The Forgotten Field - Chapter 45

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 45
* * *
Edrick cut swiftly through the throng of bustling soldiers.
Less than an hour had passed since the battle’s end, yet the campsite—which had been nothing short of chaos—was being methodically restored to order.
While soldiers recovered weapons from the Wyvern’s corpse and cleared away the shattered tents, laborers loaded crates and bundles onto carts, and handmaidens gathered the fallen, wrapping each body carefully in silk before laying them in a solemn row.
As Edrick moved briskly through the campsite, he counted the bodies by sight.
Seventeen in total.
Adding those consumed by the Wyvern, the casualties likely numbered between twenty-five and thirty. When accounting for the wounded, the scale of our losses was staggering. I clenched my fists.
‘Wyverns appearing during the Season of Fire… this is unprecedented.’
Typically, Wyverns awakened from hibernation as the Season of Rest ended and only began to pack once the Season of Water commenced. After their breeding season concluded, they dispersed in pairs. For more than a dozen Wyverns to emerge simultaneously during the Season of Fire was an extraordinarily rare occurrence. Moreover, this region was hardly suitable habitat for large monsters of that caliber.
‘Even accounting for misfortune, something about this doesn’t sit right.’
Scanning the hillsides littered with Wyvern corpses through narrowed eyes, I pushed aside the nagging questions that surfaced in my mind. This was not the time for idle speculation. I moved my long legs with purpose toward where the Knights had gathered.
“Commander!”
Barcas, who had been issuing orders to the Knights, turned his head toward me.
Edrick involuntarily halted mid-step. Beneath the flickering firelight, his superior’s face was streaked with dark crimson blood. Though my own appearance was scarcely better, there was something unsettling about the way blood marred that marble-like, cold countenance—his eyes gleaming with an icy intensity that seemed almost otherworldly.
“Did you find anything?”
Grand Duke Sierkan asked in his characteristically flat tone.
Snapping to attention, Edrick hastily delivered his report.
“We’ve discovered traces of a Wyvern’s fall to the north. It appears to have plummeted into the Gorge below.”
Barcas turned to gaze northward. The torches held by the Knights cast an eerie, dim light across the shadowed Forest. There was no way of knowing what other savage creatures might be lurking within those depths.
Edrick opened his mouth urgently.
“We must organize a search party at once. There’s no time to delay….”
“A search? What search!”
A savage voice cut him off abruptly, and Edrick’s head snapped around. The Crown Prince, his thick dark hair disheveled like a lion’s mane, approached with his attendants in tow.
Edrick quickly bowed in deference. The Crown Prince paid him no mind and advanced directly toward Barcas.
“It’s obvious she’s dead anyway! Stop wasting time on pointless tasks and prepare to depart immediately! If we dawdle any longer and get ambushed by another pack of monsters, what then!”
At such callous words, Edrick’s expression hardened.
The Crown Prince’s face was noticeably paler than usual, clearly shaken by the sudden assault. For someone who had never faced even a single Ogre in his entire life, let alone a Wyvern, such an ordeal was understandable. Yet Edrick found himself incapable of mustering even a shred of sympathy for the Crown Prince, whose nerves appeared wound to a breaking point.
Watching the Crown Prince with eyes full of disdain, Edrick glanced sideways to gauge Barcas’s reaction. He remained oddly silent.
Surely he wasn’t considering complying with the Crown Prince’s wishes?
Regardless of her illegitimate birth, Talia Roem Guerta was the Emperor’s daughter. Moreover, she was the Empress’s eldest child. One could not simply abandon an Imperial Princess to become prey for monsters because of the Crown Prince’s personal grudge. This was a matter of honor as a Knight.
Edrick spoke with urgency.
“If you would authorize a search party, I shall personally locate the Second Princess. Therefore….”
“How dare you presume to speak of anyone’s safety, you insolent wretch!”
The Crown Prince erupted in fury, seizing Edrick by the collar.
Edrick met his gaze with composed eyes. He had long grown accustomed to such violent outbursts. He spoke with the utmost courtesy.
“My apologies. However, I cannot abandon the Princess in this manner….”
“Princess?”
The Crown Prince let out a dry, hollow laugh, then spoke each word with deliberate force directly to Edrick’s face.
“Listen well, you fool. There is but one Princess in this Empire—Aila Roem Guerta. That woman Talia should never have been born into this world. Becoming prey for monsters is the only fitting end for that bastard….”
“Enough.”
At that quiet command, Edrick flinched and turned to look at his superior. Barcas was the sort who maintained formality even when Gareth acted as though the world owed him nothing—yet here he was, not only interrupting the Crown Prince but speaking to him with open defiance. For a moment, Edrick’s mind went blank with shock.
The Crown Prince himself stared back at Barcas with wide, astonished eyes. But Barcas remained composed, his expression utterly unmoved.
“Your Highness would do well to return to your quarters and rest.”
Barcas spoke the words flatly, then turned to the Knights standing behind the Crown Prince and gestured with a slight nod of his head.
“Bring me a mage at once. Select about ten of the most agile fighters—we’ll form a search party.”
The Knights scattered immediately to obey his command. The Crown Prince, who had been watching with a bewildered expression, released his grip on Edrick’s collar and stepped forward toward Barcas.
“You’re defying me now… over that woman?”
“I was ordered by His Majesty the Emperor to protect three individuals.”
Barcas’s voice emerged flat and emotionless.
“Surely Your Highness’s commands cannot supersede His Majesty’s orders.”
“Don’t make excuses!”
The Crown Prince stepped into Barcas’s path, blocking him.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice how you’ve been protecting that woman Talia all this time? Tell me the truth. Do you have feelings for her…?”
“Gareth!”
At that moment, a sharp, high-pitched voice cut through the tense air like a blade.
Edrick, who had been watching the two men with anxious eyes, turned his head sharply. The First Princess, accompanied by two Attendants, was crossing through the Knights with elegant strides.
Ever since she had personally led the effort to eliminate all the Wyverns, she had taken charge of the Handmaidens in tending to the wounded. The Princess, still bearing the weight of exhaustion she hadn’t yet washed away, approached her brother and fixed him with a resolute gaze.
“Grand Duke Sierkan is right. We cannot leave Talia behind like this. No matter what, that girl is our blood.”
“Are you in your right mind?”
The Crown Prince shot his sister a look filled with betrayal.
“After what that woman put our Mother through, and you say such things!”
“Please, be rational.”
The Princess cut off her brother’s words with an authoritative tone. Though they had entered the world mere minutes apart, she appeared far more mature than the Crown Prince.
She looked down at her brother steadily and continued her words.
“If we return to the Imperial Palace leaving Talia behind like this, not only Grand Duke Sierkan but you as well will become the subject of unnecessary scandal. Why would you risk such danger?”
Edrick found himself momentarily speechless at the cold words coming from the mouth of the First Princess, who was renowned for her compassionate nature.
She added gently, as though soothing her indignant brother.
“At the very least, let us recover her remains so we can give her a proper funeral.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————