Free Web Novel“It happened because of House Siorcan's healer, so we should at least do this much.”
Lucas's expression darkened. Thinking of Tiuran confined in solitary punishment, he felt a complicated heaviness settle inside him.
“What kind of punishment do you think Tiuran will get?”
“Well.”
Daren answered indifferently.
“Since Her Highness woke up safely, it'll probably end with imprisonment. That woman was fortunate. If Her Grace's condition had been any worse, she'd have ended up on the gallows.”
Lucas frowned uncomfortably.
Tiuran had been a vassal who had faithfully served House Siorcan for more than a decade. Hearing Daren speak so casually about her death stirred a trace of resentment within him.
“It only happened because that woman is excessively frail. Does she really deserve such harsh punishment?”
“Young Master Lucas.”
There was a warning in Daren's voice.
After tossing a leather pouch filled with silver coins to a merchant, Daren led him to one side of the hall.
“I know very well that Young Master harbors resentment toward Her Grace. But please stop openly displaying your hostility.”
“I don't really—”
“Aren't you more worried about a mere healer's circumstances than Her Grace's health?”
He spoke in a tone of reprimand.
“She is His Majesty's daughter and the mistress of the East. By rights, causing her harm alone would merit the death penalty. The fact that this will likely end with confinement is already an extremely lenient measure.”
Lucas stared intently into Daren's face.
“So you acknowledge the Second Imperial Princess as the mistress of the household?”
“What does it matter whether I acknowledge it or not? It has already become reality.”
Daren shrugged his broad shoulders.
“We can't exactly cancel a marriage arranged by His Majesty at this stage. Whether we like it or not, we have no choice but to accept it. Right now, strengthening the unity of the East is a far more important issue.”
Lucas met Daren's serious gaze heavily.
Traveling through the eastern territories alongside Varkas, he too had come to realize certain things.
The local lords were obsessed with strengthening their own authority and neglected public order, and as a result raiders ran rampant throughout the East.
There were competent administrators among them, but even they seemed to subtly keep the new Grand Duke in check rather than pledge unconditional loyalty.
Just as Tyron had warned, the order of the East was quietly collapsing.
Perhaps they should be grateful that a powerful new leader like Varkas had appeared.
Having reached a conclusion he disliked, Lucas lowered his rebellious eyes with difficulty.
“I know that too.”
Still, he did not want to be treated like some obedient child, so he added stubbornly,
“I just have to behave while Brother is putting the eastern nobles in line, right?”
“Please do.”
Daren growled like a bear.
Undaunted, Lucas smirked sarcastically.
“I already am. Haven't you seen me scurrying around like a sewer rat trying not to run into that woman? I even keep my head down in front of Brother.”
Apparently unconvinced, Daren raised his thick brows.
Crossing his arms and leaning forward, he fixed Lucas with a threatening stare.
“That alone isn't enough. You must also show proper respect to the Grand Duke and his wife in official settings. If Young Master continues making such rude remarks, the discipline of the East—”
“Fine, fine. So stop nagging me already.”
Fed up, Lucas hurried up the stairs.
Below, beyond the railing, he saw Daren glaring fiercely at him.
Snorting demonstratively in his direction, Lucas ran down the corridor.
Then he abruptly stopped.
A group of maids was carefully carrying trays laden with dozens of dishes.
They were attendants serving the Grand Duchess.
“She's practically a queen.”
Twisting his lips mockingly, Lucas suddenly frowned.
He didn't understand why he felt such hostility toward that woman.
If one thought about it carefully, hadn't he been the first to cross the line?
Irritably scratching his head, Lucas was fully aware that he had behaved despicably.
And yet whenever he recalled their confrontation, guilt came second to an irrational fury.
Perhaps it was because of the look in her eyes.
“...She looked at me like I was an insect.”
The moment he had met eyes that seemed to be looking upon the most disgusting thing in the world, an ugly impulse he had never experienced before had engulfed him.
He had wanted to break that arrogant woman.
He had wanted to make her cry miserably.
Those vile desires had boiled in his blood until he could no longer control himself.
As Lucas revisited that fierce impulse, a wave of nausea swept over him and he turned away.
A dreadful realization crossed his mind.
Perhaps the reason he avoided her was not only because of Varkas's warning.
If he stayed near that woman, it felt as though he would be forced to confront something filthy within himself that he never wished to see.
As if trying to shake off that ominous premonition, he hurried through the dim corridor.
* * *
“One more bite.”
Talia stared at the man holding out the spoon as though he had two heads.
Could it be that some evil incubus had stolen Varkas's body and was impersonating him?
Whether he knew or didn't know she was scrutinizing him with such suspicion, the man urged her in his usual flat tone.
“What are you doing instead of eating?”
“...Enough. I don't want any more.”
“Just one more spoonful.”
“I said no.”
When she abruptly turned her head away to avoid the spoon hovering around her lips like an annoying fly, he caught her chin with his other hand.
Her face flushing, Talia glared at him after being forcibly turned back.
But Varkas didn't even blink.
“If you eat this, I'll let you have the fruit you like for dessert.”
“How ridiculous! I don't want this or that—!”
The spoon slipped between her parted lips as she tried to protest.
Talia's eyes widened in disbelief.
As though telling her to swallow, he pressed lightly against the tip of her tongue with the spoon.
In the end, she gulped down the mushy substance.
The horrible sensation of the slippery porridge sliding down her throat made her entire face twist.
She shot him a venomous glare.
Ignoring it entirely, Varkas calmly rose and cleared away the dishes.
His actions were so natural that another suspicion suddenly arose.
He was a man who had spent his entire life being attended by others.
A man who had never bowed his head to anyone except royalty.
How was someone like him so skilled at feeding another person?
“Have you fed someone before?”
Narrowing her eyes, Talia suddenly demanded.
Varkas, who was arranging the bowls on the tray, cast an indifferent glance over his shoulder.
Then he replied calmly.
“Countless times.”
Talia froze in shock.
The next moment, sharpness entered her eyes.
She felt as though all the food she had forced into her stomach would come surging back up.
Forcing a smile onto her twitching face, she said,
“How unfortunate. To abandon a fiancée you devoted yourself to that much and end up playing nurse beside a woman like me...”
“Her Highness the First Imperial Princess was not someone who required this much care.”
After placing the tray beside the door, Varkas answered absentmindedly.
“The one I fed was not a person, but a horse. Tork, when he was a foal, required even more care than Your Highness.”
Talia wore a dumbfounded expression.
She couldn't tell whether she should feel relieved or angry.
