Chapter 186
THE FORGOTTEN FIELDS (NOVEL) – Chapter 186
Lukas looked at him intently, and then added with a sarcastic tone:
“Isn’t that right? You didn’t marry my sister-in-law because of pressure from the Emperor, but because you wanted to. You cast aside your previous fiancée and eagerly accepted His Majesty’s proposal, didn’t you?”
Varkas threw a cold look over his shoulder and then continued on his way without uttering a single word.
It seemed that Lukas flew into a rage at this snub, so he caught up to him immediately with a furrowed brow.
“I’ve hit the nail on the head, right?”
“…”
“Don’t you think it’s unfair that you take as a wife a woman who doesn’t benefit the family at all, and then impose the sacrifice only on me and Lina?”
“Sacrifice?”
Varkas, who was crossing the training yard in silence, stopped and fixed a terrifying gaze upon him.
Lukas involuntarily took a step back.
He felt as if a desolate wind had blown out of nowhere; an air cold enough to drive away the early summer heat. The Duke approached him and twisted the corner of his lips into a gentle smile.
“Truly fascinating. How pleasant has your life been for you to speak of sacrifice over a simple political marriage?”
Lukas’s back tensed upon hearing that soft, spine-chilling voice.
Varkas tilted his face, with features so perfect they were inhuman, toward him and continued slowly:
“I will ask you just one question. If you reject even the obligations that nobles must assume as a matter of course… with what do you intend to pay the price for the privileges you have enjoyed?”
Lukas bit his lower lip, finding no answer.
Varkas looked at his brother’s flushed face in silence, then sighed deeply and added in a persuasive tone:
“There is no need for you to object from now on. I intend to offer both of you the best possible options… The only thing you and Lina must do is choose the person who is to your liking from a long list of candidates.”
“… And what happens if I don’t like anyone?”
“Then choose the person who is least annoying to your sight.” Varkas’s tone turned implacable again. “The time for pampering ended long ago. The two of you have to contribute something to this family now.”
Lukas clenched his fists, and his voice came out heavy with defeat:
“I have understood very well what you mean.”
“I am glad you understand,” Varkas replied dryly, and squeezed his brother’s shoulder tightly once before letting go and resuming his march.
Lukas observed his back with a gloomy gaze, and soon turned around in the opposite direction.
Varkas left the castle and attended a meeting at the ‘Calmore’ gathering point to review the drafts of the amended laws that had been recently discussed.
After finishing the tedious administrative paperwork, he stopped by the garrison headquarters, located on the outskirts of the city, to check the detailed records regarding the frequency of raider appearances and the affected areas.
When he concluded all those official duties and returned to the castle, twilight had already devoured the entire world.
Varkas raised his head and looked at the purple-tinged sky, then tossed the reins to the stable boy who ran toward him and headed straight to the main castle.
“You have returned, my lord.”
As soon as he entered the wide foyer, the servants who were lighting the lamps bowed their heads in unison.
Varkas nodded slightly in response to their greeting and went up the stairs immediately.
He intended to head straight to the bedroom adjacent to the office on the third floor, but a cautious voice called out to him from behind:
“Du… Lord Duke.”
He turned to find the head butler with a nervous expression.
Varkas raised an eyebrow and asked:
“What is the matter?”
“Her Highness the Duchess is now in the second-floor bedroom. She asked me to inform you as soon as you returned…”
Varkas furrowed his brow and changed course immediately. He went down a flight of stairs and saw the soldiers standing guard at the door of his room.
He motioned to them with his head to dismiss them and then knocked on the door. After a long pause, a slightly muffled voice came:
“Come in.”
Varkas opened the door and entered, displeased by the strong smell of herbs. The air was thick, as if a very dense incense had been burned there.
He strode across the room and opened the window; then he extinguished the incense from which smoke was still emanating and cast a dissatisfied look toward the bed.
“Are you trying to suffocate yourself? Since when have you been like this…”
Varkas suddenly interrupted his harsh words as he fixed his eyes on the tired face of his wife, who lay reclining in bed.
