He watched the scene carefully, then, seeing that the wolf showed no sign of attacking, turned his gaze back to her.
“What exactly do you think you're doing?”
“...I was only trying to show you that Khan isn't dangerous.”
She muttered awkwardly.
Varkas was about to rebuke her sharply, but the sight of her flushed nape made him fall silent.
It suddenly occurred to him that this was the first time in nearly two years that they had stood this close to each other.
She seemed aware of it as well, murmuring in a trembling voice,
“Khan would never hurt me. So stop making such a fuss and put me down.”
Still keeping a wary eye on the tense direwolf, he set her down a short distance away.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she immediately took a step back. Yet she made no attempt to retreat any farther. Instead, she remained close enough that they could feel each other's breath as she quietly studied him from head to toe.
Something about that strange gaze made his stomach churn.
There was no trace of the hostility she had once directed at him. Nor did she look pained by the sight of him.
Rather, she stared without even blinking, her intense gaze fixed on him as though trying to memorize every detail.
He, too, stared unblinkingly at her face framed by wet golden hair.
The shadow of sorrow had vanished from her blue eyes, which now shone brilliantly beneath the summer sun. Her cheeks were fuller than the last time he had seen her, glowing with healthy color, while her once-thin body had regained graceful curves, radiating a sensual vitality.
She looked exactly like this when she was carrying my child.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, a strange sensation, as though he had swallowed fire and ice at once, gripped his throat.
Varkas swallowed hard.
An overwhelming urge suddenly seized him to confirm that the woman before him was truly real. As though possessed, he began reaching out toward her—
At that moment, the wolf sauntered over and gave its body a tremendous shake.
Drenched from head to toe by the torrent of water that sprayed down like a sudden rainstorm, Varkas glared fiercely at the beast. The wolf, however, acted as though nothing had happened, calmly wagging its tail at its mistress.
“Let's return to the castle first, just as you suggested.”
Talia, equally soaked by the shower of water, let out a quiet sigh before turning away.
The direwolf naturally fell into step beside her.
Watching the scene with speechless disbelief, Varkas silently followed behind.
As they approached the main castle, Lucas and the servants, who had been waiting for their return, rushed toward them all at once.
“Did my brother also decide to enjoy a swim?”
Looking Varkas up and down in astonishment, Lucas muttered in disbelief.
Without answering, Varkas simply walked past him and entered the castle.
Talia had already gone into the Great Hall and was standing before the kitchen hearth, drying the wolf with a large towel.
Walking over, Varkas took the towel from her hands.
She had spent her entire life being waited upon by others. She had probably bathed herself only a handful of times in her life.
The sight of her personally tending to nothing more than a monster twisted something deep inside him beyond endurance.
“Leave the care of this wolf to the servants and return to your room, Your Highness. I would like to hear an explanation of everything that has happened.”
“No. Khan doesn't like anyone except me touching him.”
“Didn't you insist this wolf doesn't harm people?”
He pointed it out coldly.
“If that's true, then leaving it with the servants for a little while shouldn't cause any problems.”
Unable to find a rebuttal, Talia glanced uneasily down at her wolf.
Reading the anxiety in her eyes, Varkas added sharply,
“Or are you yourself not certain that this wolf is harmless?”
“That's not it!”
Talia denied it loudly before suddenly shooting him an irritated look.
“And stop calling him 'wolf' all the time. I already told you his name is Khan. How would you feel if someone kept calling you 'human, human'? If you're going to call him, use his proper name.”
“...”
He swallowed the sigh rising in his throat.
To the people of the East, the fact that the Grand Duchess, who came from Osiria, had given a monster a name belonging to the Khan people would be seen as an unmistakable insult.
Did she know that and still insist on this?
Feeling a trace of weariness at having his wife create conflict over something as trivial as a name, he tossed the towel to a waiting servant.
“Take good care of... Khan.”