Even after being humiliated so thoroughly yesterday, the knight had returned to meddle again. His persistence felt almost incomprehensible.
Unless he was plotting something, why would he go this far to ingratiate himself with her?
She snapped irritably.
“Get lost.”
“You said you couldn’t trust prepared food because someone might have tampered with it. Fresh fruit that hasn’t been processed should be fine, shouldn’t it?”
Too annoyed to even answer, she simply shut her mouth.
The knight then rudely swung open the carriage door and thrust forward a tray piled with fruit.
“At this rate, I’m worried this pilgrimage is genuinely going to turn into a funeral procession. Please stop being stubborn and at least eat this.”
Talia stared at him in disbelief before lowering her gaze to the silver tray.
Red apples, ripe plums, green grapes.
She looked down at them blankly before muttering in a drained voice, as though she no longer even had the energy to become angry.
“How do I know you didn’t smear poison on the peels?”
At this point, most people would have given up.
But the knight did not budge.
Letting out a heavy sigh, he picked up one of the apples from the tray. Then he took a large bite before holding out the fruit marked with his teeth toward her.
“Is that satisfactory now?”
“You expect me to eat something you already bit into? That’s disgusting, so take it away!”
The knight looked ready to strangle her.
Talia simply turned her back on him.
In truth, she was starving.
But she had no desire to put food touched by someone else into her mouth. Even if she forced herself to swallow it, she would only end up vomiting it back out.
“I said that’s enough, so stop bothering me and get out already.”
“Is ‘get out’ the only phrase Your Highness knows how to say?”
His words were crossing the line more and more, and irritation surged hotly through her chest.
Talia abruptly rose to her feet.
For a moment dizziness washed over her, but unwilling to show weakness, she forced strength into her legs and endured it.
Once her vision cleared, she ignored the knight anxiously watching her and stepped outside the carriage.
The sky had already begun fading from deep blue into pale orange.
After staring at it briefly, Talia moved toward the edge of the camp to avoid the glances constantly flicking toward her.
She wanted to find somewhere quiet where nobody would bother her.
But if she wandered too far from the group, the knights would immediately come after her.
After hesitating for a moment, Talia headed toward a dense forest a short distance away from the supply wagons.
At this distance, they would still be able to confirm her location with the naked eye. Surely they would not hover around under the excuse of guarding her.
Talia leaned back against a massive tree and breathed in the cool evening air deeply.
How long had she remained like that?
Suddenly, faint laughter drifted from nearby.
Talia’s closed eyes snapped open.
Apparently she was not the only one who had sought solitude for rest. Between the scattered spruce trees, she spotted Aila leisurely walking through the forest.
Talia’s face twisted instantly.
She was exhausted beyond measure.
She did not think she could endure looking at that blissfully happy face right now.
She rose sharply to her feet.
Just as she turned to leave, another figure hidden behind the trees entered her sight.
The man she had desperately prayed would simply survive only this morning.
Talia stared at him blankly.
Holding Tork’s reins in one hand as he quietly followed behind Aila, Varkas looked more peaceful than she had ever seen him before.
She had grown sick of seeing only cold expressions and furrowed brows from him. That calm face felt strangely unfamiliar.
Did he always wear such expressions in front of Aila?
Talia stood there dazedly watching him when Aila suddenly tugged at Varkas’s arm and rose onto her toes, tilting her face upward.
The moment Talia realized what she was asking for, her breath stopped.
She did not want to see it.
A scene that would remain carved into her mind forever, replayed over and over for the rest of her life.
She did not want to witness it.
Even as screams rang endlessly inside her head, Talia could not tear her eyes away from them.
Perhaps part of her had wanted to see him reject her coldly.
But Varkas answered Aila’s wish like a loyal hunting hound.
The moment Talia saw him lower his head toward her, she turned and ran.
But she did not get far before someone seized her.
Her eyes flew upward in shock.
Gareth stood there gripping her arm tightly, his cheeks flushed red as though he had been drinking.
Under that gaze that seemed to dissect her, Talia hurriedly lowered her head.
But it was already too late.
He had seen the moisture gathered in her eyes.
“You can’t possibly...”
Gareth let out a hollow laugh beneath his breath.
Talia twisted violently, trying to wrench herself free from him, but the Crown Prince did not move an inch.
Gareth stared down at her as though her emotionally shattered face were some fascinating spectacle.
Then at last, he burst into loud laughter.
“So that’s what it was?”