The Forgotten Field - Chapter 120

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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 120
I felt something warm filling my body as my limbs went limp.
The man who had been leaning over me lifted himself up. As he did, what had been filling me inside slowly withdrew.
I bit my lip at the unfamiliar sensation and pressed my thighs tightly together.
Then his hand descended onto my bandaged leg. I cried out without thinking.
“Don’t touch it!”
In the darkness, I could see Barcas’s shoulders stiffen noticeably.
Pretending not to notice, I hastily pulled down my rumpled skirts and swung my feet off the bed.
As I tried to move my trembling legs toward the door, a firm arm wrapped around my waist. In an instant, I was dragged back onto the bed.
I thrashed my arms instinctively.
“Stop! Let go! It’s over now. I’m going back to my room!”
He gripped my wrist, his eyes gleaming fiercely.
“So you’ll finish your business and leave?”
“That’s what I said from the beginning.”
I swallowed the sobs threatening to burst forth and glared at him with cold eyes.
“I have nothing more to do with you.”
In an instant, the air in the room froze.
I felt his grip on my wrist tighten painfully. I wrenched free violently and crawled toward the edge of the bed.
I never embraced him out of love. There was no reason for me to linger here.
Muttering to myself like a self-hypnotic mantra, I unsteadily swung my legs off the bed.
At that moment, Barcas uttered words in the Eastern Territories’ tongue that I couldn’t comprehend, then snatched up the blanket from the floor and wrapped my body completely within it.
Trapped in his firm embrace, I lost my composure and began to struggle violently.
“No! Let go!”
But he paid me no heed.
In moments, Barcas wound the blanket tightly around me and strode out of the chamber with nothing but his trousers fastened at his waist.
The Attendants standing guard at the door stared with their mouths agape. But Barcas didn’t even blink.
Carrying me in his arms, he passed straight through the Corridor, climbed the stairs, and opened the door to the Bedroom on the third floor.
I glared at him with a face streaked with sweat and tears. The candlelight revealed his glistening, bare chest, his disheveled silver hair, his blue eyes, and his beautiful face with perfect clarity.
Despite appearing more vulnerable than ever, he still seemed unyielding and cold.
“Is this enough?” he asked coldly, setting me down on the bed.
Barcas’s voice was glacial as he spoke.
I pulled the blanket up to my chin and turned away from him. I knew he was angry, but that wasn’t my concern.
“I want to be alone. Leave.”
….
“Please, just go.”
My voice trembled as I spoke harshly, and his expressionless face finally contorted.
Barcas drew a deep breath and bent down before me.
“Just tell me this. Did I hurt you?”
Yes. You always hurt me.
I started to say that, then closed my mouth. I knew in my mind that would be an unfair answer.
I had been the one to burst in and force myself into her bed. I understood how absurd I must appear, acting as though I were the victim of some violation.
Yet in this moment, such rational thoughts offered no solace. She curled into herself like a caterpillar within its cocoon, hugging her knees tightly as she shook her head.
“I simply wish to rest. So please, just leave me be. I cannot bear to face you any longer.”
Perhaps my patience had finally worn thin at her willful behavior. My entire body went rigid, sinews straining visibly across my bare chest. It was a sight threatening enough to inspire genuine fear.
Yet as always, I composed myself in an instant. Drawing one more deep breath, I rose from the bed with a hardened expression.
“I shall summon the Healer to examine your condition.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Unless you promise to receive proper treatment, I will not leave.”
My tone had grown harsh.
Talia, her eyes glistening with tears, glared at me before finally nodding her head.
“Fine… please, just go.”
My jaw muscles clenched rigidly.
I stood motionless for a long moment, as though there were something more I wished to say, before finally turning away.
The door closed behind me with a soft sound, and a desolate silence descended upon the chamber. Listening to my receding footsteps, Talia curled herself into a ball and closed her eyes.
She was desperately exhausted. So much so that she wished to dissolve and disappear entirely.
* * *
Above the fields steeped in autumn’s hues, a flock of kestrels circled in graceful arcs. Several of them descended in elegant curves toward the ground, where the carcass of a stallion lay, torn apart by a predator’s fangs.
It was evidence of the wolves that had appeared unexpectedly at dawn.
“Fortunately, there were no casualties among the people. However, the damage to the pasture is considerable, or so I’m told.”
I watched as a tawny raptor tore flesh from the horse’s ribs, then turned my gaze toward the gently sloping ridge.
Beyond the collapsed stone wall, I could see several mares lying motionless, their necks and bellies torn open. Darian, following my line of sight, released a heavy sigh.
“At least we should be grateful that the Norneksan stallions remain unharmed.”
“Have we assembled a subjugation force?”
“The Guard Unit has been combing through the Armund Forest since early morning. However, they’ve vanished without a trace. It appears to be a pack led by an exceptionally cunning alpha.”
“Double the tracking personnel, and station guards around the pasture and village outskirts.”
I gripped Torque’s reins with my leather-gloved hand and issued the command in a grave tone. Darian immediately gestured to the soldiers standing behind me.
“You heard him? Relay my orders to the unit at once.”
Two soldiers vaulted over the broken fence and raced toward the castle walls.
After surveying the pasture’s damage once more, I turned my steps toward the village.
The small settlement formed north of Kalmor bustled with those who had come to catch a glimpse of their new lord. I paid them no mind as I proceeded along the gravel-paved road, when Darian, who had been quietly following, carefully spoke up.
“Troublesome matters seem to be occurring in succession of late. As if the increasingly rampant Zramin Raiders were not enough, now we have a wolf pack causing havoc.”
“…”
“I understand that the succession ceremony has been followed by unfortunate circumstances, which must weigh heavily upon you. Still, I beg you to take care of yourself. Your complexion has not been the same as before.”
I stopped abruptly mid-stride and turned to face him. Thinking that I had taken offense, the man immediately bowed his head.
“Forgive me if my words were presumptuous. It is merely concern for your well-being that compels me to speak.”
“Do I truly appear so exhausted as to warrant such concern?”
I asked, stroking my jaw.
The man studied my face for a moment before scratching the back of his head and speaking awkwardly.
“These past few days, you’ve seemed particularly on edge. I wondered if perhaps you were not sleeping well.”
I furrowed my brow and turned away again, exhaling as though with a sigh.
“It seems I’ve caused you concern. I’ll be more mindful.”
Indeed, these past few days I’ve managed barely three hours of sleep each night. It wasn’t solely the mountainous pile of administrative duties weighing upon me.
I turned my gaze toward the fortress perched upon the hillside.
Autumn sunlight poured down upon the massive structure where she was staying.
She was likely still confined within her chamber.
Suddenly, I felt a metallic bitterness spreading across my tongue and ran the tip of my tongue along the inner membrane of my mouth. Blood was seeping from the flesh caught between my molars—a strange habit I’d recently developed.
I scraped the tattered flesh inside my cheek with my tongue and swallowed the metallic liquid down my throat. As the scent of blood brushed against my nostrils, an unpleasant afterimage surfaced.
Barcas furrowed his brow at the strange, undulating heat churning within his belly, then roughly raked his fingers through his hair.

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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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