The Forgotten Field - Chapter 196

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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 196
The moment his command fell, soldiers swarmed around her.
The limping footsteps gradually faded into distance. Listening to that sound, Barcas collapsed onto the bed the instant the door closed behind her.
It felt as though every muscle fiber, every bone, every nerve in his body had been shredded and crushed.
His face, drenched in cold sweat, lifted to stare vacantly at the darkening ceiling before he covered both eyes with the back of his hand.
* * *
Even after regaining consciousness, I could not leave the bed for two days. The poison that had spread through my very nerves left me unable to stand properly for even ten minutes.
By the fourth day, having recovered enough strength to move without difficulty, I appeared in the Meeting Hall in perfect formal attire, as though nothing had happened.
“I’ve caused you all concern.”
With movements as measured and disciplined as ever, I walked to the Upper Dais of the long table and offered a formal greeting.
My retainers, who had not expected my attendance, froze in shock before hastily rising from their seats.
“Your Excellency, are you certain you’re well enough to attend to state affairs already? Surely you should still be focusing on your recovery….”
“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
I replied curtly, settling into my chair and giving a slight nod.
“Sit, all of you. There must be a mountain of matters requiring our attention.”
Those who had been watching me with eyes clouded by concern and worry took their seats one by one. I lowered my gaze to the map spread across the table.
Red lines were scattered haphazardly across various regions suitable for hideouts. It appeared they had made considerable effort to track the Zrami while I lay unconscious.
“Has the search made any progress?”
“We discovered several caves being used as armories, but we’ve had little success otherwise.”
Edgar, a squad captain of the Wolfram Cavalry, answered in a bitter tone.
“It seems they’ve already moved all the important equipment. All we found were worn-out gambeson and falx with missing teeth scattered about. They left not a single clue by which we could track them.”
“Those who were cooperating with them also vanished without a trace, taking advantage of the chaos.”
A middle-aged Knight seated at the center-left of the Conference Hall table suddenly spoke up.
“We captured and interrogated all the Heretic Cult members who failed to escape, but we obtained no useful information. It appears the lower-ranking believers didn’t even know their superiors were collaborating with the raiders.”
The man exhaled heavily.
“The only thread we managed to grasp has been completely severed.”
“Not entirely severed, I would say.”
At the calm voice, all eyes converged on a single point.
Modrian, serving as military advisor, was staring directly at me with eyes heavy and grave.
“There remains one person who may have been collaborating with the raiders. And that person is very close indeed.”
For a moment, the air in the Conference Hall froze.
At the old Knight’s blunt statement, my retainers swallowed hard and turned to look at me in unison. I wore an expression of boredom, as though I had anticipated such an attack.
“I’m quite curious to know whom you’re referring to.”
“Surely Your Excellency knows better than anyone.”
Modrian replied calmly, placing his elbows on the table and exhaling slowly.
“Immediately after the Grand Duchess attempted to poison Your Excellency, intruders infiltrated the Castle. They possessed precise knowledge not only of Laedgo Castle’s internal structure but also of the guards’ positions. This cannot possibly be mere coincidence. Surely the Grand Duchess must have been cooperating with them….”
“You seem to have forgotten that the person you’re now accusing is my wife and the Princess of this Empire.”
I cut off the old Knight’s words in a flat voice.
“Does your position seem so light that you would condemn someone of grave crimes based on mere speculation without clear evidence?”
“What do you mean there’s no evidence? The Grand Duchess herself confessed to poisoning Your Excellency’s cup. Strictly speaking, she is a caught criminal! What more evidence could possibly be required?”
The cavalry captain’s voice rang out with agitation.
Barcas fixed him with a glacial stare.
“She said she had administered medicine, not poison. She never explicitly stated poison.”
“Such semantic quibbling—”
“I will not repeat myself. My wife has never confessed to attempting to poison me.”
The man flinched at the sinister warning threaded through Barcas’s words, his mouth snapping shut. Barcas swept his gaze methodically across the assembly before continuing with mechanical precision.
“She merely prepared a restorative draught for her husband before his departure. There is every possibility that someone switched the contents. Therefore, this so-called confession you speak of holds no evidentiary weight.”
“Such preposterous—!”
The man’s lips trembled as he gaped in disbelief. Modrian, observing their exchange, turned toward him with suspicious eyes.
“If the Grand Duchess is innocent, why has she not actively defended herself? Throughout the entire interrogation, she has not once spoken in her own defense.”
“Would you have listened had she?”
Barcas’s lips twisted into a cold sneer.
“My wife is not so base as to grovel with excuses before those who have already condemned her and mean to drag her to the gallows.”
His vassals had not expected him to shield the Grand Duchess so openly, and their faces registered profound bewilderment. Some even regarded him as though he were a madman.
They had reason to. In their eyes, he must appear a fool besotted with a woman, bereft of all reason.
Perhaps they were not far wrong. Even he found his own blindness grotesque—this mindless protection of the woman who had driven him to death’s threshold.
“Then, might you permit us to conduct an investigation into the Grand Duchess’s surroundings?”
Modrian, who had been regarding him with contemplative eyes for some time, broke the heavy silence.
“If the Grand Duchess is truly innocent, there would be no reason to refuse.”
“Have we not already confined my wife and conducted interrogations and investigations?”
Barcas pointed out sharply.
“What more do you intend?”
“I intend to conduct a thorough investigation of those in your immediate circle. Particularly those who knew that the Grand Duchess had planned to serve you that ‘special wine’ that night.”
Modrian explained calmly.
“If, as you say, the Grand Duchess did not collaborate with our enemies, then someone else in your circle must be the culprit.”
Rather than mention that he had already begun the investigation, Barcas nodded with an impassive expression.
For now, it was best to redirect their suspicion away from her and toward others.
“However, do not conduct this affair too ostentatiously. If there is indeed someone in this castle collaborating with our enemies, they may flee to avoid detection.”
Finding merit in his words, the old knight readily assented and moved to the next agenda.
Barcas, recognizing that he had effectively diluted the suspicion directed at her, released the tension from his fists, which had been clenched so tightly that blood had ceased to flow.
Thin tremors still rippled through various parts of his incompletely healed body.
He wondered if permanent aftereffects might linger. Agor’s virulent poison was a lethal substance that corroded organs and paralyzed the nerves throughout the body. That he had recovered this much strength in merely ten days was nothing short of miraculous.
For the first time in his life, he was grateful for his extraordinary recuperative ability. Had he remained unconscious… The image of Talia being dragged into his sleeping chamber in a haggard state burned itself into his retinas like a scar. As the vision of her ascending the gallows at the hands of his enraged kinsmen surfaced in succession, cold sweat drenched his spine.
Barcas hastily banished that abhorrent imagination and rose from his seat.
“It seems we have addressed all matters of importance. I shall take my leave now.”
He gestured to his vassals, who had begun to rise, and strode briskly from the meeting hall.

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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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