TFM 104

Chapter 104

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She didn’t even have time to react.

Through the gap left by her startled, parted lips, a slick tongue slipped in, followed by a sticky liquid as thick as honey.

Talia, who had expected a bitter taste so intense it would make her stomach churn, widened her eyes in surprise at the unexpected flavor.

The sweet liquid, infused with the scent of flowers, gently coated her tongue. As she swallowed the pooled liquid, the piece of flesh pressing against the tip of her tongue slowly withdrew.

“You really did skip dinner, didn’t you?”

A reproachful voice tickled her swollen lips.

Talia looked up at him with a dazed expression. Ever since she’d started begging him for a kiss under the pretense of needing medicine, they’d been locking lips almost every night, but this was the first time he’d initiated the kiss.

No, to be precise, this was the second time.

She blushed as she recalled that confusing first night.

Varkas, who had been quietly watching her, traced the corner of her mouth with his calloused thumb.

“Want some more?”

Her heart spasmed at his whisper.

Talia jumped away from him as if she’d been burned.

“W-what did you feed me?”

At her stammering question, he gestured toward the shelf beside the bed. There sat a small silver pitcher and a bowl filled with assorted fruits.

“It’s a drink made by fermenting goat’s milk. People in the East often drink it in place of breakfast.”

His monotonous explanation tangled the confusion swirling in her mind even further. Yet he himself wore a composed expression, as if feeding her by mouth were no big deal.

Maybe… maybe that’s really what it was.

Just as he had fed her medicine by mouth when she refused to take it, perhaps he was simply providing her with a meal.

Right. That must be it.

He was a man who was completely broken down in some way, wasn’t he? Just as he had unilaterally accommodated Ayla, this time he’s simply accommodating her demands.

Talia forced herself to calm down and put on a deliberately cold expression.

“Who asked you to feed me?”

Her sharp tone caused his wide-open eyes to narrow.

But he didn’t seem offended. Varkas, who had been stroking her chin with a pensive look, placed a tray in front of her.

“Then, please help yourself.”

With that, he rose from his seat and walked over to the window. Talia watched as he filled a basin with water and washed his face and neck, then lowered her gaze to the tray.

Suddenly, she felt an urge to bite her tongue. If she had just refused to eat, he would have fed her himself. With that humiliating thought in mind, she picked up a piece of bread.

It was piping hot, as if it had just come out of the oven. As she tore off small pieces of the steaming bread and popped them into her mouth one by one, Varkas, now dressed in fresh clothes, returned to the bed.

“Does the food not suit your taste?”

Varkas frowned as he looked at the bread she had torn to shreds and asked.

Talia hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.

“It’s just fine.”

“Then eat properly. Stop acting like you have a grudge against the food.”

At the tone, which sounded as if she were scolding a fussy child, Talia raised the corners of her eyes.

She had intended to snap back, “Do you even know what’s in this?” But when she met his eyes, which were scrutinizing her intently, her sharp words crawled back down her throat. She didn’t want to get into a pointless argument with a man who had returned from a grueling night of battle and made sure she had something to eat.

Talia finally picked up a small piece of bread that looked as if it had been deep-fried.

Closing her eyes tightly, she took a big bite and chewed on hot, spiced meat.

Suddenly, nausea welled up inside her.

The taste of the fatty meat itself wasn’t the problem. It was the sheer fact that she had put an unidentified substance in her mouth that made her feel a strong sense of revulsion.

Surely it wasn’t something like a lizard, a bat, or a frog. As she crushed the soft lump of meat with her teeth, she bit into something crunchy. It seemed to be a nut. No. Maybe it was some kind of insect. All sorts of ingredients, seemingly stir-fried in oil, were mixed into the finely chopped meat.

Her stomach twisted painfully at the thought of what might be lurking inside. 

Talia, who had been moving her jaws mechanically as if chewing mud, could no longer bear the nausea and simply swallowed what was in her mouth.

Seeing this, Varkas quickly poured water into a cup and handed it to her.

“Drink.”

Talia took the cup in a hurry.

As she gulped down the ice-cold water, the food that had been choking her throat slid down her esophagus.

She shuddered at the sensation of having swallowed a pebble, when a voice laced with a sigh reached her from above.

“That awful eating habit of yours just won’t go away.”

Talia looked up at him with wide eyes.

She was slightly flustered, as she had never imagined he would care about what she ate.

“It’s just… I don’t have much of an appetite today.”

He furrowed his brow at her excuse. He seemed to know that she ate even less than ascetic priests.

Sighing softly once more, Varkas poured her a drink made from goat’s milk and handed it to her.

“It would be best to gradually increase the amount of food you eat. You can’t live on just honey and fruit forever, can you?”

Talia, who had been staring blankly up at the man offering this uncharacteristic nagging, took the cup with a reluctant expression.

As she forced down the liquid filling the cup, he pushed the tray aside.

“I’ll call for a maid, so please start getting ready to leave.”

While he stepped aside, Talia, with her nanny’s help, gave herself a quick wash and changed into fresh, clean clothes.

Since her wounds had been rebandaged the previous evening, it didn’t seem necessary to call a healer.

With a fur-trimmed coat draped over her shoulders, Talia shook off her nanny’s support and stepped outside on her own.

The weather was absolutely glorious.

Looking up at the cloudless sky, Talia lowered her gaze to take in the peaceful village scenery.

She saw horses, freed from their saddles, grazing on the wide meadow. The cavalrymen, having returned from their campaign, were gathered in the clearing, eating their meals.

As Talia was about to walk past them toward the carriage, she stopped in her tracks upon noticing a strangely shaped shadow stretching out at her feet. Not far away, she saw a long pole standing upright.

Talia instinctively looked up and froze in horror at the sight of a large severed head hanging from its tip.

At the sight of the ashen, pale face—as if every drop of blood had been drained from it—her stomach, already strained from the morning’s exertions, began to cramp.

Talia covered her mouth with her sleeve. The food she had forced down seemed ready to come back up at any moment. Yet she could not tear her gaze away from the face contorted with terror.

Although public executions took place regularly even in the capital, this was the first time she had actually seen a decapitated corpse.

Overcome by a strange curiosity, she stared intently into the clouded, hazy pupils. She wondered if, perhaps, she might catch a glimpse of hell through them.

According to doctrine, impure beings were cast into the fiery abyss. And as an impure being herself, she was highly likely to end up in hell.

If she could, she wanted to see the world she would enter after death in advance. Obsessed with that thought, she stepped closer to the stake, but a strong arm blocked her view.

Talia turned her head sharply.

Varkas was looking down at her with an indescribable expression.

It wasn’t just Varkas. Perhaps finding her own gaze—fixed as if spellbound on the decapitated corpse—creepy, everyone was casting uneasy glances her way.

***

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