The Forgotten Field - Chapter 9

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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 9
The moment Talia opened her eyes, she prepared herself with unprecedented care. I endured the Handmaidens’ rough scrubbing with their stiff, coarse brushes until my skin flushed red, and bore the insistent combing that made my scalp sting.
After grooming, I retrieved the velvet dress that my maternal grandfather had given me on the day I left the Taren Family Estate—the only gift from him, though his gaze had always held disapproval.
Looking into the mirror, I saw the reflection of a girl with an angelic face. If I were to imagine Senevir at nine years old, surely she would look exactly like this.
I stared at my deep blue eyes—the same shade as Mother’s—through the glass, then left the room with a determined expression. But the boy who always trained at this hour was nowhere to be found today.
After evading the Elderly Attendant and wandering through the palace courtyard for some time, I let my shoulders droop in disappointment. The thought that I might never see him again made my vision darken.
I couldn’t understand why I was so fixated on someone I’d only spoken to once.
No. Actually, I did understand. On that day when the rain poured so heavily, he could have simply ignored a mud-covered child and walked past. But he didn’t.
He soiled his clothes and shoes as he descended into the Pit to rescue me.
He held my cold, rain-chilled body in his warm arms and gazed into my eyes for a long time.
He carefully cradled a dying, pitiful bird and brought it to his own quarters.
That was enough to become my hope.
I walked tirelessly along the perimeter of the towering building that seemed to touch the sky.
The Imperial Palace was like the belly of a colossal beast. It was so vast and labyrinthine that even after months of living here, new places I’d never seen before continued to appear endlessly.
I wandered through the Garden filled with flowers and trees for some time, then crossed an open space and moved toward the rear of the Main Palace.
My legs ached from moving without rest from early morning until noon. Whether blisters had formed or not, each step sent a burning sensation through my soles as if they touched flame.
I wiped away the sweat trickling down my forehead and gazed up at the blue sky through the dense foliage.
After lingering there for some time, I straightened up with the intention of returning to the Separate Palace when I glimpsed a boy’s slender silhouette between the straight birch trees. My eyes brightened with joy.
Even from that considerable distance, I recognized him instantly. The way he walked with his back straight and fluid as flowing water—his agile and graceful movements were something no one else could imitate.
I immediately began to chase after him. But no matter how much I increased my pace, the distance between us didn’t narrow.
I noticed that the boy was hurrying quite urgently. Where could he be going in such haste?
I considered calling out to him loudly, but my breath came up to my throat and no voice emerged. In the end, I lost sight of him.
I sat down with a dejected expression, leaning my back against a tree trunk. Needle-like sunlight poured down harshly onto my sweat-dampened face.
As I gazed up through the dense foliage with squinted eyes, a faint laugh mixed into the breeze. It was a sound like a small bird chirping.
I rose and slowly walked toward the source of the sound.
Passing through the densely packed birch trees and thick undergrowth, a beautiful Flower Bed blooming abundantly with lavender, marigolds, and white baby’s breath came into view, along with a pristine Marble Pavilion and a small Fountain. It was a lovely garden, like a fairy’s palace.
I gazed around the enchanting landscape where golden particles seemed to drift, and then I discovered the boy kneeling on one knee before a marble chair.
He was not alone. Across from him sat a lovely girl who appeared to be his age. She had silken, deep dark brown hair and rosy cheeks—a cute little girl.
As she chattered incessantly, a faint smile appeared at the boy’s lips. Seeing that expression, my chest stung as if pricked by something sharp. It felt as though my own treasure had been stolen.
I knew that such a feeling was irrational.
At first glance, the two seemed like they had known each other for a long time. Meanwhile, I was merely a stranger.
So I decided to approach them and introduce myself politely. I wanted to somehow insert myself into the warm air surrounding the two of them. Above all, I wanted to make the boy’s blue eyes and faint smile turn toward me.
Driven by that intense impulse, I stepped out from behind the undergrowth and approached the Fountain that sprayed water. Then the boy’s beautiful silver-blue eyes and a pair of clear green eyes flew toward me.
Never having interacted with children my own age, I felt my mouth go suddenly dry.
But I was the Empire’s princess. I thought that no one would dare refuse if I offered to be their friend.
I lifted my chin with feigned confidence and greeted them boldly.
“Hello?”
The boy simply stared at me without moving.
Did he not recognize me? When we first met, I was covered in mud, so perhaps my appearance dressed as a princess seemed unfamiliar to him.
Just as I was about to bring up the matter of how he had helped me several months ago, the girl sitting there with a vacant expression suddenly let out a sharp scream.
“No! No! Not here! Anywhere but here!”
Her voice was raw and anguished, as though she were confronting a terrible nightmare made flesh.
The girl, her eyes wide with terror, threw herself toward the boy.
“Please, Barcas! Drive her away from this place! Don’t let her set foot here again! I never want to see her face ever again!”
Her frail arms wrapped around the boy’s neck.
Kael cradled the sobbing girl protectively against his chest, and over her trembling shoulders, he cast a glacial stare in my direction. I stumbled backward.
His voice dropped to a lethal whisper.
“Get out. Now.”
I stared at his cold, merciless face for a moment before my body obeyed what my mind could not yet process—I turned and ran.
It felt as though ice water had been poured over my head. My mind went numb, incapable of coherent thought.
How long I ran, I cannot say, but as I neared the Main Palace, something brutally seized my hair from behind. My head snapped backward, my body lurching violently off balance, and before I could comprehend what was happening, a heavy impact slammed into me.
I curled around my throbbing stomach and rolled across the grass.
“How dare you set foot in such a place!”
An angry, youthful voice rang out above me like a bell.
I looked up in shock. A boy I had never seen before glared down at me with undisguised fury.
Dark black hair and eyes like burning emerald flame—I could see he bore a striking resemblance to the girl from moments before, but I had no idea when he had begun pursuing me or why his rage burned so fiercely.
Stunned and frozen by this first assault, I had no time to recover before he kicked me again, this time in the abdomen.
“Die!”
The impact blanked my vision white. I curled into myself and coughed violently.
He continued his assault, kicking me repeatedly as though I were nothing more than a ball.
“Die! Die! Just die!”
His shrieks pierced my ears like long nails driven into flesh. His curses and violence did not cease until servants came running in alarm at the commotion.
I crawled across the ground like an insect, desperately evading his savage kicks. Even after they seized his arms, two Elderly Attendants could barely restrain him as he thrashed and snarled like a wild beast.
“Disappear from this world! You filthy bastard!”

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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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