---------------
Brought to you by ‌‌‌Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest ‌‌releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

Chapter 38
"Let go of me!"
Talia lashed out at his shin, but Gareth was no fool to fall for the same trick twice. He deftly sidestepped her attack and twisted her arm with brutal force, then laughed mockingly in her face.
"I suspected as much... but I never imagined the Imperial Family's troublemaker harbored ‌‌romantic feelings for the Eastern Region's noble heir!"
Talia stared up at him with eyes wide with terror.
The ‌‌‌‌‌blood in her veins seemed to freeze. She quickly composed her scattered expression.
"Don't talk nonsense. Who—"
"Exactly. Pure nonsense. For a bastard to presume to ‌‌‌covet the heir of Grand Duke ‌‌Sierchan—how audacious!"
Delighted at having discovered his younger sister's weakness, Gareth's entire ‌‌body trembled with laughter.
He seized her chin with one hand and exhaled a sour, alcohol-reeking breath directly into her face.
"Blood never lies, does it? Of course a base-born harlot's instinct to eye another woman's man would never fade."
Talia glared at him with fierce intensity. Gareth sneered down at that venomous expression before releasing her with a shove. Then he added with a drawl.
"Dream on. Barcas is far beyond someone like you—"
"You've forgotten one thing, brother. I carry not only the blood of a base-born harlot, but also the blood of a man who abandoned his pregnant wife to dally with a young woman."
In that instant, the smile vanished from the Crown Prince's face as though wiped clean. ‌‌‌‌
Talia met his grotesquely twisted gaze ‌‌‌‌directly and continued with deliberate slowness.
"Which means that shameless man's blood flows through your veins as well, doesn't it?"
I could see the muscles in his ‌‌‌‌massive frame ‌‌‌tense with barely contained fury.
I knew I should stop here, yet I could not end this encounter having surrendered only my own secrets to him. I offered him the same bitter smile he had ‌given me.
"Since you've uncovered my secret, brother, why don't I unearth one of yours?"
A flicker of unease appeared in Gareth's eyes. Talia gazed at him mockingly before leaning close ‌‌‌to his ear and whispering softly.
"There's a whisper circulating among the handmaids—that His Highness ‌‌‌‌‌‌the Crown Prince seeks out only women with honey-blonde hair and eyes as blue as the sea, night after night."
The color drained from Gareth's bronze complexion.
Talia smiled ‌wickedly at his ashen face.
"I have a feeling I know who the woman you dreamed of when you first became a man and soiled your bed was... shall I take a guess?"
His entire ‌body convulsed as though struck by lightning. The thought crossed my mind that if I didn't stop now, I might actually be murdered this time. Yet, as always, I heeded the demon's voice that urged me forward.
"There's no need to tremble. I'm a good sister, after all, so I'll keep your secret to the grave. It seems His Highness the Crown Prince has inherited the Emperor's blood far more intensely than anyone realized."
The moment the words left my lips, a heavy impact sent my head snapping to the side.
Talia crumpled to the floor, clutching her burning face as though it were aflame.
Her vision swam as though she had a concussion. As she tried to push herself up while cradling her reeling head, Gareth descended upon her and wrapped his hands around her throat. Her eyes felt ‌‌ready to burst from their sockets.
Talia ‌‌fought desperately. She clawed ‌‌‌at his forearms with sharp nails and kicked at ‌‌his stone-like body, but her weakened frame was utterly powerless.
Like a fish thrashing on dry land, Talia convulsed, then her limbs went limp. At that moment, the iron grip crushing her throat suddenly released.
Talia twisted her body convulsively, gasping for breath. Through tear-blurred vision, she saw Barcas holding Gareth's ‌‌arm.
Barcas looked down at her ‌‌‌with a face like a mask, then turned his gaze toward Gareth.
He was still glaring at his half-sister as though he would kill her, his expression twisted with indignation and fury. The sight of him playing the victim was so absurd that laughter burst forth between my gasps.
Gareth's face flushed crimson as he raised his fist.
