The Forgotten Field - Chapter 38

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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 38
“Let go of me!”
Talia lashed out at his shin, but Gareth was no fool to fall for the same trick twice. He deftly sidestepped her attack and twisted her arm with brutal force, then laughed at her with infuriating mockery.
“I suspected as much… but I never imagined the Imperial Family’s troublemaker harbored such feelings for the Eastern Territories’ noble heir!”
Talia stared up at him with eyes wide with terror.
The blood in my veins seemed to freeze. I hastily composed my expression.
“Don’t spout nonsense. Who would—”
“Exactly. It’s all nonsense. A bastard daring to covet the heir to Grand Duke Sierkan—how presumptuous!”
Gareth was delighted to have finally caught his troublesome sister in a compromising position, and now his entire body shook with laughter.
He seized my chin with one hand and exhaled a foul, alcohol-reeking breath directly into my face.
“Blood doesn’t lie, does it? Of course not—what else would you expect from a vulgar whore who eyes another woman’s man?”
Talia glared at him with blazing intensity. Gareth smirked down at that venomous face before releasing her with a dismissive shove. Then he drawled mockingly.
“Dream on. Barcas is far beyond someone like you—”
“You forgot one thing, brother. I don’t just carry the blood of a vulgar whore—I also carry the blood of a man who abandoned his pregnant wife to dally with a fresh young thing.”
In that instant, the smile vanished from the Crown Prince’s face as if wiped clean.
Talia met that grotesquely twisted expression head-on and continued slowly.
“And now that I think about it, that shameless man’s blood flows through your veins as well, doesn’t it?”
I could see the muscles in his massive frame tense with barely restrained fury.
I knew I should stop here, but I couldn’t end this by surrendering only my secrets to him. I mirrored his expression, offering him a bitter smile.
“Since you’ve uncovered my secret, brother, shall I unearth one of yours?”
A flicker of unease crossed Gareth’s eyes. Watching that fear with contempt, Talia leaned close to his ear and whispered softly.
“There’s a delicious rumor circulating among the Handmaidens—that His Highness the Crown Prince seeks out only one woman each night: a woman with honey-gold hair and eyes as blue as the sea.”
The color drained from Gareth’s bronzed face.
Talia smiled wickedly at that sickly pallor.
“I have a feeling I know exactly which woman you dreamed of the night you first became a man and soiled your bed… Shall I guess?”
His entire body convulsed as if struck by lightning. The thought crossed my mind that if I didn’t stop now, this time I might actually be murdered. Yet, as always, I heeded the demon’s voice urging me forward.
“Don’t tremble so. I’m a good sister, after all—I’ll keep your secret to the grave. It’s just that His Highness the Crown Prince seems to have inherited the Emperor’s blood quite… intensely.”
Before I could finish speaking, a heavy impact sent my head snapping to the side.
Talia crumpled to the floor, clutching her face as it burned as if aflame.
My vision swam as though I had a concussion. As I tried to push myself up, cradling my reeling head, Gareth descended upon me and wrapped his hands around my throat. My eyes felt ready to burst from their sockets.
Talia thrashed desperately, clawing at his forearms with sharp nails and kicking at his stone-like body with all my might, but my weakened frame was utterly powerless.
Like a fish flopping on dry land, I convulsed—then my limbs went limp. At that moment, the crushing grip around my throat suddenly released.
Talia gasped convulsively, her vision blurred by tears. Through the haze, I saw Barcas gripping Gareth’s arm.
Barcas looked down at me with an expression like a mask, then shifted his gaze to Gareth.
He still glared at his half-sister as though he might kill her at any moment—his face a portrait of indignation and fury. The sight of him playing the victim was so absurd that laughter bubbled up between my gasps for breath.
Gareth’s face flushed crimson as he raised his fist.
“You wretched—!”
But his hand never reached me.
Barcas seized his muscular forearm with casual ease, as though twisting a child’s wrist, and fixed me with a sharp, piercing gaze. He seemed thoroughly exasperated with her desperate attempts to scratch at her brother even after nearly dying.
“Escort the Princess to her quarters.”
He issued orders to the Guard Knight who came rushing over with a ghastly pallor.
The knight immediately moved to support her.
Talia brushed off his hand with callous indifference and staggered to her feet. Then, as though nothing had happened, she casually dusted the dirt clinging to her skirts with brisk pats. Gareth, whose eyes burned with fury as he watched her, bellowed at Barcas.
“Let go of her this instant!”
“I can’t stop!”
Aila, observing the scene from a distance, raised her voice. It seemed to be the first time she had witnessed her brother’s violent conduct so directly, for her face had drained of all color.
She hurried to his side and spoke in sharp, clipped tones.
“What on earth are you doing? You are the Crown Prince of this Empire! How could you commit such outrages…!”
“Stay out of this!”
Gareth snarled like a beast.
Aila flinched and stepped back. The brother who had always behaved like a docile puppy toward her had bared his fangs, and she appeared considerably shaken by this revelation. Talia spoke mockingly toward her half-sister.
“That’s right. Sister, don’t meddle in our affairs.”
Aila’s emerald eyes gleamed with sharp intensity as she glared at her. Then, catching sight of Talia’s pitiful state, she stiffened with a start. Talia caressed her swollen cheek with one hand and smiled with an odd, twisted expression.
“It was merely a light quarrel between siblings, nothing more. Isn’t that so, brother?”
As she tilted her head as if seeking agreement, the sound of grinding teeth echoed between clenched jaws.
She approached Gareth, who was seething with barely contained rage. Though the knight moved to block her path in protest, she ignored him and looked directly up into her half-brother’s deep green eyes.
“In truth, we are close enough to share secrets.”
His face had flushed crimson, as though it might burst at any moment. His expression was one of wanting to devour her alive.
Yet, unwilling to risk exposing their sordid secret before his sister, he released the tension from his body and spoke through gritted teeth.
“…Take your hands off me.”
Barcas, who had been studying Gareth’s face intently, released his grip. The force he had applied was considerable—clear handprints stood out starkly against the sun-bronzed skin. Gareth cradled and massaged the marks, then cast hostile glances alternately between Barcas and Talia before spinning around and heading toward the campsite.
As I watched his defeated retreat, I felt a chilling gaze upon me. I wiped the smile from my face and lifted my head straight. An impassive, emotionless face looked down at me, as always inscrutable.
Yet within his ice-cold eyes, I could clearly discern the emotions of disillusionment and rage.
He seized my arm with his gauntleted hand and nodded to the knight.
“Escort the First Princess to her quarters.”
Then, offering a slight bow to Aila, who stood rigidly frozen, he led me away through the trees as though escorting a prisoner.
I twisted my face with malice.
Regardless of what anyone said, I was the Princess of the Empire. He, a servant of the Imperial Family, could not possibly drag the Emperor’s daughter about like a common dog.
I wrenched my arm free from his grip with force.
“You insolent wretch! Release me at once…!”
In that instant, my body lifted into the air. I shrieked. Barcas, hoisting me onto one shoulder like a piece of luggage, strode across the campsite, ignoring the astonished stares around him.
My face flushed crimson as I thrashed about like a maddened beast. Though I pummeled his back and shoulders with my fists and lashed out with my feet savagely, Barcas remained utterly unmoved.

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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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