Chapter 31
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 31 Chapter Title: A Night of Terror -----------------------------------------------------------------
31
The man's large hand slowly stroked her belly over the soft fabric of her clothes. It felt like he was caressing something that belonged to him.
"You use the same perfume as Mother. Lady Senevia's hair carried this scent too. Once you're intoxicated by it, it's like an addiction... you can't help but keep... keep seeking it out."
The man's hand groped its way up to the underside of her breast.
Talia instinctively twisted her body to escape his grasp. But the man didn't budge an inch.
He hugged her tightly from behind, pressing his wet, hot lips against the spot below her earlobe. It was like a caterpillar clinging to her skin, sucking out its juices.
Talia, who had gone rigid and was trembling, suddenly began thrashing like she was having a seizure.
The man shoved her down onto the soft carpet, pinning her there with brute force.
She flailed her arms and legs like a drowning person. The table toppled over, and the puzzle tower she'd painstakingly built over hours came crashing down in a heap. She crawled over it, desperately trying to escape the beast weighing her down, but he seized her ankle and yanked her back toward him.
Talia looked up at him with eyes wide in terror. A primal fear surged through her at the realization that someone could subdue her so effortlessly.
"Stay... just stay still for a moment."
The man gripped both her wrists with one hand and cupped her jaw with the other.
She strained to twist her head away, but she couldn't move a muscle. He pressed down on her cheeks, forcing her mouth open, then shoved his thick tongue inside.
A wave of nausea tightened her throat in agony. It felt like a massive slug had crawled into her mouth.
She didn't even have the courage to bite down on the horrific thing. Tears welled up as she gagged in pain. He rubbed his muscular bulk against her, breathing heavily in excitement.
"Ah... Lady Senevia... You have no idea how much I've missed you..."
The man's hand slipped under her skirt. Her entire body shuddered at the rough calluses scraping against her bare skin.
A terror like death itself washed over her. She felt his long, rigid fingers invading the depths between her thighs.
The sharp pain inside her made Talia open and close her mouth like a fish flung onto dry land. The man pressed his sticky, glue-like lips to the corner of her mouth and muttered in a hoarse voice.
"No need to struggle like that. The pain won't last. Your Highness will be screaming in pleasure soon enough..."
Then, in an instant, the crushing weight on her body vanished as if by magic.
Talia instinctively crawled to the corner and curled up. For a moment, she couldn't process what had just happened.
Only after a few seconds did she realize that Barkas, dressed in the uniform of the Roem Knights, had seized the man's head with one hand and was mercilessly smashing his face into the wall.
The scene was so surreal that she froze in shock. Half of the man's once-handsome face was scraped raw against the rough wall surface, soaked in blood, and grotesque moans of pain leaked from his gaping mouth.
"L-Let... let go... we can... talk..."
Barkas grabbed the man's hair roughly and slammed his head against the wall without mercy. Thud, thud—the heavy impacts turned the man's face into a mangled mess. Talia barely swallowed a scream.
"Talia."
He spoke quietly, his eyes fixed on the bloodied face.
"Go to your room."
It was impossibly calm, coming from the man who'd just acted so violently. Talia didn't even realize he was speaking to her until their eyes met—his blue ones dark like storm clouds.
"Talia Roem Guirta."
His voice was eerily serene. Barkas, who had dared to utter a princess's name so casually, added slowly.
"Didn't you hear me? Go to your room."
Talia stared up at him blankly from her huddled spot in the corner. Then an explosive shout burst from his lips.
"Now!"
In that instant, a sensation like sparks igniting spread through her entire body.
She bolted from the study like a horse lashed with a whip. She dove into her bedroom and burrowed under the thick covers, where a stinging ache bloomed across her skin.
She rubbed roughly at her tender flesh. The slick tongue and rough palm still seemed to crawl over her skin. Desperate to erase the sensation, she scrubbed her neck, chest, and thighs furiously, then began punching her own body with her fists.
It was horrific. The man, his groping hands on her body, the fact that Barkas had seen it all—everything was horrific.
She pounded her thigh until bruises formed, then buried her face in the pillow and let out an animalistic wail.
How long had she been like that when she sensed another presence? She jerked her head up.
Barkas stood in the doorway, as impeccably elegant as ever, without a single hair out of place.
"You'll never have to see that man again."
He stated it matter-of-factly. Talia blinked dazedly before whispering in a trembling voice.
"...Did you kill him?"
Barkas's brow furrowed faintly.
After a brief silence, he spoke again.
"He'll be permanently exiled. For the rest of his life, he won't set foot in the capital or any major city..."
At that moment, the last thread of her reason snapped. Talia grabbed a pillow and hurled it at his face.
"Why! Why did you let him live! You should have killed him! Tortured him to death! Cut off those filthy hands that touched me...! That dirty tongue that violated me...!"
She screamed like a madwoman, then suddenly clutched her throat, her shoulders shaking violently. A suffocating sensation swept over her, as if someone were strangling her.
"If you let that bastard live, he'll come back... come back to crush me again. To defile me. He said it himself—like an addiction, he'll keep... keep coming for me..."
A sob erupted unexpectedly from her constricted throat.
Talia covered her tear-distorted face with both hands and gasped for air. Then, like a woman possessed, she started throwing everything in sight at him.
"Useless bastard! I don't need someone like you! Get out! Get out! Disappear from my sight...!"
She flung books and dolls wildly, then suddenly froze. In her frenzy, she'd grabbed a candlestick—and it was flying straight at his head.
The heavy metal chunk scraped roughly across Barkas's forehead and temple before clattering noisily to the floor.
Talia gaped in shock as dark red blood stained his pale cheek and neck.
A strange sound like a sigh—"Ah... ah..."—escaped her throat. Barkas looked down at her with cold eyes, then slowly turned away.
A chill like ice water doused her entire body.
Talia scrambled off the bed to grab him, but he had already left the room.
She stared blankly into the dark corridor, then collapsed to the floor. She wanted to sink into the earth and disappear.
Barkas had saved her. Yet she'd lashed out at him in her rage. It would be strange if he wasn't disgusted. Of course he'd be sickened. She buried her crumpled face in the carpet and poured out hot tears.
After that day, Barkas never appeared before her again. It wasn't until months later, at the Imperial Knight Order commander's appointment ceremony, that Talia saw him.
From a distance, she watched him kneel on one knee before the Emperor and recite his oath of loyalty in a steady voice.
Her father drew the imperial sword and placed it on his shoulder. In a solemn tone, he proclaimed that Barkas was granted the position of commander of the Imperial Guard.
No one questioned his qualifications, despite the immense responsibility for a young man not yet twenty. Barkas turned slowly and descended the steps. Sunlight poured through the stained-glass windows like a torrent, illuminating his resolute face.
She etched that moment into her memory.
Barkas strode through the crowd with his back straight. His cool profile brushed past her indifferently.
As his retreating back moved farther away—beyond her reach—she whispered softly.
Goodbye.
Then, without thinking, she added.
Don't go.
Tears threatened to spill, and Talia furrowed her brow. Soon, his figure vanished completely from sight.
Seven years ago, the boy her mother had gifted her left her side just like that.