Chapter 194
## Chapter 194
He propped his heavy arms, which felt like two pieces of lead, against the edge of the bed.
And just as he was about to lift his upper body, a deafening shriek pierced the silence of the room, piercing his eardrum.
“S-Sixth Duke! Have you regained consciousness?”
He turned toward the source of the sound and saw the butler rushing into the room holding a large pitcher in his hands.
He set the pitcher down on the shelf with a haste that almost looked like a throw, and then rushed straight to the bedside.
“Praise be to God! My heart was shrinking with fear thinking you would never wake up……!” the butler murmured in an agitated tone as he placed a pillow behind his back to support him.
Varkas leaned his head against the headboard of the bed and tightly squeezed his eyelids, which ached as if fragments of glass had been poured into them. Seeing this, the butler rushed to ring the bell on the nightstand to summon the rest of the servants.
“The Duke has awakened! Call the doctor immediately!”
Soon, hurried footsteps echoed, and three or four servants burst into the room accompanied by a doctor wearing the robes of a priest. As they gathered around the bed amidst the commotion, Varkas silently closed his eyes, waiting for the weakness weighing down his entire body to dissipate.
An unmeasurable amount of time passed until the priest, who had been infusing sacred power into his body, spoke, breathing heavily from exhaustion:
“Fortunately, it seems the danger has completely passed. The flow of ‘mana’, which was agitating wildly, has returned to normal.”
Varkas opened his eyes and looked at the priest. The priest wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead and added in an extremely serious tone:
“What has happened can only be explained as help from heaven; the cases where people have survived after ingesting the lethal poison ‘Agor’ can be counted on the fingers of one hand throughout history.”
“Lethal poison.”
Varkas repeated the words in his mind while silently observing the prominent veins on his hand. Questions flooded his confused mind, as if it were covered in frost. He brushed those thoughts aside and then let out a raspy voice:
“…… How long have I been unconscious?”
“You have been unconscious for seven days…… in fact, exactly eight days up to today, Lord Duke.”
Before the priest could answer, a deep voice resonated from the doorway. Varkas turned to see Perov, his face pale, striding into the room.
He approached the bedside and added with a voice heavy with gravity:
“During the first four days, your condition was so critical that it would not have been strange for your heart to stop at any moment. It is a true relief that you have awakened.”
“…… What happened to the purification campaign?”
Varkas ignored his assistant’s concern and threw out his cold question. The assistant looked at him with a tense face, then cast a quick glance at those surrounding the bed and requested cautiously:
“Could you order everyone to dismiss for a moment?”
“Sir, the Duke has just fought against death and regained consciousness. It would be better to wait until he recovers all his strength…….”
“I said dismiss.”
Varkas nodded to the priest, who was attempting to prevent it out of concern. The priest looked at him with eyes full of anguish:
“If you overexert yourself and your condition worsens again…….”
“Do not make me repeat my words twice.”
The priest fell silent immediately, frightened by his sharp and authoritative presence.
Thus, the priest, the butler, and the rest of the servants left the room.
Varkas sat up in bed even though his body felt as heavy as soaked cotton, and he remained silently observing his assistant.
Under the pressure of that silence demanding an answer, the man’s lips opened:
“The purification operation…… failed. I deeply regret it.”
“Explain it to me in detail,” Varkas requested calmly and without any visible alteration.
The assistant, observing his features rigidly, continued with his report:
“Immediately after your collapse, unidentified individuals took advantage of the chaos and infiltrated the castle. They attacked the underground prison, freed the prisoners, and attempted to incite a rebellion inside the castle. Thanks to the quick arrival of young Lord Lucas with his men, the situation was brought under control, but…….”
“It seems the departure for the campaign did not turn out as planned,” Varkas interrupted him, and the man nodded slowly.
“Those unidentified individuals possessed surprisingly astounding skills. They broke through the perimeter, left the castle, and their trail vanished in the blink of an eye. Because of that, we even had to withdraw the troops waiting in the ‘Armond’ forest to surround the ‘Calmore’ region and begin the search.”
“And did you capture the infiltrators?”
“…… I apologize to you. We searched throughout the night, but they had already disappeared,” the man confessed with a grim face.
