The Forgotten Field - Chapter 42

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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 42
Over the past few days, I had kept my eyes sharp and watchful, and now I caught sight of the woman I’d been monitoring slipping silently between the tents.
Watching her through narrowed eyes, I carefully followed in her footsteps.
The woman moved with practiced ease, drawing no attention to herself. Her gait was so quiet and nimble that had I not been accustomed to the distinctive movements of those trained by the Taren Family, I would have lost her in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, she crossed the campsite and vanished between the long line of supply carriages.
After a moment’s hesitation, I crept behind the massive cargo wagon and peered through the narrow gap between the vehicles. But the woman had already disappeared without a trace.
With a bewildered expression, I squeezed between the large supply wagons. That was when something caught my foot with a soft tap.
‘What is this…?’
Bending down, I discovered a small glass vial wedged beneath a wheel and furrowed my brow.
As I picked it up to examine it more closely, I felt a few drops of slick liquid clinging to the bottle’s mouth dampen my fingers.
I gasped in alarm and hurled the vial away. Bringing my hand close to my face, I sniffed cautiously, and a pungent floral stench mixed with the acrid reek of animal secretions assaulted my nostrils. The nauseating odor was so overwhelming that my head spun and bile rose in my throat. I grimaced and wiped the strange liquid away with my handkerchief. Yet the peculiar stench lingered stubbornly.
‘This is revolting.’
I threw the soiled handkerchief to the ground and straightened up, only to notice a dark shadow looming over my head.
I jerked my head up with a startled cry and stumbled backward onto the ground. Barcas stood over me with a cold expression.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
I stared up at him blankly for a moment before scrambling to my feet.
How long had he been watching me?
My heart pounded despite my having done nothing wrong. I forced myself to appear composed and spoke with a sharp edge to my voice.
“You startled me! Why do you move about like a ghost without making a sound?”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Barcas ignored my retort, unfolded his arms from across his chest, and stepped closer.
I hesitated, then lifted my chin defiantly.
“Why should I answer your questions? What I do and where I go is none of your concern!”
I turned to flee, but Barcas extended his long legs to block my path.
Trapped between the supply wagon and his lean frame, I looked up at him with anxious eyes.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I know what sort of trouble you’ll find if I let you wander about alone.”
At his sharp tone, I shrank back.
Barcas stared down at me intently, then exhaled a shallow sigh and tilted his head slightly.
“I’ll escort you back to your quarters. Lead the way.”
“I don’t… I don’t need it. I can go alone…”
“Is there some reason I shouldn’t escort you?”
Without thinking, I gripped the hilt of the blade I’d hidden in my pocket. It was a foolish move—as good as announcing that I was concealing something.
Seeing his eyes narrow, I shoved hard against his chest with both hands.
“Mind your own business! Move!”
Despite pushing with all my strength, he didn’t budge an inch. Lean as he appeared, his body was as unyielding as iron.
I lifted my chin boldly, masking my fear.
“Didn’t you hear me? Get out of my way!”
Barcas regarded me silently, then slowly stepped back.
I seized the opportunity and quickly squeezed through the narrow gap between him and the carriage. I was about to make my escape when a strong hand grasped my arm and firmly turned me around.
Before she could even gasp, his hand plunged into the pocket of her gown and withdrew a knife honed to a razor’s edge.
Talia’s face drained of color as she looked up at him. Barcas drew the blade across his palm with an elegant motion, then fixed her with an unreadable, emotionless gaze.
She could have simply claimed it was for self-defense. But when confronted with those piercing eyes that seemed to dissect her very thoughts, her reason shattered and scattered like broken glass.
Like a child robbed of her only toy, she lunged at him with ferocious desperation.
“Give it back!”
He raised the hand holding the knife high above his head.
Talia rose onto her toes, frantically grasping at his uniform while stretching her arm as far as it would reach.
“Return it! I’m telling you to give it back!”
Watching her thrash about in a frenzy of lost reason, Barcas’s expression hardened before he hurled the knife away.
Talia scrambled to retrieve it, bending hastily. But before her fingers could close around the blade, a foot encased in gilded sabatons kicked it far across the ground.
She watched in a daze as the knife skidded beneath the carriage, her body already moving to crawl after it. But before she could touch the ground, a long, muscular arm wrapped around her waist and forcibly pulled her upright.
Talia’s face twisted into a vicious snarl as she glared at him with murderous intent. Yet Barcas’s expression was equally raw with barely restrained fury.
“I won’t ask what you intended to do with that.”
Barcas brought his face close to hers, each word ground out like gravel between his teeth. His lowered voice cut like a blade honed to a killing edge.
“From now on, you will be under constant surveillance. So discard every foolish, worthless scheme rattling around in that small head of yours.”
Who are you to speak to me that way?
Who are you to take what’s mine?
Who are you?
When you’re going to be another woman’s man.
When you’re going to leave forever.
Why do you make me want to kill her, then forbid me from doing anything about it?
Incoherent words choked her throat, threatening to spill out.
She wanted to curse, to scream, but if she opened her mouth she feared she would wail and shriek like a ten-year-old girl. So she clamped her jaw shut instead.
Observing her in silence, Barcas straightened and gestured with his chin for her to move forward.
Talia glared at him with eyes burning with hatred, then walked quickly between the carriages. His promise of thorough surveillance proved no idle threat—he followed like her shadow.
The presence she had once yearned for so desperately now felt unbearably repugnant. He had been nowhere when she needed him, yet the moment she made the most crucial decision of her life, he appeared to obstruct her.
To protect Aila…
No. Perhaps he was protecting Gareth instead.
He would never fully understand why she carried a knife in her pocket. He paid no mind to the half-brother who beat her whenever opportunity arose, yet he could not fathom why she ground her teeth against the half-sister who endured her silently. He would never guess.
She turned her head to gaze at the campsite as darkness began to settle.
Aila was surely enjoying herself now, surrounded by people who loved her, savoring the happy future that awaited.
The thought of that radiant face made her already turbulent insides churn violently. That detestable woman. Despite having everything, whenever she appeared before Talia, she wore such a pitiful expression, such an air of misfortune. It was all revolting.
I really do want to kill her.
As she gnawed at her scabbed lips with such thoughts, Barcas, who had been following quietly behind, suddenly seized her and thrust her roughly aside.
Talia looked up at him with startled eyes.
For a moment, her heart sank—had this man somehow seen into her soul? But he was not looking at her.
His expression grave, he was staring intently at the sky. Talia followed his gaze and inhaled sharply. Something massive, the size of a house, was plummeting downward at a terrifying speed. Before she could even comprehend what it was, a deafening crash erupted and dust billowed up in a thick cloud.
“A monster!”
Starting with someone’s shout, agonized screams tore through the air from all directions.

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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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