Chapter 127
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 127
The fingers that had been stroking her hair trailed down the nape of her neck.
Thalia instinctively tilted her head back. The tongue that usually lashed her with cruel words at every opportunity now explored her mouth with a tender touch.
Her breath grew ragged, and her vision blurred. She could feel their bodies heating to an almost unbearable degree, yet she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. She moved her tongue in a slow, lingering rhythm, following Barkas’s lead.
How long had they been like that? By the time her lips began to sting, he finally lifted his head.
Thalia gasped for air, looking up into his eyes. Despite the heat radiating from his body, his expression was unreadable, devoid of any lingering trace of desire. That unfathomable gap made her feel uneasy.
Still trying to steady her heavy breathing, Thalia quietly turned away.
“I’ll… go now.”
Just as she was about to climb out of bed, his arm wrapped around her waist.
“Stay a little longer.”
The low, resonant bass of his voice poured into her ear, threatening to melt her very bones. Pressing his body flush against her back, the man pressed his lips to the nape of her neck.
Thalia stiffened with tension.
The reason she had come here was to secure an heir for the Grand Duke’s household. Giving herself to him in the darkness was merely a necessity—a way to endure him without pain.
Those lies, which bordered on self-hypnosis, threatened to crumble at a single soft touch. She desperately clung to her resolve.
“I have no reason to stay here.”
“You have no reason not to, either,” he said, stroking her hair. “I’m an injured man, aren’t I? Just stay by my side until I fall asleep.”
Thalia bit her lip at the slight hint of lethargy in his voice.
Why do you want me to stay?
She wanted to demand an answer, but she was afraid of hearing something disappointing. After a moment of hesitation, Thalia finally blurted out something else entirely.
“……Then hurry up and sleep.”
She felt his lips move slightly against her skin.
Had he laughed?
No, that couldn’t be. His lips were usually motionless unless he was sneering or mocking someone.
Suppressing the urge to look back, she stared intently at the window where raindrops were splashing against the glass. Just then, a flash of lightning flickered, followed by the low, growling rumble of thunder.
“Are you afraid of thunder?” he asked suddenly.
Only then did Thalia realize she was trembling.
She had never been afraid of storms or lightning, but she didn’t bother to deny it. She didn’t want him to know that she was actually shaken by the emotions he was stirring within her.
After a while, the sound of steady breathing reached her ears. The heavy thumping of his heart gradually slowed.
Is he asleep?
Or is he just resting?
She spent a long time wondering—a truth she could have confirmed just by turning around—until drowsiness finally hit her like a tidal wave.
She gradually drifted into the boundary between consciousness and oblivion. Then, at some point, she was pulled down as if sinking into a dense, suffocating darkness.
The warmth that had been pleasantly enveloping her vanished in an instant. The darkness became a crushing weight, pinning her down.
She struggled to reach the light, but only the pathetic sound of her own shattered bones rattling echoed through the void. Then, a growling breath mingled with the silence.
Two eyes gleamed in the darkness.
A red-eyed monster crawled slowly toward her to devour her. She could faintly see the hideous form of a beast covered in scales. The monster opened its maw and began to gnaw on her mangled lower body. She couldn’t even scream.
Thalia watched with terror-stricken eyes as the monster submerged in darkness tore at her flesh.
But something was wrong. The monster’s form gradually shrank, transforming into a familiar shape.
A woman with a haunting smile cradled Thalia’s blood-soaked upper body with pale, glowing hands. Then, she opened her blood-stained lips and tore a chunk of flesh from Thalia’s neck.
Finally, she recognized the monster’s face.
It was her mother.
Senevia was devouring what little was left of her body, bit by bit.
Thalia, who was soon reduced to nothing but a severed head, burst into tears. A graceful hand lifted her by the hair.
“My poor child.”
Whispering as if she truly felt pity, Senevia kissed Thalia’s wet cheek.
“Thalia!”
Just then, someone shook her violently.
Thalia snapped her eyes open, gasping for air like a drowning woman breaking the surface.
The scenery of the dark bedroom entered her panicked vision. For a moment, she couldn’t comprehend where she was. As she trembled like a leaf in the wind, someone stroked her head.
“Shh, shh… It’s okay.”
Thalia turned her head. She saw a beautiful face clouded with worry. He cupped her cheeks with both hands and wiped her wet eyes with his thumbs.
“Calm down. It was just a dream.”
“……A dream?”
Thalia’s eyes darted around, chasing the afterimage of Senevia that still clung to her retinas, before her shoulders finally slumped. However, the trembling wouldn’t subside.
He pulled her into a tight embrace and stroked her back in a steady rhythm. Her heart, which had been pounding wildly as if it might leap out of her chest, gradually regained its pace.
She murmured in a tearful voice, “Have you ever had a nightmare?”
The hand patting her back stopped for a moment.
“A long time ago.”
“What kind of dream was it?”
“Well……”
Noticing his voice had dropped, she tried to lift her head, but his hand pressed gently down on the back of her head, keeping her close.
“It was so long ago that I don’t remember it well.”
But you clearly remember the fact that you had one. It must have been a very painful dream.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you if another nightmare comes for you,” he whispered, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders. Thalia naturally burrowed into his arms.
The thought that she hadn’t intended to spend the night here crossed her mind, but she immediately brushed it away. Right now, she simply couldn’t bring herself to leave the safety of his embrace.
She closed her eyes, pressing her cheek against his bare chest.
* * *
The next day, she learned exactly how he had sustained his injuries.
A large box containing well-groomed silver fur was placed in front of her door. The servant who delivered it explained with pride.
“This is the belly skin of a Drakar that His Excellency personally subjugated. It is a top-grade material that does not burn in fire and perfectly blocks the biting winds of midwinter. He gave orders to have a coat made for Her Highness the Grand Duchess with this.”
The nanny’s mouth fell open as she stroked the fur with trembling hands. The silky white fur emitted a faint blue glow as it caught the sunlight.
“Oh my goodness, it’s so beautiful.”
The maids who had come to help her dress also burst into exclamations of admiration.
It was only natural. The Drakar was a top-tier entity even among dragon-subspecies. Its only weakness was its belly, which was covered in soft fur. Because of this, even first-class hunters had to risk their lives to obtain a clean pelt without damage. Even her mother had likely never seen a material of this quality.
However, Thalia’s face was frozen like ice as she looked down at the treasure. A cold fury surged within her when she realized he had engaged in such a reckless battle just to obtain a gift.
She shot a sharp gaze at the servants.
“Where is His Excellency the Grand Duke now?”
“That is… he should be attending to official business in his office.”
The servant, noticing her foul mood, answered with a cowed expression.
Thalia left the room without delay. She intended to snap at him that she didn’t need such a gift and to never do something so useless again.
But as she descended the stairs, a scene unfolded before her eyes as if to mock her anger.