She was hugging the neck of the wolf, which occupied most of the wide bed, with one arm, and murmured in a hoarse voice:
“I had no alternative. Today, Kan was behaving a bit… strangely…”
He frowned and approached the side of the bed.
Unlike yesterday, the wolf was not completely asleep.
Although it panted with difficulty and its body was relaxed from the effect of the medicine, its eyes watched its mistress insistently.
Varkas discovered a kind of strange obsession in those eyes, and his facial features hardened.
His wife noticed that look, so she added as if to justify her position:
“It seems his nerves grew tense because I left him alone last night. Furthermore, suddenly forbidding him to go out… caused his discontent to build up.”
“Did this beast cause any incident today?” he asked in a cold tone, at which a defensive expression appeared on her face.
“Kan did not make any mistake. He just seemed a bit anxious.”
“If burning such an amount of such strong medicine is required to calm him, he must have shown noticeable instability.”
Varkas directed a frigid look at the monster that was fighting against sleep despite its accelerated breathing.
Why had the nerves of this creature, which seemed stable in the morning, become upset?
He sighed with weariness and sat on the edge of the bed. At that moment, the beast bared its fangs, wrinkling its snout, and pushed its head toward its mistress’s lap.
Varkas narrowed his eyes at that silent warning not to come closer, so the woman said cautiously:
“It seems I must stay with Kan tonight.”
Varkas prolonged his gaze on her face, which looked no less exhausted than the wolf’s, and then slowly nodded his head.
“Do not worry about me and sleep.”
“… Can’t you stay here too?”
As he was preparing to stand up, she reached out and clung to the edge of his clothes.
He hesitated for an instant, then took off his boots and climbed onto the bed.
He sat beside her and leaned his back against the headboard, at which point the wolf’s gaze fell upon him; it was a look that betrayed that the situation did not please it at all.
Varkas ignored the wolf and touched her forehead, moistened by a light sweat, with his hand. It seemed she was suffering from a mild fever.
“I will watch over Kan myself. So sleep peacefully.”
She seemed relieved by his words and closed her eyelids.
Varkas observed the face of his wife, who began to breathe regularly very soon.
It was a disappointing situation for him, who had hoped to sleep holding her warm body after deep kisses.
But at the same time he felt relief; since he was firmly resolved not to allow her to become pregnant by him again, he found the temptation of having her close somewhat overwhelming.
He tenderly caressed her silk-soft hair and threw his head back.
The fresh air drifting through the window began to dissipate the bitter smoke, and the scent of her body gradually began to fill the room.
He inhaled that deep aroma and stayed contemplating her serene face, bathed in the twilight light, for a long time.
And suddenly, his brother’s voice passed through his ears:
“But you, brother, married the woman you wanted.”
He knew those words were true.
But what did it matter? In this empty life, he had the right to possess at least one thing he desired.
Varkas lowered his gaze toward her legs, gathered to one side.
Her slender leg, intertwined with the edge of her skirt, protruded from beneath the thin summer blanket.
He reached out and felt the red mark visible above the garments.
It occurred to him that she might startle in fright if she woke up, but he could not withdraw his hand from the long scar that extended from her knee to her thigh.
Although he searched through the memories of the past almost every night, he had never relived in his dreams the moment that wound originated. Nor the scene of her bleeding on the bed.
In reality, the memory seems as clear as a burn mark, but in the heart of the night it vanishes like mist. Because this woman could never become his nightmare.
Unable to repress the desire to hold her any longer, he placed his head on the pillow and slid an arm under her head.
When he gently turned her body, which was oriented toward the wolf, to bring her to his side, the wolf, resting its chin on the sheet, raised its head.
In those fixed eyes of the monster, a strange light danced for an instant.
The beast kept staring at him intently as if watching him; then it slowly raised its heavy body and pressed itself against her back.
And it placed its face, covered in dense, short grey fur, next to her head.
Varkas looked at the wolf in astonishment, then sighed and wrapped his arm around her back.
Her warm breath tickled his chest. Perhaps he would sink into the river of blood again tonight.
Dreams turn cold and dark, as if noticing the breaking of the promise he had made in his heart.
But it did not matter.
Despite feeling the heat of his body ignite more and more, he did not loosen the arm that enfolded her.
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