The Forgotten Field - Chapter 186

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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 186
Lucas, who had been staring at him with piercing intensity, added with a sneer.
“Isn’t that right? You didn’t marry the Duchess Sierkan because the Emperor forced you to. You’re the one who wanted it—you cast aside your betrothed and eagerly accepted His Majesty’s proposal, didn’t you?”
Barcas, who had been sending a cold glance over his shoulder, continued walking without responding.
Lucas, bristling at being ignored, immediately pursued him.
“I hit a nerve, didn’t I?”
“….”
“You took a woman who’s of no benefit to this family as your spouse, yet you demand sacrifice only from me and Raina. Don’t you think that’s terribly unfair?”
“Sacrifice?”
Barcas, who had been crossing the Training Grounds in silence, cast a chilling gaze.
Lucas instinctively stepped back.
A desolate wind seemed to blow from somewhere. The Grand Duke approached him with an air so cold it pushed back the early summer heat, his lips curving softly.
“Remarkable. How comfortably you must have lived all this time to complain about sacrifice over a mere political marriage?”
At his voice—chillingly gentle—Lucas felt his spine stiffen. Barcas tilted his inhumanly perfect face toward him and continued speaking slowly.
“I’ll ask you one thing. If you refuse to accept what you should naturally bear as a member of the Nobility… then what do you intend to offer in return for the privileges you’ve enjoyed?”
Lucas bit his lower lip, unable to respond.
Barcas, quietly observing his younger brother’s flushed face, exhaled a long breath and added in a conciliatory tone.
“Don’t resist from the start. I intend to present the best options for all of you. You and Raina need only choose whichever candidate suits you best.”
“…What if there’s no one I like?”
“Then pick whoever is least objectionable.”
Barcas’s tone grew harsh again.
“The time for childish complaints has long passed. Both of you must contribute something to this household now.”
Lucas, clenching his fists, spoke in a heavy, subdued voice.
“I understand what you’re saying.”
“Good to hear.”
Barcas replied flatly, gripped his younger brother’s shoulder firmly once, then released it and resumed walking. Lucas watched his retreating figure with a gloomy gaze before turning in the opposite direction.
After leaving the castle, Barcas attended a meeting at the Kalmore Assembly Hall, where he reviewed the legislative amendments that had been discussed.
Once he had completed all the tedious administrative procedures, he visited the Guard Garrison Headquarters located on the outskirts of the city to examine detailed records of bandit sightings and affected areas.
When he had finished all his official duties and returned to the castle, the sunset was consuming the entire world.
Barcas looked up at the violet-tinted sky, handed the reins to the stable master who came rushing over, and headed straight for the Main Castle.
“Welcome back, sir.”
As he entered the vast Hall, the servants who had been lighting the chandeliers bowed their heads in unison.
Barcas acknowledged their greeting with a slight nod and immediately ascended the staircase.
He was heading directly to the Bedroom adjoining the Study on the third floor when a cautious voice came from behind.
“S-sir.”
When he turned, he saw the Steward with a tense expression.
Barcas raised one eyebrow and asked.
“What is it?”
“The Grand Duchess is currently in the Bedroom on the second floor. She asked me to inform you upon your return….”
Barcas, furrowing his brow, immediately changed direction.
As I descended the staircase another level, soldiers standing guard before my bedroom came into view.
I dismissed them with a glance, then knocked upon the door. After a considerable pause, a slightly hoarse voice called out from within.
“Come in.”
Upon entering, I caught the acrid stench of medicinal herbs and frowned. The air hung thick and hazy from the burning incense—far too much of it.
I strode across the chamber and threw open the windows. Then I extinguished the incense still smoldering away before casting a disapproving gaze toward the bed.
“Are you attempting to suffocate yourself? How long have you been burning this inferno?”
My sharp words died on my lips as I caught sight of my wife’s exhausted face sprawled across the mattress.
She lay with one arm wrapped around the neck of the Wolf Beast that dominated much of the expansive bed, her voice tight and strained as she murmured.
“I had no choice. Today, Khan was acting… strangely.”
I approached the bedside, my brow furrowed.
