The Forgotten Field - Chapter 184

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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 184
“I apologize for startling you.”
As I cradled her trembling shoulders and smoothed the rigid tension from her spine, she released the breath she’d been holding and buried her face against my chest.
Through the thin fabric of her nightgown, her heartbeat reached me—faster and more erratic than usual.
“You were absolutely still. Like a corpse, not even a twitch.”
“It merely appeared that way on the surface.”
I patted her gently while my gaze drifted toward the window.
The sun had already climbed to its zenith. The accumulated fatigue from our prolonged expedition seemed to have caught up with me—I’d been sleeping in ever since returning to Laedgo Castle.
Drawing a deep breath, I attempted to dispel the lingering sensation of cold, viscous blood that seemed to still cling to my skin.
“During my time at the Monastery, I underwent training to suppress physical responses to their absolute limits. That old habit occasionally causes me to fall into a sleep so deep it borders on a catatonic state.”
“You’re saying you simply… slept deeply?”
She fixed me with a skeptical gaze.
I cupped her pallid cheek in one hand, brushing away the moisture gathering at the corner of her eye with my thumb, and answered matter-of-factly.
“Yes, I slept deeply for the first time in a long while.”
“You’re really all right? There’s nothing wrong, is there…?”
“There is nothing wrong.”
At my firm response, her rigidly tensed shoulders relaxed slightly.
She exhaled slowly, murmuring to herself.
“You scared me half to death. You were so unnaturally still that when I touched you, your body was ice-cold, and I couldn’t even hear you breathing…”
I gazed down at my wife’s troubled expression.
Her lashes, heavy with moisture, hung downward and glimmered with golden light. Beneath them, her blue eyes appeared even more vivid against the reddened skin surrounding them.
I lowered my head to examine those eyes more closely.
It was only natural for someone to panic when the man lying beside them suddenly stops breathing.
Yet why did such a natural reaction make my chest flutter?
I pressed a kiss to the tip of her slightly flushed nose and whispered my question.
“Were you worried I wouldn’t wake up?”
“…Why are you asking something so obvious?”
Talia averted her eyes awkwardly and grumbled in a sullen tone.
Had she been the woman from before, she would have jumped up and denied it outright. But her honest admission now caused something in my chest to tighten painfully.
Simultaneously, a faint doubt arose. What had changed in her heart over these past six months to alter her demeanor so completely?
Had she endured something so difficult that she’d resolved to depend on me again?
As I regarded her with suspicious eyes, the woman—her face tense, her eyes darting nervously—suddenly pressed herself flush against my bare chest.
I stiffened in surprise.
Through her thin nightgown, I felt the soft, generous curve of her breasts against me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and tilted her head back provocatively.
“…If you’re going to kiss me, do it quickly.”
I felt my reasoning evaporate in an instant as my gaze dropped to her lips.
From last night’s persistent kisses, her lips were fuller and more swollen than usual.
The moment I saw those red, bruised petals, the chill that had been coursing through me vanished, replaced by a surge of heat so intense that sweat beaded across my skin.
I carefully grasped her chin and lowered my head. Soon, our breaths mingled—hot, humid, and intoxicatingly sweet.
I pressed my lips gently against hers, sliding them back and forth teasingly before letting my tongue slip into the warm, narrow space between them.
She naturally climbed onto his lap and gripped his back firmly.
His lower body, swollen with arousal, pressed against her soft thighs, pulling his lower abdomen taut with discomfort, yet he felt no desire to push her away.
Barcas wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her even closer against him.
How long had they remained like that?
As his excitement reached its threshold, he forcibly tore his lips away and carefully pulled his body back. Just as he tried to leave the bed, she grabbed his arm.
“Why… won’t you finish?”
The dissatisfied upward gaze sent such a throbbing heat through the back of his skull that his head spun.
He barely managed to grasp the threads of reason.
“…The sun is already high. I have mountains of neglected duties to attend to.”
