The Forgotten Field - Chapter 35

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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 35
Edrick didn’t hesitate for a moment. He lunged into the carriage and swept the woman into his arms. Her body was alarmingly light, damp with lukewarm perspiration.
He urgently brushed the golden strands clinging to her face aside and gently tapped her pallid cheeks.
In that instant, her long golden lashes lifted sharply, revealing eyes of deep, saturated blue.
He found himself holding his breath. Those eyes, like a swamp of vivid blue, seemed to draw his very soul into their depths.
As he gazed down at them with an entranced expression, a sudden burning sensation spread across his right cheek.
He clutched his face with one hand and blinked in bewilderment. The woman who had just escaped from his embrace fixed him with a look of utter contempt.
“How dare you lay your filthy hands on me?”
Edrick, his mouth agape, raised his voice in protest.
“I thought Your Highness had lost consciousness!”
“So you were planning to do something improper while I was unconscious?”
“That’s not what I meant at all!”
Edrick’s face flushed with indignation as he rose abruptly, only to strike his head against the carriage ceiling and collapse back into a crouch.
Tears welled in his eyes from both the Princess’s insulting accusation and the throbbing pain in his skull.
He cradled his head, groaning for some time. The Princess, regarding him with disdain, rubbed her temples and gestured dismissively.
“That’s enough. Stop making a fuss and get out.”
“Please, come outside for some air instead. We still have half a day’s journey ahead, and you can’t possibly intend to remain cooped up in this suffocating box forever.”
Edrick muttered this blunt advice while rubbing his crown, fully prepared to receive another blow.
The Princess stared at him with an expression of utter exasperation. She seemed astounded that he would persist with his nagging.
Edrick bit back the urge to snap that he wasn’t interfering because he enjoyed it.
Though he hadn’t chosen this duty of his own volition, this unruly Princess remained under his responsibility. If she collapsed during the journey, the consequences would fall upon him as well.
Prepared to forcibly drag her out if necessary, he met her venomous gaze directly.
The woman, seeming to tire of his resolute demeanor, finally rose to her feet.
Edrick brightened and descended from the carriage first, then extended a hand to escort her—only to have the Princess slam the door in his face.
Edrick stared at the firmly closed door with a dumbfounded expression, then finally resigned himself and turned away.
‘I truly cannot fathom what displeases her so.’
He released a heavy sigh and trudged toward the lakeside.
Even as he washed his sweat-dampened face with ice-cold water and rested in the shade of the trees, the obstinate Princess did not show her face once.
Was she perhaps wary of someone attempting to harm her?
Her excessive defensiveness reminded me of a trapped beast.
I gazed at the carriage with uncertain eyes before shaking my head to dispel such idle musings.
Why should I trouble myself trying to understand such a woman?
I merely needed to endure until this journey’s end, and I would finally be liberated from this tedious duty.
The Second Princess cycled through Royal Guard Knights constantly, so I would surely be reassigned before long. I simply had to persevere until then.
Edrick encouraged himself and sat beneath the trees with the other Knights, taking a simple meal of bread and wine before resting briefly, then mounting his horse once more.
As noon passed, the air grew progressively cooler.
The reinvigorated pilgrims marched with renewed vigor along the Gaisa Mountain Range, which divided the Western and Northeastern Territories. Thanks to their diligent progress, they reached the Sinai Plain—ancient territory of the Balto Kingdom—by sunset.
“We shall make camp here for the night.”
Barcas surveyed the column and issued his quiet command.
Edrick regarded him with half-lidded eyes. Despite having ridden all day, Barcas appeared utterly unchanged from their departure.
Without the slightest hint of disorder, the commander dismounted from his horse, his sharp gaze sweeping across the surroundings as he spoke.
“Erect palisades near the Campsite and post sentries.”
The Knights obeyed the command immediately.
Edrick, too, set about constructing a fence around the camp. The thought briefly crossed his mind that it might be an excessive precaution, yet the Sinai Plain was home to numerous monsters.
Though it was said that a military force of this scale rarely fell victim to attack, there was no harm in exercising caution.
He retrieved planks studded with iron spikes from the supply wagon, fixed them to the ground, and wound small bells on strings around them.
After several hours of diligent labor, he completed a makeshift defensive barrier encircling the Campsite.
He brushed the dust from his hands and moved toward the campfire that had been lit. While they erected the palisades, the Princess’s Attendants had finished preparing the evening meal.
He approached the campfire where meat was being roasted, clutching his hungry stomach, and after popping a small piece of bacon into his mouth, he posed a question to one of the Handmaidens.
“Has the Princess’s meal been prepared?”
The young-faced Handmaiden, who had been stirring a large pot with a ladle, turned to him with a flustered expression.
“Well… she said she had no appetite…”
Edrick, wiping the grease from his hands with a cloth, furrowed his brow.
So she would skip lunch and go hungry through dinner as well?
Irritation welled up within him toward the Princess, who behaved like a petulant child at every turn.
He tossed the damp cloth carelessly to the ground and picked up an empty basket.
“Fill this with something reasonable to eat.”
The Handmaiden promptly packed it with a generous slice of pie, stew with bacon, wine, and preserved fruit, leaving nothing out.
He quickly tucked the basket brimming with food under his arm and made his way toward the Princess’s modest quarters.
He knew well enough that there was no need to force food upon someone who insisted on refusing it. Yet when he recalled the disturbingly slight weight of the woman’s body, he found himself unable to remain idle.
He cursed his own meddlesome nature as he knocked on the carriage door.
“Your Highness, I have brought your evening meal.”
“I said I would not eat.”
“You have scarcely eaten all day. How do you expect to endure this arduous journey without proper sustenance? Even if your appetite is lacking, please try to eat something.”
“That’s enough—now leave!”
Edrick’s face twisted. Even a porcupine would not bristle so fiercely. Mustering his patience, he spoke with deliberate calm.
“Then I shall leave this here, and should you change your mind…”
As Edrick bent to set down the basket, he started back abruptly. The door flew open without warning, and a pale, fierce face filled his vision.
He swallowed hard as he met eyes of brilliant blue that gleamed even in the twilight.

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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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