Barcas looked down at the figure with clenched teeth and shouted loudly toward the door.
“Bring the food now!”
The maids who had been peeking into the hallway hurriedly ran down the stairs.
Not long after, they cautiously entered the room, carrying a tray filled with various dishes.
Barcas forcibly sat the limp woman up and supported her upper body with a pillow behind her back. Then he picked up a bowl of white porridge from the tray and placed it in her hand.
"Stop acting like an immature child and hurry up and eat."
The unfocused eyes went down toward the bowl.
When she showed no reaction, Barcas, growing anxious, added threateningly.
"If you don't eat by yourself, I'll force-feed you."
However, Thalia remained limp and motionless like a doll with its strings cut.
Eventually, Barcas lost his patience, snatched the spoon, and scooped up some porridge. As he brought it to her mouth, the woman turned her head to the side as if annoyed.
He grabbed the face as if snatching it and forcibly opened the jaw. Only when he tried to shove the porridge inside did a strong reaction finally come back.
"No!"
The woman, screaming angrily, roughly pushed his arm away.
The man who was being unreasonable, roughly pushed his arm away.
The spoon, flung away by the unexpected violent resistance, rolled onto the floor. The bowl of porridge, pushed by her struggle, also lay face down on the sheet, vomiting up its contents.
Barcas, who had been looking down at it with a hardened gaze, immediately picked up another bowl.
Inside the small ceramic container was a fermented goat's milk drink that she enjoyed as a dessert. He thrust it toward her mouth and spoke in a commanding tone.
“Eat.”
She turned to the side with her mouth tightly shut.
He forcibly grabbed her as she tried to escape and pinned her against the headboard of the bed, then pressed her cheek with his other hand to force her mouth open. He poured the drink into the gap little by little, but Thalia did not swallow it.
The liquid that could not go down the throat flowed down, wetting the mouth and chin.
In an instant, flames shot up inside.
Barcas stuffed everything remaining in the bowl into his mouth. Then, holding firmly the body that was struggling to break free, he pressed his lips against her.
Only then did a flame of anger flash from inside the empty pupils.
He wondered where such strength remained in the body of a woman who had starved for days, as the woman's slender hands haphazardly scratched his chest and the nape of his neck.
He paid no heed and thrust his tongue deep into her mouth. A suppressed moan escaped through her forcibly opened throat.
Ignoring his distress, the woman, who had veins bulging in her neck as he forced her to swallow what he was holding in his mouth, bit his tongue.
Thanks to holding onto her jaw, Barcasmuttere didn't get seriously injured, but he could taste the strong flavor of blood in his mouth.
Eventually, Barcas lifted his head. Seizing the opportunity, the woman turned to the opposite side and crawled to the edge of the bed. He snatched the woman's shoulder as she tried to escape and pinned her back down onto the sheets.
She gasped for breath and glared at him through her disheveled hair.
Before she knew it, her face was drenched in sweat.
Her lips and chin were stained with blood and a pale liquid that he had forcibly poured in, and a sticky drink had clumped white on her chest as it rose and fell rapidly. She looked just like a monstrous creature that devours humans alive.
Looking down at her with shimmering eyes, Barcas asked in a heavily suppressed voice.
"Tell me, what do I have to do to get you to eat?"
Suddenly, a dry, breathy sound escaped from between her chapped lips. It took some time to realize that it was laughter.
The woman, her limbs hanging limply as if she had completely exhausted all her strength from the previous struggle, let out a faint breath mixed with a rustling sound.
"You talk as if you'll definitely listen to me..."
"..."
"I will never be fooled again."
The light faded once again from the eyes that had been shining brightly.
The woman, staring into the void with eyes like an abyss, lowered her damp eyelashes and muttered.
"Just leave me alone."
His heart twitched slightly at the sight of her, looking as if she had given up on everything.
Barcas immediately slipped his arm behind her neck and sat her back up. He was determined to make her eat, no matter what she said.
Barcas grabbed the woman's cheeks with both hands and forced her to look at him. However, the woman kept her eyes closed and did not budge. It was only after a few seconds that he realized she had completely collapsed from exhaustion and lost consciousness. He shouted roughly toward the door.
"Bring a priest here immediately!"
As soon as the order was given, hurried footsteps rang out.
Barcas lifted her up in one arm and cleaned up the messy duvet and sheets. Seeing this, the maid quickly took out new sheets and spread them on the bed.
Barcas lay her back down on top of him, picked up a wet towel from a basin on the shelf, and wiped her face. Even then, Thalia remained limp like a corpse and did not regain consciousness.
She opened her eyes again after a priest, who had rushed over, led by the maids, cast a healing spell on her.
"Replenishing your strength with healing magic is merely a temporary measure. If you do not consume sufficient amounts of water and food, your body will gradually weaken."
The priest spoke to her in a stern tone.
Thalia said nothing, keeping her gaze fixed on the window. The priest, looking embarrassed, cleared his throat softly and glanced at her.
Barcas gestured with his chin for him to leave. The priest packed his bags without delay and left the room.
As even the maids left, Barcas once again pushed a plate containing pickled fruit and the like onto a tray in front of her.
“Eat.”
The woman turned to look at him with a disgusted expression.
Barcas picked up a piece of pear pickled in the tray without blinking an eye and brought it to her mouth.
"If you want to go through that struggle again, go ahead and hold out as long as you want. Whether you thrash around or faint, I intend to repeat this behavior over and over until you eat properly."
The woman, who had been staring at him with a relaxed gaze, finally opened her mouth. A terrible sense of relief washed over me, and for a moment, the strength in my fingertips almost gave way.
He tightened his spasming fingers and hurriedly shoved a piece of fruit between her lips.
The woman, who had been chewing it a few times with it in her mouth, suddenly spat out what she was holding onto the sheet carelessly.
Barcas's face hardened coldly once again.
The woman gave him a mocking smile.
"The more you try so hard, the less I want to eat it."
He clenched his fist tightly. He could feel his fingernails digging into the skin of his palm.
The woman added in a hoarse voice, as if to provoke him, who was barely holding back.
"Go ahead and try to shove it all in, I'll spit it all out."
Then, she let out a dazed giggle. That empty, dry sound instantly scattered his reason.
Barcas grabbed the fresh fruit from the plate as if snatching it, just as she had provoked him. As he forcibly shoved it into her mouth, the woman bit his finger tightly.
He could see blood seeping from the skin where tiny teeth were embedded, but he did not care. A near-mad obsession consumed him in an instant.
“Hurry up and swallow it.”
She glared at him while biting his finger tightly.
Barcas spoke, grinding his teeth as he gasped for breath at that fierce face.
"Are you saying you would starve to death just because of a single wolf cub?"
As if those words had acted as a fuse, she had a seizure.
Barcas, who had been tightening his grip on the woman struggling like a trapped beast, discovered a bruise on her skin, gritted a curse under his breath, and let go of his hand.
At the same time, one cheek caught fire. He glared at her with eyes as cold as ice. The woman who had struck his face was clutching her chest and gasping for breath.
"What do you know? Khan was my everything. Because of Khan, I barely... barely managed to stop feeling pain... and started wanting to live..."
Hot tears soaked her face.
As she hunched her back and trembled, the woman soon rushed toward him.
"You took that away from me! I begged so much, I begged you to spare his life!"
A scream bordering on a shriek burst out as if the voice had reached its breaking point.
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