The Forgotten Field - Chapter 160

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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 160
Talia pushed the half-empty bowl aside and rose from the bed.
As she approached the window, her gaze fell upon a sight that made her pause—over a dozen Knights clad in golden armor stood arrayed across the Castle Courtyard. They were Roem Knights.
The dispatch of an entire elite unit rather than merely one or two Knights suggested this was far more than a simple errand to deliver Imperial correspondence.
Could they have come to take me away?
Talia, lost in such thoughts, quickly shook her head.
Even the Emperor could not forcibly drag away the Grand Duchess of the Eastern Territories. In truth, there was no reason for him to attempt such a thing. The conflict with the North must be escalating in earnest.
She too had sensed that war was drawing near. She was equally aware that Barcas faced mounting pressure from all sides because of it.
Should an independence war erupt in the North, the Eastern Territories would undoubtedly suffer considerable military and economic devastation. The Eastern nobility would therefore feel compelled to suppress the Northern rebellion swiftly. The lords of regions adjacent to the North must be gripped by grave anxiety.
The Conservative Faction was likely watching Barcas’s movements with cold calculation. After all, her marriage to him had already narrowed his political standing considerably.
Every circumstance conspired to urge him to abandon her. Yet why did that man continue to hold onto me?
Suddenly, the image of him holding her quietly beneath the moonlight surfaced in her mind. She recalled the touch of his hands as he cradled her upon his lap, caressing her belly—and how he had sought out rare fruits and prepared them for her with his own hands.
Moments that had felt like love now kindled fresh embers within her ash-filled heart.
‘I cannot allow this.’
Talia murmured, seized by a sharp sense of dread.
If time continued to flow in this manner, she would inevitably cling to foolish hope once more. And she would plummet into the abyss of despair again and again.
I despise it. I cannot bear to suffer such pain any longer.
“Your Highness, are you unwell? Shall I summon the Healer?” the Handmaiden asked with concern, noticing Talia lean her dizzy head against the cold glass.
Talia shook her head.
“No, I’m fine. I just….”
In that moment, her eyes caught upon the sedative resting on the shelf. Talia added, somewhat impulsively:
“My throat feels parched. Bring me a bottle of wine.”
“Ah… Please wait a moment. I shall fetch it at once.”
The Handmaiden, flustered by the sudden request, rummaged through the shelf only to discover there was nothing but herbal tea and cold water. She hurried from the chamber in alarm.
Talia instructed the remaining Handmaiden to stoke the fireplace higher. The moment the girl turned away, Talia snatched the medicine bottle and concealed it beneath her sleeve.
Shortly after, the Handmaiden who had left returned bearing a pitcher of wine.
Beneath the quilts, Talia uncorked the medicine bottle, then seized the pitcher of wine with her other hand.
The Handmaiden’s eyes widened in confusion. Feigning ignorance, Talia opened the pitcher’s lid and tilted her head toward it. Pretending to taste the wine with her fingertip, she poured the sedative hidden within her flowing sleeve into the vessel.
Fortunately, her long hair spread like a veil and the drape of her sleeves concealed her actions perfectly. She hid the empty medicine bottle within the quilts and gazed up at the Handmaiden with deliberately suspicious eyes.
“You two drink first.”
When the Handmaidens hesitated, blinking in confusion, Talia pressed them with a petulant tone:
“Why? Is there something strange mixed in here?”
The flustered girls eventually poured and drank the wine. Accustomed to her capricious accusations, they harbored not the slightest suspicion of ulterior motives.
Talia pretended to drink as well, insisting they consume more. The Handmaidens were ultimately forced to drain full cups of the potent wine.
Having observed them carefully, Talia suddenly claimed she had changed her mind, pushed the pitcher aside, and collapsed onto the bed.
She could not fathom what possessed her to commit such an act. For how long did she lie motionless beneath the quilts, holding her breath? When she cautiously lifted her head, she saw the Handmaidens slumped against the wall on the floor.
