At the words he practically ground out between clenched teeth, Talia burst into laughter.
“Then I suppose dragging my ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) exhausted body all the way here was worth it.”
Gareth clenched his jaw so hard it felt close to breaking.
Whenever the woman laughed like that, he found it almost impossible to suppress the urge to smash that grotesquely beautiful face to pieces.
His shoulders trembling violently, Gareth clenched his fists hard enough to creak and spat out each word like he was chewing shards of glass.
“How much longer do you intend to keep acting out? Are you trying to test how far my patience with you extends?”
“Oh, what a hurtful thing to say.......”
Resting an elbow on the table, the woman leaned toward him at an angle.
Chandelier light spilled across her painfully thin shoulders and sharply protruding shoulder blades. The delicate female body, as exquisite as carved ivory, drew the eyes of the monks as well.
Snake-like bitch.
Overwhelmed by fierce disgust, Gareth exhaled roughly through his teeth.
As though sensing his fury rising to its limit, the corners of Talia’s lips curled higher.
“I merely accepted an invitation. I truly don’t understand why you’re so furious over something so harmless. Don’t you think you’re being a little cruel to such a lovely youngest sister?”
She turned toward the abbot seated across from her as though asking for his agreement.
Caught off guard by the sudden question, the monk’s face stiffened awkwardly.
Apparently amused by the innocent reaction, Talia’s eyes curved in a strangely sensual manner.
The sight of her flirting like a common whore made bile rise in Gareth’s throat.
He seized her arm roughly.
“You seem to be in heat. If you need someone to warm your bed, choose one of your attendants instead of toying with monks. And if you stain the imperial family’s name with another filthy scandal...... I’ll make sure you can never carry that pretty face around again.”
At the savage threat, something flashed sharply in Talia’s eyes.
“And what exactly are you going to do?”
Tilting her head toward him as though openly picking a fight, she shot back fiercely,
“The way you talk makes me want to live up to your expectations so badly I could die.”
That was the last straw.
He reached toward her slender neck, intending to twist it with his own hands.
At that moment, a heavy hand settled onto his shoulder.
“Your Highness.”
Gareth flinched and looked up.
Varkas Laedgo Siorcan was gazing down at him with a calm expression.
It was the same emotionless face Gareth had seen countless times before, utterly devoid of any trace of feeling.
And yet, for a single moment, Gareth felt threatened by him.
Even though that should have been impossible.
“Everyone is waiting for Your Highness’s speech.”
As though warning him not to be dragged into Talia’s provocation, Varkas pressed down firmly on his shoulder.
Gareth brushed the hand away rather roughly. His fingertips trembled violently with unsatisfied violent impulses.
Concealing it by clenching his fist tightly, he glared at Talia’s enchanting face.
Talia Roem Gwirta was provoking him deliberately.
He could not allow himself to be swept up by it.
Repeating those words inwardly while suppressing the boiling rage inside him, Gareth finally released her arm as though throwing it away.
Then he picked up his goblet once more and raised his voice in an exaggerated tone, almost like an actor on stage.
“It seems we’ve wasted enough time on pointless squabbling. Come, let us begin the meal. Once again, my gratitude to the abbot for preparing such a wonderful gathering...... and may this day become a meaningful one for everyone present.”
The monks, their faces stiff with tension as they glanced back and forth between the Crown Prince, the bastard princess, and the Imperial Knight Commander standing behind them, awkwardly lifted their goblets.
Only Talia Roem Gwirta remained seated with her arms crossed, watching the scene with mocking amusement.
Just as Gareth felt his temper threatening to flare again at her rebellious attitude, Varkas bent down over Talia’s head.
“At the very least, please observe the basic courtesy expected of a guest, Your Imperial Highness.”
He gently unfolded her hand and placed a silver goblet into it.
Startled by the sudden contact, Talia stiffened before shooting him a vicious glare.
Gareth expected her to hurl the goblet at him immediately.
Perhaps because they had clashed constantly since childhood, Talia seemed particularly determined to tear Varkas apart whenever she saw him.
But contrary to his expectations, after glaring at him like an enraged cat, Talia eventually straightened herself calmly.
Gareth narrowed his eyes.
Retreating after such a mild warning was not like Talia Roem Gwirta at all.
She had always been a woman who rampaged wildly without knowing restraint.
Rather than obediently backing down under Varkas’s pressure, she should have foamed at the mouth and lunged at him.
That would have been like her.
‘What is she plotting?’