Chapter 76
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 76
Startled, she lifted her head and met a face frozen in a frigid expression. Barkas looked down at his younger brother with a sharp gaze, his voice low and heavy.
“You’ve grown quite ill-mannered.”
The boy’s youthful face twisted into a pout.
Barkas released the boy’s hand as if brushing off something foul and turned his gaze toward the middle-aged man standing beside the stairs.
“Is this how you have been conducting his etiquette lessons?”
“I have no excuse, Young Lord.”
The man, who possessed a stern, stubborn look, bowed his head deeply in apology.
Seeing this, the boy’s temper flared into a sudden outburst.
“If you have something to say, say it to me! Why are you taking it out on an innocent person?”
Barkas’s icy eyes immediately snapped back to him. The boy, who had been shouting so boldly just a moment ago, flinched and lowered his gaze.
“It’s not like she’ll wear away just from a look,” the boy grumbled. “You could at least let us see her face.”
At his muttering, Thalia’s brows shot up. She felt a surge of irritation at the way he spoke, as if she were some kind of rare animal on display.
“How dare you treat a person like a spectacle—!”
Just as she was about to snap back, long fingers blocked her vision. Barkas pulled her hood down tight, obscuring her eyes, and continued up the stairs.
Thalia was utterly flabbergasted. She couldn’t understand why he was trying so hard to keep her hidden. Was he intending to prevent any friction between her and his household?
She pushed the hood back and shot him a fierce look.
“What has gotten into you lately? You should at least introduce me!”
“You’ve been suffering from a fever throughout the entire journey,” he replied in a calm tone, striding across the wide, marble-floored hall. “First, recover your strength. I will introduce you as much as you like once you are well.”
“I’m perfectly—!”
She tried to retort, but a dry cough scraped up her throat. Thalia covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking. Her throat, parched from the fever, stung as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper.
He let out a small sigh.
“Don’t waste your energy needlessly. Just sleep.”
With that, he pulled the hood back over her head. Thalia glared at him with a scowl but soon let her head hang weakly.
As he said, her strength was depleted after suffering for several days. Inwardly, she felt a sense of relief at being able to postpone the uncomfortable encounter. However, unable to voice her true feelings honestly, she grumbled for no reason.
“You are seriously annoying.”
He didn’t offer a single word in response, silently climbing the stairs.
A man who appeared to be the head butler followed hurriedly, guiding them to a large bedroom located on the second floor of the main castle. A moment later, a spacious room, far more luxuriously decorated than her bedroom in the Annex Palace, unfolded before her eyes.
Thalia looked around, wide-eyed. A chandelier densely embedded with crystals hung from the high ceiling, and golden candlesticks were placed at regular intervals throughout the room. The walls were lined with furniture so magnificent they would not have been out of place as a tribute to the Emperor; at a glance, they seemed to be of Dwarven make.
In addition, tapestries with unique patterns, shields engraved with the Sieorkan crest, animal furs, and white porcelain decorated the space. As she was carefully examining them, Barkas walked to the large bed in the center of the room and carefully set her down.
“You will use this room from now on.”
Thalia instinctively grabbed his sleeve. “And you?”
Barkas, who had been reaching for the bell pull beside the bed to summon an attendant, paused and looked down at her. In an instant, heat rushed to her cheeks.
Thalia added hurriedly, “I don’t mean we should share a room…”
“Do not worry. I intend to use a separate bedroom,” he said calmly.
Thalia relaxed her shoulders in relief. She had been anxious the entire time, fearing the moment she would have to show him her legs.
He straightened his posture and continued in a composed tone. “This is the bedroom traditionally used by the mistress of House Sieorkan. It should be sufficient for Your Highness to stay in.”
“If I use this room, where does the current Grand Duchess stay?”
“For the past ten years, the position of the Grand Duchess of Sieorkan has been vacant.”
His blunt reply momentarily silenced her. His family history, which she had overheard while staying at the Imperial Palace, belatedly flashed through her mind.
Barkas’s biological mother had passed away shortly after giving birth to him due to childbed fever. The second Grand Duchess he took afterward had also passed away in an unfortunate accident, and it was said that the Grand Duke of Sieorkan’s health had deteriorated from the shock. In such a situation, it would have been difficult to welcome a new Grand Duchess.