Unlike yesterday, the Wolf Beast was not fully asleep. Though its body lay limp—perhaps from the medicinal vapors—and its breathing came in somewhat ragged gasps, its eyes remained fixated upon its master with relentless intensity.
Detecting something peculiar in that gaze—an obsessive quality—my expression hardened.
My wife, noticing my scrutiny, offered an explanation.
“It seems anxious from being left alone last night. And now that I’ve suddenly confined it indoors… its frustrations have accumulated, I suppose.”
“Did this creature cause any trouble today?”
My question, delivered with deliberate coldness, brought a defensive look to her face.
“Khan caused no trouble. It simply appeared… anxious.”
If she needed to burn such potent sedatives to calm it, the beast must have displayed considerable instability.
I gazed down at the creature struggling to remain awake despite its labored breathing, my eyes cold and assessing.
This morning it had seemed stable enough—what could have unsettled it so thoroughly?
I exhaled a weary sigh and settled upon the edge of the bed. At that, the beast—which had been wrinkling its snout as if to bare its fangs—thrust its head into my wife’s arms.
I narrowed my eyes at this silent warning to keep my distance, but she spoke carefully.
“I think I need to stay with Khan tonight.”
I studied her face, which appeared no less strained than the Wolf Beast’s, and slowly nodded.
“Do not concern yourself with me. Sleep.”
“…Won’t you stay here with me?”
As I began to rise, she reached out and grasped my coat hem.
After a moment’s hesitation, I removed my boots and climbed onto the bed.
As I settled beside her and leaned back against the headboard, the Wolf Beast’s gaze found me. Its eyes betrayed clear displeasure at this arrangement.
I ignored the creature and gently caressed her forehead with one hand—it was slightly damp with perspiration, and she seemed to have a mild fever.
“I will watch over Khan. Rest easy and sleep.”
Her eyelids descended at my words, and soon she breathed in steady, even rhythm. I gazed down at my sleeping wife’s face.
After the deep, passionate kiss we had shared, I had anticipated drawing her warm, soft body close and surrendering to sleep—a disappointment, to say the least.
Yet there was a measure of relief in it as well. Having resolved never to get her with child again, her seductions had begun to feel somewhat burdensome.
I carefully stroked her silken hair and rested my head against the backrest.
As fresh air from the open window dispelled the bitter smoke, her scent gradually began to fill the chamber.
Breathing in that intoxicating fragrance, I gazed endlessly at her serene face, bathed in the glow of twilight.
Suddenly, my brother’s voice echoed in my mind.
“You married the woman you desired, did you not?”
I knew those words were true. But what of it? In this hollow existence, surely one deserved to possess at least one thing one truly wanted.
Barcas lowered his gaze to her legs, folded to one side. Beneath the thin summer quilt, her slender calves tangled in the folds of her skirt protruded into view.
He reached out and traced the crimson marks visible through the fabric of her garment.
The thought crossed his mind that she might convulse upon waking, yet he could not withdraw his hand from the long scar that stretched from her knee to her thigh.
Nearly every night, as he sifted through memories of the past, he had never relived the moment this wound was inflicted—nor the sight of her bleeding upon this very bed.
In waking life, the memory burned with the clarity of a brand, yet in the deep of night it dissolved like mist. This woman could never become his nightmare.
Unable to suppress any longer the desire to hold her, he rested his head upon the pillow and slid one arm beneath hers.
As he carefully turned her body, which had been facing the Wolf Beast, toward himself, the creature lifted its head from where its chin had pressed against the sheets.
Within the beast’s expressionless eyes, a strange light flickered for an instant.
The creature, which had been staring intently at his face as if observing him, rose with labored, heavy movements and pressed itself against her back. Then it laid its face, covered in short, dense gray fur, beside her head.
Regarding the beast with a somewhat exasperated heart, he exhaled and wrapped his arm around her back.
Her warm breath tickled his chest. Perhaps tonight, too, he would sink into rivers of blood.
As if the dream sensed that he was betraying the oath in his heart, it grew cold and dark.
Yet it mattered not.
Even as he felt his body growing increasingly warm, he did not release his arm from around her.

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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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