"You damned wench—!"
But his hand never ‌‌reached her. ‌‌
Barcas gripped his muscular forearm as easily as one might twist a child's wrist, his sharp gaze fixed upon her. He seemed utterly exasperated with her relentless scratching at her ‌‌‌brother even after nearly ‌‌being strangled to death.
"Escort ‌‌‌the Princess to her chambers."
He issued instructions to the Guard Knight, whose face had turned a sickly shade of blue.
The knight immediately moved to support her.
Talia brushed off his hand with cold indifference and staggered to her ‌‌‌feet. Then, as though ‌‌‌‌nothing had happened, she calmly dusted ‌‌‌‌the dirt clinging to her skirts. Gareth, his eyes blazing with fury, roared at Barcas.
"Let go of her this instant!"
"I can't stop!"
Ayla, watching from a distance, raised her voice. It was the first time she had witnessed her brother's violent outburst firsthand, and her face had gone deathly pale.
She hurried to his side and ‌spoke in a clipped, urgent tone.
"What on earth are you doing? You are the Crown Prince of this Empire! How could you behave so recklessly...!"
"Stay out of this!"
Gareth snarled like ‌‌‌a beast.
Ayla flinched and stepped back. She seemed genuinely shocked that the brother who had always been as docile as a puppy to her had bared his fangs. Talia turned to her half-sister ‌with a mocking smile.
"That's right. Sister, don't meddle in our affairs."
Ayla's emerald eyes flashed sharply as she glared at her. Then, catching sight of Talia's pitiful state, she stiffened. Talia touched her ‌‌‌swollen cheek with one hand and smiled strangely.
"It was merely a small quarrel between siblings, nothing more. Isn't that right, brother?"
As she ‌‌‌tilted her head as ‌‌if seeking agreement, the sound of teeth grinding between clenched jaws echoed.
She approached ‌‌‌the seething Gareth. Though the knight tried to block her way, she ignored him and looked directly up into her half-brother's dark green eyes.
"After all, we share secrets close enough to bind us together."
His face had turned crimson, as though it might ‌‌burst at any moment. His expression was one of barely restrained savagery.
Yet unwilling to risk exposing their sordid secret before his sister, he released the tension ‌‌‌from his body and spoke through gritted teeth.
"...Take your hands off me."
Barcas, who had been studying Gareth's face intently, ‌‌‌‌released his grip. The force he ‌had applied was evident in the clear handprints ‌‌left on the sun-darkened skin. Gareth, cradling his arm and nursing it, glared at Barcas ‌‌‌‌and ‌‌Talia in turn with ‌‌‌hostile eyes, then abruptly turned and strode toward the campsite.
As I watched his defeated figure retreat, I felt a cold gaze upon me. Talia wiped the smile from her face and straightened her head. The expressionless, emotionless face that always concealed his feelings gazed down at me with quiet intensity.
Yet ‌‌‌‌within his ice-cold eyes, Talia could ‌‌clearly discern the emotions of disillusionment and rage.
He seized her arm with his gauntleted hand ‌‌‌‌and nodded to the knight.
"Escort the First Princess to her quarters."
Then, ‌‌with a slight bow to Ayla, who stood rigidly in ‌‌‌place, he led Talia away ‌through ‌‌the trees as though conducting a prisoner.
She twisted her face in contempt.
Regardless of what anyone said, she was the Princess of the Empire. A servant of the Imperial Family could not possibly drag the Emperor's daughter around like a common ‌‌dog.
Talia wrenched her arm free from his grasp with force.
"You insolent wretch! Release me at ‌‌‌‌once...!" ‌‌‌
In that instant, her body lifted into the air. Talia screamed. Barcas, hoisting her onto one shoulder like a sack of cargo, strode through the tents, ignoring the shocked stares around him.
Talia's face flushed crimson as she thrashed like a maddened beast. Though she pounded his back and shoulders with her fists and kicked savagely, ‌‌‌‌Barcas remained utterly unmoved.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------