Regular footsteps echoed through the darkness. Gareth, who had been sitting on a garden bench staring at the pond, turned his head to look down the corridor.
Varkas, dressed immaculately in the dress uniform of the Imperial Knights, was walking out along the long arcade that connected to the garden. His movements reminded Gareth of a snake slithering slowly through deep, dark water.
Sometimes, Gareth wondered about the reason.
Pale, flaxen-colored blond hair, silver-tinted blue eyes, skin like plaster…
Why was it that a man composed of such faint, washed-out colors—like old parchment—emanated such a sinister aura?
Whenever he faced him, a chill would run down his spine for no reason at all.
“Your Imperial Highness.”
The man placed a hand over his heart and bowed. Gareth waved one hand dismissively with an annoyed expression.
“Drop the useless formalities.”
Even though he belonged to the Imperial Guard, the man was the one who would soon succeed Grand Duke Siorcan to rule the eastern region. He was by no means a person Gareth could treat lightly. Yet, Gareth gestured to him with his chin as if he were a lowly subordinate.
“How long do you intend to make me look up at you? Sit.”
Despite the rude treatment, there was no change in the man’s face. He sat on the marble bench with an indifferent expression—not displeased, yet not obsequiously submissive.
The Crown Prince scrutinized the refined, almost artificial features of the man. Though he appeared no different from usual at a glance, it was not difficult to guess that he was in a rather foul mood.
Had something not gone according to plan? Narrowing his eyes, Gareth asked in an accusatory tone.
“How did the interrogation go? Don’t tell me you failed to find out who was behind it?”
“I found out everything there was to know.”
The man, who had pulled down the collar of his tightly buttoned coat with one hand, replied in a monotonous voice.
“But it will not be the answer Your Highness desires.”
Gareth arched one eyebrow.
“Speak clearly.”
“The drug that was put in the Imperial Princess’s glass did not come from the Empress’s Palace.”
“Then?”
“It was prescribed by the Imperial apothecary to a maid working in the main palace. To begin with, it isn’t even classified as a poison. It only has the side effect of causing vomiting and stomachaches when taken in large quantities at once, so it isn’t kept under strict control.”
“So you’re saying a maid in the main palace suddenly lost her mind and drugged my sister’s glass?”
The Crown Prince burst into a mocking laugh as if the situation were absurd. However, the tendons on his thick neck were strained taut. It was a sign that the Crown Prince was furious to the core.
Yet, Varkas’s gaze, looking at Gareth—whose face was flushed with rage—remained infinitely dry.
“The maid did not drug it herself.”
“Then who is the culprit!”
Losing his patience, Gareth raised his voice.
“Don’t drag this out, give me the conclusion! If the Empress didn’t scheme it and the maid didn’t commit the accident, then who dared to meddle with my sister’s drink?”
“It was the work of the Second Imperial Princess.”
At the calm reply, Gareth, who had been huffing, froze.
“That wench?”
The Crown Prince’s face twisted viciously. When he spoke of the Empress, the Crown Prince was like boiling lava. But when he mentioned the illegitimate child she had brought with her, he looked like a man holding something filthy in his mouth. A grinding sound leaked from his tightly clenched jaw.
“If it’s that insane wench, she’s capable of it. When it comes to my sister, she’s a creature who loses all reason out of jealousy…”
Even at the crude profanity, worthy of a common street thug, Varkas showed no reaction. Gareth, who had been staring holes into the man, could not let go of his obsession and latched onto the Empress.
“Even so, isn’t it too early to be sure that Talia Roem Gwirta… that woman’s influence wasn’t at play? There’s every possibility that she incited her daughter…”
“If that were the case, she would have used a proper lethal poison, not a toy-like drug such as this.”
Varkas said coldly. His pale eyes shone sickly in the darkness.
“If it had been the Empress, she would not have left such a sloppy trail and allowed herself to be caught.”
Gareth went silent, unable to find a rebuttal. While it was insolent of him to interrupt, the contempt in his voice satisfied Gareth.
That this young man, who was otherwise indifferent to everything, would sharpen his blade when it came to the stain on the royal family, Talia Roem Gwirta, was immensely satisfying to him. It felt like a reaffirmation that this man was on his side—on their side.
“Indeed… Talia wouldn’t risk her standing with such a stupid stunt.”
Somewhat mollified, Gareth said in an upbeat tone.
“Talia, she’s brought this upon herself. I knew she would cause trouble someday.”
He wore a mischievous smile, much like when he used to terrorize the academy.
“Surely, she must have lost her mind because she lost you to my sister. For all this time, how much has that illegitimate girl, who knows no place, thrown her weight around, ordering the successor of a Grand Duke around like a pet? Now that the royal guard she considered her toy is about to become the ‘real’ Imperial Princess’s consort, she must have snapped.”
The man made no reply. Varkas Laedgo Siorcan was a man who spoke no more than was strictly necessary. Thus, his silence was not particularly strange.
