TFM 225

The voice that had continued on slowly began to fade little by little.

He studied the slender face surrounded by the light of the fireplace with a sharp gaze, as though dissecting it. After hesitating for a long while, the woman finally raised her head again and looked at him.

“Of course, you do not have to grant it. I only hoped you might consider it at least once…”

“Stop circling around the point and tell me why you came to see me.”

Her overly cautious attitude irritated him strangely, and when he pressed her in a stiff tone, her lips hardened.

Varkas thought that this time, perhaps she might finally reveal some raw emotion. But in those dark eyes, dyed a deep navy blue, he could not find even the slightest trace of feeling.

After keeping silent for some time, the woman slowly opened her mouth.

“I heard that once Raina’s engagement ceremony is over, you have to leave for the north again. Is that true?”

Varkas, who had gone still for a moment, slowly nodded.

“It is. Once the situation here is settled, I must return to the borderlands.”

For an instant, her complexion darkened visibly.

Feeling his throat burn with an inexplicable thirst, Varkas moistened his parched lips.

“The position of commander-in-chief is not one that allows me to remain away from the military camp for long. Until the suppression of the rebels is completely finished I must remain in the conflict zone."

“Then…”

She chose her words carefully.

“When you leave this time, could you take Edric with you?”

At the unexpected request, Varkas narrowed his eyes.

Watching his reaction, the woman cautiously added,

“If it does not greatly violate procedure, I would like you to appoint him as one of your attendants.”

“Why would Your Highness concern yourself with such a thing?”

“Well…”

At the sharp question, the woman lowered her lashes, looking momentarily at a loss for words, then soon continued calmly.

“He trains sometimes by sparring with the soldiers, and… everyone says his skill is too good for him to remain only as my guard…”

“……”

“He was assigned to me in the first place because everyone was afraid I might cause another incident. I have no intention of causing any trouble now. I only want to live quietly, as I am now.”

The moment her words ended, the firewood in the fireplace cracked with a sharp pop.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, silently watching her face, Varkas let a dry laugh spread across his lips.

“Did Your Highness come all this way merely to ask such a thing of me?”

At his cutting voice, the fingers resting on her knees curled inward.

But the eyes looking at him remained still, like a bottomless lake.

“If it is not such a difficult matter, I hope you will reconsider. There is no reason for someone like me, who stays only within the castle, to keep a high-ranking knight from the Roem Knights as my escort.”

He erased the sneer from his lips and stared intently into her face.

The woman who had once said she could never forgive herself, even in death, was now facing him with detached eyes that held not even the remnants of emotion.

He could not understand why that fact grated on his nerves so much.

Varkas rose from the bed and approached her. He saw her stiffened fingers clutching tightly at the hem of her skirt, as though uneasy.

A bitter, mocking laugh slipped from between his lips.

“I never knew Your Highness was so considerate that you would even worry about the future of a mere escort knight.”

At that openly sarcastic remark, the bones of her fingers stood out white.

Avoiding his gaze, she said,

“I am not worried about that man’s future. I only wish to be free of unnecessary surveillance.”

He searched her eyes persistently, as though trying to determine the truth of those words.

Even before, there had always been parts of her that were difficult to read. But now, he could not begin to guess what she was thinking at all.

Swallowing a sigh, he straightened from where he had bent toward her.

“I did not hire Edric Rubin to monitor you. That man is…”

He had almost said that he wanted to leave someone beside her whom she might find even slightly familiar, but closed his mouth.

He did not want to admit, with his own lips, that the man had truly become a comfort to her.

Varkas turned toward the shelf and uncorked the bottle of wine the servants had brought. Then, picking up the silver goblet placed upside down on the tray, he said bluntly,

“Very well. I will consider it positively.”

At his answer, her shoulders, which had been held rigid with tension, slowly relaxed in relief.

“…Thank you.”

The woman murmured the words in a calm voice, then slowly rose from her seat.

Varkas silently watched as she walked toward the door without the slightest lingering hesitation. Then he let out a hollow laugh and poured the red wine into his glass.

Just then, a low voice came from behind him.

“You know…”

When he turned his head again, the sight of her standing awkwardly with one hand gripping the doorknob caught in his vision.

With difficulty, she continued.

“There is one more thing I would like to ask of you.”

Varkas narrowed his eyes and jerked his chin slightly, as though telling her to speak.

The woman, who had only been fidgeting with the doorknob as though hesitating over something, finally brought up the matter.

“It is about Raina… If possible, even after she marries, could you allow her to remain in Kalmor?”

The hand bringing the goblet to his lips stopped in midair.

Varkas looked at her sharply, a crease forming between his brows as though trying to gauge her intentions, and asked in a low voice,

“Did someone ask you to persuade me?”

“No, it is nothing like that. I only brought it up because… I feel a little sorry for her.”

Varkas set the glass down with a sharp tap and strode toward her.

The way she kept acting so evasively made impatience rise in him more and more.

“It seems you have become a saint of all people in only a few months.”

She flinched and leaned back against the door.

Varkas bent even closer toward her and continued questioning her, pressing hard.

“Have you forgotten how rudely Raina has treated you all this time?”

“…Even so, she’s only a child. The worst thing Raina has done to me is, at most, spread a few nasty rumors.”

Avoiding his gaze, the woman lowered her eyes to the floor and murmured in a sunken voice.

“And… I know why she acts that way.”

The words that followed were almost a whisper.

“She is a little like me. So… I don’t want to hate her that much.”

He looked down at the crown of her head, at a loss for words.

How long did the silence last?

She carefully pulled the doorknob and stepped out into the corridor.

“I’ve said everything I wanted to say. I’ll be going now, so rest.”

Varkas reached out without thinking, about to catch the woman as she walked into the corridor where darkness lay thick. But soon, he lowered his hand.

He saw the maids who had been waiting on one side of the corridor quietly follow after her.

Varkas stared blankly at the sight for a while, then closed the bedroom door and sank into the chair.

Beyond the glass window, night was deepening.

Varkas wet his throat, which felt as though it were burning, with the wine he had poured in advance. Then he leaned his head against the back of the chair and slowly closed his eyes.

He had a strong premonition that tonight, too, he would greet morning in the midst of a long and tedious insomnia.

•··········•··········•

Even after the engagement ceremony ended, the nobles who had remained at Laedgo Castle to continue socializing returned to their respective territories on the fourth day.

In the meantime, Varkas searched the southeastern region for a city suitable to entrust to Lucas and went through the procedures to grant it to him as a fief.

Thanks to the pretext that they were in the middle of a war, most of the cumbersome formalities were omitted, and the administrative procedures regarding the bestowal of territory were completed without difficulty.

Not long after Lucas led his subordinates away from Kalmor, Varkas also began preparing to depart for the campaign.

There was no urgent need for him to hurry back immediately. But now that he had confirmed she was doing well, he judged that he had no reason to remain here any longer.

Just as she had assured him, she was living a quiet and peaceful life, and he did not wish to disturb that. It was time for the unwelcome guest to disappear.

Varkas summoned his vassals and firmly declared that all of the grand duchess’s authority would be restored. Then he immediately led the cavalry toward the borderlands.

Among the ironclad procession following him was Edric Rubin as well.

“Are you truly all right with leaving without even saying goodbye?”

Edric, dressed flawlessly in the black iron armor that symbolized House Siorkan, rode up beside him and spoke.

Varkas answered only by driving his spurs into his horse.

The heavy sound of hooves noisily awakened the sleeping earth.