Together on the Road
Thalia turned to him with a rigid expression.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means we will be living together from now on,” he replied calmly.
“There will be times during the tour when we must ride, but I intend to use the carriage with you whenever possible.”
She swallowed hard.
“Then the lodging……”
“We will share that as well.”
Her heart dropped like a stone. She could not tell whether it was from fear or from the emotion that had tormented her for so many years.
Twisting the jade bracelet on her wrist, Thalia spoke with growing agitation.
“Do we really have to?”
Barcas offered no reply. Thalia soon began to pour out her words in attack.
“You knew perfectly well what people would say if we married. The whole world already knows the truth behind our wedding. Pretending to be a happy couple will only make us look more ridiculous.”
“We do not need to appear especially fond of each other.”
Barcas let out a long breath.
“It is enough if we merely seem capable of a normal marital relationship.”
Thalia’s face, which had worn a puzzled look, suddenly widened in shock.
Was “marital relationship” what she thought it was?
She stared blankly at his ascetic face, which showed not the slightest trace of human desire, as he continued in an even tone.
“Regardless of how our marriage came about, we are husband and wife now. I trust Your Highness understands the duties that follow marriage for any noble. If we simply appear to be a normal couple, it will benefit both your position and mine.”
Thalia’s face flushed crimson. It seemed he truly meant what she had feared.
A foolish question slipped through her trembling lips.
“So you’re saying we have to look like we’re sharing a bed?”
A faint crease formed at the corner of his eye—an expression that might have been a smile or a frown.
“If we are to speak plainly.”
Thalia bit her lip and slowly let her gaze travel down his body.
Beneath the thin, lustrous silk, his lean, powerful frame was clearly outlined: broad shoulders, a chest sculpted with fine muscle, a narrow waist, and legs long and strong like a horse’s.
Breath caught in her throat. She dropped her eyes in haste. Her own thin, scarred legs were faintly visible beneath the skirt.
A sharp pang twisted in her stomach. Even her mother had frowned at the sight. The nanny who had raised her since infancy could never hide her discomfort when bathing her.
The mere thought of revealing such ugliness to him sent a cold sweat down her back.
Clutching her skirts, she spat out in a sharp voice, “I refuse. Let them gossip all they like. People will talk however they please—that’s what mouths are for. Why should I put on such a ridiculous act just to satisfy the servants?”
“Thalia.”
A large hand covered the back of her stiff one. Startled, she looked up.
Barcas gripped her cold hand firmly and spoke with quiet finality.
“I am not asking you to put on an act.”
“……”
“We only need to show the outside world that we are spending time together.”
His words sounded more like a request than a command. That fact silenced the refusals rising in her throat.
Thalia studied his face with trembling eyes. Fatigue showed clearly on his features. Given the attitude of the Duke of Siarkan, Barcas’s own position might be precarious as well. While she had shut herself away in her room, he had driven himself without rest to secure his standing.
Her mouth suddenly went dry. If Aila had come here, she would have rolled up her sleeves for Barcas. With her natural leadership and dignity, she would have helped strengthen his position.
He would never have needed to make such a request. The two of them would have spent a proper wedding night and continued their marital life naturally.
Thalia bit her lower lip. Self-loathing thoughts chased one another. How had Barcas treated Aila? If he could show such generosity even to an enemy like herself, he must have been far more attentive to Aila—never less.
Just as he had tried to touch her at every opportunity, he would have laid his hands on Aila without hesitation. She could picture him caressing Aila’s cheek or ear, wrapping an arm around her waist. In her imagination the two of them went even further without restraint. The more she thought, the more her heart burned.
Thalia wrenched her hand free from his grasp and turned her gaze to the window, struggling to suppress the boiling emotions.
“Do as you like.”
A heavy silence fell. She wanted to check his expression, yet somehow she was afraid.
Thalia rested her elbows on the windowsill and pretended to watch the cavalry.
Before long, a resounding horn sounded and the carriage began to move forward.
Thalia leaned slightly out the window. As the carriage passed through the castle gates, a vast plain spread before her eyes. Fierce gusts swept across the open land that met the sky.
Watching the grassland turning ocher, Thalia stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye.
Barcas was also gazing out at the field. The white sunlight cast a dazzling backlight across his face.
A strange emotion tightened in her chest.
In this unfamiliar and beautiful land, she would have to spend time with him.
Could she protect the fragile walls she had only just begun to build?
* * *
Lucas swung the reins without restraint.
It had been nearly a week since he last rode. Turgan, left idle for days and now full of pent-up energy, snorted roughly and raced across the grassland with powerful strides.
He could feel the stallion’s taut muscles rippling beneath his thighs.
Lucas rose in the stirrups and let out a wild cheer. The dry wind scraped harshly across his body. It was exhilarating to the point of pain.
“Do not leave the formation, my lord!”
Tyron, riding alongside, shouted at him. Lucas turned with a displeased look.
“What’s the big deal?”
“I only managed to get permission to accompany you by promising to teach you proper conduct as a retainer to the young master! If you act so recklessly, what does that make me?”
Lucas clicked his tongue sharply and pulled on the reins. Once he had calmed the excited horse, Tyron slowed as well and drew closer.
“As I said earlier, you will be serving as one of the Grand Duke’s knights for a while. Stay close to the carriage.”
“You don’t understand. I’m doing this for my brother’s sake.”
Lucas spoke with a mocking edge.
“He’ll hate seeing me hanging around even more. That woman will feel the same.”
After spitting out the barbed words, he looked back at the carriage slowly crossing the hill in the distance.
The cheek she had struck still itched. The redness and swelling had taken two days to subside.
He pursed his lips.
“You saw what she did to me that day.”
“I also saw you press your nose to the back of her neck, my lord.”
Lucas flinched, his face reddening.
“When you put it like that, I sound like a real pervert! I only leaned in because I smelled something strange!”
“……”
“No matter how you say it, it still sounds perverted.”
Tyron shook his head in exasperation.
“As the Grand Duke said, both of you need to learn proper noble etiquette. Using the excuse that the previous Grand Duke was bedridden, you have been far too free-spirited until now.”
Lucas glared at him with narrowed eyes. The way Tyron subtly took Barcas’s side made his temper flare.
“You’ve completely fallen for my brother.”
Tyron did not bother to deny it. He had already accepted Barcas as his liege.
It was not only Tyron. The stodgy old elders had voiced concerns over Barcas’s radical actions, but the hot-blooded warriors had offered enthusiastic support. They had all been starving for strong leadership.
Honestly, even Lucas himself was half captivated by the overwhelming martial prowess Barcas had displayed. Yet he had no desire to admit it openly.
“Fine. I’ll admit I was rude. But that woman wasn’t exactly gentle either! Why are we the only ones being punished?”
“She is royalty, after all.”
Tyron spoke in a flat tone.
“And now she is the Grand Duchess as well. From now on, it would be wise to watch your words. You heard what Sir Daren said earlier, didn’t you?”
He made a slicing motion across his throat with his fingertip.
“She is the kind of person who can hurl sharp words even before the Duke of Siarkan without so much as blinking. Someone like you would be filleted to the bone with three inches of tongue. For the sake of peace in the east, please do not provoke her unnecessarily.”