

Talia looked up at him with eyes frozen in terror.

It felt like the blood in her entire body had frozen. She hurriedly composed her disheveled expression.

"Don't talk nonsense. Who... "

"Exactly. It's utter nonsense. How dare a bastard like you, so out of his league, covet the heir to the Grand Duke of Shiokan!"

Gareth was now shaking with laughter, clearly delighted to have found a weakness in his long-despised sister.

He grabbed her chin with one hand and spat his foul, alcohol-soaked breath right into her face.

"Blood can't be denied, after all. Then again, where would the vulgar whore's nature go, coveting another man's husband?"

Talia glared at him with fiery eyes. Gareth, who had been smirking down at her vicious face, released her as if pushing her away. Then he added, his voice dripping with contempt.

"Get that delusion out of your head. Varkas is no one you could ever hope to touch………………."

"You've forgotten one thing, brother. In my veins flows not only the blood of a vulgar whore, but also the blood of a man who played with a young, green-eyed woman while his wife was full-term pregnant."

In an instant, the smile that had lingered on the Crown Prince's face vanished completely.

Staring straight up at that eerily contorted face, Talia continued slowly.

"Come to think of it, that dirty blood is flowing through your veins too, isn't it?"

She could see the taut tension building in his large, muscular frame.

She knew she should stop here, but she couldn't end this by simply handing him her weakness. Talia flashed him the same sardonic smile he had given her.

"Since you uncovered my secret, brother, shall I uncover one of yours?"

A faint unease flickered in Gareth's eyes. Talia, watching him as if mocking that unease, whispered softly into his ear.

"A secret rumor is circulating among the maids. They say His Highness the Crown Prince seeks only a woman with deep honey-colored hair and eyes as blue as the sea, night after night."

The color drained from Gareth's bronze face.

Talia smiled maliciously at his pale, ashen face.

"Somehow, I think I know who the woman was that you met in your dreams the night you first became a man and defiled the bed... Shall I take a guess?" (*Gareth has a crush on Senevere -Talia’s mother)

His entire body convulsed as if struck by lightning. She realized that if she didn't stop now, this time she might truly be killed. But as always, she listened to the devil's voice urging her on.

"No need to tremble like that. I'm a good sister, so I'll keep your secret forever. The fact that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seems to have inherited the Emperor's blood very, very strongly."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a heavy blow sent her head spinning sideways.

Talia collapsed to the floor, clutching her face as if it were on fire.

Her vision swayed as if she'd suffered a concussion. As she tried to steady her dizzy head and pull herself up, Gareth, who had climbed on top of her, seized her neck with both hands. Her eyeballs felt like they would pop out at any moment.

Talia fought desperately. She clawed at his forearms with her sharp nails and kicked wildly at his rock-hard body, but her utterly weakened flesh was powerless.

Throwing herself about like a fish out of water, Talia soon went limp. Then, the crushing pressure on her throat, which had felt like it would snap her bones, suddenly released.

Talia convulsively twisted her body, gasping for air. Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw Varkas holding Gareth's arm.

Varkas, who had been staring down at her with a face like he wore a mask, shifted his gaze to Gareth.

He was still glaring at his half-sister as if he wanted to kill her. His face screamed injustice and rage. The sight of him playing the victim was so ridiculous that laughter burst out between her coughs.

Gareth's face flushed crimson as he raised his fist.

"You damned bitch……………!"

But his hand never reached her.

Varkas, who had seized his muscular, powerful forearm as easily as twisting a child's wrist, glared at Talia with piercing eyes. He seemed utterly disgusted with her, still unable to resist scratching at her own brother even after narrowly escaping death.

"Escort Her Highness the Princess to her quarters."

He gave the order to the guard knight who had rushed over, his face drained of color.

The knight immediately helped her up.

Talia ruthlessly pushed his hand away, staggering to her feet. Then, with a calm expression as if nothing had happened, she brushed the dust off her skirt. Gareth, who had been glaring at her with burning eyes, shouted at Varkas.

"Let go of me now!"

"Stop!"

Ayla, watching the scene from a short distance away, raised her voice. Witnessing her brother's violent behavior up close for the first time, Ayla's face had gone deathly pale.

She hurriedly approached her brother and spat out in a stiff voice.

"What on earth are you doing? You are the Crown Prince of this empire! How dare you act like this...!"

"Stay out of this!"

Gareth growled like a beast.

Ayla flinched and took a step back. She seemed deeply shocked that her brother, who had always acted like a gentle puppy toward her, had bared his teeth. Talia spoke to her half-sister with mocking contempt.

"That's right. Don't interfere in our business, sister."

Ayla glared at her, her emerald eyes flashing sharply. Then, seeing Talia's pitiful state, she flinched and stiffened. Talia stroked her swollen cheek with one hand and gave a strange smile.

"It was just siblings’ squabble. Right, brother?"

As she tilted her head as if seeking agreement, the sound of teeth grinding between clenched jaws echoed.

She stepped forward toward the snorting Gareth. The knight tried to block her path, but she ignored him, looking straight into her half-brother's deep green eyes.

"Actually, we're close enough to share secrets, aren't we?"

His face was flushed crimson, as if it might burst at any moment. His expression screamed a desire to devour her alive.

But perhaps unwilling to risk exposing his sordid secret before his sister, he relaxed his body and spoke in a tight, strained voice.

"………………Get your hands off me."

Varkas, who had been silently staring at Gareth's face, released his grip. He must have been holding on quite tightly, for a clear handprint remained on the tanned skin. Gareth, who was clutching and rubbing it, shot hostile glances back and forth between Varkas and Talia before abruptly turning and heading toward the campsite.

As she chuckled at his defeated appearance, a cold stare fell upon her. Talia wiped the smile from her face and lifted her head high. As always, an emotionless face, impossible to read, was silently watching her.

Yet Talia could clearly discern the emotions of disgust and anger in his icy eyes.

He grabbed her arm with his gauntleted hand and gestured to the knight.

"Escort Her Imperial Highness the First Princess (Ayla) to her quarters."

Then, with a stiff nod to Ayla standing frozen in place, Varkas led Talia away through the trees as if escorting a prisoner.

Her face twisted into a vicious grimace.

No matter what anyone said, she was the Empire's Princess. He, a mere imperial retainer, had no right to drag the Emperor's daughter around like a stray dog.

Talia violently wrenched her arm free from his grasp.

"You insolent brute! Release me this instant………!"

In that instant, her body was lifted into the air. Talia screamed. Varkas hoisted her over one shoulder like a sack of goods, ignoring the horrified stares as he strode through the tents.

Talia's face flushed crimson as she thrashed like a rabid beast. But no matter how fiercely she pounded his back and shoulders with her fists or kicked him savagely, Varkas didn't budge an inch.