Varkas twisted the corner of his lips ironically:
“In the end, both the infiltrators and the looters escaped.”
“…… I truly have nothing to say. I should have realized sooner that they were using these tricks to buy time…….”
“Raise your head. Who am I to rebuke anyone while being in this pitiful state after being poisoned?” Varkas let out a laugh tinged with self-deprecation.
Perov observed his features and then cautiously changed the subject:
“…… Do you remember how you were poisoned?”
Varkas stopped smiling and looked at him with a completely expressionless face. Perov swallowed hard with difficulty and continued speaking with effort:
“It seems Her Grace the Duchess was in collusion with groups of pagans. In order to hinder this purification campaign, she placed a substance in your cup…….”
“Do you have conclusive proof?” Varkas interrupted in a dry tone.
Confusion appeared for an instant on Perov’s face before turning cold and rigid:
“There is not the slightest doubt that the Duchess was the one who placed the poison.”
“I asked you if there is conclusive material evidence.”
“Her Grace herself has confessed to it.”
Varkas limited himself to observing him in silence with eyes as cold as ice. Apparently, Perov felt uncomfortable before that obstinate attitude, so he raised his voice, saying:
“Not only that; in Her Grace the Duchess’s quarters, numerous objects symbolizing the ‘Church of the Great Spirit’ were found. She resolved to harm you just to save the pagans!”
At that moment, a muffled snapping sound echoed in Varkas’s head.
He felt as if a part of his brain had exploded from being unable to withstand the intense pressure. He brought a hand to his forehead as if trying to chase away that horrible sensation, and with difficulty extracted a calm voice from the depths of his oppressed throat:
“Where is she now?”
“She is confined at the top of the castle tower,” Perov replied coldly. “All the vassals of the ducal family rose up demanding that she be taken to the guillotine immediately, and young Lord Lucas barely managed to calm them down. No matter how much of an ‘evil woman’ she may be for attempting to poison her husband, the Emperor’s daughter cannot be taken to the scaffold without the procedures of a legal trial.”
Varkas clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He felt a fury of unknown origin gnawing at his insides. He stared fixedly at his assistant with bloodshot eyes and dictated his orders in a gical voice:
“Bring her before me right now.”
Perov cast a cautious look at him as if trying to decipher his intentions, then bowed his head and left the room.
Shortly after, armed soldiers entered the bedroom accompanying Talia.
Varkas raised his eyes toward the sky, which was beginning to be tinged with a dark blue, and then slowly shifted his gaze.
Talia looked to be in a state that would make anyone feel cold, despite being in the middle of summer.
Seeing her appearance similar to that of a prisoner, Varkas felt a rage that almost evaporated his blood, so he breathed deeply.
It was evident that she had been treated with cruelty; her blonde hair, which used to shine with splendor, was completely disheveled, covering her slender neck and back, and her delicate silk dress was stained with cobwebs and dust.
As he examined her appearance unhurriedly, his gaze landed on her bare feet peeking out from beneath the dress.
He caught his breath involuntarily.
He felt a murderous desire bubbling inside him upon seeing her standing there, without shoes, like a vagrant.
He suppressed that irrational feeling and cast a cold look at the soldiers surrounding her:
“All of you, dismiss.”
“Lord Duke, the Duchess is a dangerous person. We cannot leave her alone with you without surveillance…….”
“It seems I look ridiculous now that I have been left in this state.”
A gloomy smile suddenly drew across Varkas’s lips.
The soldiers’ bodies tensed as they felt the latent threat within it. He gestured with his head, indicating he would not repeat his words twice.
Finally, the soldiers bowed their heads and stepped back cautiously.
“Then, we will wait outside the door. Call us if any problem arises.”
When everyone left and closed the door, Varkas leaned his head against the headboard of the bed and thoroughly examined her pale face.
Although he could not see the details of her face clearly because she kept her head lowered, he easily realized that she had lost a lot of weight. He felt disgust with himself for worrying about such a matter, so he murmured coldly:
“I heard you confessed to putting poison in my cup.”
Her shoulders trembled, and then the pupils of her eyes, which were fixed on the floor, rose slowly.
When his eyes met her empty gaze, completely devoid of all life, he twisted the expressions of his mouth.
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