“Let go of me!”

Talia kicked at his shin.

But Gareth was not foolish enough to fall for the same trick twice. He swiftly avoided the blow, then viciously twisted her arm behind her back and burst into light, mocking laughter right in her face.

“I never would’ve imagined it... The imperial family’s greatest nuisance secretly harboring feelings for the eastern young lord!”

Talia stared up at him with horrified eyes.

It felt as though every drop of blood in her body had frozen solid.

She hurriedly forced her expression back under control.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Who would ever—”

“You’re right. It is nonsense. An illegitimate bastard not knowing her place and daring to covet the heir of House Siorcan!”

Apparently delighted at finally uncovering the weakness of the half-sister he had always despised, Gareth was practically shaking with laughter now.

He seized her chin with one hand and breathed sour, alcohol-laced breath directly into her face.

“Blood never lies, does it? Then again, where would the filthy nature of a cheap whore who covets another woman’s man possibly go?”

Talia glared at him with blazing eyes.

Gareth smirked down at her vicious face before shoving her away and releasing her.

Then he added lazily,

“So stop dreaming impossible dreams. Varkas isn’t someone trash like you could ever dare to—”

“You forgot one thing, Brother. The blood running through me doesn’t belong only to a vulgar whore. It also belongs to a man who abandoned his heavily pregnant wife to fool around with a girl barely out of childhood.”

In an instant, the smile vanished completely from the Crown Prince’s face.

Talia slowly continued while staring directly into that grotesquely twisted expression.

“Now that I think about it, that shameless bastard’s blood runs through your body too, doesn’t it?”

She saw tension flood his massive muscular frame.

She knew she should stop here.

But she could not allow things to end with him alone holding her weakness over her head.

Talia curved her lips into the same filthy smile he had shown her.

“Since you uncovered my secret, perhaps I should uncover one of yours as well?”

For the briefest moment, faint unease flickered in Gareth’s eyes.

Talia watched it mockingly before leaning close to whisper softly into his ear.

“There’s a discreet rumor circulating among the maids. They say His Highness the noble Crown Prince only seeks out women with deep wheat-colored hair and eyes as blue as the sea.”

The bronze color drained instantly from Gareth’s face.

Talia smiled maliciously at his deathly pale expression.

“For some reason, I feel like I know exactly who the woman in your dreams was the first night you became a man and dirtied a bed for the very first time...”

Her lips curved further.

“Should I take a guess?”

His entire body convulsed as though struck by lightning.

A voice in her mind warned that if she did not stop now, he truly might kill her this time.

But as always, Talia listened to the devil urging her onward.

“There’s no need to tremble like that. I’m a kind sister, after all. I’ll keep your secret until the very end. The fact that His Highness the Crown Prince seems to have inherited the Emperor’s blood very, very strongly.”

The moment she finished speaking, a violent impact snapped her head sideways.

Talia collapsed onto the ground, clutching her burning cheek.

Her vision swam violently, as though she had suffered a concussion.

Dizzy, she tried to push herself upright—

Only for Gareth to climb over her and wrap both hands around her throat.

It felt as though her eyes would burst from their sockets.

Talia struggled desperately.

She clawed bloody marks down his arms with her sharp nails and kicked wildly against his stone-like body, but her weakened body was pitifully powerless.

Flopping helplessly like a fish dragged onto land, Talia soon went limp.

Then suddenly, the crushing force strangling her neck vanished all at once.

Talia twisted violently and sucked in ragged breaths.

Through tear-blurred ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) vision, she saw Varkas gripping Gareth’s arm.

Varkas looked down at her with an expressionless face that resembled a mask before shifting his gaze toward Gareth.

The Crown Prince was still glaring at his half-sister as though he wanted to kill her.

His face twisted with fury and humiliation.

The sight of him acting like the victim was so absurd that laughter escaped Talia between coughing fits.

Gareth’s face flushed crimson as he raised a fist.

“You fucking bitch...!”

But his hand never reached her.

Varkas had seized Gareth’s thick muscular arm as casually as though restraining a child.

Then he turned a sharp gaze upon Talia instead.

It was as though he had become utterly sick of her inability to stop provoking her brother even after nearly dying.

“Escort the Second Imperial Princess back to her quarters.”

He issued the order to the guard knight who had rushed over with a pale face.

The knight immediately moved to support her.

Talia violently shook off the helping hand and staggered upright on her own.

Then, as though nothing whatsoever had happened, she calmly brushed the dirt from her skirts.

Gareth stared at her with burning eyes before shouting at Varkas.

“Take your hands off me right now!”

“That’s enough!”

Aila’s sharp voice rang out from nearby.

Apparently this was the first time she had witnessed her younger brother’s violent temper so closely. Her face had gone completely white.

She hurried toward him and demanded in a stiff voice,

“What in the world are you doing? You’re the Crown Prince of this Empire! How could you possibly behave in such a disgraceful—!” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“Stay out of this!”

Gareth snarled like a beast.

Aila flinched backward.

She looked deeply shocked that the younger brother who always behaved gently around her like a tame dog had suddenly bared his fangs.

Watching her half-sister, Talia spoke mockingly.

“That’s right. Sister shouldn’t interfere in our affairs.”

Aila shot her a sharp glare with glittering emerald eyes.

Then her gaze fell upon Talia’s miserable state, and her body stiffened.

Talia lightly touched her swollen cheek with one hand and smiled strangely.

“It was only a minor disagreement between siblings. Isn’t that right, Brother?”

She tilted her head as though asking for agreement.

A grinding sound came from between Gareth’s clenched teeth.

Talia walked directly toward him.

A knight stepped in front of her as though trying to stop her, but she ignored him entirely and stared straight into Gareth’s dark green eyes.

“In truth, we’re close enough to share secrets, aren’t we?”

His face was now so red it looked ready to explode.

He wore the expression of a man who wanted to devour her alive.

But apparently he had no desire to risk having his filthy secret exposed in front of his sister.

The tension slowly drained from his body as he said in a strangled voice,

“...Take your hand off me.”

Varkas silently studied Gareth’s face for a moment before finally releasing him.

Apparently he had been gripping him quite hard. Clear finger marks remained pressed into Gareth’s sun-darkened skin.

Gareth rubbed at them silently before glaring back and forth between Varkas and Talia with naked hostility.

Then he abruptly turned and stalked back toward the camp.

Talia giggled softly while watching his retreating figure, which resembled that of a defeated soldier.

Then she felt a cold gaze settle over her.

The laughter vanished from her face.

She slowly lifted her head.

As always, Varkas was staring down at her with an unreadable expression.

But Talia could clearly read the disgust and fury hidden within those icy eyes.

He grasped her arm with a gauntleted hand and motioned toward the knight.

“Escort the First Imperial Princess back to her quarters.”

Then he gave Aila, who still stood frozen stiff, a brief bow of the head before dragging Talia away between the trees as though escorting a criminal.

Talia’s face twisted viciously.

Whatever anyone said, she was still an Imperial Princess of the Empire.

A mere vassal of the imperial family had no right to drag the Emperor’s daughter around like some stray mutt.

Talia violently jerked her arm free.

“You insolent bastard! Let go of me this inst—!”

Suddenly, her body lifted clear off the ground.

Talia screamed.

Ignoring the horrified stares around them, Varkas slung her over one shoulder like luggage and strode through the tents.

Talia’s face burned scarlet as she thrashed like a furious beast.

She pounded violently against his back and shoulders with her fists and kicked savagely, but Varkas did not so much as flinch.