TFM 101

Chapter 101

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He felt his nerves on edge.

As he slowly dripped the pungent liquid into the narrow, damp space, her flushed face twisted slightly. She seemed to genuinely hate the taste of the potion.

But he couldn’t relate to what she was feeling. He could sense the pungent, grassy scent and the intense bitterness that stung his taste buds, but those sensations did not translate into discomfort for him.

Varkas repeatedly thrust his tongue into her tightly clenched mouth, then withdrew it, pulling her trembling body closer to him.

She swallowed the liquid pooled in her mouth and shuddered slightly. Her gasping breaths dampened her throat.

He struggled to wrap his tongue around hers, but when it didn’t go as planned, he lifted his head.

Her face, disheveled by the unfamiliar act, caught his eye.

Suddenly, something sharp scraped against his spine.

He pressed down on her swollen lower lip with his thumb, forcing her jaw open. Then, inhaling the ragged breaths escaping from the damp opening, he urged her roughly.

“Stick out your tongue.”

Her moisture-filled eyes trembled with anxiety.

He slid his finger between her teeth and gently pressed down on her damp flesh.

A somewhat impatient voice slipped out.

“Hurry up.”

The woman, who had been looking up at him with confused eyes, cautiously stuck out her tongue.

As he immediately took it into his mouth and gently sucked on it, her emaciated body, which looked as if it might break at any moment, stiffened with shock.

He wrapped his hand around her stiff neck and tilted her head back even further.

Her small tongue quivered tantalizingly. He wrapped his arm around her supple waist, tenaciously restraining her as she kept trying to pull away.

Beneath the thin fabric, he could feel her delicate bone structure and soft curves.

Her body, noticeably thinner after two seasons, seemed as if it would shatter into pieces at the slightest touch. Feeling strangely anxious, he released the tongue he had been holding.

Transparent saliva trickled from her swollen, crimson lips. As he licked it up, a voice that sounded as if it were choking back tears reached his ears.

She looked up at him with eyes that seemed feverish.

“Why are you doing this?”

He furrowed his brow.

He wanted to ask her the same thing.

Why shouldn’t we do this?

They were husband and wife.

It was a relationship where even more intimate acts wouldn’t have been out of place. He simply hadn’t asked because he knew she wouldn’t want it.

But you were the one who reached out.

Suppressing the urge to blame her, he gazed into her bewildered, unfathomable eyes.

The look in her eyes—a mix of confusion, wariness, and suspicion—made his stomach twist.

He slowly released his grip.

“If you don’t like me doing this, don’t provoke me anymore.”

The woman bit her lip and lowered her gaze.

Her twisted mouth drew his attention once more. He scoffed at himself for it and stood up from the bed, but her strained voice gritted at his nerves.

“W-who said I didn’t like it?”

Varkas looked down at her with a cold gaze.

She demanded it as if she were retrieving something she’d left behind.

“I won’t cry anymore, so keep going. There’s still some medicine left, isn’t there?”

For a moment, a fierce heat tore through his gut.

Frowning at the sensation, which bordered on disgust, he furrowed his brow.

What on earth did this woman want from him?

“I want you to be in pain. A lot of pain.”

The words she had mumbled while high on drugs long ago flashed through his mind.

At the time, he had brushed them off as nothing. Even now, more than a decade later, the sensation of pain had not returned. He could no longer even recall what pain felt like.

But the thought crossed his mind that perhaps the sensation he was feeling right now might be close to pain.

“If you don’t want to, then just go away.”

Unable to bear the prolonged silence any longer, Talia pushed him away from her chest.

He grabbed her hand as if snatching it away and pulled her absurdly light body onto his lap. Her body, which had been stiff with tension, instantly relaxed.

He wrapped his fingers around her eerily smooth hair and bit his wet lips.

She was the kind of woman who could never be satisfied unless she had reduced not only others but even herself to a mess.

From the moment he took responsibility for her, he had suspected that his orderly world would be shattered.

Varkas closed his eyes, feeling a heat that seemed to be eating away at his insides.

It was as if he were swallowing poison.

***

The journey proceeded smoothly.

After visiting the major estates in the northeast, they moved south and toured various commercial districts.

For a while, the panoramic views of metropolises boasting a scale so grand it was breathtaking unfolded one after another, and they were met with the enthusiastic hospitality of wealthy merchants and nobles.

Yet nothing captured her heart. Her mind was filled with nothing but chaos.

Talia touched her stinging lips and gazed out the window.

Amidst the knights marching in orderly ranks, glimpses of Varkas caught her eye.

Clad in black armor and riding with a straight posture, he looked like the very embodiment of a stern lord. It was impossible to imagine that this was the same primal man who indulged in her lips every night.

Feeling her stomach twist uncontrollably, Talia drew the curtains over the window. Yet even after blocking her view, the thoughts swirling in her mind would not cease.

She compulsively replayed their repeated acts in her mind.

Varkas never initiated a kiss without her consent. Yet, that didn’t mean he seemed to be forcing her. He would persistently continue kissing her until she was driven to her limits and began to struggle. At times, it even felt as though he was the one growing more impatient.

Yet whenever she was frightened by the contact growing too intense to bear and pushed him away, Varkas would withdraw meekly, his expression innocent. At those moments, it all seemed like nothing more than her own overreaction.

Talia habitually bit her lip, then winced at the stinging pain. When she touched it with her fingertip, a faint trace of blood appeared.

She had no way of knowing whether the wound was self-inflicted or caused by Varkas. Lately, Varkas had been roughing up her lips more often.

Talia, fingering her chapped lips, closed her eyes tightly. Just as she was about to doze off to clear her cluttered mind, the carriage, which had been racing nonstop, came to a halt.

“We’ve arrived. Please step out.”

A gruff voice came through the window.

Talia smoothed out her rumpled clothes and stepped out of the carriage.

Scattered across the vast plain were large, cone-shaped tents and old huts.

A sense of bewilderment washed over her at the somewhat rustic scenery. Compared to the north, where the gap between rich and poor was stark, the south had generally been prosperous, so it had been quite a while since she’d visited a village.

“We plan to stay here tonight.”

A young mounted warrior assigned as her escort by Varkas approached and explained.

“It may be uncomfortable, but please bear with it for just one day.”

Talia said nothing and simply continued walking.

Varkas was talking to a man who appeared to be the village head. As she stood there staring blankly at the scene, Varkas gave her a nod.

Talia cautiously approached him. Varkas placed his hand on her shoulder and addressed the man in a businesslike tone.

“We plan to set up our own camp, so you only need to arrange a place for my wife to stay.”

Talia looked up at him in surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“There will be a small skirmish tonight.”

***

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