The Forgotten Field - Chapter 213

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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 213
The Knight, who had been blankly blinking his eyes, exchanged a glance with his companions before approaching the Grand Duke.
Baredon, who had been quietly observing the scene, was pushed forward by the messengers’ urging and resumed walking. In an instant, the Grand Duke and Edrick Lubon’s figures receded from his view.
What on earth were they discussing?
His curious gaze lingered only briefly before he straightened his head.
I had no luxury to expend energy on matters unrelated to myself. Was I not already overwhelmed with the duties assigned to me?
The youth, having shed even the slightest interest, soon led the messengers toward the Main Castle and walked forward in silence.
* * *
A week later, cavalry units sent by lords from various regions of the Eastern Territories converged at Kalmor.
Banners of diverse colors symbolizing each house fluttered vigorously across the fields surrounding the Castle Walls, and thousands of armored horses filled the vast Hill.
Barcas, who had surveyed the magnificent military force from atop the Castle Tower, descended the Staircase and headed toward the Training Grounds. Laedgo Castle too was packed with armed cavalry and horses fitted with barding.
He traversed the orderly rows of Soldiers and scanned the supply Carriages lined up before the Castle Gate. Four-wheeled wagons piled high with provisions, weapons, and various military supplies stretched in a long line beyond the Castle.
“Your Excellency, all preparations for departure are complete.”
After Barcas had made a circuit of the Training Grounds, Beirov, who had finished his perimeter patrol, approached and made his report.
Barcas lifted his gaze to gauge the sun’s position, then issued instructions in a measured tone.
“Have the Soldiers eat in advance. If we’re to move without rest until we reach our destination, it’s best they replenish their strength before departure.”
“Understood.”
As the Knight rushed off to relay his orders, Barcas exited the Barracks and turned his steps toward the Separate Building.
Unlike the outer Castle grounds, which were in utter chaos, the Garden was desolate in its silence.
He pressed through layers of accumulated snow and approached the structure situated at the northern end of the Inner Courtyard.
“You have arrived, Your Excellency.”
The Guards stationed before the door offered a disciplined greeting.
Barcas passed them and entered the building, immediately approaching the Staircase. But then he spotted Edrick Lubon sitting on a long bench arranged in the Reception Room and halted his steps.
“What are you doing here?”
The man, who had been poking at the firewood with a poker, rose awkwardly from his seat with a flustered expression.
“What do you mean… Did you not ask me to guard the Grand Duchess?”
Barcas narrowed his brow. To be precise, he had asked him to protect her after his own departure.
Barcas, casting a disapproving look at the man who had packed his belongings and arrived before he himself had even left, soon withdrew a leather pouch from his breast and handed it over as if tossing it.
“Since there’s no need to seek you out separately, it worked out well. I’ll advance a year’s wages to you now.”
“There’s no need to go to such lengths…”
“There’s no telling when I’ll be able to return. It’s more convenient for both of us if you’re prepared beforehand.”
Barcas curtly cut off the man’s perfunctory refusal and turned to ascend the Staircase once more.
Assigning Edrick Lubon to remain at her side had been a somewhat impulsive decision. I had hoped that in this Castle, now that I too was departing, there might be at least one presence she could regard with some familiarity.
She had lost those close to her in succession over the span of barely a year. Two Healers and her beloved Wolf Beast…
Though that Nursemaid still remained, she harbored not a shred of affection for Talia.
Fearing that my wife, upon learning this truth, might relapse into complete loss of appetite from the shock, I had strictly forbidden any attendance upon her save the preparation of meals.
Rather than place that abhorrent woman at her side again, it was better to let her find solace in Edrick Lubon.
Barcas, pausing in the Corridor, gazed at her Bedroom door with shadowed eyes. The Handmaiden who had been dozing in the antechamber positioned across from it jolted awake with a startled expression.
“Oh, you have arrived, Your Excellency.”
“How is Her Highness?”
“I prepared the meal this morning as you instructed. However, she barely ate anything….”
The Handmaiden lowered her head with a dejected expression.
Barcas tapped his temple with his fingertips before abruptly seizing the bedroom door handle. As the hinges creaked open, the disheveled interior lay fully exposed.
He methodically surveyed the carpet stained dark as if by spilled ink and the wine-reeking bedding before spotting Talia curled into a small ball in the corner of the room. He approached her.
Though she must have sensed his presence, she remained motionless—her face buried in her knees. He gazed down at her unmoving form in silence before bending down and lifting her chin with one hand.
Her forcibly raised face revealed hostile blue eyes gleaming with sharp intensity.
I met those dagger-like eyes, now so familiar, with composure and spoke calmly.
“I hear you’ve refused to eat properly again. Has the food that woman prepares grown tiresome?”
“….”
“If that’s the case, tell me. I’ll have her dismissed and hire a new cook.”
She struck his hand away with a sharp sound.
“I’m not livestock. I have no obligation to shove whatever you bring into my mouth.”
He narrowed his eyes.
Thanks to weeks of persistent feeding and medicine, color had begun returning to her pallid complexion, yet she remained dangerously emaciated.
Without the periodic healing magic he’d been casting, she wouldn’t have retained even this much strength to resist.
Barcas swallowed a sigh and lifted her body effortlessly. She immediately thrashed like a wild animal caught in a hunter’s trap.
He forced her onto a seat before the Fireplace, seized her small jaw, and brought his face close. Then he spoke deliberately, as if driving words directly into her mind.
“I’m leaving the Castle for a while.”
The woman, who had been breathing heavily in agitation, suddenly stiffened.
He added in a low, threatening voice.
“Don’t think of doing anything foolish while I’m gone. If I hear you’ve started another hunger strike, I won’t answer for what I might do.”
“Let go!”
He pressed harder against the woman trying to wrench free and spoke sharply.
“Listen carefully. I won’t tolerate any more problems because of you.”
Her face twisted viciously. She contorted her blood-stained lips and spat out her words.
“Go away and die.”
A cold sneer crossed Barcas’s lips.
“How admirable. A wife cursing her husband on the eve of his departure.”
Her face, flushed with rage, turned deathly pale in an instant.
She seemed about to protest, her shoulders trembling, but in the next moment she lowered her eyes and bit her lip. Barcas gazed down at her expressionless face before rising with a dry laugh.
“Let’s see how well your prayers are answered.”
At his sarcasm, her face crumbled miserably.
The woman glared at him with reddened eyes and muttered in a voice edged with steel.
“Get out. Leave and never come back.”
Barcas stared down at that face as if it were nailed before him, then left the bedroom. The moment he closed the door behind him, the sound of something breaking echoed from within—she was venting her rage on the furnishings.
Barcas exhaled a shallow sigh and issued instructions to the Handmaidens standing in the Corridor in an even tone.
“Have a Priestess stationed downstairs at all times. If her condition worsens, take immediate action.”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
He descended the Staircase and exited the Separate Building.
In that moment, something cold brushed against his cheek.
He lifted his head. Thin clouds gleamed white, scattering fine snow across the landscape. Barcas brushed it away with an indifferent gesture and resumed his walk.

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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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