Varkas's pupils expanded greatly, and the silver-gray specks scattered across his blue irises trembled violently. But that trace of agitation lasted only an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Varkas's face returned to an icy expression. His eyes flickering a cold blue, he stared at her. Then his dry voice, tinged with a hollow laugh, split the silence.
“Do you even understand what you're saying right now?”
“Do you take me for an idiot?”
Talia forced an arrogant expression despite the tension making her knees weak. She absolutely, absolutely did not want to look like she was begging.
“It means I want to sleep with you.”
“......”
“Why? Do I need to say it even more directly?”
As she raised her chin and looked at him challengingly, the mocking smile lingering around his lips disappeared.
Unfolding his arms, he slowly approached her.
“You want to sleep with me?”
The heavy bass voice falling from above sent a chill down her spine.
Talia forcibly straightened the neck that instinctively wanted to shrink back. Varkas looked down at her motionlessly before grabbing her chin and pressing his thumb firmly against her lower lip.
“So that's why you came looking like this?”
She felt the sticky dye smearing around her mouth. Blushing, Talia fiercely slapped his hand away. A faint sneer appeared on Varkas's face.
“You panic over nothing more than this much contact, yet what exactly do you think you're going to do?”
“That's because you always touch me out of nowhere...!”
Talia retorted with a flustered expression before tightly shutting her mouth.
She could not let herself be swept away by this man.
“Why do you talk so much? I said I'd do it!”
The corner of Varkas's mouth twisted slightly.
“If you say so, am I supposed to obey unconditionally?”
His response was sharper than she had expected, and heat rose to the back of her neck.
Swallowing her humiliation, she glared at him fiercely.
“Yes.”
“......”
“You have to do as I demand.”
His clear, open eyes narrowed. Rather than displeasure, it was closer to disbelief.
Talia put strength into her stiff legs and stood up. Then she walked right up to him and provocatively lifted her chin.
“You're the head of House Siorcan now, and you have a duty to leave behind an heir. This is something a married man is naturally supposed to do.”
“I don't know when Your Highness suddenly became so devoted to responsibility.”
A bitter sneer brushed across his lips.
“So what you're saying is that you'll sacrifice your body for my sake and for my family. Is that it?”
Talia looked up at him with a rigid face.
She had expected him to show reluctance, but she had never imagined he would mock her so openly. Hadn't this man, after their marriage, treated her with a gentleness that was almost bewildering? Perhaps sleeping with her disgusted him that much.
Swallowing her humiliation, Talia coldly shot back.
“How much longer do you think we can maintain this formal relationship? It won't take long before people discover that we aren't a proper married couple, and I'll become an even bigger laughingstock than I already am. If we fail to produce an heir for too long, your vassals won't remain silent either.”
Firing the words off rapidly, Talia let out a sharp laugh.
“Or is that what you're hoping for?”
Varkas's elegant jawline visibly stiffened.
Ignoring the warning in his eyes, Talia continued mockingly.
“If we endure like this for a few years, everyone will start urging you to dissolve our marriage and bring in a new Grand Duchess. Even His Majesty the Emperor will probably pretend he can't help it and grant a divorce. Were you perhaps planning to remarry Aila afterward, and that's why you interfered with my sister's marriage—”
“That's enough.”
His sharply honed voice scraped harshly against her forehead. Leaning close to her, the man spat out threateningly,
“There's a limit to how much I'll quietly tolerate.”
Talia knew she was stepping beyond a line she should never cross.
But she could not retreat.
Driving her gaze into his face like needles, she raised her voice.
“If that's not it, then do as I ask! You don't have free will anyway, do you? You're just a puppet that moves according to duty.”
“And aren't you the Empress's puppet?”