Talia could only move her lips soundlessly, unable to come up with an excuse.
She wanted to put on her usual shameless façade, but she had already reached her limit, both physically and mentally. Her mind refused to work properly.
She quickly pulled down her hood to hide the turmoil written across her face. Then she tried to brush past the brother blocking the entrance, but Gareth swiftly grabbed her wrist.
“I asked why you were searching through Varkas’s tent.”
“Let go!”
She violently twisted her arm, but Gareth’s grip clung to her like glue.
He yanked her toward him roughly and growled like an enraged wolf.
“Tell me what kind of filthy trick you were trying to pull!”
His grip felt as though it would crush her bones. Talia bit down hard on her lip.
What a brainless brute. Nothing but strength.
Without hesitation, she kicked him hard in the shin. Apparently he still hadn’t put on any armor yet, because Gareth cursed under his breath and jumped back.
Talia missed no chance. She tore her arm free and bolted from Varkas’s tent at full speed.
Behind her, she heard things crashing apart as though Gareth was tearing the place to pieces in pursuit. But Talia never once looked back as she sprinted recklessly between the rows of tents.
Before long, her carriage came into view.
She threw herself inside, locked the door firmly, and curled up in the corner of the carriage.
A wave of anxiety crashed over her. What if Gareth, furious beyond reason, tried to smash the carriage apart?
But even after a long while, no commotion followed.
It seemed the eyes around him had forced him to abandon the chase midway.
Talia let out a sigh of relief and buried her face against her knees. Then suddenly disgust twisted her features.
She was sickened by herself for behaving like an absolute fool.
Why had she lost her senses and worried over his safety?
And showing Gareth such emotional weakness left a filthy feeling crawling beneath her skin.
Surely that man hadn’t noticed something.
Talia chewed harshly at her lip before cautiously peering outside the window.
The knights were dismantling the tents. They did not appear to have noticed the disturbance she had caused.
Pressing her face close against the glass, Talia darted her eyes around for a while before drawing the curtain shut again.
As dawn gradually brightened the sky, the knights mounted their horses and began forming ranks.
Among them was Varkas.
Talia secretly watched him through the gap in the curtain as he inspected the front lines as calmly as ever. Then, the moment he started approaching her carriage, she hurriedly shrank back into hiding.
Had Gareth told him something?
Was he coming to interrogate her?
She desperately squeezed out excuse after excuse in her head, but Varkas merely stopped near the carriage, issued a few instructions to the knights, then returned to the front without another glance.
Relief drained the tension from her shoulders.
At that moment, a guard knight’s booming voice rang out.
“We’ll be departing shortly.”
Talia gave no answer.
Apparently he had not expected one in the first place, because the knight simply urged his horse forward without another word. Soon after, her carriage began moving as well.
Talia sank against the seat and stared at the whitening sky through the curtain.
In the end, nothing had happened at all.
Another tedious day was beginning.
The march that had begun at dawn was halted before the sun had even started to set.
Gareth, whose patience had finally snapped, unilaterally declared that they would travel no farther that day.
Strictly speaking, the authority over the journey belonged entirely to Varkas as supreme commander. However, very few dared defy the orders of the future Emperor.
In the end, under Varkas’s silent consent, they were forced to establish camp on an empty plain just before reaching the second holy site, Ulgram Hill.
The soldiers, eager to leave the plains behind as quickly as possible, appeared deeply dissatisfied, but for Talia it was ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ fortunate.
She had spent the entire day shut inside the rattling carriage without properly eating or sleeping. Her stamina had finally collapsed.
Lying atop the carriage seat, she blinked her dizzy eyes sluggishly.
Then a thoroughly unwelcome voice sounded from outside.
“Your Highness, I brought some fruit.”
Talia frowned.