The instant he did, the woman, who had only just begun relaxing, struggled violently as though struck by lightning.
His brows drew together as he tightly locked an arm around her slender waist.
A shrill cry burst from her lips.
“That hurts!”
As though burned, he immediately released her.
She seized the opportunity without hesitation.
Leaping off the bed, she staggered toward the door, wrapped from head to toe in the blanket.
Watching her with a dark expression, Varkas quickly caught up to her.
“Why are you so determined to return to your room?”
“I... I don't want to stay here. My room is where I'm comfortable.”
Her voice was filled with unmistakable fear.
The moment he realized it, it felt as though cold water had been poured over his head.
She was a woman who harbored a deep aversion toward sexual intimacy.
Perhaps his forceful behavior had touched upon one of her nightmares.
“Have I made you uncomfortable?”
His voice came out tightly restrained.
A complicated emotion crossed her face.
Lowering her head, she answered quietly,
“You didn't do anything wrong. It's just... I'm more comfortable doing things my way.”
“Your way means running away like a frightened rabbit after we're finished?”
He had no desire to corner a woman who already seemed so fragile.
Even so, his voice sharpened on its own.
Fortunately, instead of shrinking back, she raised her thorns in defiance.
“Who says I'm frightened? I just prefer whatever's more efficient.”
In the bluish darkness, the arrogant Imperial Princess proudly lifted her chin.
“I'll stay only as long as I want, and leave when I want. While we're doing that, you can have things your way. But afterward, it'll be my way!”
Crossing his arms over his chest, he regarded her with a crooked glance.
Seeing her shoulders trembling even as she tried to bluff her way through it, a cruel impulse briefly surged within him.
He could do whatever he wished with her.
He could force her back onto the bed.
He could sate every desire he possessed.
But if he yielded to that barbaric impulse, he also knew he would wound her so deeply that it could never be undone.
He slowly closed his eyes before opening them again.
Those blue eyes that had provoked him relentlessly ever since childhood glittered in the darkness like shattered pieces of glass.
Meeting them directly, he asked,
“Is that truly what you want?”
Something like hesitation crossed her pale face.
But she stubbornly thrust out her chin.
“Yes.”
Silently looking down at her, Varkas twisted one corner of his mouth.
“Then I suppose all I can do is wait until the day you want to remain in my bedroom a little longer.”
The answer was so unexpected that confusion filled her eyes.
“That day will never come.”
“We'll see.”
Replying calmly, Varkas reached beneath the bed, grabbed his trousers, and quickly pulled them on.
He then draped the Tunka hanging on the wall over his shoulders before lifting her up, blanket and all.
She let out a startled cry.
“S-Stop! I can walk on my own!”
Ignoring her protests, he stepped into the brightly lit corridor.
She immediately buried her face beneath the blanket.
The sight of her hiding inside it like a caterpillar tucked into its cocoon drew a quiet chuckle from him as he strode down the hallway.
He caught glimpses of servants staring at them in astonishment as they passed, but paid them no mind.
Arriving directly before her chambers, Varkas supported her back with one arm while twisting the doorknob.
The moment they entered the room, she cautiously peeked her face out again.
The sight of her reddened, tear-bright eyes and her disheveled golden hair tightened his throat with a fierce thirst.
Suppressing the urge to kiss her at once, he gently laid her on the bed before kneeling in front of her.
“When do you think you'll want to come to my chambers again?”
“How should I know?”
“Tomorrow?”
“I said I don't know!”
His brows knitted together.
If she wouldn't come, then he could simply go to her.
Yet he wasn't certain he should pressure her that way.
She wanted to choose for herself.
If that was the only way this unbelievably timid woman could feel safe, then he had no choice but to accept it.
He carefully wound a lock of her hair, gleaming like strands of golden glass, around his fingers and gently stroked it.
“I'll wait.”
The light danced across her blue irises.
Gazing quietly into those dark pupils trembling so violently, he slowly added,
“Come to me when you want to.”