Steady footsteps echoed in the darkness. Gareth, seated on a garden bench and staring at the pond, turned his head toward the colonnade.
Varkas, dressed immaculately in the ceremonial uniform of the Imperial Knights, was walking through the long arcade that connected to the garden. His approach resembled a serpent swimming slowly through deep, dark waters.
It often puzzled Gareth.
Pale blond hair, faded like sun-bleached flax. Blue-gray eyes tinged with silver. Skin like plaster. A man made up entirely of muted tones, like old parchment—why did he exude such an ominous aura?
Whenever they met, Gareth's spine prickled without cause.
"Your Highness, Crown Prince."
The man placed a hand over his chest in salute. Gareth waved him off irritably.
"Enough with the useless formalities."
Though the man belonged to the Imperial Guard, he would one day succeed the Grand Duke Siorcan and rule the eastern provinces. His status was hardly one Gareth could treat lightly. Yet Gareth jerked his chin at him as though addressing a trivial subordinate.
"How long will you make me look up? Sit."
Even in the face of such rudeness, the man's expression remained unchanged—neither offended nor servile, simply detached—as he sat upon the marble bench.
The Crown Prince studied the man's finely chiseled features. Outwardly no different from usual, yet it wasn't hard to guess he was in poor spirits. Perhaps something had gone wrong. Narrowing his eyes, Gareth pressed him.
"How did the interrogation go? Don't tell me you failed to uncover the forces behind it."
"I learned everything there was to learn."
Varkas tugged at the collar of his cloak, his voice flat.
"But it is not the answer Your Highness wanted."
One of Gareth's brows arched.
"Explain."
"The drug in the princess's wine did not come from the Empress's palace."
"Then from where?"
"The imperial apothecary prescribed it to a maid of the main palace. It is not even classified as poison. At worst, taken in excess, it causes nausea and stomach pain. It is not strictly controlled."
"So you're telling me one of my palace maids suddenly lost her mind and put that in my sister's cup?"
Gareth gave a hollow laugh, but the veins at his thick neck bulged, betraying his fury.
Varkas's dry gaze held no ripple.
"It was not the maid who slipped it into the wine."
"Then who?"
Gareth's patience snapped.
"Stop dragging this out and say it! If it wasn't the Empress, and it wasn't some careless maid, then who dared meddle with my sister's cup?"
"It was the Second Princess."
The flat reply silenced Gareth mid-rant.
"That wench?"
His face twisted viciously. Whenever he spoke of the Empress, Gareth burned like molten lava. But when he spoke of the bastard daughter she had brought into the palace, he looked as though his mouth had been sullied by filth. His clenched jaw ground audibly.
"If that crazed girl, then yes… consumed by jealousy, she would not know right from wrong."
Varkas showed no reaction even as Gareth cursed crudely like a street thug. The Crown Prince glared at him, unwilling to give up the thread.
"Even so… is it not too soon to dismiss the Empress? Could she not have urged her daughter to act?"
"If the Empress had been involved, she would not have used such a feeble substance. She would have chosen a proper poison. And she would never have left traces to be caught so easily."
The cold matter-of-factness silenced Gareth. Though irked at being cut off, he took grim satisfaction in the contempt lacing Varkas's voice—directed at Talia Roem Gwirta.
In everything else, this man was indifferent to a fault. But when it came to that stain on the royal family, his edges sharpened. It reassured Gareth: this man was firmly on his side.
"Indeed… the Empress would not endanger herself with such foolish tricks."
Relieved, Gareth's tone grew lighter.
"So, Talia struck at her own foot. I knew she would cause trouble one day."
He smiled wickedly, like the mischievous youth who once dominated the academy.
"She must have lost her mind after you were taken by my sister. How many times did that bastard girl flaunt herself, treating the Grand Duke's heir like a toy? Now that her guard has become the true princess's consort, her temper has finally broken."
Varkas did not reply. He rarely spoke beyond necessity. His silence was nothing unusual.
Yet Gareth found it intolerable now. He bore into him with his eyes, demanding a response.
"In any case, she cannot escape punishment this time. Perhaps even an attempted murder charge…"
"It will not go as you wish."
The interruption darkened Gareth's gaze. But Varkas's eyes, fixed on the future emperor, remained calm.
"First, we lack decisive proof. If she denies it, there is no way to prove her guilt."
"We have the maid's testimony!"
"Would you condemn the Empress's daughter on the word of a single maid?"
While Gareth fumbled for a retort, Varkas continued evenly.
"Second, even if it is proven she did it, the substance was hardly lethal. At most, it caused an upset stomach. She will claim it was a foolish prank. At worst, she will be put under probation."
"A foolish prank?"
Gareth erupted, leaping up to seize the heir of Siorcan by the collar.
"Do you know what disgrace my bride suffered? Aila, who has never faltered, collapsed at a banquet vomiting in front of everyone! How dare you call that a prank?"
His bronze face flushed scarlet with rage as he ground his teeth.
"Yes, I overlooked it then—but I saw it with my own eyes! When Aila collapsed, that bastard Talia was smiling from across the hall! Even if I tear her apart limb by limb, it will not quench my fury!"
"Your Highness."
Varkas's quiet voice made Gareth flinch. He released his grip, sweat beading at his spine.
The man calmly adjusted his uniform.
"She is not worth Your Highness's concern."
The words, delivered as if stating that night follows day, were flat and cold.
"All she does is torment others with petty cruelty. Should the heir of the Empire waste his wrath on such triviality?"
He spoke as though soothing a child. And Gareth, who knew he had crossed a line, bit his tongue.
Varkas rose slowly. Though it was discourteous to leave without permission, his movement was as fluid as water.
"I have already sent calming herbs to the princess. From now on, every cup and dish at Your Highness's table will be strictly supervised."
"So, you would have me let this pass?"
"If you insist on exposing the Second Princess, I will not stop you. But I prefer not to involve myself."
His indifferent tone stung. Gareth realized he meant to dismiss the matter as a trifling jealous prank. Perhaps he was right. What would it gain them to fixate on such a scandal?
Still, Gareth could not accept his coldness. Not simply because of his indifference toward Aila. Suspicion flickered in his eyes.
"You're not protecting her, are you?"
Varkas halted mid-step and cast a glance over his shoulder. A chill radiated from his eyes as the lake breeze stirred his ashen-gold hair. For the first time, his lips curved in a smile sharp as a blade.
"Protect her?"
He gave a low laugh, like one amused by a cruel joke. But his blue eyes flashed with hatred.
Gareth was struck silent. He had known the man despised Talia. But he had not realized the depth of his enmity.
Was this not the man whose tutors had stripped him of all emotion? Gareth had not seen him reveal a flicker of feeling in over ten years.
What had that girl done to provoke even him into baring his teeth?
Gareth studied him curiously. He had heard tales that, as Talia's knight, Varkas had suffered countless humiliations at her hands. But he had never believed such a lofty man would be affected by her antics. He had assumed Talia was no more than a nuisance to him. Apparently, he had been wrong.
Varkas's eyes, cold as steel, gleamed with loathing.
"I simply never wish to be entangled with her again."
With that, he turned and walked away the way he had come.
Gareth watched in silence as his figure receded noiselessly, like a serpent gliding over the lake's surface. Slowly, a sly smile spread across his lips.
Talia, whatever you have done, it benefits me.
The man who should have been her ally despised her as deeply as he did. Their alliance would only grow stronger.
Satisfied, Gareth rose to his feet.