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As she snapped, the maids standing by showed looks of displeasure.
But Varkas didn't even blink.
Varkas slid his fingers along her temple and gently caressed her stinging earlobe.
Thalia looked up at him, flustered.
“What… what are you doing?”
“Even your ears have turned red.”
His slightly rough fingertips gently traced the shell of her ear.
Thalia felt a tingling sensation run down her neck and her shoulders shrank.
Varkas gazed into her eyes and spoke reproachfully.
“Are you receiving proper treatment? Or is it just the sleeping herb again…?”
“Are you my Nanny or something?”
Thalia pushed him away rather roughly.
A moment ago, she had been admiring his splendid attire, but now, his attitude of treating her like a gravely ill patient made her feel miserable all over again.
“I'm managing just fine on my own, so stay out of it. You've been doing a great job of that so far, haven't you?”
At her jab that he hadn't shown his face for the past few days, his eyes narrowed.
Just as he was about to say something, a grim voice echoed from within the room.
“How long do you intend to keep me waiting, Varkas?”
Thalia turned her head to look at the large bed in the center of the room.
From the wooden bed, draped with a thin canopy, a gaunt arm stretched out.
The man beckoned arrogantly with his finger and issued a command.
“Bring your wife to me.”
Thalia's eyes narrowed.
Even a Grand Duke had no right to summon an Imperial Princess with a mere flick of his finger.
However, she knew there was nothing to be gained by confronting the leader of the East in a room full of its most powerful men.
She glanced at the men surrounding the bed before cautiously stepping into the room.
Varkas naturally wrapped an arm around her waist.
Realizing he was supporting her, Thalia bit her lip.
Does this man see me as a child who needs to be cared for?
He had touched her without hesitation before, but it seemed to have gotten particularly worse since the wyvern attack.
“This way, please.”
Thalia, practically held in his arms, approached the large bed.
A solemn-faced man who appeared to be a legal representative and another man in priestly robes quietly stepped aside.
With a tense expression, Thalia studied the Grand Duke of Searkan.
The man seemed to bear no resemblance to Varkas, and yet, there was a strange similarity.
The stench of death emanated from his sickly body, but his face, as if carved with a rough chisel, overflowed with authority, and his cold eyes, like molten steel, were filled with arrogance.
He raked his sharp gaze over her from head to toe and let out a low, heavy voice.
“…An unsettling resemblance. Did that woman create a homunculus of herself?”
His words were tantamount to questioning her lineage.
Thalia threw all thoughts of courtesy to the wind.
“If I weren't of Darian's bloodline, people like you would have exposed that fact long ago.”
She shot back sharply, her chin held high.
“Or are you confessing your own incompetence, unable to best a single princess from House Taren?”
As if startled by her counterattack, sharp intakes of breath could be heard from around the room.
The Grand Duke's face stiffened.
He glared at her, his gaze like an awl boring into her face.
“You're fearless. Do you not know that I am the man who commands the most powerful cavalry in this empire?”
Thalia's face hardened.
For a moment, her knees felt weak under the Grand Duke's oppressive aura.
But she put on a brave front.
“So what are you going to do? Trample me with that cavalry of yours?”
“You think I wouldn't?”
The man spat, as if sneering.
“Do you believe your authority, which was negligible even in the Imperial Palace, will be guaranteed here in the East?”
The Grand Duke's eyes flashed with a ghastly light, full of hostility.
He barraged her with words.
“If I decide to take your head right here and now, who could stop me? Would the Emperor truly risk fracturing the empire for your sake? He would rather turn a blind eye than go to war with the East. Your mother might cause a bit of a nuisance, but it wouldn't result in me standing trial. Your authority as a princess is just that trivial.”
Thalia felt a cold sweat drenching her back.
A fierce hostility surged toward the man who so casually laid bare the truth she had long tried to deny.
She took a step back like a cornered beast, yet her venomous glare remained fixed on the Grand Duke.
“Then go on, kill me! My mother won't stop at just being a ‘bit of a nuisance.’ She could use my death as a pretext to corner the conservative nobles; do you think she'd just let that opportunity pass? Absolutely not.”
Thalia let out a loud snort.
“Do you know what that means? It means the pittance of a life you have left is going to become very, very tiresome. Do you think you'll find peace after you die? For killing a powerless woman over a few mere words, you'll be cast into the fires of hell.”
The Grand Duke's face went white at her excessive tirade.
Thalia continued to unleash her words at him, not giving him a moment to breathe.
“Do you think your suffering will end there? You're going to have an especially agonizing time in hell. Because I won't leave you alone for a single moment! I'll torment you day and night to get my revenge, even in hell. I have a very special talent in that regard. If you don't believe me, just ask Varkas!”
She shot a look at Varkas, expecting him to chime in, but he was looking down at her with a very strange expression.
When he didn't immediately take her side, Thalia's face twisted with a sense of betrayal.
Of course, I can't trust anyone. This place is nothing but a den of enemies.
Glancing warily at the men with swords at their waists, Thalia turned to leave.
Just as she was about to flee, Varkas snatched her by the forearm.
Thalia jumped.
“Let go of me!”
Fearing he was about to hand her over to the Grand Duke, she thrashed her arms and legs, but Varkas let out a heavy sigh and pulled her against his chest.
Thalia held her breath.
Holding her firmly in place, Varkas spoke coldly to the Grand Duke.
“I must make one correction. If Your Grace attempts to harm Thalia Loem Searkan, I will be the one to stop you.”
Thalia looked up at him, her expression one of surprise.
He slowly finished his thought.
“Will you lose your heir forever over a petty squabble?”
The Grand Duke, who had been gaping in astonishment, twisted his face into a menacing scowl.
He looked as if he might breathe fire at any moment.
But what erupted from his mouth was not a harsh roar, but a violent coughing fit.
The gaunt man's body shook as he coughed, and then he gasped for breath and let out a dry laugh.
“How utterly absurd.”
“…”
“Are you being so insolent because you think I have no alternative but you?”
“If you have another alternative, you are welcome to put him forward.”
Varkas said in a chillingly smooth tone.
“I intend to do my utmost to assert my rights. If you wish for the East to be torn apart by conflict, then so be it.”
The deep lines around the Grand Duke's mouth twitched.
After glaring at his eldest son with blazing eyes, the man leaned his head back against the headboard as if exhausted.
Then, he held out a hand toward the legal representative.
“Give me the letter of attorney.”
The representative, who had been frozen in place, held out the parchment document with trembling hands.
After taking a quill and scrawling his signature in a rough hand, the Grand Duke removed the ring from his finger.
The legal representative immediately poured sealing wax at the bottom of the document.
The Grand Duke pressed his signet into it, then tossed the parchment to Varkas as if throwing it away.
“With this, all my authority is transferred to Varkas Laedgo Ciorkan.”
Varkas accepted the letter of attorney with a blank expression.
The man lowered his eyelids as if their business was concluded and waved his hand dismissively.
“Now, get the hell out.”
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