She let out an awkward cough. “Ah, right. That’s true.”
“I will call a healer. Take some fever reducers and get some sleep.”
Perhaps concerned by her raspy voice, he poured a glass of water and handed it to her. As she took a sip, she heard a presence at the door. Turning her gaze, Thalia spotted a middle-aged woman with a dignified impression and tried to sit up.
Barkas pressed down on her shoulder to keep her still and turned to look at the woman. The woman, who had been casting a searching gaze toward Thalia, bowed politely.
“It has been a long time, Young Lord.”
It was a gentle voice that didn’t match her stiff impression. The woman continued softly, “His Excellency the Grand Duke has commanded that I bring the Young Lord to his room immediately.”
“Tell him I will be there shortly.”
Barkas replied calmly and then looked down at Thalia with a steady gaze. “Then, I shall take my leave.”
“Wait… shouldn’t I go with you?”
“Your Highness can visit him separately later. I will explain things well, so do not worry about it.”
And then, before she could catch him, he left the room.
Thalia stared blankly at the closed door before climbing down from the bed and staggering toward the window. Through the transparent glass, a panoramic view of Kalmor came into sight.
The city was surrounded by fortress walls, with large and small villages sprawling beyond it, and lush green meadows… As she slid the window open, a cool wind brushed harshly against her face.
She gazed at the plains meeting the blue sky, then turned her head upon hearing a strange, faint sound echoing from somewhere. At the edge of a hill, she saw a birch forest shining white. In that moment, a peculiar emotion—she couldn’t tell if it was excitement or fear—surged through her.
This is where I will live from now on.
She took a deep breath. The scent of the cold, dry wind that had been faintly lingering on Barkas’s body filled her lungs. In that moment, she knew she would come to love this land.
* * *
Lucas sat slumped in his chair, kicking the floor. His younger sister, Laina, who was a year younger than him, glared at him and shrieked.
“If I get treated like an uneducated brat because of you, you’re taking responsibility!”
“We are uneducated brats.”
A pillow stuffed with goose feathers flew at his face.
Laina had spent hours painstakingly braiding her thick hair with the sole intention of making a good impression on her older brother. She had even brought out her late mother’s jewelry and a silk Tunka to adorn herself. Yet, far from being able to strike up a conversation, she hadn’t received even a glance from him.
Laina poured all that resentment onto her brother, who was only a year older and an easy target.
“Brother Barkas was educated like royalty in the capital! He is a noble among nobles, well-versed in Imperial etiquette! How could you use commoner slang in front of someone like him?”
“Noble among nobles, my foot.” He sat up abruptly. “Didn’t you see earlier? He didn’t even greet the people who had been waiting days for his arrival; he just brushed past them. Is that Imperial etiquette?”
“That’s because you got on his nerves first!”
“What did I do that was so wrong!” Lucas jumped out of his chair, huffing. “I just wanted to check that woman’s face! You were curious about what kind of person she was, too.”
“I’m not curious about that woman’s face at all!”
Laina threw down the jade ornaments hanging around her neck, her reddish-brown eyes flashing sharply.
“Why would I want to see the face of that vulgar woman who tarnished Brother’s honor? No doubt she’s the same kind of person as her vulgar mother!”
“…You told me not to speak like an uneducated person.”
“I meant you should be careful in front of Brother Barkas!”
Laina’s eyes glittered as she roughly unraveled her tightly pulled-back hair. Having ridden horses every single day since she was six, Laina had tanned skin and long limbs; when she wasn’t dressed up, she looked exactly like a tall boy.
The sister threw off her long, heavily embroidered coat and sat cross-legged on the bed.
“Listen carefully. You must never treat that woman poorly in front of Brother. If you bully her openly like that, our naive brother will end up feeling pity for her! Conversely, we’ll just become the wicked younger siblings!”
“…Naive?” Lucas muttered, finding the description absurd.
Ignoring him, Laina continued her lengthy lecture.
“That’s why we have to torment her as discreetly as possible! If we just poke at her a little, she’ll go running to Brother to badmouth us. Then, she’ll become the wicked woman who slanders her kind and cute younger siblings, and we’ll be the ones who deserve pity!”