As he looked down at the woman with his chin straightened, a cold smirk spread across the corners of Barcas's lips.
A bitter taste lingered in his mouth as he recalled his wife threatening that she would leave with this woman if he sent her back to the imperial palace.
"Uh... Her Highness the Grand Duchess no longer needs me anyway, so..."
As the silence dragged on, the woman began to babble with a nervous expression.
Barcas interrupted the woman by standing up. She flinched. The woman, with her mouth shut, glanced at him.
Barcas turned his eyes away from that irritating look and gave instructions to the maids.
"Take this woman to the kitchen right now."
"Your Excellency, my request is..."
"If Thalia learns to eat on her own, I will send you back to the Imperial Palace."
A flush of color instantly spread across the woman's dark complexion. Barcas added, as if splashing cold water on her face.
"However, if she refuses even the food you made, you will be kicked out of this castle naked."
As a flush of color appeared, her face instantly turned pale.
He walked past the woman who was about to protest and left the drawing room. Then, as he crossed the hall and was about to go back up the stairs, he heard an urgent voice from behind him.
"Your Excellency!"
Barcas turned his head and frowned when he saw Rugen entering the annex building.
A man who had crossed the hall in a single stride asked about his wife's well-being.
"How is Her Highness the Grand Duchess? Still..."
"What brings you here?"
Barcas cut the man off with a weary face.
The knight, glancing up the stairs, immediately got to the point.
"The meeting has concluded. Here is the list of candidates for the new lordships to be appointed to the northeastern region, including Tarlin. If you approve, we will proceed with the appointment procedures immediately."
Rugen held out a bundle of parchment tucked under his arm and spoke. As he unfolded it and quickly scanned through it, the man cautiously added.
"And Lord Darren sent a messenger. It seems he instructed me to assess the situation to see when Your Excellency might be able to return."
Barcas took his eyes off the document and looked down at the man.
He swallowed hard and asked.
"What should I say to the messenger?"
"Tell them I will return after the season of rest has passed."
Barcas folded the parchment and pushed it into the Bunka, then answered in a calm tone.
Rugen wore a surprised expression. He seemed not to have anticipated that he intended to stay in Kalmor for such a long time.
Barcas turned his back and went up the stairs without giving the man a chance to ask a question.
As he stepped back into the bedroom, he saw his wife fast asleep, intoxicated by the medicine. Barcas stared for a long time at the woman, who was breathing heavily with her long eyelashes lowered, before walking over to the table, pulling out a chair, and sitting down.
A hazy sky stretched out outside the window. It occurred to him that it might snow tonight.
Thalia barely regained consciousness just as the sun was setting. He immediately called a maid and had her bring food.
Shortly after, the table was piled high with egg soup, cakes made with various preserved fruits, and steamed quail. Barcas, who had been examining them closely, nodded to the maids.
"The meal is ready, so everyone go out."
"Then, please feel free to call me anytime if you need anything."
As the two maids went outside, he placed an appropriate amount of food on a tray and approached the side of the bed.
“Please eat.”
As he placed the tray on the bed, the woman, looking out the window, barely turned her head toward him.
Deep disgust was seeping into her eyes. Ignoring it, he forced a spoon into her mouth, and a weary voice was heard.
"Just how long do you plan to keep repeating this meaningless nonsense?"
"That is what I wanted to ask."
Barcas, sitting on the edge of the bed, replied indifferently.
"How long do you intend to keep this tedious squabble going?"
Her eyes, as dark and deep as the ocean, glared at him.
Barcas held out a bowl of egg porridge in front of her, unconcerned.
As Thalia looked down at it inadvertently, a strange glint briefly flickered in her eyes. She seemed to have noticed that it was different from the food usually served.
As he examines the contents of the bowl with his narrowed eyes, the woman shifts her gaze back toward him and looks at him.
"Who made this?"
"This is food prepared by Your Highness's nanny."
Barcas answered calmly.
"I had it prepared, thinking that Your Highness might enjoy it if she made it."
No sooner had he finished speaking than she threw the bowl.
With the sharp sound of glass shattering, a thick liquid was scattered messily on the carpet.
"You forced her to make this anyway. Did you really think I would happily eat that kind of crap if you just handed it to me?"
The woman trembled her gaunt shoulders and twisted her mouth. She seemed to be trying to mock him, but the tears welling up in her eyes made her look only pitiful.
She continued to sneer in a cracked voice.
"That woman means nothing to me anymore. I was just as sick and tired of her as I am of you, so I kicked her out a long time ago! So please, just get lost!"
“Your Highness, if you do not eat that food, at least that woman will disappear from your life forever.”
As she panted, the woman flinched and stiffened.
"What does that mean?"
"Is not that woman the Empress's person? If she is of no use to Your Highness, there is no reason to keep her in my castle."
"Does that mean... you're going to send the nanny back to the capital?"
Barcas's wrath turned coldly.
"Why would I go to such trouble? I would not stop the Empress if she insisted on sending someone herself to take her away, but I have absolutely no intention of wasting my soldiers for that woman."
A faint fear flickered across her strangely beautiful face. It was the first display of emotional turmoil she had shown since losing that wolf.
Seeing the woman, who always looked hollow like an empty shell except when bursting with anger, fidgeting nervously, Barcas felt his insides twist for some reason. Trying hard not to let that emotion show, he added in a dry, emotionless tone.
"If I'm lucky, she might be able to find some menial work somewhere in Kalmor. Of course, the chances of dying on the roadside are much higher."
"...Are you threatening me right now?
"What threat?"
Barcas leaned his head forward toward her and curled the corners of his mouth.
"You said that woman means nothing to you, right? So how can saying I will kick her out be a threat?"
She bit her chapped lips.
Barcas, who had been watching the scene with a cold gaze, soon rose from his seat and walked to the door.
Just as he was about to step outside, a trembling voice came from behind him.
“I’ll eat”
As he turned around with the doorknob, a pale face stained with a sense of defeat caught his eye.
She spoke as if she were chewing on something new.
"I'll eat it, so just leave me alone."
Barcas, who had been standing motionless for a while, walked back to the table.
As he scooped the food laid out there into an extra bowl and placed it beside the bed, she picked up the bowl of porridge with hands trembling from suppressing her anger. Then, with an expression as if she were swallowing filth, she began to spoon the food down little by little.
Finally, as all the food he had set aside disappeared, she lifted her pale face, drenched in sweat, and glared at him.
“Are you satisfied now?”
He silently wiped away the empty bowl.
Thalia, who had been glaring at him with trembling eyes, snapped through her teeth.
"I did exactly what you wanted! Now get out of this room."
"I stayed a few more hours, just in case you forced yourself to throw up."
That answer seemed to completely shatter her last shred of reason. She began throwing whatever she could get her hands on at him.
"Get out! I said, " Get out! I did everything you wanted! So why are you still hanging around!"
Barcas tilted his head back slightly to avoid the flying glasses, rushed to the side of the bed, and grabbed her wrist. He was worried that she might thrash around violently and faint again, unable to control her rage.
He sat on a chair with the woman, who was on the verge of a seizure, tightly bound in his arms.
Thalia began to scream and struggle even more violently.
"No...! Don't touch me...! Just the mere touch of you gives me goosebumps!"
Comments
Post a Comment