However, Gareth sometimes found the man’s silence insufferable. Right now was one of those times. Staring intensely at Varkas as if demanding an answer, he said:
“Anyway, this time she won’t escape punishment. If things go well, I could even push for a charge of attempted murder…”
“It will not go as you wish.”
He interrupted the Crown Prince for the second time. Gareth’s eyes sharpened immediately. But the man’s gaze, looking at the empire’s next emperor, remained calm.
“First, there is only circumstantial evidence, no hard proof. If that woman decides to deny it, it will not be easy to prove she is the culprit.”
“That could be solved by using the maid who provided the drug as a witness…!”
“Do you truly think you can put the eldest daughter of Talia Roem Gwirta on the stand based solely on the testimony of a mere maid?”
While Gareth scrambled for a retort, the man continued calmly.
“Second, even if it is proven beyond a doubt that this was the work of the Second Imperial Princess, it is difficult to impose a severe punishment for merely spiking a drink to cause a stomachache. If she insists it was a lighthearted prank, it will end at most with a period of confinement.”
“A lighthearted prank?”
Gareth, who had been silently listening, finally let his temper explode. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the future Grand Duke by the collar.
“Do you know what kind of humiliation the woman who will be your wife suffered in front of everyone? She, who has never shown a moment of disorder, collapsed at the banquet hall while vomiting! Aila was in such pain, and you call that a lighthearted prank…!”
As if reliving the memory of that day, the Crown Prince’s bronzed face flushed red even in the darkness. He ground his teeth, his breathing ragged.
“Yes, I was too distracted then, but I saw it clearly—when Aila collapsed, that woman Talia was laughing in the distance! That filthy illegitimate wench, whom I would love to tear limb from limb, dared to do this to my sister…!”
“Your Highness.”
Gareth flinched and let go. He hadn’t exactly raised his voice, but beads of sweat broke out along his spine. Gareth took a step back, gauging Varkas’s reaction.
The man smoothed his disheveled attire with calm motions.
“That woman is not a being worth the Crown Prince’s concern to such a degree.”
His voice was monotonous, as if stating an obvious fact, like the sun setting to bring the night.
“Her only talent is tormenting people with such malicious pranks. Should the man who will become the ruler of the Empire really get so worked up over such a trivial prank?”
He spoke as if soothing a child.
Usually, Gareth would have been furious, demanding to know where he found the audacity to lecture him, but knowing he had overstepped the line, he held his tongue.
The man slowly rose from his seat. Even though he was being rude by leaving without the Crown Prince’s permission, his movements were as natural as flowing water.
“I have sent herbal medicine to the Imperial Princess to settle her stomach. Furthermore, I intend to strictly supervise all food and drink served at Your Highness’s table from now on.”
“So, you want me to just sweep this under the rug?”
“If Your Highness insists on uncovering the truth and punishing the Second Imperial Princess, I will not stop you. But I wish to be excused.”
At his listless response, Gareth’s face reddened. Varkas seemed to want to dismiss this incident as nothing more than a childish prank born of petty jealousy.
As the man said, if the Crown Prince and the heir to the Eastern Grand Duchy were to make a scene over such a trivial matter, it would only hurt their own prestige.
However, Gareth felt a strong resistance to his coldness. It wasn’t just because of his indifferent attitude toward his sister. Gareth glared at him with suspicious eyes.
“You aren’t protecting her, are you?”
The man, who had turned to head back the way he came, paused and cast a chilling look over his shoulder.
Just then, a breeze from the lake softly tousled his ash-gold hair. Yet, the man’s expression did not soften in the slightest. A smile, sharp as a whetted blade, filled his lips. It was the first expression to ever appear on that face, which was usually as quiet as a mask.
“Me? Protect that woman?”
Varkas let out a low laugh, as if he had heard an amusing story. But in the man’s blue eyes, sharp anger flickered.
Gareth was momentarily speechless. He knew this man loathed Talia. But he hadn’t known he harbored such strong hostility.
Was this not a man whose joys and sorrows had been thoroughly excised by priests? In fact, Gareth had never seen him show an ounce of emotion for over a decade.
What on earth could she have done to make this wooden man bare his fangs like this?
Gareth scrutinized him with curious eyes.
He had heard rumors that when this man was Talia Roem Gwirta’s personal guard, he had been subjected to all sorts of insults, but Gareth had never thought Varkas would be affected by it.
Was he not a man far too noble to be swayed by a child’s hysteria? He had assumed that to Varkas, Talia Roem Gwirta was merely a bothersome and annoying existence, nothing more. But it appeared that was not the case.
Varkas spoke through gritted teeth, his blue eyes gleaming with an eerie, warmthless light.
“I simply do not wish to be entangled with that woman ever again.”
With that, he turned and walked back the way he had come, as if he had nothing more to say.
Watching him move away silently like a water snake crossing the lake, a cold smile bloomed on Gareth’s lips.
‘Talia, I don’t know what you did, but this is good for me.’
Since the man who was supposed to be his strong supporter hated his enemy, their alliance would only grow stronger, wouldn’t it?
Gareth rose from his seat with a satisfied expression.