The Forgotten Field - Chapter 162

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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 162
Talia twisted her wrist roughly, trying to wrench her bound hands free. At the motion, the man’s face—smooth as though he wore a mask—contorted with cruel intensity.
“I’m asking where you were trying to go.”
Barcas dragged her toward him with brutal force, his words spat out like venom.
Talia glared at him with hostile eyes. Her cramped legs screamed in sharp agony, but she forced herself to maintain an expression of indifference through sheer willpower.
“Where I go is none of your concern.”
In that instant, she realized she had completely exhausted his patience. A sound like a broken wind instrument emanated from his corded neck, the veins standing rigid.
“Do you have any idea how reckless you were today?”
His strong fingers dug into her skin. Gripping her shoulder with his other hand, he spoke each word with deliberate force, as though etching them into her mind.
“If some vile vagrant or criminal had found you first, have you even imagined what would have happened to you?”
Talia fought desperately not to flinch. As though trampling on her efforts, he continued mercilessly.
“Rape, murder, robbery. It’s nothing short of a miracle that you suffered none of these before I found you.”
“Don’t exaggerate. I was only out for half a day.”
“Exaggerate?”
His eyes flashed with sharp thorns. The silver flecks scattered irregularly across his irises resembled the terrifying teeth of a beast.
“Are you pretending not to know, or are you truly so foolish that you haven’t noticed how people see you?”
He lashed out mercilessly, as though he had decided to humiliate her.
“Do you honestly think you could survive even a single day outside these castle walls intact?”
“Let go!”
“Suppose by some miracle you made it through one night unscathed. Then what? After walking for just a few hours, you’re already whimpering in pain!”
“Release me!”
With a sound like a whip cracking, fire bloomed across her palm. Only when she felt the stinging pain did she realize she had struck his face.
Talia stared blankly at his cheek, where her handprint was clearly visible, then slowly contorted her face. Rough, sandpaper-like breathing tore through her throat.
“As you said, a body that can barely walk properly. What does it matter what becomes of it?”
His grip tightened with even greater force. A sinister light flickered in his fractured eyes.
She had never seen him this angry before. Yet strangely, her fear gradually subsided. She almost wished he would destroy her right here.
She spoke through gritted teeth, her words clipped and bitter.
“Even if I become more broken here, it doesn’t matter. Any fate would be better than being beside you.”
For a moment, the light drained from his pupils. Toward that pallid face, she poured out her words with utter disgust.
“So please, make it so I can’t see you anymore.”
Those words seemed to strip away all his resolve. The hands that had been crushing her bones fell away limply.
In the suffocating silence, only the crackling of the Fireplace echoed. After a long moment, his lips—rigid and vacant—released a parched voice.
“Is that truly what you want?”
Talia opened her mouth to answer yes. But as though someone were strangling her, she could not utter a single word.
Hot tears welled up over her corneas. She lowered her gaze to hide them and nodded slowly.
“If you don’t see me, will you be all right?”
Her heart twisted painfully at his quiet voice pouring down from above her head. Talia forced open her constricted throat and barely squeezed out an answer.
“Yes.”
He gave no response.
Talia shot a resentful glance toward the man sitting motionless before her.
Please, stop now. How much worse do I have to become before you’ll abandon me?
Talia, who had been staring at his gaunt face etched with exhaustion as though to burn it into her retinas, squeezed her eyes shut and spoke harshly.
“You said you’d grant me anything within your power, didn’t you?”
“….”
“You’ve never truly kept that promise.”
Her throat tightened, forcing her to pause.
Unable to bear meeting his gaze directly, Talia fixed her eyes on her pallid knuckles as she continued with difficulty.
“So this time, do as I wish. I can’t face you anymore. Just looking at you suffocates me.”
Heavy silence descended once more. After sitting wordlessly for some time, he finally spoke.
“…I understand what you’re saying.”
The man, his face hollow as though nothing remained but an empty shell, slowly rose to his feet.
Talia’s hand, which had unconsciously reached out, twisted into a fist. As he grasped the door handle, cool air rushed in and scraped across her wet cheeks.
Soon after, the man vanished into the darkness.
The click of the door closing sounded like the blade of a guillotine falling.
Talia, who had been frozen in place, leaped from the bed as though possessed. She tried to chase after him, but her overworked knees gave way beneath her.
Sprawled ungracefully across the carpet, Talia watched her legs tremble faintly and let out a hollow laugh.
What could she possibly accomplish by chasing after him now?
Clutching her ruined legs, Talia laughed with the sound of deflating air before collapsing onto the carpet.
* * *
After that day, Barcas never appeared before her. Yet he showed no signs of preparing to send her to the Monastery or the Imperial Palace either. He simply kept her confined to her chamber, abandoned and forgotten.
Perhaps he had set aside matters concerning her in favor of handling the accumulated affairs that had piled up.
Talia sat on the windowsill, gazing out at the Inner Courtyard of the Castle where rain poured down in sheets. The Imperial Palace Knights who had been staying at the Grand Duke’s Estate were mounting their horses one by one.
It appeared they had come to request military cooperation. Across the spacious Training Grounds, she could see supply wagons laden with weapons and hundreds of mounted warriors from the Eastern Territories standing ready.
After searching among them for some time, she finally spotted Barcas.
Talia pressed her forehead against the glass pane, her gaze fixed unwavering on the man standing in the rain.
He looked fine.
With the same impeccable composure as always, issuing orders to the Knights, a mixture of relief and anguish washed over her.
Talia breathed against the glass, fogging it and erasing his image. The man who had crumbled so pathetically before her no longer existed. She had no right to grieve that fact, for it was she who had pushed him away.
Talia drew the curtain over the window. Then she approached the shelf, lit a fire in the Fireplace, and placed a handful of dried medicinal herbs over the flames. Feeling her mind gradually dissolve into a haze, she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. Through the herb-laden fog, the faint sound of rain echoed dimly.
She had no idea how long she had remained in that daze. Roused by a rustling sound, Talia blinked her drowsy eyes as she noticed a Handmaiden setting something on the bedside table.
The sharp scent of grass mingled with the stale air.
“…What is that?”
The young Handmaiden flinched, regarding her with wary eyes. Ever since she had administered the medicine and fled, she had been branded a dangerous person, and the Handmaidens’ demeanor toward her had become far more rigid.
The girl stepped back and answered hesitantly.
“It’s, it’s Heavenly Lotus flowers, my lady. They’re said to help calm the mind and spirit….”
Talia turned her gaze to the bedside table. Inside a transparent glass vase lay a handful of yellow flowers dampened by rain. As she gazed at them absently, the Handmaiden added carefully.
“Grand Duke Sierkan gave them to me before he departed.”
Talia’s eyes widened in shock as she looked back at her.
“…Departed?”

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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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