For the past several days, she had been keeping a close watch on that woman.
Now she saw her slipping silently between the tents.
Narrowing her eyes, Talia watched her for a moment before cautiously following behind.
The woman seemed to have mastered the art of moving naturally without drawing attention. Her steps were so quiet and nimble that anyone unfamiliar with the distinctive movements taught to those raised under House Taren's training would have lost sight of her almost immediately.
In the blink of an eye, she crossed the camp and disappeared among a long row of supply wagons.
After waiting briefly, Talia crept toward one of the large wagons and peered through the narrow gap between them.
The woman was already gone.
A startled look crossed her face.
Talia squeezed her way between the massive wagons and searched the area.
Then something caught against her foot.
'This is...'
Bending down, she discovered a small glass vial lying beneath a wheel.
Frowning, she picked it up for a closer look.
A few drops of a slick liquid clinging to the mouth of the bottle smeared across her fingers.
Talia immediately flung the vial away.
Bringing her hand close to her face, she sniffed it cautiously.
A pungent floral scent mixed with a foul odor reminiscent of animal secretions assaulted her nose.
The smell was so revolting it made her head spin.
A dry heave rose in her throat.
Grimacing, she wiped the strange substance away with a handkerchief.
Yet the bizarre smell refused to disappear.
'Disgusting.'
Throwing the ruined handkerchief onto the ground, she straightened up.
Then she noticed a dark shadow looming over her.
Talia jerked her head upward.
A scream escaped her lips.
She stumbled backward and collapsed onto the dirt.
Varkas was standing there, gazing down at her with a cold expression.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
Talia stared blankly at him before scrambling to her feet.
Since when had he been watching her?
Her heart pounded violently despite the fact that she had not yet done anything.
Trying to appear calm, she snapped,
“You scared me half to death! What are you doing sneaking around like a rat without making a sound?”
“You still haven't answered my question.”
Ignoring her venomous words entirely, Varkas uncrossed his arms and stepped closer.
Talia instinctively retreated.
Then her eyes sharpened.
“Why should I answer your questions? What business is it of yours where I go or what I do?”
She immediately tried to leave.
Varkas simply moved one long leg and blocked her path.
Trapped between the wagon and his tall frame, Talia looked up at him uneasily.
“W-What's wrong with you?”
“I've already seen enough unpleasant things after allowing you to wander around on your own.”
The sharpness of his tone made her shoulders tense.
Varkas stared at her for a long moment before letting out a faint sigh and jerking his chin.
“I'll escort you back to your quarters. Lead the way.”
“I-I don't need that. I can go by myself—”
“Is there some reason I shouldn't escort you?”
Without realizing it, Talia tightly gripped the knife hidden inside her pocket.
It was a foolish mistake.
She might as well have announced that she was hiding something.
Seeing Varkas's eyes narrow, Talia shoved both hands against his chest.
“Who cares? Move!”
She pushed with all her strength.
He did not budge.
Despite his lean build, he felt as immovable as forged steel.
Suppressing her fear, Talia lifted her chin defiantly.
“Didn't you hear me tell you to move?”
Varkas silently looked down at her.
Then he slowly stepped back.
Talia immediately seized the opportunity.
She squeezed through the narrow gap between him and the wagon and hurried to flee.
A powerful hand suddenly seized her arm and spun her around.
Before she could react, his hand slipped into her pocket.
The sharpened knife emerged in his grasp.
Talia's face went deathly pale.
Varkas examined the blade with elegant fingers.
Then he lowered his gaze to her.
His expression revealed nothing.
She could have lied.
She could have claimed it was merely for self-defense.
But confronted by those sharp eyes that seemed capable of dissecting every corner of her mind, her composure shattered.
Like a child whose only treasured toy had been stolen away, she lunged at him.
“Give it back!”
Varkas lifted the hand holding the knife higher.
Standing on tiptoe, Talia grabbed at his clothes and stretched desperately toward the blade.
“Give it back! Give it back to me!”
Varkas watched her struggle with a hard expression.
Then he abruptly threw the knife away.
Talia immediately bent down to retrieve it.
Before her fingers could close around the handle, however, a golden sabaton struck it away.
The knife skidded beneath a wagon.
Talia stared blankly after it.
Then she nearly threw herself onto the ground to crawl after it.
Before her body could touch the dirt, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and forcibly hauled her upright.
Talia twisted her face into a vicious glare.
She looked ready to kill him.
Yet Varkas looked no less irritated.
“I won't ask what you intended to do with that.”
He leaned close enough that his face nearly touched hers.
Each word fell from his lips like the edge of a drawn blade.
“From now on, there will always be someone watching you. Therefore, abandon every pointless and idiotic plan rattling around inside that tiny head of yours.”
Who are you to talk to me like that?
Who are you to take what's mine?
Who are you?
When you're going to become another woman's man.
When you're going to leave forever.
You make me want to kill her, and then you won't even let me do that.
The chaotic words clogged her throat.
She wanted to curse at him.
But if she opened her mouth, she feared she would start screaming and sobbing like a ten-year-old child.
So she clenched her jaw shut.
Varkas looked down at her quietly.
Then he straightened and motioned for her to walk.
Talia glared at him with eyes full of hatred before striding out from between the wagons.
His promise of constant surveillance had not been empty.
Varkas followed behind her like a shadow.
Once, that presence had been something she longed for so desperately it hurt.
Now it felt unbearable.
When she had wanted him beside her, he had never been there.
Yet the moment she finally made the most important decision of her life, he appeared only to interfere.
'To protect Aila...'
No.
Perhaps he was protecting Gareth instead.
He could never fully understand why she had hidden a knife in her pocket.
He would never understand why she cared so little about the half-brother who beat and humiliated her whenever he found the opportunity, yet ground her teeth bloody over the half-sister who endured her in silence.
Talia turned her head and looked toward the camp as darkness gradually settled over it.
Aila was probably enjoying herself right now.
Surrounded by people who loved her.
Thinking fondly of the happiness waiting in her future.
The image of that rosy face made Talia's already turbulent emotions boil over.
Disgusting woman.
She had everything.
And yet whenever she looked at Talia, she wore those sorrowful eyes.
Those unhappy expressions.
Every bit of it was unbearable.
I still want to kill her.
As she bit at the scabbed skin of her lips, Varkas—who had been silently following behind—suddenly grabbed her and shoved her backward.
Talia looked up at him in alarm.
For a terrifying moment, she wondered whether he had somehow seen straight into her heart.
But he was not looking at her.
His eyes were fixed on the sky.
Following his gaze, Talia turned her head.
Then she sucked in a sharp breath.
Something enormous was plummeting downward at a horrifying speed.
Before she could even identify what it ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ was—
BOOM.
A thunderous impact shook the ground.
A massive cloud of dust exploded into the air.
“A monster!”
Someone shouted.
The cry was immediately followed by screams erupting throughout the camp.
