The Forgotten Field - Chapter 16

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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 16
She fixed Senevir with a gaze laden with suspicion.
What scheme lay behind insisting that Talia accompany her? The girl’s only talent seemed to be pestering her with tiresome pranks.
Yet Senevir was not the sort to mobilize the Emperor himself for such frivolous purposes. There had to be some darker design at work.
Aila stepped forward with a rather stiff tone of rebuttal.
“It is customary for the women of the Imperial Family to undertake pilgrimage journeys at the threshold of marriage negotiations, is it not? Why would you insist on sending that child at this particular moment?”
“Talia may soon find herself entering into marriage as well.”
Senevir spoke with cheerful lightness.
Aila’s brow furrowed. She had never heard even a whisper of marriage proposals concerning Talia until now.
Regardless of her illegitimate birth, Talia was a princess whose name graced the Imperial Registry. She was hardly in a position to conduct marriage arrangements in silence. Senevir must have hastily fabricated this story to justify bringing her along on the journey.
As Aila fixed the Empress with a look of such suspicion, Barcas’s frigid voice cut through the air.
“How remarkably fortuitous that such a marriage proposal should materialize at this particular juncture.”
Despite his transparent mockery, Senevir remained unruffled.
“The Imperial Family has been blessed with a succession of auspicious occasions, which is indeed most fortunate. The proposal arrived not long ago, and we have not yet formalized the betrothal, but His Majesty and I regard it most favorably.”
A sneer played at the corners of Barcas’s mouth.
“Might I inquire as to the identity of this fortunate suitor?”
“You have surely heard the name before—Verdain Serian, the head of House of Serian. A formal proposal arrived just days ago.”
Senevir spoke with a tender smile gracing her lips.
“The child has been of age for some time now, so it is hardly premature for her to marry. I deemed him a suitable match.”
Aila swallowed the laugh that threatened to burst forth. Verdain Serian was among the Empress’s most ardent devotees.
Rumor had it that he once held the record for the longest affair with Princess Taren. To marry her daughter to such a man—was the Empress in her right mind?
The image of Talia appearing in the Banquet Hall alongside Count Serian surfaced in her memory, and bile rose in her throat. Whether it was the mother arranging to marry her daughter to her own former lover, or the daughter complying with such a scheme, both were surely mad.
“Since matters have progressed thus, see that the child’s travel preparations are expedited.”
The Emperor issued this directive in a tone that brooked no further discussion, then gestured for them to withdraw.
Barcas, whose expression remained inscrutable, gazed up at his sovereign in silence before bowing his head respectfully. He then rose slowly from his seat, turned, and departed the Audience Chamber.
Aila, who had been watching Senevir with wary eyes, turned to regard him in bewilderment. She had not expected Barcas to acquiesce so readily.
She offered her respects to the Emperor, then hastened after him.
“Do you truly intend to take Talia with you as things stand? Her marriage is merely a convenient pretext. Senevir is surely plotting something dreadful.”
“No doubt.”
He replied with indifference as he descended the stairs with measured strides.
Aila, her face blank, gathered her skirts and hurried to catch up with him. She grasped his arm and cried out with some agitation.
“Is that all? We have no idea what the Empress might do with Talia, yet you would simply allow her to go without—!”
“What would you have me do?”
The man halted and turned to face her with a bleak gaze. Aila flinched. Only then did she perceive that his mood had plummeted to its depths.
Mere hours ago, he had smiled at me. But now he had become a stranger once more, regarding her with cold, distant eyes. He spoke with bitter mockery.
“Do you wish me to defy His Majesty’s command?”
“I merely—”
“He is the sovereign of this Empire, and I am sworn to serve the Imperial Family. From the outset, there has been no path for me save obedience. Is that not what you royals have consistently demanded of nobles such as myself?”
Struck by words she had not anticipated, Aila went rigid. The man, regarding her with expressionless eyes, turned and resumed walking.
As she watched his broad back recede without a moment’s hesitation, fear flooded through her. Like the small girl she had once been, Aila ran forward and suddenly threw her arms around his solid waist.
“I’m sorry! I was anxious and took it out on you. Please don’t turn away from me so coldly.”
The man who had been standing motionless gradually relaxed, releasing a shallow sigh before turning to embrace her. He stroked her hair gently, as he had done in childhood, and spoke.
“There is nothing to fear. No matter what schemes the Empress devises, Your Highness will come to no harm.”
She lifted her head to gaze up at his face. The man who had turned away wearing the expression of a stranger had already transformed back into a loyal knight. Aila felt her scattered emotions swiftly return to their proper place.
A man who could shake her so easily and yet calm her with a few careless words—before him, her pride as a princess, her dignity, her very authority all became meaningless.
Clinging to his cool embrace that had never grown warm despite their decades together, she gazed desperately into his pale blue eyes.
What was he looking at? Those hollow, fathomless eyes always seemed to wander toward some distant place.
“I swore to the former Empress that I would protect you both to the extent of my ability.”
He tucked a few strands of hair that clung to her cheek behind her ear as he spoke.
“I intend to keep that promise no matter what comes. So Your Highness has nothing to worry about.”
After studying his face for a long moment, Aila finally nodded.
Yes, as long as this man stands with us, there is nothing to fear. Nothing at all.
* * *
With the broken nail filed away, everything felt hollow.
How many more weeks would she need to wait for it to grow long enough to be driven deep beneath the skin? Talia gazed down at the pale pink nail just beginning to emerge at her fingertip with restless eyes.
The satisfaction of wounding the Crown Prince’s body had not lasted long. Her esteemed brother would have sought out a priest immediately to have his hand healed cleanly. Meanwhile, she had lost the secret weapon she had spent weeks carefully cultivating in such a pathetic manner.
‘I would have preferred to use it on Aila….’
How many times had she imagined driving her nails into those verdant eyes whenever that woman gazed at Barcas?
Talia scratched at the wound left by her broken nail.
The barely-formed scab tore away, and droplets of blood began to seep out. Her nerves grew increasingly sharp. She stared at her reddening nail, then placed her index finger in her mouth and gently sucked away the blood before rising from the window.
Today it was difficult to find any trace of Barcas. There was no longer any reason to remain pressed against the glass, enduring the harsh sunlight.
She trudged across the room and poured cold water from a pitcher into a basin on the shelf, then lightly washed her sweat-dampened face. At that moment, a knock sounded. It seemed the Nursemaid had brought snacks again.
Talia dried her face with clean linen and called out dismissively.
“Come in.”
But the figure who opened the door was not the Quarter Dwarf with his short stature and plump limbs, but rather a small boy with deep reddish-brown hair in a crew cut and bright, luminous green eyes.

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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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