The Forgotten Field - Chapter 71

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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 71
My mouth went dry under that cold, piercing gaze.
I picked at my swollen lips with my fingertips, my eyes cast downward.
I had no idea what to say.
My lips sealed shut as if I’d lost the power of speech, my eyes darting about aimlessly, when a monotone voice reached my ears.
“Your Nursemaid is in the Adjacent Room. Call for her if you need anything.”
I lifted my head to look at him again.
Barcas slid his arms into his shirt sleeves and continued speaking with measured composure.
“I plan to depart for the Eastern Territories in a week. I’ll have the servants prepare for the journey, so gather any belongings you wish to bring beforehand.”
“So… so soon?”
As I stammered in confusion, Barcas—still fastening his shirt buttons—turned his gaze back to me.
His eyes, shrouded in a dense fog, studied my face with deliberate care.
“Is there a reason you must remain at the Imperial Palace?”
I looked up at him speechlessly before slowly shaking my head.
Watching me intently, Barcas approached the bedside with measured strides. My heart clenched sharply as his face drew unexpectedly close.
Without thinking, my gaze fixed on his lips. Between the slightly parted edges, I glimpsed a flash of crimson tongue.
That had been inside me.
Had it been real, or merely a dream?
Lost in such thoughts, my chin was tilted upward, and those transparent blue eyes came within inches of mine.
“Do you frequently experience sudden, severe pain like yesterday?”
My already-clenched heart now shattered with an audible crack.
I shoved his hand away roughly. Irritation surged through me at being treated like a gravely ill patient.
“I don’t know. What does it matter?”
“If there is an underlying issue, perhaps additional treatment—”
“Even the Taren Family Mage couldn’t manage it. What do you think you can do?”
My voice rose with anxiety, and his lips pressed into a firm line. Those severe, crimson lips captured my attention once more.
What mattered was that last night, those lips had ravaged me of their own accord. So why was I fixating on my legs?
I moistened my parched lips.
“Rather… about yesterday…”
Why did you do that to me? Was it just to make me take the medicine?
I began to ask, then closed my mouth again.
Perhaps the touch of our lips had lasted only an instant. My fractured mind might have distorted the memory entirely.
I swallowed dryly and stole a glance at his expression.
Seemingly uninterested in the words I’d left unspoken, Barcas straightened and delivered his statement in that same monotone.
“I’ve stationed a Healer in the Adjacent Room. Should you feel any discomfort, summon them immediately.”
That’s all?
You have nothing else to say to me?
Questions swirled silently on my tongue, when his calm voice continued.
“Until the day of departure, I will remain at the Imperial Palace.”
I looked up at him as if I’d been struck across the head.
Cool fingers descended onto my forehead.
My skin prickled as though a blade had touched it.
When I instinctively shrank back, Barcas—who had been brushing the tangled hair from her face—withdrew his hand once more.
Dark shadows fell across his features as he stood silhouetted against the window.
“For the time being, you will have no occasion to face me. So please, set your mind at ease.”
Talia opened her mouth urgently.
Though I felt compelled to say something, my throat constricted, and no sound emerged.
He turned slowly and retrieved his overcoat from where it hung upon the wall.
Talia could only watch his retreating figure cross the chamber, her gaze vacant.
Grasping the door handle, Barcas glanced back over his shoulder at her. His lips parted slightly as though he meant to speak, yet in the end he said nothing and stepped outside.
With a soft click, the door closed. Talia stared at it for a long moment before lowering her feet from the bed. A tingling sensation shot through her bones. Ignoring the sharp, simmering pain, she approached the door and turned the handle.
Barcas had already descended the stairs; only silence lingered in the corridor.
With a deflated expression, she closed and locked the door again, then returned to the bedside.
The only trace of him remaining in the chamber was a single formal gown, neatly folded.
I unfolded the garment from the shelf where it lay carefully arranged and buried my face in the smooth fabric.
Instead of mint, a rich rose fragrance seeped into my nostrils.
Perhaps from holding her all day, the embroidered satin bore only the heavy scent of the perfumed oils the handmaidens had applied. I wrapped myself in it and lay down upon the bed, now grown cold.
The memory of his broad embrace, holding me steadfast through my agony, surfaced in my mind.
He had spent the entire night tending to a patient—surely the worst of nights for him. What man in this world would welcome such an arduous and vexing wedding night?
Talia bit down hard on her trembling lips.
From the beginning, this marriage had been accepted merely to satisfy a petty desire for revenge. Having made him weary from the very first night, I ought to be satisfied.
I suppressed the bitter ache in my chest and gazed up at the window, where glass gleamed white. Beyond the transparent pane, sunlight streamed brilliantly.
Suddenly, it struck me that this was the first morning I would greet as Talia Roem Sierkan.
Talia murmured with a hollow expression.
How will my life unfold from this moment forward…?
* * *
Before long, the day of departure for the Eastern Territories drew near.
From early morning, unable to resist the handmaidens’ insistence, Talia began her preparations, her weary eyes gazing out the window.
In the vast inner courtyard, more than twenty cargo carriages stood in rows. Atop them were stacked bolts of silk wrapped in linen, dwarven-crafted ornaments, dresses woven by the fae, and chests containing rare jewels.
Half were bride gifts sent from the Imperial Palace, while the other half were treasures she had painstakingly accumulated over long years.
Talia, who had once obsessed over these precious possessions, now regarded them with indifferent eyes before drawing the curtains closed.
Merely a season ago, I had been desperate to acquire rare gowns and ornaments, hoping that by shining more brilliantly than anyone else, Barcas would come to regret his betrothal to Aila.
But now jewels and garments mattered little. After all, I could never become as graceful as Aila, nor as beautiful as Senevir.
No amount of adornment could make this body anything but pitiful and pathetic.
Talia sat upon the bed, rubbing her throbbing knees.
The pain reliever she had taken at dawn had already worn off, and the dull ache began to resurface.
She inserted a fresh incense stick into the cold brazier. Just as she was about to light it, a knock sounded from behind her.
“Your Highness, Grand Duke Sierkan has arrived.”
In that instant, sensations that had been murky as though submerged in water suddenly became vivid and sharp.
Talia hastily set down the incense stick and rose from her seat.
As I pulled open the door, my gaze fell upon the handmaidens arrayed in a long line along the wall.
Talia swept her eyes across them all.
“…Where is the Nursemaid?”
“She has already boarded the carriage.”
Talia, who had been anxiously fretting over whether the Nursemaid might insist on returning to the Imperial Palace, released a breath of relief.
“Wait a moment. I’ll be ready shortly.”
As I turned to retrieve my outer garment, the Elderly Handmaiden spoke up urgently.
“Grand Duke Sierkan instructed me to deliver this to you.”
Talia gazed down at the flowing garment the handmaiden offered, her eyes narrowing.
It was a loose hooded cloak that would envelop her entire body. Clearly, it had been brought to conceal her halting gait.
Though humiliation burned in her ears, Talia accepted it without complaint and draped it over herself.
The long hem swept down to her feet, making her appear as though she were wrapped in curtains.
She ran her fingers across the smooth fabric’s surface, then gestured toward the handmaidens with a tilt of her chin.
“Let us depart now.”

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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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