Chapter 29
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 29 Chapter Title: Shattered Illusions -----------------------------------------------------------------
Talia fidgeted awkwardly with her hands before spitting out a prickly tone.
"If... if you cut even a single strand of my hair, I won't let you get away with it."
He made no reply. But his movements seemed a little more careful now. At his touch, gentle as if caressing her own hair, Talia swallowed hard.
Through the open collar of his shirt, she could see his thick Adam's apple and the elegant jut of his collarbones, like a bird's wings. She vividly felt the flex of his supple yet powerful forearms with every motion, and she was overly aware of his long legs, clad in wool trousers, positioned right next to her thigh.
Talia bowed her head to hide her flushed face.
"H-how much longer?"
Was freeing her hair from the button really taking this long? Or was she so tense that this moment felt unrealistically drawn out? Sweat began to bead on her palms.
She rubbed her hands against the pile of clothes on the floor. Then she startled at the sight of the blush creeping all the way to the insides of her wrists.
Surely her whole body wasn't turning red? How unseemly would she look! She raised her voice irritably.
"Just cut it off already!"
Uncharacteristically slow and hesitant for a man who was usually quick and alert, Barkas finally slipped a hand to his waist.
She froze as she saw him draw a dagger. He reached around behind her back again. Unconsciously, Talia clutched tightly at the hem of his clothes.
"B-but don't cut too much, my hair..."
Before she could finish, there was a soft snip, and the faint pressure on her scalp vanished. Terrified that he might have hacked off a chunk of her hair, Talia whipped around in a panic.
Thankfully, no severed locks were in sight. Instead, a gleaming golden button lay on the floor.
She picked it up and examined it closely. The finely crafted button bore the emblem of the Roem Knights.
She turned back to look up at him. Barkas had already risen to his feet and was sheathing the dagger at his waist.
"How long do you plan to stay sitting there?"
As he straightened his disheveled clothes, Barkas spoke in a curt tone.
Talia rose hesitantly. For some reason, the air felt awkward. She cleared her throat pointedly and held out the button toward him.
"Here, this."
"I don't need it. Throw it away."
Barkas dismissed it offhandedly and glanced out the window. The sky had already been dyed red by the sunset.
He turned back, surveying the messy room with a weary exhale.
"May I take my leave now?"
Talia nodded without protest. He gave a brief nod and promptly left the room.
Talia listened quietly to his receding footsteps, then dashed to the bedside, pulling out her jewelry box. She tucked the button into the deepest compartment.
That night, a strange excitement kept her from sleep. Indefinable emotions made her chest ache sweetly.
She replayed his words, actions, and gazes over and over.
Maybe. No. It couldn't be. But maybe.
Scattered thoughts crowded her mind. Her head felt like it might explode. Yet somehow, she smiled.
Drenched in happiness, she tossed and turned all night.
But it didn't take long for her adolescent daydreams to shatter. A few days later, news arrived of Barkas and Aila's engagement.
It felt like waking from a vivid daydream. No, worse—like soaring to the clouds only to plummet to the ground in an instant.
She bolted from the Detached Palace straight to the training grounds. He would come to see her at noon to fulfill his duties as her guard knight, but she couldn't wait that long.
Crossing half the imperial palace in one breathless sprint, Talia burst into the wide clearing where knights were training. She felt wary glances turn her way, but in that moment, she didn't care one bit.
Her eyes frantically scanned for ash-blond hair gleaming pale. Then she realized the people filling the training ground weren't regular knights but trainee recruits, and she turned on her heel. If he wasn't here, he was likely in his office handling paperwork.
She headed to the barracks next to the training grounds. Sure enough, Barkas was in his office. But he wasn't working.
As Talia grasped the doorknob, a faint sob stopped her. Through the crack in the door, she saw Barkas standing with his back to the window, and a woman burying her face in his chest, weeping.
Frozen by the unimaginable scene, she watched as the mystery woman lifted her head, gazing up at him with desperate eyes.
"You don't love that woman, do you?"
Her voice was pitifully plaintive, turning Talia's stomach. The woman clung to him like a beggar pleading for mercy.
"You're only marrying her for political reasons, right? Please, just say it."
Talia's throat tightened suddenly. The mere fact that a woman existed who could beg him like this felt like a blow to the head.
With bated breath, she watched his face. Finally, his tightly pressed lips parted.
"I fail to see what my answer means to you."
His voice was utterly flat, sending chills down her spine.
Talia involuntarily hunched her shoulders. Staring down at the woman with a face as lifeless as a wax doll, Barkas tilted his head as if puzzled.
"Political reasons or not, what difference does it make? I have pledged to take Her Highness the 1st Princess as my wife, and I intend to honor that promise."
The woman's slender back stiffened noticeably. She was doubtless feeling her heart tear apart.
But the man didn't stop there.
"I don't know what you expected from me, but I've made it clear from the start that I have no intention of reciprocating your feelings."
Color drained from the nape of the woman's neck. Seemingly unmoved by the pitiful sight, he sighed tiredly and added,
"I hope there are no more awkward encounters like this. Now that the engagement is official, I'd like to avoid any unnecessary scandals."
The woman staggered back before collapsing to the floor like someone drained of strength. A flicker of annoyance crossed Barkas's face.
Chills ran through Talia at that impassive expression, devoid of even a shred of pity. That face, those eyes... everything was chillingly familiar.
Talia fled the scene in haste.
If she had arrived just a little sooner, it would have been her sobbing on the floor instead of that woman.
Just imagining it sent shivers down her spine. If she begged for love and Barkas looked at her with those eyes, she might have died on the spot. No, she surely would have.
That was why Talia was truly afraid of him now. He could drive her to death with a few words, and she feared him sincerely.
Naturally, her attitude toward Barkas grew even more guarded than before.
He was less the object of her unrequited love and more like a natural predator. If she couldn't perfectly suppress these feelings, she would live in agony from here on out.