Startled, Talia lifted her head and met a face that had turned cold and hard.

Varkas looked down at his younger relative with sharp eyes and spoke quietly.

“You’ve been raised with quite a lack of manners.”

The youthful face of the boy twisted into a sulky expression.

Varkas released his hand as though shaking off something unpleasant and turned his gaze toward the middle-aged man standing beside the stairs.

“How exactly did you teach him his manners?”

“I have no excuse.”

The stern-looking man bowed his head apologetically.

Seeing that, the boy immediately raised his voice.

“If you have something to say, say it to me! Why are you scolding someone else for it?”

Varkas’s ice-cold eyes immediately turned toward him.

The boy, who had shouted so boldly, shrank back and lowered his eyes.

“It’s not like it wears out. She could at least let us see her face.”

At his muttering, Talia raised her eyes sharply. The way he spoke as though she were some rare animal to be gawked at instantly made her blood boil.

“How dare you treat me like some spectacle—!”

Just as she was about to snap at him, long fingers blocked her vision.

Varkas pulled her hood down tightly, covering her eyes, and climbed the stairs.

Talia stared in disbelief.

She simply could not understand why he insisted on hiding her so thoroughly. Was he trying to prevent her from clashing with his household?

Pushing the hood back, she glared viciously.

“What exactly are you trying to do? You could at least introduce me!”

“You’ve been suffering from a fever throughout the journey.”

Crossing the spacious marble-floored hall, he replied calmly.

“First, recover your strength. Introductions can be made later, once Your Highness is feeling better.”

“I’m perfectly fi—!”

She was about to argue, but a dry cough scraped up her throat.

Covering her mouth, Talia's shoulders shook. Her throat, dried by the fever, stung as though it had been rubbed with sandpaper.

Varkas let out a small sigh.

“Stop wasting your strength and go to sleep.”

Then he once again pulled the hood over her head.

Still glaring at him with a frown, Talia eventually lowered her head weakly.

As he said, several days of illness had drained all her strength. Deep down, she felt relieved that the uncomfortable meeting had been postponed. Yet unable to honestly reveal those feelings, she merely grumbled.

“You really irritate me.”

Without replying, he silently continued up the stairs.

A man who appeared to be the butler hurried after them and guided him to a large bedroom on the second floor of the main castle.

Moments later, a room far more luxurious than her chamber in the detached palace unfolded before her eyes.

Talia widened her eyes and looked around.

A chandelier studded densely with crystals hung from the high ceiling, and golden candlesticks had been placed throughout the room with perfect symmetry.

The walls were lined with furniture so magnificent it would not have looked out of place as tribute to the Emperor himself. At a glance, it was obvious that dwarf craftsmen had made them.

Tapestries woven with unfamiliar patterns, shields engraved with the Siorcan family crest, beast furs, and white porcelain ornaments decorated every corner.

As she slowly examined them, Varkas approached the enormous bed in the center of the room and carefully set her down.

“You will use this room from now on.”

Without thinking, Talia grabbed his sleeve.

“And you?”

Varkas had been ringing the bell beside the bed to summon attendants. He paused and looked down at her.

Heat instantly rushed into her cheeks.

Flustered, she hurriedly added,

“I’m not saying we should share a room...”

“Do not worry. I intend to use a separate bedroom.”

He spoke calmly.

Talia relaxed with relief.

All this time, she had been anxious over the possibility that she would eventually have to expose her legs to him.

Straightening himself, he continued evenly,

“This room has been used by the mistress of House Siorcan for generations. There should be nothing lacking for Your Highness.”

“If I use this room, where does the current Grand Duchess stay?”

“For the past ten years, the position of Grand Duchess of Siorcan has remained vacant.”

His indifferent reply left her momentarily speechless.

Fragments of his family history, things she had overheard while living in the Imperial Palace, surfaced belatedly in her mind.

Varkas’s birth mother had died shortly after giving birth to him from childbed fever.

The second Grand Duchess who had entered the household afterward had also died in an unfortunate accident, and the shock had greatly worsened the Grand Duke’s health.

In such circumstances, it would have been difficult to bring in another Grand Duchess.

