The Forgotten Field - Chapter 57

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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 57
Astros wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and bounded up the stone staircase in one breath, yanking open the heavily sealed door. Through the crack, the Great Hall lay before him—silent as a tomb, devoid of all sound.
Finding neither guards nor a single handmaiden in the dimly lit space, Astros crept forward and climbed the stairs with cautious steps.
He couldn’t fathom why he was treading so softly.
He’d felt it the last time he came—this castle was like a cemetery. The eerie atmosphere made him hold his breath without thinking.
Glancing at the curtain-draped windows, Astros took the stairs two at a time, reaching the third floor in moments.
At last, his sister’s bedroom door came into view.
He stopped before the massive mahogany door and caught his breath, then carefully knocked.
But no matter how long he waited, there came neither a question of who it was nor permission to enter.
‘Could she be asleep?’
Pressing his ear to the door, Astros knocked harder this time. A dull thud sounded from within.
After a moment’s hesitation, he grasped the handle and peered inside the room.
The disordered bedroom was filled with a hazy, pale smoke.
Coughing at the stale air, Astros’s eyes suddenly widened. Before him lay a scene as though a tempest had swept through.
His mouth fell open in shock as he found himself drawn into the chaos.
Shattered glass lay scattered across the bedroom floor.
As if a wine bottle had been hurled, the carpet reeked of deep burgundy wine, and strewn across it were long strips of torn fabric and feathers that appeared to have burst from pillows.
Scanning these remnants with vacant eyes, Astros suddenly discovered a full-length mirror shattered into fragments and flinched, his shoulders tensing.
Across the mirror’s surface, fractured like a spider’s web, his form was reflected dozens of times over.
A chill crept through him as he began backing away, when a rustling sound came from behind.
Spinning around, Astros froze at the sight of Talia sprawled carelessly across the carpet.
His breath caught in his throat.
She lay in nothing but a thin nightgown, her eyes hollow and fixed upon the ceiling. The lifelessness in her face sent ice down his spine.
She moved her slender arm—thin as a birch branch—gathering a handful of feathers scattered across the floor and scattering them into the air.
Pure white feathers drifted like dust through the stale air.
The woman gazed up at the sight with unfocused eyes, then slowly turned her gaze toward him.
Astros found himself backing away without thinking.
Her lips, crusted with dried blood, parted to release a hoarse voice.
“…Did you come to gawk?”
“I… I merely came to inquire after your health….”
Her desolate eyes fixed upon the bouquet of flowers cradled in his arms.
Astros felt his ears burn. For some reason, he felt as though he were committing some terrible transgression against her.
Talia let her eyelids fall as though exhausted.
“…Leave them there and go.”
Hesitantly, Astros set the bouquet on the shelf beside the bed.
He no longer knew what else to do.
With helpless eyes fixed upon his sister, Astros soon left the room.
Berens, waiting in the corridor, frowned at the sight of his ashen face, suspecting some misfortune had befallen him.
Without explanation, Astros seized his hand and pulled him along.
“Let us return to the Main Palace at once.”
And with that, I fled down the Corridor, silent as a tomb.
I couldn’t even discern what I was running from. I simply needed to escape this place—inexplicably cold and damp—as quickly as possible.
Astros glanced back once at the half-open Bedroom door over his shoulder, then bolted down the stairs. Like a beast breaking free from a trap, he burst out of the Separate Palace in one desperate rush.
* * *
It felt as though an ant were crawling through my veins.
A sharp, pricking pain crept up my shin, gnawing at my knee, thigh, pelvis, and lower back.
It wasn’t as intense as before, but no less maddening.
Talia raked her nails across the bumpy skin of her knee with relentless determination. The ant beneath her skin seemed to resist, burrowing deeper into the bone itself.
To extract the wretched parasite, I peeled away the tough, flaking skin like dead tissue.
Blood streamed from the gaping wound. Ignoring the searing pain, I clawed at the raw flesh exposed beneath, when the Nursemaid entered the chamber and let out a sharp, piercing scream at the sight.
“Please, I’m begging you to stop!”
The Nursemaid dropped the tray she’d been holding and seized my hand.
Talia stared at her with vacant eyes, then placed her other hand over the scar.
“Why are you doing this!”
The Nursemaid grasped my remaining hand and sighed heavily.
“If that unsightly scar gets any worse, what will you do?”
Talia regarded her with a hollow gaze.
This was the Nursemaid who had always praised me as beautiful, never tiring of her compliments. She had said I was the very image of Senevir in her childhood, and had been so devoted to me.
Even in her eyes, my appearance now seemed grotesque.
Twisting my wrist free with force, I shoved the Nursemaid’s shoulder.
“Get out! I can’t stand to look at you!”
The Nursemaid, her eyes narrowing, stomped over to the shelf. She picked up the bowl of porridge and medicine bottle from the tray and held them out to me.
“Once you’ve eaten this, I’ll leave even if you try to stop me.”
Talia reached out to hurl the bowl away.
But even the dull-witted Nursemaid seemed to develop some perception after enduring the same thing multiple times.
She quickly stepped back, her gaze stern.
“If you don’t eat, I won’t burn the sleeping incense for you.”
Talia glared at her with resentful eyes before finally accepting the bowl. I no longer had the strength to argue further.
I picked up the spoon and mechanically pushed the mushy food into my mouth. It was like eating mud.
Suppressing my nausea, I emptied the porridge and swallowed the mysterious medicine, whereupon the Nursemaid thrust a fresh bundle of herbs into the incense burner and lit it.
Talia lay sprawled on the bed, breathing in the acrid smoke deeply.
As my consciousness grew hazy and drowsiness crept in, I sighed with relief and turned my gaze toward the window. Beyond the transparent glass, the evening sky was stained crimson.
Once the sun set, thick darkness would soon engulf me. Even through the fog of my mind, dread began to creep in.
I feared the coming of night. The memory of waiting endlessly in the darkness for someone to arrive felt as though it were strangling my breath.
But I feared the coming of morning even more. I didn’t want to live another day in this wretched, ruined body.
I squeezed my eyes shut and murmured a desperate prayer.
If only all the time allotted to me could flow away while I slept.
So that I might be freed from this suffering forever.
But as always, my wish went unfulfilled.
Awakened by a hand shaking my shoulder, Talia gazed up at the window where sunlight poured in and exhaled a hollow sigh.
Another tedious day was about to begin, it seemed. I pressed my throbbing temples with both hands.
Then, an unfamiliar voice reached my ears.
“You must rise now, Your Highness.”
Startled, I turned my head and found a dark silhouette standing beside my bed, immediately pushing myself upright.
A woman of considerable height and sturdy build looked down at me with eyes that gleamed like steel.
The woman bowed with precise, graceful movements and spoke.
“Please forgive my rudeness in entering your bedchamber without permission, Your Highness. I am Trania Meldren, the head handmaiden of the Empress’s Household. I have come on the Empress’s orders to attend to you throughout the day.”
Bewildered, I rolled my eyes and slowly surveyed the chamber.
Somewhere along the way, the bedroom had been tidied, and a dozen or so handmaidens dressed in gowns bearing the Empress’s seal stood waiting in one corner.
Upon seeing the armfuls of clothing they held, I stiffened.
An ominous premonition tightened my throat.
“Attend to me? Why would you—”
“Today, Your Highness will have an audience with the Emperor.”

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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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