The Forgotten Field - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1
Prologue
Rhythmic footsteps echoed through the darkness. I turned my head from the Garden bench where I’d been gazing at the pond, my eyes drifting toward the corridor.
Barcas emerged from the long Arcade connected to the Garden, his Imperial Knight Order uniform immaculate and precise. His movements reminded me of a serpent gliding slowly through deep, dark waters.
I’d often wondered why that was.
Faded linen-colored pale blonde hair, silver-tinged blue eyes, skin like plaster….
How could a man composed entirely of such muted, aged-parchment hues emanate such an ominous presence?
Whenever I faced him, my spine would inexplicably grow cold.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
The man placed his hand over his chest in a bow. I waved him off irritably with a crude gesture.
“Spare me the unnecessary formalities.”
Even as a member of the Imperial Guard, this man would soon inherit the governance of the Eastern Region from the Grand Duke Sierkan. He was hardly someone I could treat carelessly. Yet I gestured at him with my chin as though he were a mere subordinate.
“How long do you intend to make me look up at you? Sit.”
Despite my rudeness, his expression remained unchanged—neither displeased nor obsequiously submissive, merely indifferent as he settled onto the marble chair.
I examined his finely crafted features, devoid of any human warmth. At first glance he appeared unremarkable, yet it was easy to discern that his mood was far from pleasant.
Had something gone awry? I narrowed my eyes and pressed him with a question.
“How did the interrogation go? Don’t tell me you failed to uncover the mastermind behind this?”
“I discovered everything that could be discovered.”
The man pulled down the collar of his impeccably fitted coat with one hand, his voice monotone.
“But it likely isn’t the answer Your Highness was hoping for.”
I raised one eyebrow.
“Explain in detail.”
“The substance in the Second Princess’s wine cup did not originate from the Empress Palace.”
“Then?”
“It was a prescription issued by the Imperial physician to a maidservant working in the Main Palace. It wasn’t even classified as a poison to begin with—merely a medication that causes nausea and abdominal pain when taken in large quantities at once. Apparently, it isn’t strictly regulated.”
“So you’re telling me a maidservant from the Main Palace suddenly lost her mind and poisoned my sister’s cup?”
I let out an incredulous laugh. Yet the tendons in my thick neck stood taut—a sign of my fury reaching its peak.
But Barcas’s gaze remained utterly detached as he watched my face flush with anger.
“The maidservant did not administer the substance directly.”
“Then who is the culprit!”
I lost my patience and raised my voice.
“Stop dragging this out and give me the conclusion! If it wasn’t the Empress scheming and it wasn’t the maidservant’s accident, then who dared tamper with my sister’s cup?”
“The Second Princess committed the act.”
At his blunt answer, my indignation faltered.
“That woman?”
My face twisted savagely. When I spoke of the Empress, I burned like roiling magma. But when I mentioned that woman’s bastard daughter, I became like someone with the filthiest thing imaginable in my mouth. My clenched jaw produced an audible grinding of teeth.
“That deranged woman would do exactly that. When it concerns my sister, that jealous wretch loses all reason and sense….”
Barcas showed no reaction to my vulgar curses—the sort a common street thug might spew. I stared at him intently, unwilling to let the matter drop, and pressed further about the Empress.
“Even so, can we truly be certain that Senevir’s influence didn’t play a role in this? There’s every possibility that woman incited her daughter….”
“If that were the case, she would have used a proper deadly poison, not this trivial drug.”
Barcas spoke in a measured tone. His pale eyes gleamed faintly in the darkness.
“Had it been the Empress, she would never have bungled the cleanup so clumsily as to leave herself exposed.”
I found no words to counter him and closed my mouth. Though it irked me that he’d interrupted mid-sentence, the contempt woven through his voice left me oddly satisfied.
This youth, indifferent to all else, showed his claws only when it came to Talia Roem Guerta—the stain upon the imperial house. For him to bare such disdain was supremely gratifying. It reaffirmed that this man stood with me… with us.
“True enough. Senevir would never have been foolish enough to jeopardize her own position in such a manner.”
My temper somewhat mollified, I spoke with renewed vigor.
“Talia shot herself in the foot. I always knew she’d slip up eventually.”
I smiled like the mischievous youth I’d been when I swept through the Academy.
“She must have lost her mind when you were taken from her and given to my sister instead. How long did that bastard girl lord her position over the Grand Duke’s heir, treating the guard knight like her plaything? Now that her toy is becoming the true Princess’s consort, her temperament has finally snapped.”
The man offered no response. Barcas Laedgo Sierkan was not one to speak beyond what was necessary. His silence was hardly unusual.
Yet there were times when his taciturnity grated on me unbearably. This was one of them. I fixed him with an unwavering stare, demanding an answer.
