Feeling something warm filling her body, Talia let her limbs go limp.
The man lying over her raised himself. At the same time, what had been filling her slowly slipped out.
Biting her lip at the unfamiliar sensation, Talia pressed her thighs tightly together.
Just then, his hand came down onto the leg wrapped in bandages. Talia instinctively screamed.
“Don't touch me!”
In the darkness, she saw Varkas's shoulders stiffen noticeably.
Pretending not to notice, she hastily pulled down her rolled-up skirt and stepped off the bed.
She was about to drag her trembling legs toward the door when a strong arm wrapped around her waist. In an instant, she was pulled back onto the bed.
Instinctively, Talia flailed her arms.
“L-let go! It's over now. I'm going back to my room!”
Grabbing her wrist, he stared at her with shining eyes.
“So you're just going to leave after finishing what you wanted?”
“I told you that from the beginning.”
Swallowing the tears threatening to spill out, Talia glared at him viciously.
“I have no business with you anymore.”
For an instant, the air in the room froze.
She felt painful strength enter the hand gripping her wrist. Shaking him off violently, she crawled to the edge of the bed.
I didn't give myself to him because of love.
So there's no reason to linger here.
Repeating those words in her head as though hypnotizing herself, she staggered off the bed.
At that moment, Varkas muttered something she could not understand in the language of the East. Snatching up the blanket that had fallen to the floor, he wrapped her body tightly inside it.
Captured in his solid embrace, Talia lost her composure and began struggling violently.
“No! Let me go!”
But he paid her no heed.
Having wrapped her up completely in the blanket, Varkas strode out of the room wearing only his trousers around his waist.
The attendants guarding the doorway stared at them with their mouths hanging open.
But Varkas didn't so much as blink.
Carrying her in his arms, he crossed the corridor and climbed the stairs before opening the door to a bedroom on the third floor.
Talia glared at him with a face stained with sweat and tears.
The candlelight illuminated his sweat-soaked, smooth upper body, his disheveled silver hair, and his blue eyes and handsome face.
Despite looking more defenseless than ever before, he still appeared solid and cold.
“Is this satisfactory now?”
After setting her on the bed, Varkas spoke icily.
Pulling the blanket up to her chin, Talia turned her face away. She knew he was angry, but that was none of her concern.
“I want to be alone. Leave.”
“......”
“Please, just leave.”
As she shouted in a trembling voice, his expressionless face finally twisted.
Drawing a deep breath, Varkas bent down before her.
“Just tell me this. Did I hurt you?”
Yes. You always hurt me.
She was about to answer that way but closed her mouth.
She knew rationally that it would be unfair.
She had barged in and forced him into bed without warning. She also knew how absurd she must look, acting as though she had been violated.
But at this moment, those rational thoughts were of no help.
Curled up like a larva inside a cocoon, Talia hugged her knees and shook her head.
“I just want to rest. So please leave me alone. I don't want to look at your face anymore.”
Had his patience finally reached its limit because of her unreasonable behavior?
His entire body stiffened, veins standing out all over his bare upper body. He looked frightening enough to make fear rise in her chest.
But as always, he calmed down almost immediately.