TFM 63

Chapter 63

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As soon as the unwelcome guest left, Talia urged the healer to fill the room with a hazy, white smoke.

As she took a deep breath of the acrid air, which shimmered like heat waves, the swirling sensations within her began to slowly subside.

A deep sense of relief washed over her.

If she waited just a little longer, the hazy mist would seep into her mind.

Then she wouldn’t have to think about anything. She just wanted to sleep as if she were dead.

She lay sprawled on the bed and closed her eyes. But no matter how long she waited, a single thread of consciousness remained unbroken, keeping her tethered to reality.

In a desperate attempt to fall asleep, she brought her face close to the brazier and inhaled the acrid smoke deeply, but it only made her cough violently.

As she writhed and coughed, even the slight drowsiness that had been gathering at the corners of her eyes vanished.

Overcome with frustration, Talia looked out the window. Before she knew it, the sky had turned a deep crimson.

After gazing at that dizzying, spine-chilling sunset for a while, Talia felt as if drawn by some unseen force; she slipped out of bed and stood on her own two feet.

She felt no particular pain, suggesting the medicine was working properly.

She took a few tentative steps to test her legs.

Her left leg lagged a beat behind, dragging its foot along the floor. But the sharp pain she’d felt every time she bent her joints had subsided. It seemed she’d be able to walk just fine.

She slipped her gaunt foot into a slipper, then pulled a hooded robe out of the closet.

She threw it loosely over her body and left the bedroom with a wobbly gait.

By now, the nanny must be lounging around in her room.

The healer would have finished her duties and returned to her quarters, and the maids would surely be resting in their own rooms as well.

Just as she had expected, she didn’t run into anyone as she walked down the long corridor and down the stairs.

Talia passed through the spacious hall and left the palace through the side door used by the servants.

A cool breeze gently brushed against her face.

Breathing in the cold air, a mixture of grass and flowers, Talia walked slowly.

After wandering aimlessly for a while, she suddenly realized she had reached the vicinity of the drill ground.

A faint question arose in her foggy mind.

Why did I come here?

As Talia gazed blankly at the open field bathed in red light, she sensed a presence and instinctively hid behind some bushes.

A glimpse of several knights swinging their swords caught her eye; perhaps they were sparring.

She stared at them blankly for a moment before setting off again.

She staggered along for quite some time, not knowing where she was going, until her once-clear vision began to sway like ripples. It seemed the effects of the herbs were finally taking hold.

Talia dragged her limp legs behind her, moving at a pace as slow as an earthworm.

Suddenly, she looked up when she saw her own shadow, which had been stretching out at her feet, swallowed up by a deep shadow. Before she knew it, she had entered a dimly lit building.

Where on earth was this?

As she furrowed her brow in confusion, a door at the end of a long corridor caught her eye.

She staggered toward it and knocked cautiously.

A moment later, a low, muffled voice came from within.

“What is it?”

Talia blinked slowly.

It was only upon hearing that voice that she remembered why she had come here.

She managed to utter a faltering reply.

“I came because I have something I want to tell you.”

A chilling silence fell.

Wondering if her voice had been too soft, Talia cleared her throat and spoke again.

At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed, and the door burst open.

Talia lifted her head.

Perhaps he was resting after finishing his daily work, for VarKas was wearing only dark-colored cotton pants and a thin linen shirt loosely draped over his shoulders.

As she stared blankly at him, a cold voice pierced her from above.

“Did you really come all the way here dressed like that?”

Talia looked down at her own attire.

Through the open robe, she could see the summer nightgown her nanny had dressed her in.

What exactly was wrong with this?

She frowned, and a large cloak draped over her shoulders.

Talia looked up at him with a bewildered expression.

Varkas, who had wrapped her body tightly in his own cloak, scanned the hallway as darkness began to settle thickly.

“Where are your guards?”

“Guards?”

His gaze sharpened.

Varkas gently grasped her chin and lifted it upward. Then, bending down toward her, he stared intently into her eyes.

“How much of the sleep herb did you burn?”

Talia strained her eyes to get a clear look at his face, which kept contorting.

Varkas was wearing a strange expression she had never seen before.

No. Maybe it was her own mind playing tricks on her.

The whole world looked distorted; how could this man possibly look normal?

She brushed his hand away from her face somewhat roughly and pursed her lips.

“I told you I came here because I had something to say.”

She saw his eyes narrow. It seemed as though something was bothering him.

Varkas, who had been giving her a cold stare, straightened his posture and looked up at the sky outside the window, which was beginning to darken. Then he turned his gaze over his shoulder and scanned the interior of the pavilion.

Seeing him look as if he were deep in thought, she grew increasingly anxious.

Did she perhaps use a language spoken by elves or dwarves? Why wasn’t he answering?

“Can’t you hear me? I have something to say….”

Just then, her body suddenly lurched to one side.

Talia hurriedly grabbed the doorframe. It seemed her legs had cramped up from walking all the way here from the palace. She could feel a faint spasm in the muscle of her left thigh.

To keep from collapsing to the floor, she braced herself against the wall with both hands and shifted her weight to her other leg.

At that moment, her body floated up into the air.

Startled, she looked up to see the face etched with fatigue filling her field of vision.

He lifted her in his arms and stepped into the spacious bedroom lit by candlelight.

Talia lowered her gaze again, scanning the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings.

She had come here many times to see him, but this was the first time she had ever stepped inside the room.

A wry smile escaped her lips. It seemed that only now, with her leg in this state, had she earned the right to set foot in his sanctuary.

“Save the story for after the medicine has worn off.”

Varkas, who had set her down on his bed, said this with a sigh.

Talia clutched the hem of his robe as he tried to pull away from her. Through the thin fabric, she could faintly feel the tension in his solid, well-trained upper body.

Perhaps he had sensed what she was about to say.

Struggling to steady her wavering focus, she clung to his shirt as if it were a lifeline.

“No. I’m going to tell you now. Once I come to my senses, I’ll definitely be unable to speak…”

“…”

“You said that if I agreed, you’d take me as your wife, didn’t you?”

He offered no reply, only staring intently into her eyes.

Talia barely managed to move her tongue, which felt as limp as a strand of noodles.

“Do it. Abandon Ayla Roem Guirta and take me as your wife.”

A heavy silence settled over them.

An inexplicable light flitted across his face as he stood with his back to the sunset.

Perhaps he was taken aback.

Since she had spoken those words expecting to be rejected, she wondered if she might feel disappointed by his response.

But a voice, eerily calm, flowed from his lips.

“I will do so.”

Talia traced his face with blurry eyes. A hollow laugh escaped her at his dry expression, devoid of any emotion.

Because of this man, Ayla had to seek out the half-sister she had so despised and swallow her pride.

She was tormented by the urge to ruin everything.

Yet why was this man so utterly at peace?

Something inside her cracked at the sight of his cold, almost apathetic face.