“In any case, she won’t escape punishment this time. If we play it right, we could even pin an attempted poisoning charge on her…”
“It will not unfold as you wish.”
He cut me off a second time. My eyes narrowed dangerously. Yet the gaze he turned upon the future Emperor of the realm remained perfectly serene.
“First, there is only circumstantial evidence—no concrete proof. Should that woman choose to deny involvement, proving her culpability will prove difficult.”
“We can simply call the maidservant who provided the poison as a witness!”
“Do you truly believe the testimony of a single maidservant sufficient to place Senevir’s eldest daughter on the judgment block?”
As I floundered for a rebuttal, he continued calmly.
“Second, even should it be proven beyond doubt that the Second Princess orchestrated this, a mere stomach ailment hardly warrants severe punishment. Should she insist it was merely a prank, she’ll likely face nothing more than confinement.”
“A prank?”
I, who had been listening in silence, finally exploded. I surged to my feet and seized him by the collar.
“Do you know what humiliation your future wife endured before all those people? The girl who has never once shown a moment of weakness collapsed and retched in the Banquet Hall! How can you call it a light prank when Aila suffered so?”
Reliving that day’s memory, my bronze-hued face flushed crimson even in the darkness. I ground my teeth.
“That’s right—I was too frantic to act then, but I saw it clearly. Talia, that bitch, laughing from a distance as Aila collapsed! I could tear that filthy bastard girl limb from limb and it still wouldn’t be enough. How dare she lay a hand on my sister!”
“Your Highness.”
I flinched and released my grip. He hadn’t even raised his voice, yet cold sweat beaded down my spine. I stepped back, gauging his reaction.
The man adjusted his disheveled clothes with unhurried hands.
“That woman is not worthy of the Crown Prince’s attention.”
His voice was monotone, as though stating an obvious fact—that night follows day.
“Her entire repertoire consists of nothing but such petty cruelties to torment others. Should the future ruler of the Empire waste his energy on such trivial pranks?”
He spoke as one might to soothe a child.
Ordinarily I would have erupted in indignation at such presumption, but knowing I had overstepped first, I held my tongue.
The man rose slowly from his seat. Despite the rudeness of departing without my permission, his movements flowed with natural grace.
“I have sent the Princess calming medicinal herbs. Furthermore, I intend to strictly oversee all food and drink that reaches your table henceforth.”
“So you’re telling me to let this slide?”
“Should Your Highness insist on determining the truth of this matter and punishing the Second Princess, I shall not object. However, I wish to abstain from involvement.”
His indifferent reply made my face burn. Barcas seemed intent on dismissing this entire affair as nothing more than the spiteful prank of a jealous girl.
He was right—there was no benefit to the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke’s heir wasting energy on such a trivial matter. Our dignity alone would suffer.
Yet I felt a fierce resistance to his coldness. It was not merely his callous disregard for my sister. I fixed him with a suspicious glare.
“You’re not… protecting her, are you?”
The man who had turned to retrace his steps paused, then sent a glacial gaze over his shoulder.
At that very moment, a breeze swept up from the lakeside, gently tousling his ashen blonde hair. Yet his expression remained utterly unmoved. A smile sharp as a honed blade stretched across his lips—the first expression to surface upon a face that had worn stillness like a mask.
“Me? Entangled with that woman?”
Barcas released a low chuckle as though he had heard something amusing. But in his blue eyes, a razor-edged fury flickered with unmistakable intensity.
Gareth found himself momentarily at a loss for words. He had known that this man despised Talia Roem Guerta. But he had never realized he harbored such vehement animosity.
Was this not the man whom the priests had thoroughly stripped of all emotion—joy, sorrow, anger, and pleasure alike? In truth, over more than a decade, Gareth had never once witnessed him betray any feeling.
What on earth had she done to provoke this stone-faced man into baring his teeth so completely?
Gareth studied him intently, his eyes alight with curiosity.
During his time as Talia Roem Guerta’s guard knight, he had heard tales that this man had endured countless humiliations at her hands. Yet it had never occurred to him that Barcas would be susceptible to such influence.
He was far too noble a figure to be swayed by the hysteria of a foolish girl. Gareth had believed Talia Roem Guerta to be nothing more than a tiresome and vexing nuisance to him—nothing beyond that. But it seemed otherwise.
Barcas’s blue eyes gleamed with a desolate coldness, devoid of warmth, as he spoke through gritted teeth.
“I have no desire to become entangled with that woman ever again.”
With that, as though there was nothing more to say, he turned and retraced his steps back the way he had come.
Gareth watched him recede in silence, moving like a water snake gliding across the lake’s surface, and a bitter smile played at the corners of his mouth.
‘Talia—whatever she’s done, it works in my favor.’
The man who ought to become his powerful ally harbored hatred for his enemy; their alliance would only grow stronger for it.
Gareth rose from his seat with a satisfied expression.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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