As he brushed the hair clinging to her face behind her ear and placed a light kiss on her pristine forehead, the woman, who had been gazing at him with a contemplative expression, asked in a slightly husky voice.
“When will you finish your official duties today?”
“…I should be able to complete them by sunset.”
“Then come to this chamber in the evening. I’ll be waiting for you…”
Talia, speaking with subtle seduction, caressed the veins that protruded across the back of his hand.
Her brazen temptation caused his lower abdomen to tighten with tension.
He swallowed the surging heat, his throat bobbing heavily.
The urge to lay her down on the bed immediately was so overwhelming that sweat beaded along his spine. To conceal this fact, he feigned composure and placed his hand over hers.
“…Understood.”
Then he pulled her hand toward him, kissed it, and rose from his seat.
He wanted to carry her to the second-floor bedroom, but if he touched that warm, soft body, he doubted he could endure any longer.
He rang the bell to summon a handmaiden to attend to her, threw his coat over his bare shoulders, and hastily left the chamber. At the doorway, he stopped upon discovering the massive beast standing sentinel beside it.
The Wolf Beast sat like a guardian directly outside his bedroom, its gray-tinged blue eyes watching him intently.
Contrary to his worry that it might resent him for secretly stealing away its master, the beast remained calm. The way it gazed up at him almost felt like pity for his predicament.
Barcas looked down at those emotionally expressive slate-blue eyes with an uncomfortable gaze before quickly exiting the corridor.
Having prepared swiftly, he headed to the meeting chamber to handle the official duties he had skipped that morning.
Upon entering the Outer Fortress, built for military purposes, the Knights surrounding the long rectangular table rose in unison and bowed respectfully.
Barcas acknowledged them with a light nod, then settled into the Upper Dais and picked up the stack of reports piled to one side.
Most concerned territorial disputes between domains or damages from Zrami raids. While attention was focused on the war in the Northern Region, the savages had been steadily increasing their numbers.
The mounted warriors of the Eastern Territories had continuously tracked the enemies’ traces, but they had yet to locate their main base.
Barcas set down the report with a heavy sigh and directed a question toward Lucas, seated beside him.
“The High Priest suspects that some of the Grand Duchy’s residents are collaborating with the Zrami. What are your thoughts on this?”
“I’d like to dismiss it as nonsense, but… considering the recent movements of the raiders, it’s difficult to ignore the suspicion that there’s an internal accomplice.”
Lucas continued, running his thick dark-brown hair back roughly.
“The raider band had pinpointed the soldiers’ shift changes with remarkable accuracy. They gathered near villages and walled cities, murdered the guards, then plundered the armories and food stores before vanishing without a trace. This would be impossible without someone in the territory helping them hide.”
“Have you conducted searches?”
“We’ve implemented multiple checkpoints, but… we’ve found no particular clues or results.”
Barcas tapped the table with his fingertips as he reviewed the reports on damages caused by the Zrami, then clicked his tongue.
“Investigate all suspicious individuals thoroughly. Anyone capable of harboring dozens of savages must possess considerable wealth. Instruct the investigators to focus their inquiries on prominent citizens who have established roots in the Eastern Territories for generations.”
Having issued his instructions in his characteristic flat tone, Barcas turned his gaze toward Beirov, who stood waiting on his right.
“Have those dispatched beyond the castle walls not yet returned?”
“Yes, it appears the investigation is still ongoing.”
Barcas nodded and moved to the next agenda—a discussion regarding the recruitment of additional trainees to supplement the insufficient military forces. He quickly reviewed the supplementary budget proposal and affixed his seal.
Once the examination of all major matters was complete, Barcas briefly conveyed the information the White Silver Alliance Guild Master had brought the previous night.
The Knights did not take the northerner’s warning seriously. This was understandable, given that the probability of a reversal in the current situation was exceedingly slim.
However, the report that the instigator of the rebellion might have escaped Amasek was not something to be dismissed lightly.

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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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