The Forgotten Field - Chapter 17

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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 17
Talia regarded the boy gazing up at her with bright, eager eyes with a wary gaze.
“What brings you here?”
“I snuck out of the castle to see you, sister.”
The boy spoke with such cheerful lightness that it bordered on recklessness.
Talia’s brow furrowed. Astros, her younger brother who had only just turned six, was a thorn in her side.
Though they shared the same parents, their circumstances differed as vastly as heaven and earth. This innocent-faced boy was a legitimate son born of the Emperor and Empress in lawful matrimony, while I—what was I but the seed of sordid infidelity?
As I watched Astros receive his blessing amid the adulation of countless well-wishers, a piercing jealousy seized my heart. I could not fathom how much I despised that tiny, helpless creature who could barely open his eyes.
Senevir, perceiving these turbulent emotions with keen insight, had never permitted the eldest daughter—now of little use—to approach her precious son.
Thus, I could see my brother’s face only at official ceremonies. This was the first time I had confronted him so closely since the day of his christening.
I furrowed my brow and glanced around.
“Did you come here alone? If Mother found out…”
“I didn’t come alone. I came with Berens.”
The boy spoke with crisp certainty, then turned and pointed to one side of the corridor. Only then could I discern a man in black garments standing where deep shadows pooled.
Once, he had been the phantom-faced man who stood at my side. Now he watched Astros with vigilant eyes that seemed to warn he would act instantly if I so much as attempted to harm the boy.
Bitter bile rose in my throat. The man’s dark eyes seemed to declare that I could never be important to anyone.
Concealing my twisted emotions, I asked in a clipped tone.
“What do you want from me?”
“I heard that you would soon be embarking on a long journey, sister. So…”
“I’m embarking on a long journey?”
I cut off my brother’s words with a sharp voice.
The boy, startled by my harsh reaction, hesitated briefly before continuing with caution.
“Mother said you would be accompanying her on this pilgrimage…”
I stared down at my brother’s face in a daze, then suddenly burst into rough laughter. He flinched and took a step back. Did I appear so unhinged even in the eyes of this innocent child?
Clutching my belly as I laughed, I bent toward my young brother and asked in an affected gentle tone.
“What else did Mother say?”
Astros hesitated for a long moment. It seemed he had only just realized how badly he was upsetting me.
But the boy was not one to be intimidated into silence or to swallow words he wished to speak.
“She said you might be getting married soon. That a man named Count Serian had submitted a proposal…”
The boy, who had been speaking calmly, flinched and fell silent.
Apparently, my expression had become truly dreadful. The man who had been watching silently from a distance stepped between Astros and me. Was he afraid I would lose my reason to rage and throttle this child?
I ignored the man’s vigilance and fixed my gaze solely upon my brother’s innocent face.
“So you came to offer congratulations? To bid a joyful farewell now that the Imperial Family’s burden—me—will finally marry and leave the Imperial Palace?”
The boy’s shoulders trembled as he sensed the sharp barbs hidden beneath my gentle tone.
He protested with an aggrieved expression.
“If you marry and leave, it will become even harder to see you than it is now. So I wanted to talk with you before that happens. We share the same mother—we’re siblings, after all.”
A faint longing resonated in the boy’s voice.
“I’ve always hoped we could become close like the eldest sister and her brother. But if you marry, that chance might never come. That’s why I came to find you.”
I gazed down at those large, hopeful eyes with complete indifference.
Because of this boy, I had become utterly worthless.
The Empress and the Emperor, and between them, a beloved and brilliant Prince born of their love.
I was nothing but an unsightly blemish that I wished to erase from that perfect picture. The brighter Astros shone, the deeper the darkness surrounding me grew.
The fact that I envied this child so desperately was pitiful. In truth, I found facing him like this utterly repugnant.
Talia cast a merciless sneer toward the boy whose eyes gleamed with misplaced hope.
“Do you expect me to throw myself into your service with all my might, just as the First Princess exerts herself to make your twin brother Emperor?”
“That’s not what I meant…!”
“You need not trouble yourself. Our mother has already devised every detail of how to use me for your benefit. Even my marriage was surely arranged because it serves your interests. So, little brother, abandon such pointless expectations.”
Astros seemed to have little resistance to such overt hostility. From his bewildered expression alone, I could see how thoroughly sheltered this child had been.
Perhaps this boy had never experienced spending a night awake in fear. It occurred to me that today’s meeting might become his first wound.
Talia allowed a sharp smile to play at her lips.
“I have not the slightest intention of becoming your affectionate and devoted sister. Because I despise you every bit as much as I despise our twin brothers.”
The shock caused the boy’s large eyes to glisten with tears. Talia continued mercilessly toward that pitiful face.
“Now that you understand, won’t you disappear?”
Astros clenched his lips as if stifling a cry, then turned without hesitation and departed down the empty Corridor. The man in black followed the boy silently and vanished.
Talia locked the door and walked back to the window. The sky, which had shone blue moments before, was now tinted a pale violet.
The workers who had been busily moving cargo had one by one left the Estate to rest, and the knights had long since returned to their quarters—not a single one remained in sight.
As Talia habitually brought her index finger to her lips, she froze at a sharp sting. Dark red blood trickled from between the split nails. At the sight of it, the venom that had been slowly seeping from my heart rose all the way to my throat.
Desperately swallowing a scream that threatened to burst forth at any moment, she seized the cloak hanging on one side of the chamber and draped it over her thin surcoat. Then, without a single Handmaiden in attendance, she slipped out of the Separate Palace.

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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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