Chapter 199
## Chapter 199
Ever since he rose from his sickbed, his mind had not known a single day of peace; on the contrary, he became entangled in an extremely intense and saturated external schedule.
He needed to demonstrate his imposing presence and power everywhere, if only to silence the terrible rumors hovering over Talia.
Varkas reorganized the extermination unit as if nothing had happened and traversed the entire East restructuring security, while devoting all his effort to monitoring heretical gatherings and hunting down raiders.
When his initial plan to eradicate the ‘Zaram’ in secret failed, he changed his strategy and began a large-scale campaign of repression.
It seemed that this iron-fisted policy had borne fruit; the frequency with which the raiders appeared decreased noticeably, and the clandestine meetings of the ‘Church of the Great Spirit’ held in the shadows were appeased.
Although the roots of the heresy had not been completely extirpated, but had rather sunk beneath the surface, he at least managed to contain the chaos of the moment.
“It seems that the heresy hunters will return to the capital soon,” Perov said as he placed a report on his desk with a tone that denoted relief.
Varkas took the yellowish parchment and reviewed it quickly; the document contained the details of the movements of the ‘Order of the Guardians of the Holy War’ during the last few weeks.
“Apparently, the holy knights deduced that the heretic groups fled toward the frozen lands and decided that it made no sense to continue the pursuit.”
Varkas touched his chin with a face sunken in reflection.
After obtaining his permission to investigate, the Guardians of the Holy War traversed ‘Calmore’ without any restraint and, shortly thereafter, moved toward the West, based on their conclusion that the heretics had hidden in the mountains of ‘Netherland’, which separate the Eastern and Central regions.
After remaining there for a time searching the southwestern areas, the investigation commission headed North following the trails of the heretics, but everything indicated that in the end they failed to capture the fugitives.
“Could we begin to withdraw the troops we deployed for surveillance?” Perov posed the question cautiously.
Varkas brought his hand to his forehead, which ached, and continued opening and closing his numb fist. Given the current shortage of personnel, sending the elite of ‘Wolfram’ to watch the steps of the Guardians of the Holy War was a clear waste of resources.
After inquiring into various sources, it was confirmed that Roman Talis’s identity was authentic and official, so there was no need to maintain the surveillance. However, Varkas could not lower his guard; it was a sensation that bordered on instinct, that innate presentiment of danger that one experiences when facing a wild beast that has invaded one’s territory.
After examining the report carefully for a long time, Varkas finally shook his head:
“Tell them not to slacken the surveillance until those men leave the East completely.”
“But, Lord Duke, I do not see the need to go to such an extreme…….”
“Is security in the East not stable enough right now? No catastrophe will occur if we allocate part of the forces to surveillance tasks for a few more weeks.”
Varkas cut off his assistant’s objections firmly and rose from his seat.
Since he was finished with the accumulation of his official duties, it was time to attend to his evening schedule.
He left his office mapping out his next destination in his mind, when suddenly he heard sharp screams coming from somewhere.
Varkas stopped halfway down the hallway and looked through the window; his half-sister was screaming furiously at someone on the esplanade that led to the back garden.
Upon realizing that the other person was his wife, his body tensed.
She wore a black garment that he did not know where she had obtained and looked at Lina with a face that seemed to have partially lost its sanity.
Varkas rushed down the stairs and went out through the back door, at which moment Lina’s sharp tone struck his ears:
“Admit the truth! What kind of intrigue are you plotting this time? The whole castle turned upside down because of you, how dare you again to……?!”
“What is happening?”
The sister, who was questioning his wife harshly, suddenly fell silent. Varkas crossed the esplanade with long strides and approached them:
“I asked what is happening.”
After a moment of bewilderment, his sister regained her composure and pointed her finger toward Talia, saying in a defiant tone:
“Look at her! This woman was trying to sneak out of the castle again! She certainly intended to attract the raiders again!”
Varkas directed a glacial look at his sister and then slowly shifted his gaze to his wife; she had become noticeably emaciated over the last few weeks.
The woman looked at him with a face that looked like it would break at any moment and with desolate eyes.
“It is not that. It is just that ‘Kan’ has disappeared……”
She continued speaking with anguish while biting her chapped lip with nails stained black from old bruises:
“I have not seen ‘Kan’ since dawn. That is why…… I was only trying to look for him.”
Varkas breathed deeply while remaining rigid, contemplating her. A burning and heavy fury climbed up his spine until it reached his head. He did not know clearly what made him so angry; was it her miserably thin appearance? Or his annoyance at seeing her defenseless before his sister, who was much younger than her? Or perhaps the fact that she was trying to sneak out in secret while in that deplorable state that suggested she could collapse at any instant.
He swallowed something that was boiling in his chest and then said coldly:
“Were my orders to remain in your room a joke to you?”
Talia cringed and lowered her gaze; the tips of her fingers, which clung to the garment, trembled violently.
For some reason, that desolate appearance caused an even greater boil in his chest; she was a woman who always raised her head regardless of the circumstances, and even when she was wrong, she raised her voice.
Seeing her tremble like a guilty party at this moment produced an indescribable discomfort in him.
Varkas shifted his gaze as if he wanted to drive away that feeling and shouted at the soldiers who stood with bewilderment in a corner of the esplanade:
“What were you doing to allow the Duchess to leave her room?”
“W-We apologize, Lord Duke.”
The guards bowed quickly. Varkas threw them a cold look and indicated with his head:
“Take her to her room immediately. If this happens again, you will pay for it with your heads.”
The soldiers, turning pale, rushed to surround his wife. As they prepared to escort her, the woman suddenly grabbed his arm, biting her lips with anguish:
“W-Wait a moment, I will go out and return quickly. It seems that ‘Kan’ has left the castle. I have to find ‘Kan’……”
His body froze upon contemplating that pleading face.
He felt as if flames erupted from the place her hand had touched.
In order to deny that sensation, he brushed her hand away abruptly and urged the soldiers:
“Why do you not take her away quickly?”
The hesitant soldiers approached her again.
Talia looked at him with wandering eyes and finally turned around with weak steps.
When he deliberately averted his gaze from her, his eyes met the face of Lina, who was smiling with malice and glee.
In that instant, a violent desire to break his tanned sister’s neck invaded him.
“Lina Raidgo Sherkan.”
The smile disappeared from his sister’s face immediately upon feeling the latent fury in his voice. Varkas approached her and said in a sinister tone:
“Does it seem that the position of ‘Duchess’ has become an object of mockery for you?”
Lina looked at him with a frightened expression for a second, but soon raised her eyebrows, saying:
“Duchess, what duchess?! That woman is a terrible witch. She put poison in my brother’s cup and attracted the raiders to the castle! Why do you defend a woman like that? Because of her……!”
Comments for chapter "Chapter 199"
MANGA DISCUSSION
Madara Info
Madara stands as a beacon for those desiring to craft a captivating online comic and manga reading platform on WordPress
For custom work request, please send email to wpstylish(at)gmail(dot)com