The Forgotten Field - Chapter 178

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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 178
Whenever I recalled that moment, my chest still ached with a dull, gnawing pain.
Despite being born a bastard, she had been raised as the Empire’s noble Princess.
Throughout her life, she had scorned anything that wasn’t the finest clothing, jewelry, or treasures, and she was fastidiously obsessive about cleanliness to an almost excessive degree. Yet that very woman had been willing to sleep in tattered rags atop a hay pile thick with dust and grime.
Simply because she didn’t wish to be near me.
I tore my gaze away from her face by sheer force of will, and silently reminded myself: I must not read too much into her sudden change in demeanor.
Her suffering had surely worn away gradually over time. As the pain of losing the child healed, her resentment toward me must have softened somewhat.
But that did not mean she had come to desire my company.
So I needed to stop entertaining such useless thoughts.
“Yesterday….”
Barcas stirred from his reverie at the sudden sound of her voice, turning his gaze from the window.
Those blue eyes that had been staring intently outside were now fixed upon him.
“Where did you sleep yesterday?”
His brow furrowed briefly at the unexpected question before he answered mechanically.
“In the bedroom adjoining my office.”
“From now on, sleep in your own bedroom.”
For a moment, my thoughts ground to a halt. I regarded her with a rigid expression.
Talia, her expression composed as she toyed with the metal ornament hanging from her belt, added flatly.
“If you keep sleeping there, the servants will gossip that the Grand Duchess drove the Grand Duke from his bedroom.”
I furrowed my brow.
In truth, I thought it amounted to much the same thing as driving me out, but I refrained from voicing it.
She pulled at the ornament on her belt with such force it seemed she might tear it free, and continued tersely.
“I’ll be using my own chamber anyway, so from now on you use yours. The war is over, so you’ll be staying at Laedgo Castle permanently now. The Grand Duke can’t remain in the study indefinitely.”
“Please don’t concern yourself. I won’t be spending much time in the bedroom anyway, as I’ll be occupied with accumulated administrative duties for some time.”
“Are you handling all the Grand Duchy’s affairs alone?”
She suddenly grew angry.
“You’ve just returned from rolling around on a battlefield for two years—what administrative duties could possibly matter now?”
I swallowed a sigh and explained in a measured tone.
“There are matters that neither my representatives nor my retainers can handle in my stead. There are also many issues I must familiarize myself with, given how long I’ve been away.”
“Still, you need to sleep properly! Other nobles are all busy carousing with hunts and feasts, yet why do you do nothing but work?”
“A considerable number of those nobles who squander their time so frivolously end up facing financial ruin or being driven out by their own retainers.”
“That’s not true of everyone. You’re simply lacking in resourcefulness.”
Rather than explain the complexity of managing a massive city like Kalmor and hundreds of vast territories, I simply nodded in agreement.
“Yes, it is my lack of resourcefulness that is to blame.”
Her face flushed crimson. I deliberately averted my eyes from that expression of petulance.
I didn’t want to deceive myself into thinking she was angry out of concern for me. Or perhaps—perhaps there was some truth to it. She bristles with thorns toward everyone, yet beneath that prickly exterior lies a tender heart.
Even in the early days of our marriage, I had recognized that she was gradually opening herself to me.
Had she safely borne the child, we would have continued sharing a bed in the same chamber. There would have been no such awkward silence, no tentative exploration of each other as there is now.
Our child would be two years old by now, and perhaps we would have lain side by side, with our often-petulant young son nestled between us as we drifted to sleep.
As I envisioned that scene, I hastily emptied my mind as though burned by flame.
I had no desire to become a dreamer lost in fruitless hypotheticals.
“In any case, pay me no mind and continue using that bedroom. You’ll need a spacious chamber to keep Khan at your side, won’t you?”
“That’s true, but… won’t people still call me a wicked wife for driving my husband to the study?”
“If anyone dares speak such nonsense, I’ll have them cast out of the castle.”
“Do you think that solves anything? If you do that, I’ll only face worse ridicule!”
