He twisted his head and seized her wrist tightly.

Talia stubbornly held on and dug her nails into the soft flesh. Her face, which had been flushed scarlet, now turned deathly pale.

He writhed and let out choked, grotesque cries. Paying no heed, she pressed harder, as though she intended to crush his tongue into pulp.

At that moment, a shrill scream rang out from somewhere. Hurried footsteps followed, and someone grabbed her by the shoulder.

Talia let out a savage scream.

“Let go! I'll rip his tongue out so he can never spew that disgusting filth again!”

“M-my heavens! Somebody stop her!”

A piercing voice echoed through the corridor.

Ignoring it all, Talia gripped Lucas's jaw and forced her fingers deeper into his mouth.

Just as she was about to sink her nails into the root of his tongue, a powerful pressure wrapped around her waist, and suddenly her body rose into the air.

Panting furiously, Talia turned her head.

Varkas, who had lifted her up like a piece of luggage, was glaring at her with eyes colder than frost.

“What exactly is going on here?”

As though trying to comprehend the scene before him, he alternated his gaze between her and Lucas.

Then Lucas, who had been sitting there blankly as if unable to believe what had happened to him, jumped to his feet.

“Th-that woman tried to rip my tongue out! Look!”

Pointing furiously, Lucas stuck out his wounded tongue.

The veins in Talia's neck bulged.

“Come here! I'll tear it out by the roots!”

The boy recoiled in horror.

“S-see? She's really insane! She's out of her mind! Why did you marry someone like her instead of the First Imperial Princess? You should annul this marriage right now—!”

“Lucas Laedgo Siorcan.”

A low voice laced with a sigh settled heavily over the corridor.

Not only Lucas, but even Talia, who had been raging without reason, froze.

After taking a moment to steady his breathing, Varkas slowly continued.

“What exactly did you say to my wife?”

“I just...”

Lucas trailed off with a flustered expression.

Looking down at him with cold eyes, Varkas stated flatly,

“So it is something you cannot say in front of me.”

Lucas's face turned white.

His eyes darted around before he mumbled indignantly,

“No, but still... does anyone normally go this far...?”

Talia glared at him as though she wanted to kill him, but then Varkas's icy gaze turned toward her instead.

She stiffened involuntarily.

Like an inquisitor presiding over a trial, he questioned her.

“Would Your Highness care to explain what happened?”

Talia looked up at him with eyes full of fury.

As the insulting words his brother had spat out came back to her, her entire body began trembling.

He wanted her to repeat those words with her own mouth?

Grinding the words through clenched teeth, she replied,

“I'd rather die.”

Varkas narrowed his eyes.

Drawing a long breath as though gathering the last remnants of his patience, he said stiffly,

“You must tell me the reason if I am to deal with this appropriately.”

Lucas's face twisted. He looked as though he were the one suffering unfair treatment.

Staring at him as if she wanted to tear his face apart, Talia began twisting her body.

“I don't need anything. Put me down.”

“......”

“Didn't you hear me? Put me down.”

At last, he set her on the floor.

Straightening her throbbing legs, Talia swept her gaze over the people crowding the corridor.

Their flushed faces, drunk on wine, were watching curiously to see what had happened.

Disgust surged inside her.

Throwing hostile looks in every direction, Talia turned and headed toward the bedroom. The short distance felt as long as a thousand miles. She barely managed to open the door before throwing herself onto the bed.

Not long after, Varkas followed her in.

Burying her face in the pillow, Talia ignored his presence.

Otherwise, she felt she might throw herself at him and interrogate him like a madwoman, just as she had Lucas.

Is what your brother said true?

Did you really do that with Aila?

“Talia Roem Siorcan.”

One side of the bed sank, and a dark shadow fell over her head.

Talia's back tensed.

A rough hand wrapped around her shoulder. The next moment, he forcibly turned her over, and through eyes blurred by tears, she saw a face like a finely honed blade.

He questioned her sharply.

“Tell me properly. What happened?”

“What more is there to say?”

Talia shot back viciously.

“You saw it. I tried to rip your brother's tongue out, and you stopped me. What explanation do you need beyond that?”

“Why did you do it?”

“Because I wanted to.”

As though his patience had reached its limit with such childish bickering, Varkas's eyes turned icy.

Grabbing her chin, he murmured oppressively,

“How much longer do you intend to behave like a child?”

Talia twisted her face.

The one who crossed the line first had been Lucas Laedgo Siorcan.

So why was she the one being reprimanded?

Slapping his hand away, she snapped sharply,

“I only repaid the insult I received. If you want to blame someone, blame your father for raising his son like that.”

Like someone suffering a headache, he pressed his fingers against his temple.

“Revenge is carried out through representatives. Not by charging in yourself like some ten-year-old brat.”

“And who exactly would be my representative? Would you cut off your brother's head for my sake?”

Talia sneered.

“I expect nothing from you. If someone attacks me, I'll take revenge with my own hands.”

The coldness in his eyes became even harsher.

“So you'll climb on top of another man and have another dogfight?”

“Why not?”

Talia shot him a hostile look.

“If you don't want to see that, keep your brother out of my sight. If that brat dares show his face in front of me one more time, I'll truly kill him.”

The furrow between his brows deepened.

Seeing the expression of a man burdened with an unbearable headache made her fingertips itch.

Suppressing the urge to claw him to pieces, Talia crawled into the corner of the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.

How much time had passed?

She felt Varkas rise.

Soon afterward, the door closed, and a cold silence claimed the room.

Talia slowly poked her head out and looked around the empty chamber.

Once she was sure she was alone, the tears she had been holding back burst forth like a flood.

Biting her lip to stifle her sobs, Talia buried her face in the pillow and let out muffled cries.

At some point, she must have drifted off.

Opening her eyes in the dim darkness, Talia flinched at the sound of something rattling.

Turning her head, she saw Varkas arranging medicine bottles on a shelf. She stared blankly at him, and a calm gaze came over his shoulder.

“You kept groaning, so I brought painkillers. Take them and go to sleep.”

His composed demeanor, as though they had not been at each other's throats moments before, left a strange tightness in her chest.

Talia pulled the blanket up to the bridge of her nose.

“No.”

A weary sigh escaped his lips. There was impatience in the somewhat rough motion with which he brushed back his hair.

Was this man suppressing his anger as well?

Talia studied his face in the light.

His features were pale overall, and the only vivid color on that lightly pigmented face was his lips, which were frozen cold.

How long had she been staring at them?

Then Lucas Laedgo Siorcan's vile voice echoed in her mind.

‘Could it be that my brother still hasn't forgotten his former fiancée?’

Talia bit down on her lips.

The next moment, before she could even think, absurd words slipped from her mouth.

“If you feed it to me with your mouth, I'll take it.”

Varkas, who had just set down the bottle containing the medicine, froze and turned toward her.

Only when she saw his eyes widen slightly did she realize what she had just said.