The Forgotten Field - Chapter 163

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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 163
“I… I don’t know the details either…”
The Handmaiden, her expression flustered, continued her explanation awkwardly.
“I heard he must remain stationed in the Balto Border Region for a while due to the conflict.”
“For a while…? How long exactly…”
I faltered mid-sentence, my lips trembling as I bit down on them. It was I who had said I never wanted to face him again. What right did I have to ask such a question?
With a vacant expression, I gazed down at the flower placed on the bedside table, and the Handmaiden, noticing my distress, fumbled through an answer to my unfinished question.
“There’s no fixed date, but… I heard he has no intention of leaving the Castle vacant for long. He plans to travel between the Castle and the garrison as circumstances permit…”
I released a sigh of relief without thinking, then, realizing what I had done, let out a hollow laugh. I was disgusted with myself.
Gazing down at the rain-laden flower bud, I laughed dryly, my shoulders trembling, before covering my burning eyes with the back of my hand. The inner corners of my eyes stung as if they were burning.
I could sense it instinctively. He had left because of me. Rather than cast me out, he had chosen to leave himself.
‘Why on earth…’
Only one question circled endlessly through my mind.
Why would he go so far?
Even if he accepted the Emperor’s proposal and divorced me, no one would blame him. It was a forced marriage from the beginning.
I knew it too. Barcas had no reason to resent me. The limp in his leg, the loss of our child—all of it was my responsibility.
I also knew what I should have told Barcas.
You’ve done nothing wrong. Every misfortune that has befallen me is my own doing. So please, don’t carry guilt or responsibility for it.
Just abandon someone like me. Everyone does. Even those who gave birth to me did. So why do you…
My chest ached as if it were burning. I wondered if I was making some terrible mistake.
Yet I couldn’t fathom how to correct it. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
The Handmaiden asked with concern, noticing that my vacant expression seemed unusual.
I grasped my throbbing head and shook it weakly.
“I’m fine. It’s just…”
With eyes clouded as if by fog, I looked at the Handmaiden’s face, then turned my gaze toward the rain-spattered window. The rain that had fallen gently throughout the day now struck the glass pane relentlessly.
By now, he must be walking through that rain. I wondered if perhaps he hadn’t made it very far.
Without knowing what I truly wanted to do, I rose from the bed. The Handmaiden approached with a startled expression.
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“Bring me my outer coat.”
When I issued the command in an authoritative voice that brooked no defiance, Aria, who had been reaching out to stop me, flinched and froze.
I pressed her with a sharp tone.
“Did you not hear me? Bring the coat.”
The Handmaiden, her face crumpled with distress, hesitantly brought a thick overcoat.
Draping it over my loose linen dress, I stepped outside into the dim corridor. As I limped forward, a large shadow blocked my path.
“Where do you intend to go?”
A young man in armor stood before me with a solemn expression. He was the Guard who had begun standing watch at my door like a jailer ever since the day I had secretly fled the Castle.
I fixed him with a piercing gaze and spoke with mockery.
“Did the Grand Duke order you to confine me to my chamber?”
“His Excellency commanded that I never take my eyes off the Grand Duchess and protect you thoroughly.”
Talia’s expression darkened for a moment, but she soon spoke with arrogant disdain.
“Then you should escort me according to those orders instead of blocking my path so presumptuously.”
She turned toward the Staircase, but the man blocked her way again.
“Whether I do so depends on where Your Highness intends to go.”
The man’s gaze remained resolute and unyielding.
“You are free to move anywhere within the Castle, but if you wish to venture outside, you must first obtain permission from the Grand Duke.”
Talia glared at him with visible irritation, yet the young Soldier remained unmoved.
“I ask once more—where do you intend to go?”
“I….”
I had been about to say I wished to go where Barcas was, but the words caught in my throat.
I myself had been the one who pushed him away. What could I possibly say to him now if I were to follow?
Would I truly make such selfish demands—that he remain silently at my side even if it meant greater political isolation?
All my resolve drained away in an instant, and I spoke as though deflating.
“…I wish to see the City Walls.”
