“Are you not going to speak to him?”
The maids standing beside her urged her on, seemingly frustrated that she was only watching from afar. All of them appeared desperate to see Varkas up close. Among them were even a few whose yearning gazes went far beyond simple admiration.
Aila chose to overlook their presumptuous feelings.
It was a luxury she could afford because she knew Varkas would never cast his eyes upon another woman.
‘Though, to be fair, he has never once looked at me with passion either...’
A bitter smile touched her lips.
To begin with, Varkas lacked the ability to feel such emotions.
He had entered the imperial palace at a young age and undergone education from fanatical fundamentalist priests that bordered on brainwashing, all to shape him into a loyal servant of the Empire.
And somewhere during that process, he had lost almost all of his emotions.
Her mother had struggled desperately to protect him after discovering how cruelly the son of the Grand Duke of Siorcan was being disciplined by the priests, but by then the young boy had already lost not only joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, but even most of the basic desires inherent to human beings.
As Aila recalled the first time she met him, her expression darkened.
How frightening that boy with eyes as empty as an insect’s discarded shell had been.
Varkas had looked like a doll molded from hardened wax. He spoke so little that hearing more than two sentences from him in a single day was rare, and unless someone instructed him directly, he neither ate nor slept. Having spent so long with every desire ruthlessly suppressed, he seemed to have lost not only his appetite but even the instinct to sleep.
Compared to those days, the current Varkas almost appeared human.
‘Perhaps... he’ll continue to improve with time.’
She gazed hopefully at her fiancé.
She had sworn countless times not to expect too much, yet whenever she looked at him, there was no stopping the faint stirring deep within her chest.
That beautiful boy who had faithfully remained beside her poor mother until the very end...
How could she possibly resist yearning for the man who had now grown into the most perfect gentleman in the entire Roem Empire?
Aila knew that countless women who had carried him in their hearts had suffered the agony of bitter heartbreak, yet she believed she stood in a far more advantageous position than any of them.
Though their engagement had been arranged to strengthen a political alliance, she would soon become his wife, and one day she would bear his heir.
If she patiently devoted her affection to him throughout the long years they would spend together, perhaps even his frozen heart might eventually thaw.
Holding tightly to that fragile hope, Aila carefully approached him.
Perhaps sensing her presence, Varkas, who had been standing with the sunlight at his back, turned his head toward her.
At that instant, Aila felt her spine go cold.
His expression looked as though it were mocking every one of her dreams and hopes.
The man stared at her with emotionless eyes before facing forward again and speaking in a flat voice devoid of any inflection.
“What brings Your Highness here?”
Steadying her shaken emotions, she deliberately curved her lips into a bright smile.
“I came to see whether preparations for the journey were going smoothly.”
“They are nearly complete.”
He answered indifferently while lightly stroking the thick neck of the horse beside him.
“The preparations have taken longer than expected, which is concerning. With the weather growing hotter, it will be an exhausting journey.”
“It can’t be helped. Gareth insisted on being difficult and disrupted the schedule.”
Aila spoke cautiously before glancing at her fiancé to gauge his reaction. Thinking of her younger brother’s childish behavior made her too embarrassed to lift her head properly.
Not only had Gareth forced his way into the trip, he had behaved as though he intended to drag the entire Crown Prince’s Palace along with him. He insisted on bringing dozens of servants to attend to him, jesters to ease his boredom during the journey, a personal chef, and even a tailor.
Aila found herself admiring Varkas’s patience all over again for silently tolerating every unreasonable demand and tantrum without once raising his voice.
She looked apologetic.
“I only feel sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
“This is not something Your Highness needs to apologize for. It was inevitable eventually.”
After handing the reins over to a stable hand, he added casually,
“Compared to what I had prepared myself for, His Highness is being relatively restrained. Considering he is sending off his precious sister, this level of spitefulness is fairly mild.”
Aila’s expression dimmed.
His words dragged to the surface the worries she had tried so hard to ignore.
Looking up at the magnificent white fortress gleaming beneath the sun, Aila tightly clenched the fabric of her dress.
The thought of leaving her younger brother alone behind in this imperial palace filled with painful memories made it feel as though her heart were being torn apart.
And worse still, did not a wicked demon reside within these walls, coveting Gareth’s position?
Could her hot-tempered younger brother truly stand against that cunning woman on his own?
“If it would not burden you too greatly, I would like to visit the imperial palace regularly even after we are married. Would that be acceptable?”
Varkas, who had been examining another horse, turned his eyes toward her. Seeing the faint crease appear between his brows, Aila realized she had made a childish request and flushed with embarrassment.