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Chapter 42
Over ‌‌‌the past several days, I had been watching with keen ‌‌‌eyes, and now I caught sight of the ‌‌‌Unknown ‌‌‌‌Woman slipping silently ‌‌‌‌‌between the tents and disappearing into the darkness.
Talia, observing through narrowed eyes, carefully began to follow in her wake.
The Unknown Woman moved with practiced grace, drawing no attention to herself—her footsteps so quiet and nimble that had I not been trained in the distinctive movements taught within the Taren Family, I would have lost her in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the Unknown Woman crossed the campsite and vanished between the long row of supply carriages.
After a brief hesitation, Talia crept behind one of the massive supply carriages and peered through the narrow gap between them. But the Unknown Woman had already vanished without a trace.
With a bewildered expression, Talia squeezed between the large carriages when something suddenly caught beneath her foot with a soft thud.
'What is this...?'
Bending down, Talia ‌‌‌discovered a small glass vial ‌‌‌‌wedged beneath a wheel and furrowed her brow.
As she lifted it ‌‌‌to examine more closely, she felt a few drops of slick liquid clinging to the bottle's mouth dampen her fingers.
She gasped in alarm and hurled the vial away. Bringing her hand close to ‌‌‌her face, she inhaled sharply—and was assaulted by an overpowering stench of cloying floral perfume mingled with the acrid reek of animal fluids. The nauseating odor was so overwhelming that her head spun and bile rose in her throat. She grimaced and wiped the strange liquid away with her handkerchief, but the foul ‌‌‌‌‌stench clung stubbornly to her skin.
'This is absolutely vile.'
She hurled the ‌‌‌‌‌soiled handkerchief to the ‌‌ground and straightened, only to notice a dark shadow looming directly above her head.
Talia's head snapped up and she let out a scream, stumbling backward onto the earth. Barcas stood over me ‌‌‌with a cold, impassive expression.
"What are you doing in ‌‌‌a place like this?"
Talia stared ‌‌‌up at him in a daze before scrambling to her feet.
How long had he been watching me? ‌‌‌
My heart hammered wildly even though I hadn't done anything wrong yet. I forced myself to appear composed and spoke with a sharp edge to my voice.
"You startled me! Why do you move around ‌like a mouse ‌without making a sound?"
"You still haven't answered my question."
Barcas let her barbed remark pass in one ear and out the other, unfolding his arms from across his chest as he took another step closer.
Talia hesitated for a moment before her eyes narrowed defiantly.
"Why should I answer your questions? What business is it ‌‌‌of yours what I do or where I go?"
She tried to flee, but Barcas extended his long legs to block her path.
Trapped between the supply carriage and his lean frame, Talia looked up at him with anxious eyes.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because I knew if I let you wander about alone, you'd find yourself in some sordid situation."
At his sharp tone, Talia's shoulders tensed.
Barcas stared down at her intently before releasing a faint sigh and tilting his head slightly.
"I'll escort you ‌‌‌back to your quarters. Please, lead the way."
"No, ‌‌I don't need... I can go alone."
"Is there some reason I shouldn't escort you?"
Talia's hand instinctively clenched around the hilt of the dagger hidden in her pocket—a foolish gesture that all but announced she was concealing something.
Noticing his eyes narrow, Talia shoved against his chest with both hands.
"Mind your own business! Get out of my way!"
Despite putting all her strength into the push, he didn't budge an inch. Beneath his slender appearance lay a body as unyielding as iron.
Talia lifted her chin with feigned confidence, ‌‌‌masking her fear.
"Didn't you hear me? Move!"
Barcas regarded her silently for a moment, then slowly stepped back.
Talia seized the opportunity and quickly squeezed through the narrow gap between him and the carriage, attempting to ‌‌flee when a firm hand grasped her arm and forcefully turned her around.
Before I could even gasp, his hand plunged into the pocket of my gown ‌‌‌‌and withdrew ‌a knife honed to a razor's edge.
