The Forgotten Field - Chapter 137

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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 137
A faint smile played at the corners of Barcas’s mouth. He rustled through the basket and retrieved another strawberry.
“Here.”
Talia, her eyes glistening with moisture, opened her mouth again. Barcas carefully slipped the strawberry inside.
The fruit was too large to swallow whole, and when she bit down on it, the sweet juice overflowed and dampened her lips. Barcas wiped it away with his thumb, his gaze growing intense as he watched her trembling lips. Embarrassed by the attention, I lowered my eyes and swallowed what remained in my mouth.
“Try one yourself. They’re quite palatable.”
“I gathered these for Your Highness.”
Barcas held the remaining fruit to her lips and spoke matter-of-factly.
“Please, Your Highness, enjoy them all.”
Talia gazed up at his composed face and obediently parted her lips. Barcas busied himself ferrying the crimson berries into her mouth. Even as she savored each one, holding them on her tongue before chewing slowly, six large strawberries vanished in what felt like mere moments.
With a wistful expression, she was licking her lips when Barcas rose from the bed.
“Please wait a moment. I shall fetch more.”
“That’s enough. I’m full now.”
I hastily caught hold of the man, who looked ready to snatch up his coat and dash outside. The sun would be setting soon. I could not allow the ruler of the Eastern Territories to run about the countryside searching for fruit that didn’t even grow in this season.
Talia seized his forearm with a firm grip and pulled.
“This is plenty. Stop making such a fuss.”
“A fuss?”
He turned to me with a bewildered expression. Could he truly be unaware of how unusual his behavior was?
Talia released a short sigh.
“Searching high and low for strawberries in the middle of winter—how is that not making a fuss?”
Barcas tilted his head, as if unable to comprehend.
“Why would procuring food for one’s wife be considered excessive? Even beasts do this as a matter of course.”
Talia stared up at him, rendered speechless. He seemed to genuinely believe what he was saying.
He would have done exactly the same had he married any other woman instead of me. The buoyant feeling that had been lifting me deflated entirely, and I lifted the corners of my eyes sharply.
“In any case, that’s enough. Sit down. Even if you bring more, I won’t be able to eat it since I’m already full.”
“The handmaidens will soon bring citron pie. Please, at least have some of that.”
His voice, resonating from near my pillow, made my heart melt once more. I attributed it to the pregnancy. The emotional turbulence, the way foods I’d once ignored now caught my eye—all of it was due to the life growing within me.
“…I’ll only have one slice.”
Another subtle smile flickered across Barcas’s lips. As I gazed at it, an unbearable feeling washed over me, and I turned my attention toward the window.
Soon the handmaidens returned bearing a tray with steaming pie and a traditional Eastern beverage.
While they arranged the food on the table, Barcas emerged in fresh clothes, lifted Talia—blankets and all—into his arms, and settled before the fireplace. He then began cutting small pieces of the warm pie, filled with thinly sliced citron, honey, cinnamon, and nuts, and feeding them to her with a fork.
Talia opened her mouth out of habit, then her eyes widened in shock as she met the gaze of a stunned handmaiden. Unlike Barcas, she possessed at least some awareness that a grown woman being fed like an infant was unseemly.
“All of you, leave. You’re in the way.”
Only then did he seem to notice the handmaidens’ presence, and he gestured with his chin.
“You’ve finished your duties. You may go.”
The frozen handmaidens filed out of the chamber at once. Barcas picked up his fork again without hesitation and brought another piece of pie to her lips.
Do you really not think this is excessive? Talia glared at him as if to protest, then yielded and opened her mouth.
Barcas succeeded in making her consume an entire large slice of pie. Then he produced preserved apricots from somewhere and placed them in her mouth. She hadn’t eaten this much since her days at the Taren Family Estate.
“Does your stomach not ache?”
Having fed her so generously, he grew concerned and gently rubbed her abdomen as he asked. Talia shook her head slightly.
“It’s fine.”
“…I heard you received an examination from the High Priest today. Did he say anything of note?”
Talia, drowsy with a satisfaction she hadn’t felt in ages, tensed slightly. When I first learned of the pregnancy, I had been curious about Barcas’s reaction. But now that he stood before me, the words simply wouldn’t come.
After a long pause, Talia murmured awkwardly.
“…Nothing in particular. He just said I should eat well and rest for a while.”
“….”
“I’m tired. I want to sleep now.”
Avoiding his gaze, I shifted beneath the blankets, and felt the arm wrapped around my back tense. Talia glanced up. Barcas was watching her with narrowed eyes, his stare piercing.
“Is there truly nothing you wish to tell me?”
Talia swallowed hard.
“…There isn’t.”
“There is.”
His voice carried weight. Talia’s eyes narrowed. So he said he would keep silent until I spoke, yet in the end I confessed everything. Evading those eyes that seemed to see straight through her, she spoke tersely.
“What’s there to say? You already know everything anyway.”
“What exactly do I know?”
“Don’t play dumb! You heard it all. That’s why you’re asking, isn’t it?”
“If I already knew, why would I bother asking?”
Barcas countered in an even tone. Talia regarded him with suspicion.
“…You really didn’t hear anything?”
“I didn’t.”
His unwavering response gradually eased her doubt. Perhaps the Head Handmaiden had merely hinted that I had something to tell him.
Talia moistened her increasingly dry lips.
Barcas brushed the hair from her forehead and prompted her gently.
“So please, tell me. What did the High Priest say?”
“Well, you see… I’ve been drowsy lately, lacking energy and all that.”
Her voice cracked unbecomingly. Talia gathered saliva in her mouth, swallowed, and studied his expression.
Firelight from the hearth cast warm shadows across his cool features. That gentle appearance dissolved the strange fear that had flickered in her chest in an instant.
“It’s… because there’s a child growing inside me.”
He remained perfectly still, gazing down at her. But Talia could see silver fragments dancing like ripples within his blue irises.
A sigh escaped from deep within his chest, and he rested his head against her shoulder. Simultaneously, a large hand with prominent sinews covered her abdomen. The hand that had always seemed so delicate now enveloped her belly entirely.
“…I shall have to care for you even more diligently from now on.”
His breath, like a large cat’s rumbling purr, tickled her earlobe.
Talia bit her lip, feeling tears threaten to spill. Only after a long moment could she manage a composed voice.
“Yes. You’ll have to treat me far more tenderly from now on.”
“I shall.”
Despite his answer being almost blunt in its composure, the hand caressing her belly was infinitely soft and careful.
Suddenly, the memory of when I first met him surfaced. In that moment when the entire world felt bitterly cold, this hand had wrapped around me with warmth.
The memory of that day, which had sometimes felt like a curse, no longer hurt quite so much in this moment.
She curled herself into his embrace, burying her cheek against his broad, thrumming chest.

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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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