Chapter 69
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 69
Barkas stepped onto the carriage step, his eyes narrowing as they swept slowly over her.
A faint crease formed between his level brows.
Before she could discern the reason for his frown, he strode into the carriage, retrieved the cloak that had fallen to the floor, and draped it over her shoulders. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he reached out to pick her up.
Startled, Thalia shoved hard against his shoulders.
“I can walk on my own!”
The effects of the medicine had worn off, and a sharp pain was beginning to flare in her knees again, but she figured she could manage a short distance.
She cast aside the cumbersome cloak and stepped down, taking care to keep her scars hidden.
Just then, a firm hand caught her shoulder.
“You intend to go out dressed like that?”
His gaze pinned her in place like a wedge.
Shrinking back, Thalia looked down to check her appearance.
The laces of her dress must have come undone while she slept; her thin shoulders and arms were fully exposed. That wasn’t all. The deep neckline had slumped low, revealing the curve of her cleavage.
Thalia flushed crimson and hurriedly pulled up the bodice of her dress.
Barkas watched her undignified struggle in silence before letting out a small sigh and draping his own overcoat over her shoulders. This time, Thalia did not refuse.
After he pulled the knot tight at her throat, he lifted her effortlessly and stepped outside.
She felt like a carefully wrapped doll.
No. It wasn’t anything that precious. He was merely showing pity to a cripple who couldn’t even walk properly.
Thalia deliberately twisted the knife in her own heart with those cruel thoughts. She felt it would hurt less later if she carved a hole in herself now, rather than letting him steal every last corner of her heart.
“My Lord, what should we do about the messenger from the East?”
As they reached the threshold, one of the men lined up near the entrance spoke.
Thalia stole a glance at him from within the folds of the cloak. The man, who had a bear-like build and piercing, eagle-like eyes, was also stealing glances at her.
“Must I give instructions for every little thing?” Barkas spoke coldly, pulling the cloak up to cover the top of Thalia’s head. “Find him suitable quarters and assign someone to attend to him. I will meet with him tomorrow at daybreak.”
Without waiting for the man’s reply, he strode into the building.
As he crossed the wide hall and climbed the stairs, Thalia tried to piece together the fragments of information she had gathered.
It seemed many were concerned that this marriage would sour the relationship between the Crown Prince and House Sieorkan. While Senevia was busy preparing for the wedding, Barkas must have been occupied cleaning up the aftermath.
He would have had to appease Gareth, who was likely trembling with a sense of betrayal, and explain to Marquis Oristein and the other conservative nobles that he hadn’t turned his back on them.
Despite those efforts, people still seemed unable to accept the sudden change of brides.
In a way, it was only natural. Even she was still half-convinced that this entire situation was some malicious practical joke.
“I will call for someone to attend to you,” Barkas said as he entered the room and set her down on a long velvet chair.
Thalia looked around the cozy bedroom before turning her gaze back to him.
Barkas was unbuttoning his formal doublet with one hand while pulling the cord by the bed to summon a servant. The sight made her stomach knot.
She cried out in a shrill voice, “I don’t need an attendant!”
Barkas looked back at her over his shoulder, his brow furrowing.
Thalia lowered her eyes to avoid his gaze. “Just call my Nanny.”
“It is late. I will bring her tomorrow at dawn, so please, bear with it for just today.”
She immediately shot him a fierce look. “I won’t let anyone but my Nanny touch me. You’re the one who took me away, so take responsibility and bring her here!”
A chilly light flickered in his blue eyes.
Thalia clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. He was a man who seemed to have a strictly measured amount of patience for each day. She feared he might simply walk out in disgust.
However, it seemed he still had some of today’s quota left. He walked to the door and stopped a servant.
“Go to the Annex Palace right now and bring the quarter-dwarf here.”
“Pardon? Right now, my Lord?”
“Yes. Send the fastest man we have.”
Barkas shut the door in the bewildered servant’s face and turned a sharp gaze toward her, as if asking if she was satisfied.
Thalia looked away.
Exhaling a long breath, Barkas picked up a gown from a shelf and handed it to her. “Wear that, at least, until someone arrives to assist you.”
Thalia snatched it and threw it over her dress, then made another demand in a clipped voice. “Now, get out. I want to be alone until my Nanny arrives.”
“This is my room as well.”
For a moment, her head spun, and her palms grew damp with cold sweat. She clutched the front of her gown tight and licked her dry lips.
“Th-then I’ll leave. Show me to another room.”
“Your Highness.” He placed a hand on her shoulder.
When she finally managed to look up, she saw his blue eyes shrouded in deep shadow.
“You are the one who agreed to this marriage.”
Her eyes widened as she stared up at his expressionless face. So, you’re staying here? With me?
Fear made her insides shrivel. She looked down at her aching knees.
She remembered the way Senevia had looked at her scars. Her mother’s dark eyes, filled with the look of someone seeing something repulsive, suddenly morphed into Barkas’s silver-blue eyes in her mind.
Before she could control herself, a jumble of words spilled out of her mouth.
“Then... then, I’ll just cancel it. How can I share a room with you? I only married you to... to make you miserable. You only married me because the Emperor ordered it. You don’t want to be with me either. So, let’s just act like none of this happened and—”
“Thalia.”
He knelt before her, cupping her cheeks in his hands and bringing his face close to hers.
Thalia met his eyes as if ensnared. Reflected in those beautiful eyes, flecked with silver shards, was her own pale face drenched in cold sweat. A voice that sounded like it was scraping against stone escaped his lips.
“I won’t do anything to you.”
“...”
“It is only for tonight. I have already bribed the priest, but I cannot silence every servant’s tongue. For the first night, at least, we must share the same bedroom.”
His calm demeanor caused her heart, which had been thumping uncomfortably, to find its rhythm again. Thalia bit her lip and nodded.
Once he was sure she had calmed down, Barkas slowly stood up. Thalia followed his movements with eyes that hadn’t quite shed their wariness.
He shed his damp overcoat and sat on a chair by the window in his thin shirt. His sturdy physique, usually so disciplined, slumped with exhaustion. A heavy sigh lingered in the room.
A short while later, servants arrived with a tray of wine and food.
Thalia mechanically forced a piece of bread into her stomach. Then, instead of her sleep herbs, she drank a glass of strong moonshine. As the alcohol took effect, her stiff muscles relaxed, and the pain began to dull.
She poured more into her golden goblet.
After she had emptied several more glasses, Barkas, who had been letting her be, finally took the bottle away.
“That is enough.”
Thalia bolted upright from her chair to reclaim the wine. But her legs, already weak, had turned to jelly under the influence of the alcohol.
She swayed like someone without bones. Barkas caught her limp body and laid her down properly on the bed.
Even in her half-delirious, drunken state, Thalia’s first instinct was to check the hem of her skirt.
Barkas looked down at her with shadowed eyes before pulling the duvet up over her shoulders. He then walked to the window and drew back the curtains.
The sunset, which had deepened from orange to purple, flooded over him. Watching his broad, solid shoulders turn a burning bronze in the light, Thalia blinked slowly.
Even amidst the fire-like rays of the sun, he looked so cold it made her shiver.