Chapter 126
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 126
Thalia watched his silhouette as it was suddenly swallowed by the shadows. Her expression stiffened, and she hurried across the room.
As he began to turn around, Thalia reached out instinctively. Her fingertips brushed against the rough texture of bandages covering his bare skin.
“Are you hurt?”
“It’s just a light scratch from the subjugation.”
“A light scratch? What kind of monster could do this to you…?”
She couldn’t understand. How could a man with such monstrous strength—someone capable of easily overpowering a Wyvern—have been injured?
As she looked up at him, her eyes wide with concern, Barkas let out a weary sigh.
“A pair of Drakar had nested in the north. They are rare creatures, and I didn’t want to damage the hides, so…”
He trailed off as her hand settled against his bare chest.
Thalia moved her fingertips along the bandages, intent on checking the depth of the wound. The thick cloth was wrapped diagonally across his left shoulder and chest.
“How bad is it?”
“It is nothing.”
“Light a fire. I can’t see a thing.”
Taking a deep breath, Barkas reached out and pulled back the heavy curtains draped over the window.
Though ink-colored clouds smothered the sky, it wasn’t pitch black; there was enough light for her to see him clearly. Barkas stood barefoot on the carpet, wearing nothing but a pair of loose, Eastern-style wool trousers.
For a moment, Thalia stiffened at his primal appearance, but the sight of a medicine bottle in his hand snapped her back to reality. Her voice rose sharply.
“Why didn’t you call a healer? If you used magic, this would be fixed in an instant!”
“A Drakar’s claws carry a venom that resists magic. Healing spells won’t work until the toxin is naturally neutralized.”
Barkas replied bluntly, turning back toward the shelf. His movement allowed Thalia to examine his exposed back from only inches away.
His physique was like a monument where every unnecessary element had been stripped away. Dense muscle was packed tightly over a solid, perfectly proportioned frame, and taut tendons stood out like exquisite carvings on marble skin. Even the bandages wrapped around him looked like mere ornaments meant to accentuate his powerful build.
“The toxin will clear in about a week. I can use healing magic then,” Barkas added nonchalantly, setting the medicine bottle down.
Thalia, who had been staring blankly, suddenly snapped out of her daze and awkwardly lowered her gaze.
“…Does it hurt?”
“Not at all.”
Thalia looked skeptical. His response was far too dry.
Certainly, there was no sign of pain in Barkas’s movements as he began to pull on a shirt. Nevertheless, she couldn’t ease her mind and asked again, her voice laced with anxiety.
“Are you really okay?”
“It won’t interfere with our business, so do not worry.”
Thalia looked up at him as if she had been slapped.
“Do you think I’m obsessed with… doing that with you?”
“Did you not come here so we could share a bed?”
The man sent her a questioning look. Since his tone seemed to be simply confirming a fact rather than mocking her, she was momentarily speechless. It was true; she had come to sleep with him, just as he said.
She flushed, stammering out an excuse.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t come because I wanted you. I just… to have a child…”
“Do not worry. I have never once misunderstood your intentions.”
Barkas cut off her excuse in a calm, level tone.
Thalia bit her inner lip. She should have been relieved that he didn’t doubt her words, but for some reason, her chest felt tight.
“Anyway, I have no intention of doing that with an injured man. So, go light the fireplace.”
“…Are you going to stay?”
For a moment, a flash of surprise crossed Barkas’s face.
Thalia’s expression clouded. This man truly seemed to believe that she only dealt with him for a single purpose. Even though she was the one who had tried so hard to make it seem that way, it felt strange to realize that Barkas hadn’t noticed her true feelings at all.
She took a step back, her eyes fixed on the floor.
“If you don’t want me here, just say so. I’ll go back to my room—”
“Please stay.”
He suddenly reached out and took her hand.
“You were always the one who said you didn’t want to be here. I have always asked you to stay.”
Thalia looked up at him with confused eyes, then quickly dropped her gaze to her hand captured in his.
She always felt vulnerable after their nights together. She would get nervous, wondering when his hand might touch her, and anxious that her unsightly appearance might be revealed as her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness. Above all, she was terrified that her longing for his touch and warmth was growing beyond her control.
