The Forgotten Field - Chapter 220

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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 220
Barcas fixed him with a gaze as cold and cutting as ice.
The Crown Prince, who would normally have wilted beneath such a look, found himself unable to contain his fury any longer. He trampled the scattered garments strewn across the floor with reckless abandon, his body convulsing with rage.
“You made me a scapegoat because of that filthy bastard! You betrayed me twice because of her!”
A wine bottle hurled by the Crown Prince shattered at his feet, spraying crimson liquid across the ground.
Barcas gazed down at the stain spreading across the carpet like blood, and a weary sigh escaped his lips.
“How much longer do you intend to conduct yourself like a petulant child?”
The Crown Prince’s face twisted with contempt. He drove each word forward like a nail, his voice sharp and deliberate.
“You are the Crown Prince of this Empire. Accepting a bride selected by the Council from a noble house is an unavoidable duty. If it can soothe the hearts of Balto’s people and strengthen the Empire’s unity, you must consent willingly——”
“A bride selected by the Council from a noble house?”
Gareth’s mouth twisted into a sneer of naked contempt. He strode forward, crushing the shattered glass beneath his feet.
“Ha! You mean a woman from a house that rebelled against the Imperial Family. When we could execute every Northern traitor without hesitation, you want me to take that filthy bloodline as Crown Princess? Don’t make me laugh!”
Gareth shoved his shoulder hard. A pair of green eyes blazed before him like emerald fire.
“And what gives you the right to speak of duty? You installed a woman incapable of bearing an heir as Grand Duchess and do nothing but make excuses. Where do you get off lecturing me?”
Barcas’s face became expressionless, as though he wore a mask.
Gareth, oblivious to the fact that his anger had reached its breaking point, continued his tirade.
“If you want to order me around, then you cast that woman aside first. If you abandon Talia Roem Guerta right now and take Aila as Grand Duchess instead, I’ll do whatever you ask——marriage or anything else.”
In that moment, Barcas felt the final thread of his patience snap completely.
His hand shot out before conscious thought could intervene, seizing the Crown Prince by the collar. Gareth’s body went rigid, his mind stuttering to a halt as he experienced brutality for the first time in his life.
Barcas dragged that frame toward him with savage force, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper.
“I’m growing tired of listening to your whining.”
The Crown Prince’s face drained of color, shock draining the blood from his features.
Barcas stared directly into those wide, terrified eyes, his voice taking on a sinister edge.
“If you truly wish not to marry, then do as you please. I’m quite curious to see how His Majesty the Emperor, who labors to prevent the Empire’s fracture, will respond. How will the North react to such an insult as a broken betrothal? Will the other lords truly continue to support an irresponsible Crown Prince as the next Emperor? And what schemes will the Empress——so desperate to place her young son upon the throne——concoct this time?”
“…,”
“It promises to be quite entertaining to watch.”
A flicker of fear crossed the Crown Prince’s previously confident face.
Barcas regarded the man grinding his teeth in an attempt to conceal it with an unmoved gaze, then released his grip. He turned to leave the barracks when a strangled voice called out from behind him.
“Are you… abandoning me right now?”
Barcas turned back, his eyes filled with disillusionment.
Over the Crown Prince’s face, twisted with betrayal, there overlapped the phantom of a young boy who had once cried out in anguish after losing his mother. That man, preserved in that moment yet grown in body, screamed with resentment.
“Our Mother saved you! Your own father cast you aside, but our Mother took you in and cared for you! She worked so hard to make you even remotely human despite how broken you were——! How can you turn your back on me and Aila because of that filthy whore’s daughter who drove our Mother to her death!”
Barcas closed his eyes, then opened them. His voice emerged without the slightest tremor as he drew the line.
“I did my utmost to honor my promise to the late Empress. It is you who has repeatedly trampled upon those efforts.”
“Don’t spout such nonsense! You care more for that bastard than——”
“Do not invoke her name in matters that have nothing to do with her. Talia has done nothing wrong to you.”
The Crown Prince flinched at the ferocity in his tone and fell silent.
Barcas continued, his words grinding like stone against stone.
“If you wish to take revenge upon Senevir, I will cooperate fully. I can even force that woman to kneel before you. But my wife is not negotiable. She is not Taren or Guerta. She is Sierkan.”
As his tone grew increasingly fierce, the Crown Prince’s eyes flooded with bloodshot rage.
Barcas turned away from that fierce gaze and added coldly.
“If you wish to keep me on your side until the very end, you would do well to accept this fact now.”
* * *
Whether his warning had taken effect or not, Gareth departed Jotungar with his main forces not long after.
From atop the watchtower, Barcas watched the Crown Prince’s military standards recede into the distance, then promptly ordered the soldiers to dismantle the camp.
The military tents were struck and the stakes pulled from the ground. Since preparations for withdrawal to the rear had been completed weeks prior, the evacuation proceeded with remarkable efficiency.
While soldiers loaded stacked crates onto hundreds of supply carts, he moved through the barracks to inspect remaining provisions.
Enough military rations had been stockpiled to sustain them for several months, yet he could not take everything. A substantial portion had to be transferred to the Northern Alliance Forces, who would assume control of Jotungar’s defenses.
He summoned the quartermaster and instructed him to transfer two-thirds of the total supplies to the Alliance, then proceeded toward the common tent where commanders from each unit awaited.
At that moment, Darian crossed the barracks into his view.
Upon seeing the dispatch clutched in Darian’s hand, Barcas came to an abrupt halt. He had asked him to confirm the situation in the Eastern Territories. Had some troubling news arrived?
Barcas approached him immediately.
“What is it now?”
“Ah, a routine report from the Eastern Territories has arrived, and I came to deliver it to you.”
The man presented a letter bearing the family seal and reported in a measured tone.
“I skimmed through it briefly, and there are no major issues. It appears there was some confusion for a time following news of the Grand Duke’s injury, but everything has been settled now. However, it seems that among the retainers, there have been persistent suggestions to hasten the marriage between Lucas and Raina.”
As Barcas received and unfolded the parchment document, fine lines formed at the corners of his eyes.
Just as Darian had said, most of the contents written in the letter concerned the marriage between Lucas and Raina.
“Lucas’s marriage prospects seem to be stalling, but it appears the young lady Raina has chosen her partner. She wishes to hold a betrothal ceremony with the second son of the Scart Family, or so I hear.”
The Scart Family was one of the prominent houses of the Eastern Territories that had long remained loyal to the Grand Duke’s House.
He flipped through the letter quickly and nodded.
“She chose an appropriate match. Send word that I approve.”
“The retainers hope that the Grand Duke will personally oversee the ceremony.”
Barcas glanced up from the letter at him. Darian leaned against the fence and continued in a persuasive tone.
“This is already the second time the Grand Duke has nearly died. Would it not be beneficial in many ways to demonstrate your vitality at this opportunity?”
He gazed at the final page of the letter with contemplative eyes.
There were only a few lines concerning her. As he skimmed through the perfunctory sentences stating she was living quietly without causing any trouble, he crumpled the parchment in his grip.

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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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