TFM 97

Chapter 97

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Lucas twisted his head and gripped her wrist tightly.

Talia held her ground stubbornly, digging her nails into the soft flesh. His face, which had been flushed red, turned deathly pale.

He thrashed about, letting out a guttural scream. She paid him no mind, tightening her grip as if she were going to crush his tongue.

Just then, a sharp scream rang out from somewhere. Immediately afterward, frantic footsteps echoed through the room, and someone grabbed her by the shoulder.

Talia let out a vicious scream.

“Let go of me! I’ll rip out your tongue so you can’t utter that sickening sound ever again!”

“Oh, my God! Someone stop her!”

A shrill voice rang out.

Regardless, Talia clamped her hand around Lucas’s jaw and pushed her fingers even deeper.

Just as she dug her nails into the root of his tongue, she felt intense pressure on her lower back, and her body was lifted off the ground.

Talia turned around, panting. Varkas, who had hoisted her up like a sack of potatoes, was glaring at her with an icy stare.

“What on earth is going on here?”

He looked back and forth between her and Lucas, as if trying to make sense of the situation unfolding before him.

At that, Lucas, who had been slumped there with a dazed expression as if he couldn’t believe what had happened to him, jumped to his feet.

“That, that woman just tried to rip out my tongue! Look at this!”

Lucas, gesturing wildly, stuck out his wounded tongue.

Talia’s veins bulged in her neck.

“Come here! I’ll rip it out by the roots!”

The boy recoiled in horror and took a step back.

“See? You saw that, right? She’s a complete lunatic! She’s out of her mind! Why did you marry a woman like that when you had the First Princess? You should file for an annulment right now…!”

“Lucas Raedgo Shiokan.”

A low voice, laced with a sigh, settled heavily in the hallway.

Lucas froze, as did Talia, who had been raging out of control.

After catching his breath for a moment, Varkas slowly continued.

“What did you just say to my wife?”

“I was just……………….”

Lucas trailed off, looking flustered.

Varkas, who had been staring down at him with a cold gaze, spoke decisively.

“I suppose that’s something you can’t say in front of me.”

Lucas’s face turned pale.

The boy, shifting his eyes nervously, muttered as if feeling wronged.

“No, come on, even so… do people usually go this far…?”

Just as she was glaring at him as if she wanted to kill him, Varkas’s fierce gaze flew toward her this time.

Talia flinched and stiffened her shoulders.

He interrogated her like an examiner in a courtroom.

“Would Your Highness care to explain the circumstances?”

Talia looked up at him with eyes filled with rage.

As the insulting words his brother had spewed came to mind, her whole body began to tremble.

He wanted her to repeat them out loud?

She spat out the words through clenched teeth.

“I’d rather die than do that.”

Varkas’s eyes narrowed.

Taking a long breath as if gathering his patience, Varkas added stiffly.

“You must tell me the reason so that I may issue a fitting punishment.”

Lucas’s face contorted. He wore an indignant expression, as if he were being treated unfairly.

Talia, who had been glaring at him as if she wanted to tear his face apart, began to twist her body.

“I don’t need this, so put me down.”

“….”

“Can’t you hear me? I said put me down.”

Finally, he set her down on the floor.

Talia straightened her aching legs and scanned the crowd that had gathered in the hallway.

Drunken faces were watching them, wondering what was going on. A wave of disillusionment washed over her.

After shooting hostile glances in all directions, Talia turned and headed toward the bedroom. The distance of just a few steps felt like a thousand miles. She struggled to open the door, went inside, and threw herself straight onto the bed.

A moment later, Varkas followed her in.

Talia buried her face in the pillow, ignoring his presence. If she didn’t, she feared she would pounce on him and hit him furiously, just as she had done with Lucas.

Was his brother really right?

Did he go that far with Ayla?

“Talia Roem Shiokan.”

One side of the bed sank deeply, and a deep shadow fell over her head.

Talia tensed her spine.

A rough hand wrapped around her shoulder. Immediately, her body was forced to roll over, and a face as sharp as a well-honed blade filled her tear-blurred vision.

He demanded sharply.

“Explain exactly what happened.”

“What else is there to say?”

Talia snapped back fiercely.

“You saw everything. I was about to pull out your brother’s tongue, but I failed because of you. What more explanation do you need?”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to.”

As if his patience had run out with this childish bickering, Varkas’s eyes turned cold and icy.

He grabbed her chin and muttered menacingly.

“Just how long do you plan on acting like a child?”

Talia twisted her face in a grimace.

It was Lucas Raedgo Shiokan who crossed the line first. So why on earth was she the one being scolded?

Talia brushed his hand away and snapped back sharply.

“I was just returning the insult I received. If you want to blame someone, blame your father for raising his son like that.”

He pressed his temples as if suffering from a headache.

“Revenge is carried out through a proxy. Not by charging in yourself like a ten-year-old brat.”

“Who’s going to be my proxy? Are you going to cut off your own brother’s head for me?”

Talia snorted derisively.

“I don’t expect anything from you. If anyone attacks me, I’ll take my revenge with my own hands.”

The coldness in his eyes grew even more intense.

“Are you planning to climb on top of some guy and start a dogfight again?”

“Why not?”

Talia shot him a hostile glare.

“If you don’t want to see that happen, make sure your brother stays out of my sight. If that brat loiters in front of me one more time, I’ll really finish him off.”

The furrow between his brows deepened.

His expression suggested he was facing a terrible nuisance, and his fingertips itched with frustration.

Suppressing the urge to scratch him to shreds, Talia crawled into the corner of the bed and pulled the covers over her head.

How much time had passed?

She sensed Varkas getting up. Soon after, she heard the door close, and a chilling silence took over the room.

Talia cautiously peeked out and scanned the empty room.

Once she was certain she was alone, the tears she had been holding back burst forth like a flood.

Biting her lip to stifle her sobs, Talia buried her face in the pillow and let out a burst of suppressed sobs.

Then, at some point, she seemed to have dozed off. Opening her eyes in the dim darkness, she heard a clinking sound and turned her head with a start.

She didn’t know when he had returned, but Varkas was organizing medicine bottles on the shelf. As she stared blankly at him, a quiet gaze fell upon her from over his shoulder.

“You were moaning constantly, so I brought you some painkillers. Take them and get some rest.”

His calm demeanor, as if he hadn’t been up all night, made her feel strangely suffocated.

Talia pulled the blanket up to her nose.

“I’m fine.”

A weary sigh escaped his lips. A touch of irritation showed in the somewhat rough motion as he brushed his his back.

Was this man holding back his anger as well?

Talia studied his face, bathed in the lamplight. His lips—the only feature with any distinct color on his otherwise pale face—were frozen stiff. She had been staring at them for only a moment when the sneering voice of Lucas Raedgo Shiokan echoed in her mind.

“Could it be that my brother still can’t forget his former fiancée?”

Talia bit her lip. The next moment, before she even realized it, an unexpected remark slipped out.

“If you feed it to me, I’ll take it.”

Varkas, who had been setting a bottle of potion on the shelf, paused and turned to look at her.

It was only when she saw his slightly widened eyes that she realized what she had said.

***

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