The Forgotten Field - Chapter 36

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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 36
The woman’s eyes blazed with fury as she spoke each word with deliberate precision, as though spitting them out.
“Do my words sound like nonsense to you?”
Faced with her savage intensity, he instinctively took another step backward.
The Princess, her slender frame trembling, raised her voice with increasing sharpness.
“How many times must I tell you to leave me alone? Do you find my words so amusing?”
“Your Highness, I merely brought food because I was concerned you might collapse.”
Edrick, who had been hesitating under the barrage of words, protested with an aggrieved expression.
The Princess let out a scornful laugh directly in his face.
“Why would someone like you concern yourself with me?”
“I am your Guard Knight, Your Highness. It is my duty to support you…!”
The woman suddenly burst into laughter.
His face flushed crimson. He had never been mocked so openly in his entire life and had no idea how to respond.
The woman, regarding him with contempt, continued slowly.
“You seem to think I’m a complete fool… Did you really believe I don’t know the Roem Knights are nothing but lapdogs of the Crown Prince?”
His expression hardened into stone.
She gazed down at the basket in his hands with disdain, her voice turning glacial.
“What’s in there? You expect me to eat it? What filthy scheme are you plotting?”
“I am a Knight!”
Unable to contain himself any longer, Edrick raised his voice. For the first time in his life, he felt the heat of indignation burning in his ears.
“Your Highness, your words are an insult not merely to me, but to the entire Imperial Knight Order! We have sworn before the gods to protect the Imperial Family. We would never do anything to harm Your Highness…!”
“Do you truly expect me to believe that?”
He stood speechless, staring at the Princess’s face, cold as ice.
She wiped away the smile that had lingered at the corners of her mouth and spoke with cutting finality.
“If you wish to flatter someone, go to my half-siblings. I have no need for it.”
With that, she slammed the door shut with a resounding bang, ending the conversation.
Edrick’s grip tightened on the basket. Had he not done so, he feared he would have torn the door open and shouted at her to stop being so stubborn.
With eyes seething with frustration, Edrick glared at the carriage door before turning away.
I have done all I can. I have no desire to persuade a woman who openly insults and antagonizes me.
Edrick placed the basket on the shelf set up in front of the common barracks and walked toward the dining area.
The Knights were already gathered in the field, eating their meal.
Joining his companions, Edrick filled his plate generously and began eating ravenously, telling himself that whether that wretched woman starved or not was no concern of his….
* * *
Talia, who had been tossing restlessly in the darkness, carefully sat up.
When she drew back the curtain from the window, she could see a few lanterns held by the Knights on watch glimmering faintly in the darkness. Everything else lay shrouded in absolute blackness.
Talia lifted her gaze to the starless, black sky above before carefully stepping out of the carriage.
Having subsisted for days on only a few pieces of bread and some honey-preserved fruit, her limbs felt weak and powerless. Perhaps it would have been better to eat the food that foolish Knight had brought.
He didn’t seem intelligent enough to devise any scheme, so perhaps I was overly cautious.
As Talia recalled the Knight’s simple face, she quickly banished the thought from her mind.
She had learned all too well that those who approach with innocent faces are the very ones who cannot be trusted. He might be plotting to lower her guard before committing something terrible.
I examined the Knights standing guard near the fence with wary eyes, then moved forward with careful steps.
My eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, could faintly make out the triangular tent roofs, the long line of supply carriages, and the shapes of horses.
I walked cautiously between the tents, careful not to stumble on loose stones. I felt the wind blowing down from the hill slip through the gaps in my clothes.
The sharp scent of thick grass mixed with the smell of half-burned firewood tickled my nose. I crept through the darkness, relying on my senses.
Soon I found my attendants’ quarters. Squinting my eyes, I spent a long moment confirming I had found the right place before carefully climbing onto the nearest supply carriage. I curled myself into a ball among the stacked bundles and stared intently at the tent entrance. I wanted to see if the spy my mother had planted would make a move tonight.
I hugged my knees and watched the darkness without blinking.
Occasionally I heard soldiers snoring or grinding their teeth. I heard horses neighing and the sounds of insects. I had never realized the night could be so noisy.
I tried to ease my painfully taut nerves, counting each agonizing second.
How long had I been holding my breath? The pitch-black sky gradually brightened to a deep blue. It seemed tonight would pass quietly after all.
I carefully moved my stiffened body and stretched my joints. Each bone seemed to cry out as it cracked.
As I rubbed my tingling limbs and barely suppressed a groan, I saw a dark shadow emerge from inside the tent.
I narrowed my eyes.
Though the darkness obscured her face, I could clearly make out that she was a slender woman.
I forced my creaking body to rise and followed the shadow.
After walking a long distance along the row of carriages, Aila’s carriage came into view. I wiped my cold, sweaty palms on my skirt.
How I wished she would slip inside that carriage. Then she could do what I needed to do instead.
With that desperate hope, I stared intently at the woman’s back. But she passed right by Aila’s carriage and moved toward the end of the long campsite. When I turned my gaze in that direction, my face went rigid. The flag of House Sierkan, embroidered with a black horse emblem, was fluttering in front of a tent.
I rushed there in a panic. But in the brief moment I looked away, the woman had already vanished.
As I urgently searched between the tents, I stared at the barracks entrance with growing dread.
‘Could she have gone inside?’
My heart sank.
If Aila and Barcas were to be united, Gareth’s position would become even more secure.
House Sierkan wielded considerable influence not only in the Eastern Territories but also in the North. If Aila became the Grand Duke’s consort, Gareth would have the noble alliance backing him. There was every possibility that my mother had decided to eliminate Barcas to prevent such a situation.
With that thought, I rushed into Barcas’s barracks as if being chased. I could not think rationally.
Searching urgently through the darkened barracks, I pulled back the partition curtain in the center.
The bed was empty. Since he was someone who began his daily tasks before dawn broke, he was likely inspecting the campsite or checking on Torque’s condition.
Though that thought crossed my mind, the unease did not easily subside.
I felt along the empty bed, checking if there were any bloodstains. Then I heard heavy footsteps and quickly lifted my head. A large man was standing before the barracks entrance.
Thinking it was Barcas, I rushed forward but stopped abruptly. It was Gareth in light clothing, looking at me with startled eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
He raised the corners of his eyes sharply and looked me up and down.

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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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