Having recently developed tolerance to the sedative, she had prepared a concentrated formula. Both appeared nearly unconscious.
Rising from the bed, Talia examined their condition carefully before mercifully draping blankets over them. Then, through a side door adjoining the Bedroom, she peered into the Handmaidens’ waiting chamber.
Fortunately, the Healer had gone to the preparation room—it stood empty.
Without hesitation, she entered and rifled through a chest placed beside a small bed.
Before long, she managed to unearth an undyed grayish-brown woolen tunic and a pair of leather shoes.
She shed her nightclothes and donned the slightly loose tunic, then laced up the stiff shoes. Next, she braided her hair meticulously into a single plait and found a shabby coat to drape over herself.
Once she wrapped a grimy kerchief around her head and pulled the hood down low, she looked every inch the common peasant woman.
After scrutinizing her reflection from every angle, Talia slipped through a small side door adjoining the antechamber and into the corridor.
The hallway lay eerily quiet—most of the servants had been drawn to the kitchens by the sudden influx of unexpected guests.
She took the passage the handmaidens typically used, making her way toward her own chamber, which had sat vacant for so long. Fortunately, the bedroom was empty.
Approaching the dresser beside the bed, Talia unlocked it and rifled through its contents in search of anything worth taking. Since her most precious jewels were kept separately in a safe, she found only a handful of pieces.
Having located merely a gold ring and a few pearl hairpins, Talia stuffed them into her pocket and withdrew the jewelry box she had brought from the Imperial Palace.
As she lifted the lid, she beheld a moonstone that mirrored Barcas’s eyes, the handkerchief he had given her, and a golden button engraved with the emblem of the Roem Knights.
She was about to thrust them mechanically into the leather pouch when she froze, her hand stilling.
Why was she gathering these things when she was abandoning everything else?
Talia gazed quietly at the traces of her own pathetic attachment, then carefully returned them to the jewelry box and locked it firmly. She pushed it deep into the dresser and left the chamber.
By now, the sun had noticeably begun its descent toward the horizon.
She stepped cautiously into the darkening corridor. As she descended the narrow staircase connected to the rear exit, she spotted servants hurrying about with bathwater.
Everyone seemed frantic, attending to the unexpected guests who had arrived without warning. Thanks to the commotion, Talia was able to slip out of the building without drawing notice.
‘…What am I to do now?’
As she walked along the sparsely populated narrow path, she gazed up at the overcast sky with a sense of helplessness.
Even someone as sheltered as she knew how treacherous the world could be.
Wandering aimlessly without a single escort, she would not survive more than a few days before falling victim to bandits or becoming prey for monsters.
Even if fortune smiled upon her and she reached a settlement safely, she possessed no skills with which to earn her bread.
She would likely end up begging in the streets before starving to death. She could all too easily envision her own wretched end.
‘And yet….’
At least he would never witness her degradation.
Talia limped forward slowly.
If she continued south from Kalmor, she would eventually reach Bellamen Monastery. It was renowned as a sanctuary for the destitute, so surely it would accept one woman of unknown origin with compassion.
If the Divine favored her and granted her a miraculous safe passage to that place, then she would choose to live a while longer.
But if that were not to be….
Talia halted her thoughts there. She wished to contemplate nothing further. Moving her legs mechanically, she walked for a considerable time until, at last, the city walls loomed between the trees, and a gate bound with iron bands came into view. Fortunately, no sentries were visible.
Taking care to appear as natural as possible, she approached the gate. When she gently pulled the handle, she glimpsed several cargo carts lined up along the road. It seemed they had hastily summoned merchants.
She glanced at the Northern Merchant conversing with a sentry not far away, then carefully passed through the gate.
At that moment, someone seized her shoulder firmly.
Talia turned her head in alarm and spotted a soldier clad in a surcoat embroidered with the House Sierkan emblem. She hastily pulled her hood lower. She could feel the man’s suspicious gaze upon her.
“Who are you? You don’t look like one of the castle handmaidens….”

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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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