TFM 82

Chapter 82

***

"How could that be!"

The man hunched his broad shoulders as far as he could and put on an exaggeratedly frightened expression.

"How could I dare to do such a thing to the one who is to become the ruler of the East!"

Varkas, who had been quietly staring at the man’s face, silently raised his wine glass to his lips. Seeing that he did not react immediately to the provocation, the man seemed to lose some of his enthusiasm.

The man wiped the playful expression from his face and growled,

“Still, I am a bit curious. I wonder what on earth possessed you, Young Master, to betray the First Princess and take on the imperial family’s thorn in the side.”

A heavy silence settled over the hall.

Varkas scanned the faces of the nobles seated along both sides of the long table, moving only his eyes.

The loyal retainers of the Shiokan family, who resided in Kalmore—the heart of the East—and had long served as the family’s right-hand men, wore stern expressions.

The provincial nobles, however, were gauging his reaction with appraising glances. It seemed they were trying to determine whether the young heir to the Grand Duke’s house was a figure worthy of entrusting with the future of the East.

He swirled the wine in his goblet lightly, paused for a moment, and then slowly opened his mouth.

“Betrayal? That’s quite an exaggeration. As everyone knows, my engagement to her was based on political interests. If the situation changes, so too can the terms of that agreement.”

“What exactly has changed?”

The man’s veins bulged on his forehead.

“Are you saying that a few words from His Imperial Majesty are serious enough to break a promise made years ago?”

“Then do you consider the orders issued by the ruler of the empire to be trivial?”

Varkas tilted his head and retorted. As if momentarily at a loss for words, the man’s thick lips pressed tightly together. His face, covered in a thick black beard, flushed red as he glared at Varkas and sneered loudly.

“That’s quite the display of loyalty! A man like me could never even begin to imitate it!”

“Lord Gutvan, you seem to be getting a bit too worked up.”

A middle-aged nobleman seated across from the man cautiously tried to calm him down.

But Gutvan paid no heed. He picked up a goblet filled with wine, downed it in one gulp, roughly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and continued speaking.

“But someday, the time will come when our great Emperor must step down. Then His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince will become the ruler of this empire. What do you intend to do then? Will His Highness truly accept the loyalty of the East with a willing heart?”

“This marriage was something the Crown Prince also agreed to.”

Varkas, who had been tilting his glass to gaze at his reflection in the red liquid, continued slowly.

“No. Later on, he was the one who pushed for it more actively.”

“What on earth does that mean……………….”

“Just explain that this marriage also offered some benefits to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

He cut him off coldly.

“One cannot simply go around blabbing about the royal family’s dirty laundry, can one?”

A look of suspicion spread across the nobles’ faces. His words could be interpreted to mean that he held the Crown Prince’s weakness in his grasp. Varkas watched them exchange glances, then spoke in a light tone, as if to lighten the mood.

“Now that some of your questions have been answered, let’s bring this pleasant conversation to a close.”

He then raised his glass and looked around the room.

“Come now, everyone, drink up. As Gutvan said, isn’t this the wine the next Grand Duke of the East received as a reward for seventeen years of loyal service?”

With a slight smile, Varkas brought the glass close to his face as if savoring the aroma and added leisurely.

“When else will you ever get to taste such a delicacy?”

The nobles, who had been darting their eyes as if unsure how to respond, soon raised their glasses with awkward smiles. It was clear that everyone wanted to put an end to the heated debate at this point.

However, Gutvan seemed to have no intention of backing down. He slammed his fist—as hard as a steel hammer—down on the table and shouted.

“How can we possibly believe such a thing! The entire empire knows how much His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince cherishes the First Princess. There is no way such a person would make a decision that tramples on the Princess’s honor!”

Varkas wiped the smile from his lips. His patience was slowly wearing thin in the face of this man’s utterly unreasonable words and behavior.

Leaning his head back against the chair, he gestured with his chin, as if to say, “Go on.” The man wasted no time in pouring out his words.

“Do you know what rumors are circulating right now? Even the heir to the East has fallen under the spell of the witch from the Taren family. Just as His Imperial Majesty was deceived by that viper of a woman and betrayed Her Majesty the Empress, the next Grand Duke of Shiokan has also been beguiled by her daughter and betrayed Her Royal Highness the First Princess! Such talk is circulating throughout the entire empire!”

His final words were practically a shout. The booming voice filled the hall.

“If Her Royal Highness the First Princess were to follow in Empress Bernadette’s footsteps, how do you intend to atone for that sin!”

“This is getting out of hand!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Daren Dru Shiokan interrupted the conversation.

“Alec Gutvan, you are a vassal of the Grand Duke’s family! Do you really think it is acceptable to behave in such a manner toward the heir to the Grand Duke’s house here at Raedgo Castle?!”

“When a leader strays onto the wrong path, it is also the duty of vassals to raise their voices in criticism!”

The man who had boldly shouted at Daren turned his gaze back toward Varkas.

“His Highness could have made the First Princess—whom the entire empire adores—the lady of the eastern lands! Yet he brought home as his bride a wicked woman who is nothing more than a bastard. How can we possibly remain silent in the face of such a situation……………!”

The man who had been shouting suddenly fell silent. Varkas, who had been looking down at the man as if watching a ridiculous play, also froze.

A small figure, with a baggy hood pulled down over their head, had crept up behind the bear-like man and tilted a wine bottle over his massive head, pouring a blood-red liquid down in a torrent.

At the sudden turn of events, the sound of people gasping sharply could be heard from all corners of the hall.

The victim himself seemed so stunned by the shock that he couldn’t react immediately. The man, who had been soaking up the pouring liquor with a dazed expression, only jumped to his feet once the bottle was completely empty.

His massive frame, nearly seven cubits (about 210 centimeters) tall, loomed menacingly over the uninvited guest, whose entire body was shrouded in a robe.

“What kind of lunatic would do something like this…!”

The man grabbed the intruder’s wrist and yanked off the hood covering his head. As he did so, long hair that had been tucked away beneath the robe cascaded down like a golden waterfall, flooding his vision.

The man, who had raised his fist as if ready to strike her face at any moment, froze in place.

The woman shot a venomous glare at him through her disheveled hair.

As if struck by lightning from that intense gaze, the man trembled slightly and swallowed hard. His tar-black pupils slid down the woman’s face like sticky tar.

Varkas, who had been clutching the goblet as if to crush it, immediately stood up. As he approached her from behind and pulled her slender body into his embrace, the man instinctively clamped his hand tightly around her wrist, as if to prevent her from being taken away.

In that instant, something stirred in his gut. Varkas looked down at the dark hand holding her with a dim gaze.

The man was still staring at her face with a vacant gaze, scanning every inch of it. A sharp chill crept up her spine. As she narrowed her eyes at the strange sensation of her neck growing cold, a sound like a whip cracking against a horse suddenly rang out.

The man looked down at the woman with a bewildered expression. His expression showed he had absolutely no idea what had just happened.

She raised her arm and slapped her wine-soaked face once more.

“How dare you lay your filthy hands on me.”

Only then did the man come to his senses; he released her wrist and took a step back.

***

https://ko-fi.com/doraaaaatls