The Forgotten Field - Chapter 56

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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 56
I hadn’t even frowned, yet why did I feel so unsettled?
Astros fiddled with a button on his garment, feigning indifference, before finally lifting his eyes after a considerable pause.
Grand Duke Sierkan had already moved to the Left Wing and was conversing with the High Priest.
The gravity of their exchange made Astros narrow his eyes.
Though I couldn’t see his face with his back turned, the High Priest’s gaunt neck was flushed with anger.
As he heaved his shoulders in protest, a chill swept across Grand Duke Sierkan’s features.
It hardly seemed a cordial exchange. Astros’ eyes gleamed with intrigue.
‘What could they be discussing?’
The priests were steadfast supporters of the Crown Prince, and the future Grand Duke Sierkan was no different.
I was curious why two people from the same faction would be at odds.
Seized by curiosity, Astros slipped away from the Believer’s Seat. I was attempting to eavesdrop from behind a pillar in the Transept when someone suddenly seized my collar.
Astros jerked his head up and found Berens’ stern face, his eyebrows drooping in dismay.
The man looked down at him with a grim expression and rebuked him in a hushed voice.
“Those men are enemies of the Crown Prince. Do not approach them.”
“Enemies? What enemies? I have no such thing.”
I protested with a pouting lip, but the man remained unmoved.
With a disgruntled expression, Astros rolled his eyes and looked back toward the wing.
Grand Duke Sierkan had already concluded his conversation with the High Priest and was walking toward the Transept.
Astros hastily concealed himself behind Berens’ legs.
Grand Duke Sierkan cast a brief, indifferent glance at him before crossing the Colonnade with an elegant stride.
From his hiding place behind Berens, Astros whispered a question as he watched the man’s retreating figure.
“What do you think the High Priest said to Grand Duke Sierkan?”
“He likely reproached him regarding this incident.”
“Why? Grand Duke Sierkan and the Grand Cathedral are allies, aren’t they? Even if he made a mistake, shouldn’t they cover for him?”
A faint bitter smile crossed Berens’ eyes.
“The world is not so simple.”
Berens spoke with a reproachful tone, turning his gaze toward the Altar where the funeral rites were proceeding, and continued slowly.
“Many of the priests harbor resentment toward the Khan People. In particular, the Fundamentalist Priests’ hatred of the Sierkan Clan runs quite deep.”
Astros was about to ask why, but closed his mouth instead. Memories from history lessons surfaced in my mind.
In the past, it was the Khan People who fought to the bitter end against the unification movement led by Darian Roem Guerta.
They even inflicted a mortal wound upon Wigru, the Knight said to have been chosen by the gods, in the “Final Battle” fought in the Northern Region.
After the war ended, the Easterners were incorporated into the Roem Empire, yet the Khan People have never fully assimilated into the Western World, and the Empire’s animosity toward them has never completely faded.
As Astros reflected on these facts, he let out a scoff.
“How foolish. Other peoples fought just as fiercely. Isn’t it petty to ostracize them simply because they were the last to refuse surrender?”
Berens looked down at Astros with momentarily surprised eyes, then a faint smile tugged at his lips.
“That is not the only reason. It is more accurate to say they are wary because the Sierkan Clan possesses formidable power.”
“Formidable power?”
Astros tilted his head in confusion, and after a moment of silence, Berens slowly spoke.
“According to records, a certain proportion of the Sierkan Clan are born with extraordinary abilities—some can glimpse the future, others can see through people’s hearts, and still others command beasts at will. It was precisely these strange powers that once allowed them to reign as objects of fear.”
At the intriguing tale, Astros’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“Does Grand Duke Sierkan possess some special ability as well?”
“That is highly unlikely. The priests conducted a thorough examination, but found nothing remarkable, or so I’m told.”
Berens stroked his chin thoughtfully as he spoke.
“Perhaps the bloodline has been diluted over generations, weakening the abilities as well. Since a powerful mind-reader was born eighty years ago, House Sierkan has not produced a single ‘Primordial Mage.'”
Having settled the matter, something suddenly flickered across his mind, and he continued while caressing his chin.
“Now that I think of it, I have heard rumors that the Former Empress possessed foresight, though….”
“Your brother’s mother?”
Astros asked in surprise.
Berens paused as if considering something, then slowly shook his head.
“It is likely merely a rumor fabricated by those wishing to deify that woman. The Crown Prince and the First Princess are hardly exceptional either.”
He then added with a gentle smile.
“Perhaps the Khan People’s abilities have vanished entirely.”
At his reassuring tone, Astros felt a flicker of displeasure.
Why should I find comfort in the Khan People losing the abilities they had inherited for generations?
He harbored no intention of confronting his brother, and thus the Sierkan Clan was not his enemy either.
But he knew such words would be dismissed as childish complaints, so he held his tongue.
“The ceremony appears to be nearly concluded. It would be best to depart now.”
Berens placed a gentle hand on his back as he watched those seated in the place of honor slip away through the Colonnade one by one.
Astros immediately followed him out of the sanctuary, unwilling to encounter his half-brothers and sisters who regarded him as a thorn in their side.
They avoided the main gate crowded with mourners and instead made their way to the Garden. However, a gathering of nobles sat in the Backyard, engaged in gossip.
Upon spotting Gareth’s fervent followers among them, Astros’s brow furrowed sharply.
They would hardly dare to slight a prince, yet there was no reason to willingly face such unpleasant countenances.
He grasped Berens’s hand and turned toward a narrow path shrouded in deep shadow.
Then, a familiar name reached his ears.
“What do you think are the chances of Talia Roem Guerta’s recovery?”
“Who knows. She was found in a near-corpse state, and even the elves will struggle to fully heal her.”
Astros’s eyes widened as he looked up at Berens.
“Is that true?”
Berens hesitated as if deliberating, then slowly nodded.
Astros’s expression grew grave at once.
He had heard that his sister’s condition was not good, but he never imagined she had been injured so severely that rumors of such magnitude were circulating.
He demanded sharply.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me that my sister was hurt?”
“It was not information Your Highness needed to know.”
“She is my sister! Of course I should have been told.”
As his voice rose, the Garden, which had been bustling with chatter, fell silent as if doused with cold water.
Turning his head, Astros saw the nobles hastily scrambling to pay their respects upon belatedly noticing him, and he scowled.
Unwilling to engage with them, he strode through the Garden with the widest gait possible, and Berens, who had been following silently, let out a sigh.
“Your Highness, she despises you. No matter how much attention you lavish upon her, you will receive nothing in return.”
Astros came to an abrupt halt, his gaze sharp and piercing as he fixed it upon him.
Intellectually, I knew his words held truth. Talia Roem Guerta despised me—had she not said so with her own lips?
Yet I could not bring myself to acknowledge this fact so readily.
“Perhaps… perhaps she regrets saying such things to me. That day, she may have simply spoken harshly in a fit of pique. People do such things from time to time, after all.”
“….”
“When I visit her sickbed, might she not apologize to me?”
The words tumbled out impulsively, yet they sounded remarkably plausible.
Without waiting for Berens’s response, Astros immediately turned his steps toward the Separate Palace.
Along the way, I gathered the most beautiful flowers from the Garden to bring as a gift for my visit.
She will be so surprised when I arrive, will she not?
Perhaps she might even come to appreciate such a devoted brother.
Astros walked briskly across the sprawling grounds, buoyed by anticipation.
Soon, beyond the lush Garden with its verdant foliage, a squat structure of grey stone came into view.

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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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