Talia looked up at him with a face drained of all color. Barcas ran his thumb along the blade with an elegant motion, then gazed down at me with ‌‌eyes ‌so devoid of emotion they seemed to pierce straight through to my soul.
I could have simply claimed I carried it for self-defense. But faced with that penetrating stare—as though he were dissecting the very contents of my ‌‌‌mind—my reason shattered into a thousand pieces and scattered to the wind.
Like a child robbed of her only toy, I lunged at him with savage desperation.
"Give it back!"
He raised the hand holding the knife ‌high above his head.
Standing on my tiptoes, ‌I clawed at his uniform and stretched my arm as far ‌‌‌‌as it would reach.
"Return it! I'm ‌‌‌telling you to return it!"
Barcas, watching me thrash about in my frenzy with an impassive face, hurled ‌‌‌‌the knife away.
I scrambled forward to retrieve it, but before my fingers could close around the blade, a boot encased in golden sabatons kicked it far ‌‌‌‌out of reach.
I stared blankly as the knife skidded beneath the carriage, my body already bending to crawl after it. But before I could touch the ground, a long, muscular arm wrapped around my waist and forcibly hauled me upright.
I twisted my face into a snarl and glared at him with murderous intent. Yet Barcas's expression was ‌equally raw with barely contained fury.
"I won't ask what you intended to do with that."
Barcas brought his face close to mine and spoke each word as though spitting them out. His lowered voice ‌‌cut like a razor-sharp blade.
"From now on, you will be under constant surveillance. So discard every foolish and senseless scheme rattling around in that small head of yours."
Who do you think you are to speak ‌‌‌to me that way?
Who do you think you are to take what's mine?
Who do you think you are?
When you're going to become another woman's man.
When you're going to leave me forever.
Why do you ‌make me want ‌‌‌to kill that woman, then prevent me from doing anything about it?
Incoherent words choked my throat.
I wanted to curse, ‌‌‌to scream obscenities, but ‌‌‌‌if I opened my mouth I feared I would wail and shriek ‌‌like a ten-year-old child. So I clenched my ‌jaw shut.
Barcas observed me in silence for a moment, then straightened and jerked his chin forward, gesturing for me to move ahead.
I shot him a glare burning with hatred and walked quickly between the carriages. True to his word about constant surveillance, ‌‌‌‌he followed behind me like a shadow.
That presence I had once yearned for so desperately now felt unbearably suffocating. He was never there when I needed him, yet the moment I made the most crucial decision of my life, he appeared to obstruct me.
'To protect Ayla...'
No. Perhaps it was ‌‌to protect Gareth instead.
He would never fully understand why I kept a knife in my pocket. He wouldn't comprehend why I gnashed my teeth at the half-sister who ‌endured me silently, while paying no mind to the half-brother who beat me whenever the opportunity arose.
I turned my head to gaze at the Campsite as darkness began to settle over it.
Ayla was surely enjoying herself right now. Surrounded by people who loved her, savoring the happy future that awaited her.
At the thought of that flushed, radiant face, my already turbulent insides churned with rage. That detestable ‌‌‌woman. Despite having everything, she wore that pitiful expression whenever she saw me, that sorrowful look—it was all so repugnant. ‌‌
I really did want to kill her.
As I gnawed at my scabbed lips while entertaining such thoughts, Barcas, ‌‌‌who had been quietly following behind, suddenly seized me and shoved me backward with force.
I looked up at him with wide, startled eyes.
For a moment, my heart sank—had he somehow seen into my mind? But he wasn't looking at me.
I followed his gaze upward to the sky, my breath catching sharply. Something massive—the size of a house—was plummeting toward us at ‌‌‌‌a terrifying speed. Before I could even identify what it was, there came a deafening crash and a cloud of dust erupted violently into the air.
"A monster!"
At someone's shout, screams of pure terror erupted from all directions.

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