The strong scent of water mixed with the sharp fragrance of mint flooded her lungs.
Talia looked up at him with trembling eyes. Varkas lowered his head toward her and spoke softly beside her ear.
“If Your Highness makes such a commotion, then there is no point in us sharing a room.”
The admonishing tone brought her back to her senses at once. Slapping his hand away, she hastily retreated backward.
As the distance widened, his smooth body gleaming like carved marble came fully into view.
Talia immediately lowered her gaze.
“Put some clothes on! Have you no shame?”
She rebuked him in a hushed voice, and a faint crease appeared between his brows.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Varkas straightened up and replied dryly,
“That is hardly something for someone who used to wander around the Imperial Palace half-naked to say.”
“When did I ever—!”
Talia raised her head indignantly, only to fall silent when she saw him pulling on a fresh shirt. Sliding his arms into the sleeves, Varkas threw out a remark laden with meaning.
“Ever since you were approaching your coming-of-age ceremony, you began imitating the Empress in your own clumsy fashion.”
Talia's face twisted in humiliation.
The memory of those days, when she had desperately struggled to attract even a fragment of his attention, came rushing back, and with it rose an overwhelming sense of misery.
Snatching up the pillow beside her, she struck his back with all her strength.
“Now that I'm no longer in any condition to even dream of wearing those clothes, you must be absolutely delighted!”
Varkas, fastening the buttons of his shirt, turned toward her with icy eyes.
Still huffing angrily, Talia stiffened.
Ever since the accident, Varkas had silently endured all of her irritability. But it seemed even his patience was beginning to wear thin.
After staring at her mercilessly, the man climbed onto the bed.
Almost instinctively, Talia rolled away toward the opposite side. She tried to escape, but a firm arm wrapped around her waist.
In an instant, she was forced back down.
Talia stared up at him with rigid eyes.
Whenever she lost control and lashed out, he was the kind of man who would firmly subdue her by force if necessary. Though his somewhat rough treatment was not unfamiliar, her heart still sank.
Varkas brought his face close and said threateningly,
“You should start correcting that habit of yours.”
Talia looked up at him with frightened eyes.
His expressionless gaze fell upon her lips, sore from all the biting. He added slowly,
“And that habit of hurting yourself.”
Her faltering heart began to pound as though it might explode.
Whether it was fear or some other emotion, she couldn't tell.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“M-Move away.”
“......”
“D-Don't you hear me?”
Varkas did not budge.
Under his persistent gaze, her lips became unbearably dry.
She tucked her scabbed lips into her mouth. Watching the motion with narrowed eyes, Varkas finally released her wrist.
But before she could make use of her freedom, he seized her chin.
Talia inhaled sharply.
The callused fingers forcibly drew out her curled-in lips. Damp fingertips brushed over the swollen flesh.
“Stop tormenting your lips.”
Talia stared at him, her eyes filled with anxiety and confusion.
If anyone else had touched her that way, she would have taken it as a gesture of desire. Back when she had frequented Senevier's banquet halls, she had seen countless men desperate to lay their hands on her body.
But his indifferent face, devoid of even the slightest trace of lust, clouded her judgment.
To her, the contact felt as though it were squeezing her heart.
To him, it seemed to mean absolutely nothing.
Talia exhaled a suppressed breath.
“I-I understand... just go away.”