In the end, a small ornament hanging from her belt snapped cleanly beneath her fingers.
The woman who had been toying with it hesitantly opened her mouth.
“So perhaps instead…”
Just then, the carriage that had been moving at a steady pace came to a halt. Simultaneously, a Guard tapped lightly on the door.
“We’ve arrived, Your Grace.”
“Wait.”
Barcas, speaking somewhat curtly, turned his gaze back to Talia.
“Continue.”
“…Never mind.”
The woman replied with a sullen expression, rising unsteadily from her seat. Barcas, who had instinctively reached to steady her by the waist, clenched his fist instead.
She turned back to him and cried out in exasperation.
“Why aren’t you helping me down? What are you doing?”
Only then did Barcas rise and step outside, extending his hand toward her. Talia grasped it firmly and carefully descended from the carriage.
In that moment, a wave of admiring gasps rippled outward in all directions.
Turning his head, Barcas saw hundreds of people gathered for the consecration ceremony staring at Talia with vacant expressions. Several of them stood with mouths agape, drool trickling down their chins.
He wrapped one hand firmly around her silken forearm and subtly shielded her with his broad shoulders. Yet it proved impossible to block out all the gazes pouring from every direction.
Enduring those sticky, lingering stares, he led her slowly toward the entrance of the Grand Cathedral.
Soon the vast chapel with its cool air spread before them. As they crossed through it, thousands of citizens packed into the Believer’s Seats rose as one. Among them were wealthy merchants, minor nobles, and bureaucrats he had personally appointed.
Barcas passed by those striving desperately to catch his eye and made his way toward the Upper Dais. Atop the broad marble staircases flanking the Altar stood seats specially prepared for House Sierkan.
He allowed her to ascend the stairs first, then positioned himself behind her. It was a gesture meant to conceal any slight limp in her gait. Yet she seemed no longer greatly conscious of the people’s stares.
With an expressionless face and head held high, Talia grasped the railing with one hand and climbed the stairs slowly. Everyone gathered in the chapel watched her beautiful, composed figure in breathless silence.
It was not the gaze directed at a living, breathing being. It was a look of reverence toward something sacred and ominous.
Sensing the strange atmosphere flowing through the chapel, the High Priest rose abruptly from his seat and shook the bell placed upon the Altar with a stern expression.
Those who had worn expressions as though entranced suddenly straightened their heads in unison.
“We shall now commence the consecration ceremony.”
At the High Priest’s solemn declaration, shame and guilt flickered across the faces of several men.
Barcas clenched his teeth. It was not difficult to discern what obscene thoughts had crossed their minds. Throughout my time as her Royal Guard Knight, I had to remain vigilant against those who gazed upon her with eyes clouded by lust.
Suppressing the mounting irritation, he quietly followed behind her.
Several of his relatives already occupied seats on the second level. Among them were Lucas and Raina. Barcas acknowledged his sullen-faced siblings with a slight nod before taking his designated seat beside her.
Shortly after, the boys in the choir section rose and began singing a hymn in ancient Osyrian. As I gazed down at the scene while concealing my boredom, a soft laugh reached my ears.
Turning my eyes in surprise, I caught sight of her face, her blue eyes gleaming with mischief.
“Look at that.”
She whispered against my ear. A strange warmth flowed from where her sweet breath touched.
“His face has turned almost purple.”
I forced my attention to focus on what she was indicating.
It took several seconds before he could locate the High Priest standing before the Altar. The man glared at her with eyes burning as though she had committed sacrilege itself.
“I remember nagging you before about dressing as modestly as possible when you came to the Grand Cathedral, and wearing a veil over your face. But it seems you’ve taken it upon yourself to come dressed like this just to spite me.”
Whatever amusement she found in the matter, she giggled like a mischievous nymph plotting some wicked prank.
He furrowed his brow. She had never been particularly devout to begin with. Yet she had never shown any particular animosity toward the Religious Order either. If anything, hadn’t she occasionally read theological texts with the fervor of someone truly devoted?
What could have transpired in the interim to transform her into someone so openly hostile toward the priests?

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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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