Talia awkwardly cleared her throat.

“Ah, right. That's true.”

“I’ll call a healing mage. Drink some medicine for the fever and get some sleep.”

Perhaps because her voice had become hoarse, he poured her a glass of water and handed it to her.

Just as she accepted it and took a sip, she heard footsteps at the door.

Turning her head, Talia discovered a dignified middle-aged woman and immediately sat upright.

Varkas pressed down on her shoulder and turned toward the woman.

The woman, who had been observing Talia with a searching gaze, bowed respectfully.

“It has been a long time, Young Master.”

Her voice was gentle, contrasting with her stern appearance.

She continued softly.

“His Grace the Grand Duke requests that the Young Master come to his room immediately.”

“Tell him I’ll be there shortly.”

Varkas replied calmly before lowering his gaze to Talia.

“Then I shall take my leave.”

“...S-Shouldn’t I come with you?”

“Your Highness may pay your respects later. I will explain everything properly, so please do not concern yourself.”

And before she could stop him, he left the room.

Talia blankly stared at the closed door before climbing down from the bed and staggering toward the window.

Beyond the clear glass, the entirety of Kalmor spread before her eyes.

The city enclosed by walls, the villages scattered beyond it, and the endless green plains...

Sliding the window open, she felt the cool wind brush harshly across her face.

Staring at the plain stretching to meet the blue sky, she suddenly heard a strange sound echoing faintly from somewhere and turned her head.

At the edge of a hill stood a birch forest gleaming white.

For a moment, an odd feeling swept over her, something she could not identify as excitement or fear.

‘This is where I’ll live from now on.’

She took a deep breath.

The faint scent of cold, dry wind that had always lingered around Varkas filled her lungs.

At that moment, she knew she would come to love this land.

* * *

Lucas sprawled lazily across a chair and kicked at the floor.

His younger sister, Raina, who was one year younger than him, glared fiercely.

“If I end up being treated like an uncivilized brat because of you, you’re taking responsibility!”

“You are an uncivilized brat.”

A pillow stuffed with goose feathers flew straight into his face.

Raina had spent hours braiding her thick hair, determined to impress her older brother. She had even adorned herself with their late mother’s jewelry and put on a silk Tunka, the traditional eastern attire.

Yet she had not even managed to speak to him, much less earn a single glance from him.

And so, she vented all her frustration on her conveniently available twin-year brother.

“Brother Varkas was educated in the capital like royalty! He’s a noble among nobles, someone who knows Imperial Palace etiquette inside and out! How can you use commoners’ speech in front of someone like him?!”

“A noble among nobles, my foot.”

He suddenly sat upright.

“Didn’t you see it? People waited days for him to come, and the moment he arrived he didn't even greet them properly before leaving. Is that palace etiquette?”

“That’s because you upset him first!” 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“What did I do that was so wrong?”

Lucas leaped to his feet and huffed.

“I just wanted to see what that woman looked like! You were curious too!”

“I wasn’t curious about that woman’s face at all!”

Raina ripped off the jade ornaments hanging around her neck and glared with reddish-brown eyes.

“What’s the point of looking at the face of that vulgar woman who tarnished Brother’s honor? She’s obviously just another creature exactly like her vulgar mother!”

“...You told me not to talk like someone with no manners.”

“I said not to speak that way in front of Brother Varkas!”

Violently undoing the tightly braided hair she had arranged, Raina's eyes gleamed.

Having ridden horses every single day since she was six, she had tanned brown skin and long limbs. Without dressing up, she looked almost like a handsome young boy.

Throwing off even her embroidered outer robe, she sat cross-legged on the bed.

“Listen carefully. Never treat that woman openly in front of Brother. If we bully her too obviously, our innocent brother will start pitying her! Then we’ll become the wicked siblings.”

“...Innocent?”

Lucas muttered incredulously.

Ignoring him completely, Raina continued her lengthy speech.

“So we have to torment her as discreetly as possible! If we stir things up just a little, she’ll immediately run crying to Brother and complain about us. Then she’ll become the nasty woman slandering his cute and lovable siblings, and we’ll be the poor victims!”