But…
She carefully traced his silhouette, bathed in the bluish moonlight, with her eyes.
With his wet hair pushed back to reveal his forehead, he looked strangely like a lonely boy. That uncharacteristic vulnerability broke down her guard.
“Then… I’ll stay for just a little while. If I go back now, Nanny will only nag me…”
At her clumsy excuse, fine lines crinkled around his eyes. Realizing her words were as good as a confession that the nanny was pressuring her to get pregnant, Thalia awkwardly looked away.
Barkas, who had been watching her silently, spoke coldly.
“If that woman is being a nuisance, I will send her back to the Imperial Palace.”
“No!” Thalia cried out reflexively. “Don’t you dare! I won’t let you!”
He gave her an unreadable look. It was an expression that suggested he couldn’t understand why she protected a woman who treated her so poorly.
Thalia raised her voice in defense. “She’s the one who has taken care of me since I was a baby. She’s like a mother to me.”
“……”
“If you send Nanny back to the Imperial Palace, I’m going back with her.”
When she snapped at him firmly, his brow furrowed. His lips parted as if to argue, but he soon let out a sigh and turned toward the fireplace.
“Don’t just stand there. Please, sit.”
Instead of calling a servant, he began to light the fire himself. Relieved that the subject had changed, Thalia slunk over to his side.
“Leave that to the servants. Just sit down and rest.”
“I can handle this much.”
Before long, flames flickered atop the logs. Thalia, who had been pacing restlessly, immediately tugged at his sleeve.
“Now, sit down. Quickly.”
When she pulled him toward the bed and pushed down on his shoulders, Barkas gave her a strange look. He seemed dumbfounded that the woman who always pushed him away was now clumsily trying to take care of him.
After staring at her for a while, the man sat on the edge of the bed. Thalia relaxed and turned toward the cabinet.
“You said there’s poison in your system, right? Shouldn’t you take a fever reducer? Or a painkiller…”
“I am not in pain, nor do I have a fever.”
She let his response go in one ear and out the other as she rummaged through the drawers. Before long, she found a bottle of Mandrake Extract. Thalia opened the cap, poured an appropriate amount into a teacup, and held it out to him.
“Here, drink this.”
Barkas just stared at the cup.
Was he suspicious that she was feeding him something strange? As she glared at him, Barkas spoke while his hand found her waist.
“I will take it—if Your Highness feeds it to me.”
Thalia blinked blankly. Without a change in his expression, Barkas waited calmly for her answer. At his composed attitude, her stalled thoughts finally began to function again.
“U-use your own hands!”
“I have always fed you. It is time to repay the debt.”
With a face flushed bright red, Thalia looked back and forth between him and the medicine. She felt a surge of irritation at how he could make such a brazen demand so nonchalantly.
She was about to tell him to forget it, but she changed her mind. She took a sip of the bitter extract herself.
His eyes widened slightly, as if he hadn’t expected her to actually comply.
Thalia grabbed his face defiantly and pressed her lips against his, which carried the faint scent of soap. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, his arms wrapped around her waist.
Thalia instinctively gripped his shoulders, but she jerked her hands away the moment she felt the texture of the thick bandages. In that instant, his slick tongue smoothly brushed between her lips.
Unable to resist his silent urging, she slowly let the fluid flow into his mouth. However, it didn’t go as skillfully as when he did it. Feeling the liquid wetting the corners of her mouth, she tried to lift her head, only for Barkas to cup her cheek and lick the stray drops from her chin.
Before they knew it, they were lying on the bed, holding each other tightly. Feeling his body, hardened with arousal, pressing against her, Thalia hurriedly pushed herself up.
“No. I said we aren’t doing it until your wound heals.”
“I won’t do anything more than this. Just stay still.”
Barkas murmured in a low, husky voice as he gently stroked her hair. Thalia, who had been trying to push him away, soon felt her body relax.
Amidst the heavy sound of rain and the crackling of the logs, the dull thumping of a heartbeat joined the rhythm.