The Forgotten Field - Chapter 209

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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 209
Barcas stared down at her with clenched teeth, then bellowed toward the doorway.
“Bring food at once!”
The Handmaidens who had been lingering in the Corridor rushed down the Staircase in a flurry.
Before long, they carefully entered the Chamber carrying trays laden with various dishes.
Barcas forcibly sat her upright, then propped pillows behind her back to support her torso. He retrieved a bowl of white rice porridge from the tray and pressed it into her hands.
“Stop this foolish behavior and eat.”
Her unfocused eyes drifted toward the bowl.
When she showed no response, Barcas grew impatient and added threateningly.
“If you won’t eat on your own, I’ll force-feed you.”
Yet Talia remained limp as a puppet with severed strings, utterly motionless.
Finally losing patience, Barcas snatched a spoon and ladled the porridge. As he brought it to her lips, she turned her head away with obvious disdain.
He seized her face forcefully and wrenched her jaw open. As he tried to push the porridge inside, a fierce reaction finally came.
“I don’t want it!”
She shoved his arm away roughly, her face twisted in defiance.
The spoon flew from his grasp at her unexpected violence, clattering to the floor. The bowl of porridge, knocked from her thrashing, overturned onto the sheets and spilled its contents.
Barcas stared at the mess with hardened eyes, then immediately seized another vessel.
Inside the small ceramic bowl was a fermented goat’s milk beverage she enjoyed as a dessert. He thrust it toward her lips and commanded harshly.
“Drink.”
She clamped her mouth shut and twisted her body away.
He forcibly grabbed her as she tried to escape, pinning her against the headboard, then used his other hand to press her cheeks, forcing her mouth open. He poured the liquid in slowly, but Talia refused to swallow.
The liquid that couldn’t pass her throat dribbled down her lips and chin.
In that instant, fury ignited within him.
Barcas emptied the remaining contents directly into his own mouth. Then, holding her struggling form firmly against him, he pressed his lips to hers.
Only then did sparks of rage flare within her vacant eyes.
From a body that had gone days without food, she somehow summoned strength—her delicate hands clawed desperately at his chest and neck.
He paid no heed, driving his tongue deep into her mouth. Stifled moans escaped from her forcibly opened throat.
Ignoring her distress, he forced her to swallow what he held in his mouth. Her neck straining, she bit down on his tongue.
Because he held her jaw firmly, the wound wasn’t severe, but he tasted blood thick in his mouth.
Finally, Barcas lifted his head. She seized the moment, twisting her body away and crawling toward the edge of the bed. He caught her shoulder and forced her back down onto the sheets.
She breathed heavily, her disheveled hair framing her glare at him.
Her face was drenched in cold sweat.
Her lips and chin were smeared with the pale liquid he’d forced into her and traces of blood, while the sticky beverage clung in white streaks to her heaving chest. She looked like a demon that lured humans and devoured them alive.
Barcas gazed down at her with wavering eyes, his voice heavily strained as he asked.
“Tell me. What must I do for you to eat?”
Suddenly, a dry, hollow sound escaped from between her swollen lips. It took a moment to recognize it as laughter.
Her limbs hung limp, all strength exhausted from their struggle, as she exhaled a faint, rasping breath.
“You speak as though you’d actually listen to me…”
“….”
“I’ll never fall for it again.”
The brilliant light that had shone in her eyes faded once more.
The woman, whose gaze had been fixed on empty space with the depth of an abyss, lowered her damp lashes and murmured.
“Just leave me alone.”
At the sight of her complete resignation, my heart contracted with a sharp spasm.
I immediately slipped my arm behind her neck and forced her upper body upright again. I was determined to make her eat, no matter what she said.
Gripping her cheeks with both hands, I forced her to look at me. But she kept her eyes closed, utterly unresponsive. Only after several seconds did I realize she had completely collapsed into unconsciousness. I shouted harshly toward the door.
“Bring the High Priest at once!”
Urgent footsteps echoed through the corridor before my command had even finished.
I scooped her up with one arm and cleared away the ruined blankets and sheets. A Handmaiden, quick to understand, promptly retrieved fresh linens and spread them across the bed.
After laying her back down, I took a wet cloth from the basin on the shelf and wiped her face. Throughout it all, Talia remained limp as a corpse, her consciousness still lost.
She opened her eyes again only after the High Priest, brought hurriedly by the Handmaidens, had cast a recovery spell on her.
“Recovery magic merely replenishes your strength temporarily. Without sufficient water and food, your body will only grow weaker.”
The High Priest spoke to her in a stern tone.
Talia kept her gaze fixed on the window, saying nothing. The High Priest, seeming embarrassed, glanced at me cautiously.
I gestured with my chin for him to leave. Without hesitation, he gathered his things and departed.
Once the Handmaidens had withdrawn as well, I pushed a plate of pickled fruit and similar items toward her again.
“Eat.”
The woman turned to look at me with a weary expression.
Without blinking, I picked up a slice of honey-preserved pear and brought it to her lips.
“If you want to repeat that struggle from before, by all means, resist. Whether you thrash about or faint, I’ll do this as many times as it takes until you eat properly.”
The woman, who had been staring at me intently, finally opened her mouth. A terrible sense of relief washed over me, and for a moment my grip nearly weakened.
I tightened my trembling fingers and hastily pushed the fruit between her lips.
She chewed it several times, then suddenly spat it out onto the sheet without care.
My face grew cold again.
The woman smiled at me mockingly.
“The harder you try, the less I want to eat.”
I clenched my fists. I felt my nails pierce the skin of my palms.
She continued in a hoarse voice, as if deliberately provoking my barely restrained self.
“Go ahead and force it down. I’ll just spit it all back up.”
Then she let out a hollow, vacant laugh. That empty, withered sound shattered my reason in an instant.
I snatched a fresh piece of fruit from the plate as she had provoked me to do and forced it into her mouth. She bit down hard on my finger.
I could see blood seeping from where her small teeth had pierced the skin, but I didn’t care. A madness-like obsession consumed me in an instant.
“Swallow it.”
She glared at me while keeping her teeth clamped around my finger.
Breathing heavily with agitation, I ground my teeth as I stared at her defiant face.
“Are you really going to starve yourself to death over a single Wolf Beast?”
Those words became the spark that ignited her. She convulsed violently.
As she thrashed like a trapped animal, I held her tighter, but then I noticed bruises forming on her skin. I released a low curse and let go.
At the same moment, her hand struck my cheek. I fixed her with an icy glare. The woman who had slapped me was clutching her chest, breathing heavily and roughly.
“What do you know? Khan was everything to me. Because of Khan, I finally… finally stopped hurting… I wanted to live…”
Scalding tears streamed down her face, drenching her cheeks.
The woman, hunched and trembling violently, suddenly lunged toward him.
“You stole that from me! I begged you so desperately…! I pleaded with you to let me live…!”
A shriek tore from her throat, nearly rending her voice asunder.

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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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