Free Web NovelTalia reflexively studied Varkas's expression.
A dry wind seemed to sweep across his cool face, where not even the slightest trace of emotion could be found.
After lifting his gaze toward the sun veiled behind a thin layer of clouds as though measuring the time, Varkas turned a calm look toward his adjutant.
“Tell the Wolfram Cavalry to prepare to depart at once.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Daren withdrew, Varkas turned around without hesitation.
Unable to decide what she ought to say, Talia merely wet her lips.
Should she comfort him?
But Varkas truly appeared unaffected. Perhaps that was only natural. He had been sent to the capital when he was barely five years old. There was no reason for him to harbor much affection for his father.
“It seems we must leave today without fail. How are you feeling?”
Having stepped into the hall, Varkas suddenly asked the question.
Talia answered in a tense voice.
“I rested thoroughly for several days, so I'm fine now.”
“You have not recovered completely yet.”
His voice abruptly hardened.
“It will be burdensome to travel such a great distance in an unhealthy state. If your condition worsens, tell me immediately.”
After quietly watching his mood, Talia nodded weakly.
He ascended the stairs with a pace that was neither fast nor slow. Through the windows lining the corridor, she could see the overcast sky.
Perhaps it would rain during the funeral.
* * *
The return journey proceeded smoothly.
After tirelessly crossing the wide-open plains, they arrived at Laedgo Castle two full days earlier than expected.
The gatekeeper, having spotted them from afar, sounded his trumpet noisily, and the drawbridge was lowered. The Wolfram Cavalry wasted no time passing through the gates.
“Welcome home!”
As they entered the courtyard, the waiting servants immediately surrounded Varkas.
Watching the scene through the carriage window, Talia straightened her clothing and stepped outside.
The maids lined up at the entrance descended the stairs to greet her.
“You must have suffered greatly on your long journey.”
The chief maid offered the greeting on behalf of the others. Talia merely inclined her chin in response before approaching Varkas.
Receiving a report from the head steward, Varkas slowly swept his eyes over her.
“I believe I should see Father immediately. Would Your Highness accompany me?”
Talia hesitated briefly.
Truthfully, she had no desire whatsoever to see that ill-tempered old man again. Yet she also did not want to leave Varkas alone. That remained true even though she knew he felt no sorrow.
“...I'll go too.”
Perhaps it was an unexpected answer. Varkas looked down at her in silence for a moment before slightly inclining his head toward his younger brother, who stood some distance away.
“You come as well.”
Lucas, who had been standing there with a dark expression, mechanically obeyed his brother's command. Deliberately avoiding him, Talia followed after Varkas.
With stiff legs, she barely managed to enter the main keep, only to have the scents of myrrh, frankincense, and sandalwood assault her senses.
All of them were incense burned for patients who stood at death's door.
“Lucas!”
Just as they reached the stairs, a slender girl burst out from the Grand Duke's bedchamber.
“Why are you only getting here now?! Do you know how much I've been all alone—!”
Crossing the corridor in an instant, the girl threw herself into Lucas's arms. The boy, who had stood rigidly frozen, wrapped his arms around his sister's shoulders as tears welled in his eyes.
Watching the scene with discomfort, Talia shifted her gaze toward the darkened bedchamber.
Inside the room, hazy smoke drifted through the air, while a high priest and the retainers stood in orderly rows. Varkas strode in and addressed the priest.
“How is he?”
“...Regrettably, it appears unlikely that he will survive the day.”
The old priest, whose face looked gaunt from countless sleepless nights, spoke in a heavy voice.
“Prepare yourselves.”
As though she had heard those words, the girl's sobbing only grew louder. Standing awkwardly and darting her eyes around, Talia quietly edged closer to Varkas's side.
Casting a cautious glance toward the bed hidden behind curtains, she caught sight of the emaciated old man.
It was hard to believe that this pitiful figure was the same person whose tongue had once been so vicious.
How long had she stood there, blankly staring down at the man who had deteriorated into such a miserable state in scarcely over a month?
Suddenly, someone roughly yanked her cloak.
“What is this woman doing here?!”
Raina Laedgo Siorcan glared at her with tear-stained eyes full of venom.
“You cursed Father and wished him to go to hell, didn't you? How dare you show your face here?! Get out! Get out right now!”
Screaming, the girl roughly dragged her toward the door.
Varkas firmly pulled his sister away and wrapped one arm around Talia's shoulders.
Seeing that, the girl's face twisted even more fiercely.
“You're exactly the same, Brother! You've been bewitched by that witch too—!”
“Stop it, Raina!”
Lucas hurriedly pulled his sister into his chest and covered her mouth.
Still trembling with grief, Raina Laedgo Siorcan buried her face against her brother and burst into heartrending sobs.
At that moment, a rough voice like scraping iron echoed through the room.
“What is all this commotion?”
Talia flinched and turned her head.
The man who had lifted his wrinkled eyelids was glaring at them with eyes that looked covered in frost.
The sobbing girl hurried to the bedside.
“Father! You're awake?”
The old man stared at his daughter's face for a moment before slowly letting his eyes wander around the room.
Then he discovered Talia standing off to one side and narrowed his eyes.
She instinctively retreated behind Varkas's back.
Surely the old man would not want her here either.
Yet unexpectedly, he remained quiet.
After watching her with dark eyes for some time, he finally shifted his gaze toward his eldest son.
A strange light flashed across his ashen, deathly face.
“...I have been waiting for you, Varkas.”
A fit of coughing cut off the rest of his words.
Panting heavily, the old man raised a hand as thin as a branch. In answer to that silent request, Varkas bent over the bed.
The old man's clouded eyes settled upon Varkas's cold face.
And then, the old man who had never abandoned his stubbornness, even on death's threshold, crumbled.
“You... resent me, don't you?”
It sounded less like a question than a certainty.
Varkas neither agreed nor denied it. He merely gazed down at his father in silence.
Violent waves churned in the old man's eyes. His skeletal fingers viciously seized Varkas's clothes.
“Just answer me one thing. In your eyes... what do you see?”
The sudden question caused everyone present to hold their breath.
Desperately, he continued.
“In your eyes, surely you see something... something different, don't you? Tell me. You must know. What lies beyond death...”
It sounded as though blood might burst from his phlegm-filled throat at any moment.
The faces of those surrounding the bed turned deathly pale.
The terror of the old man standing before death seemed to overwhelm everyone present.
Dragging Varkas toward him with desperate strength, he forced out a metallic rasp.
“Tell me! What lies after this...?!”
Only then did Varkas's tightly sealed lips part.
“Nothing.”
Not only the Grand Duke, but everyone who had stood frozen watching the confrontation stopped breathing.
Talia, too, stared at him in bewilderment.
Quietly looking down at his father's pale face, Varkas added softly,
“In my eyes, I see nothing. So please calm yourself.”
The old man's mouth twitched violently.
Finally recovering his senses, the priest hurried to the bedside and tried to reassure the Grand Duke.
“Your Grace, please cast aside your fear. The messengers of God shall guide you to the world of eternal rest.”
The old man, who had stubbornly fixed his gaze on his heir, soon lost all strength and collapsed limply.
Varkas silently watched him for a moment before straightening.
Talia cautiously grasped his sleeve.
For some reason, she felt she had to.
He looked down at her with blue eyes as clear and cold as glass before returning his gaze to the bed.
Soon, the priest began reciting the prayers in a solemn voice.
But the fear lingering in the old man's eyes refused to fade.
Muttering delirious nonsense and breathing in harsh gasps from time to time, the man finally entered eternal sleep only when evening fell.
