TFM 118

Chapter 118

***

Varkas’s pupils dilated widely, and the silvery-gray flecks scattered across his blue irises rippled. But that flicker of disturbance lasted only an instant.

In the blink of an eye, Varkas’s expression returned to its icy composure, and he stared at her with eyes that shimmered a deep blue. Soon after, a dry voice laced with a hollow laugh broke the silence.

“Do you even know what that means?”

“Who do you think you’re calling a fool?”

Talia forced a haughty expression onto her face, despite the tension that made her knees go weak. She absolutely, positively did not want to appear as if she were begging.

“It means I’m going to sleep with you.”

“…”

“What? Do I need to be more direct?”

As she lifted her chin and shot him a defiant glance, the sneer lingering at the corner of his mouth faded.

He uncrossed his arms and slowly stepped toward her.

“You’re going to sleep with me?”

A chill ran down her spine at the deep, heavy voice that pierced right through her.

Talia forced herself to tense the nape of her neck, which was instinctively trying to shrink back. Watching her without so much as a flicker, Varkas grabbed her chin and pressed down firmly on her lower lip with his thumb.

“Is that why you came here looking like this?”

She felt the sticky dye smearing across her lips. Blushing, Talia fiercely swatted his hand away. A faint sneer crossed Varkas’s face.

“What do you expect to accomplish if you’re so freaked out by just this much contact?”

“It’s because you always touch me out of the blue……!”

Retorting with a flustered expression, Talia clamped her mouth shut. She mustn’t let herself be swept away by this man.

“Why are you so talkative? I said I’d do it!”

The corners of Varkas’s mouth twisted ever so slightly.

“Just because you say you’ll do it, does that mean I have to blindly follow you?”

The sharpness of his response, sharper than she’d expected, made the blood rush to the back of her neck.

Swallowing her humiliation, she glared at him with a fierce look.

“Yes.”

“…”

“You have to do exactly as I ask.”

His usually open eyes narrowed. It wasn’t so much a look of displeasure as one of utter bewilderment.

Talia braced her stiff legs and stood up. Then she stepped right up to him and defiantly tilted her chin upward.

“You are now the head of the Shiokan family, and you have a duty to produce an heir. This is what a married man is supposed to do.”

“I don’t know since when you’ve become so conscientious.”

A bitter sneer flitted across his lips.

“So what you’re saying is, you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for me and my family, is that it?”

Talia looked up at him, her face set in a stiff expression.

She had expected him to show some reluctance, but she hadn’t anticipated such open mockery. Hadn’t he been the man who, ever since their marriage, had treated her with a gentleness that left her feeling awkward? Perhaps he simply hated sleeping with her that much.

Swallowing her humiliation, Talia retorted coldly.

“How much longer do you think we can maintain a relationship as superficial as this? It won’t take long for people to realize we aren’t a proper married couple, and I’ll become an even bigger laughingstock than I am now. If we don’t produce an heir soon, even your vassals won’t stay silent.”

Talia, who had been firing off her words in rapid succession, let out a sharp laugh.

“Or perhaps that’s exactly what you want?”

Varkas’s handsome jawline visibly tensed.

Ignoring the warning in his gaze, Talia continued mockingly.

“If you just hold out like this for a few more years, people from all sides will be up in arms, demanding that you annul your marriage to me and bring in a new Grand Duchess. Perhaps even His Imperial Majesty will pretend to give in and grant the divorce. Could it be that you sabotaged Ayla’s marriage with the intention of remarrying her by then…."

“Cut it out.”

A sharp, gritted voice lashed fiercely at her forehead. The man, leaning in close toward her, spat out the words menacingly.

“There’s a limit to how much I’m willing to listen to this in silence.”

Talia knew she was stepping over a line she shouldn’t cross. But she couldn’t back down.

She raised her voice, fixing him with a piercing gaze.

“If that’s not the case, then do as I demand! You don’t have any free will anyway, do you? You’re nothing more than a puppet acting on duty.”

“And aren’t you the Empress’s puppet?”

Varkas said with a sneer.

Talia felt the blood drain from her face.

Looking down at her as she turned pale with shock, Varkas added coldly.

“I don’t know what that woman has been egging you on to do, but I will not serve as your stud.”

With that, he straightened his hunched posture and picked up the coat he had taken off.

“Your Highness may use this room today.”

Talia stared blankly as he walked toward the door.

A chill swept over her as if she’d been doused with cold water from the crown of her head.

Trembling all over with humiliation, Talia limped after him the next moment.

When she roughly yanked at the hem of the garment draped over his broad back, she could feel his massive frame—woven seamlessly from powerful muscles—stiffen.

She pushed against him with all her might. But his body, as solid as a fortress, didn’t budge an inch. As she let out a burst of rage and shoved him violently once more, Varkas grabbed her by the shoulders.

A moan escaped her lips involuntarily at the force of his grip. Hearing the sound, the man flinched and withdrew his hand. Talia seized the moment and charged at him with her chest, hard as iron. Finally, his body, as solid as a city wall, tilted backward.

Talia knocked him down and straddled his stomach. Her breath, ragged from the brief struggle, stung her throat like sandpaper.

Exhaling hot breath as her chest heaved, Talia glared at him with eyes like balls of fire.

“You must not defy me.”

The man’s handsome face twisted slightly. She spat the words at him as if vomiting blood.

“You said you’d do anything I asked. You said you’d do everything in your power.”

The hand that had been trying to push her away hesitated in midair and froze.

Talia clutched the front of his shirt as if wringing it out and pulled him toward her with all her might.

The tremors shaking her body grew increasingly violent. She struggled desperately not to beg, but her voice became increasingly choked with sobs.

Talia clenched her jaw, which was trembling violently, and shouted defiantly.

“I’m telling you to keep your word!”

With that resounding cry, a storm-like silence settled over the room.

Unable to bring herself to look him straight in the eye, Talia fixed her gaze on his chest, rising and falling slowly.

A bead of sweat trickled down her temple, lingered briefly at the corner of her eye, then plopped onto his shirt.

As she stared blankly at it, a firm finger touched the tip of her chin. Her head was lifted immediately, and her dizzy vision was filled with a face bearing an inscrutable expression. Before she could even grasp its meaning, her shoulders were pushed back.

“………………I understand.”

Varkas, having straightened his upper body, spat out the words in a hoarse voice. Talia met his gaze with trembling eyes. She could see his Adam’s apple, taut and swollen, twitching up and down. After a long pause, he opened his mouth to add to his reply.

“I will do as Your Highness wishes.”

Even though she had finally elicited the answer she wanted, her trembling only grew more intense. Talia wrapped her spasming fingers around his forearms. Just then, a tightly compressed voice pierced her ears once more.

“But not today.”

She snapped her head up and glared at him.

Varkas continued somewhat impatiently.

“Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that you coughed up blood and collapsed? Once your health has fully recovered…."

“I’m perfectly fine.”

Talia shouted harshly.

“I’ll do that with you when I decide to. And that’s today—right now.”

She could feel his entire body stiffen. Was he resenting her behavior, which was acting like a tyrant?

Still, it didn’t matter. If she backed down now, she’d never be able to make a decision like this again.

Once this madness-like impulse cooled, she would retreat back behind her own walls.

So this had to be the moment when she mustered every last shred of courage she had left.

“You can’t refuse.”

Something flickered in his eyes. Was it anger? Disillusionment? No. It didn’t matter.

This… this… wasn’t love. It was neither passion nor desire. It was nothing more than a struggle to survive. So there was no need to feel miserable.