The Soldier, who had been frowning with suspicion, stepped aside. Since he himself had declared that I was free to go anywhere within the Castle, he had no grounds to refuse.
I descended the Staircase at once. Though I felt the Handmaiden and Soldier following quietly behind, I paid them no attention as I left the Main Castle.
As I crossed the wide Inner Courtyard, anxious glances rained down upon me—worried that the Grand Duchess might flee beyond the Castle walls. I ignored them and climbed the rain-slicked stone steps, where a gray Steppe shrouded in sheets of rain came into view.
The column of soldiers was nowhere to be seen; they had long since departed.
I approached the Castle Rampart and gazed endlessly across the windswept field where rain lashed fiercely. The Handmaiden, unable to bear the sight, ventured a careful suggestion.
“Your Highness, you’ll catch cold at this rate. Perhaps we should return inside….”
I studied the pallid face of the young girl, who had been caught in the rain because of me, then slowly turned toward the Staircase. It was then that a sorrowful cry echoed from somewhere.
I stiffened, startled. At first, I thought I was hearing things again. But seeing the Handmaiden’s shocked expression, I realized the sound was real.
“What on earth is that sound?”
“Perhaps the hunters have caught some beast’s offspring.”
The Soldier replied indifferently, glancing toward the Garden in response to the Handmaiden’s question.
“Pay it no mind and let us go.”
I ignored the Soldier’s urging and turned toward the source of the sound.
As I followed the passage along the City Walls, the sharp, terrified cries grew increasingly distinct.
My heart quickened inexplicably. I descended the Staircase leading to the Garden almost at a run.
Moments later, I discovered half a dozen armed Soldiers gathered in the Castle Courtyard, which was overgrown with shrubs and trees. They ceased their work when they saw me, having been throwing something into a small Pit.
“Your Highness the Grand Duchess—what brings you to such a place….”
One of the Soldiers hastily bowed.
I ignored his question and approached the Pit. Several dark wild wolves lay limp in the mud.
Staring down at them, I turned to the Soldier with a sharp question.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“We were disposing of Dire Wolf cubs.”
The bearded Soldier replied in a sullen tone.
“Throughout last winter, those wretches killed over a dozen of the Grand Ducal House’s horses. They apparently succeeded in breeding—plump wolf cubs have been prowling the Forest. We considered simply killing them, but thought we might salvage some materials, so we captured them….”
The man released a heavy sigh and lifted the limp body of a wolf from the ground, hurling it into the Pit.
“They’re still too young—even when we opened their bellies, nothing came out. So we’re simply burying them.”
With a wet splatter, the small beast’s corpse sank into the muddy water.
I flinched and stumbled backward without thinking, but the whimpering cry that had briefly subsided erupted once more.
Talia spun around sharply and her eyes widened as she spotted a Soldier pulling a bundle of gray fur from a large sack.
The Soldier pressed a knife to the beast’s throat. Without a moment to think, I hurled myself forward.
The Soldier, suddenly shoved, let out a short cry and crumpled to the ground.
I stepped past the Soldier staring up at me in shock and lifted the gray creature that had fallen to the earth. The anguished cries ceased as if they had never been.
Talia examined the rain-soaked ashen wolf with careful attention.
Beneath delicate white lashes that gleamed like silk, pale blue eyes gazed out. Within them, I discovered fragments of silver, and my breath caught.
“What on earth are you doing?”
The Guard who had followed me spoke with exasperation in his voice.
Talia answered without sparing him a glance.
“I’m going to raise this child.”
I felt the stirring of those around me. They were likely regarding me as though I had lost my mind. Perhaps I truly had.
Yet it did not matter.
I spread my coat and cradled the small creature within it.
The wolf could not tear its eyes from me for a single moment. In those transparent pupils glistening with tears, I discovered a poignant longing, and a tender smile graced my lips.
“From now on, your name is Khan.”
The small ears covered in downy fur perked up endearingly.
Talia gazed upon this sight with eyes brimming with joy, then buried my face in the damp fur and whispered softly.
“From now on, stay with me always.”

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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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