The Forgotten Field

"Just in case, I've summoned the priestess. It would be best if Your Highness let her examine you."

Talia felt her face flush with embarrassment as she shot Varkas a glare.

"It's nothing. I just lost my balance for a moment."

"Only yesterday you were suffering because of your back. Please stay still."

Holding her even more firmly as she struggled, Varkas turned a cold gaze toward Edrick.

The man, whose eyes darted about in confusion, stiffened with a start. It was as though Varkas had leveled the tip of a sword at him.

"It would be best if you took your leave now. This is hardly the time to be idling around."

"...As it happens, I was just about to depart."

Swallowing dryly, the man answered in a taut voice.

Watching him expressionlessly, Varkas started toward the entrance before adding,

"Then be on your way. I've instructed the stablemaster to prepare a decent horse for you. You can ride that."

"Ah... Thank you for your consideration."

Despite Edrick's respectful reply, Varkas left the drawing room without another word.

Talia glanced over his shoulder at the man standing frozen in place before lifting her gaze to Varkas. The moment she met those blue-gray eyes quietly fixed upon her, her shoulders instinctively tensed.

His face looked no different from usual, calm and composed.

Then why had a chill suddenly run down her spine?

"What were you discussing with Rubon?"

"Nothing... nothing important."

Varkas narrowed his eyes at her evasive answer.

In a rough voice that sounded almost like an interrogation, he asked again,

"What do you mean by 'nothing important'?"

Talia awkwardly shifted her gaze.

There wasn't any particular reason to hide what she'd discussed with Edrick Rubon, but if Varkas found out she'd been asking questions about him behind his back, he would probably be displeased.

After a brief hesitation, she muttered defensively,

"We were just exchanging greetings."

"..."

"He's always been the nosy type. It seemed he'd been wondering whether I'd been doing well all this time..."

As she awkwardly added more to fill the growing silence, a fleeting coldness passed through Varkas's eyes.

Only then did Talia realize he was in a rather foul mood.

She simply couldn't understand why.

Was he angry because her carelessness had almost endangered the child she carried?

While nervously watching his expression, Varkas, climbing the stairs, murmured in an indifferent voice,

"It seems you've grown rather close to Rubon."

"He only served as one of my Imperial Guard knights for a few months."

Talia snorted reflexively.

"That man's just sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. He's the biggest nag I've ever met! He'd have been far better suited to being a nanny than a knight."

For some reason, the longer she criticized Edrick, the colder Varkas's expression became.

She'd assumed they disliked each other because of how harshly he treated him, but perhaps Edrick was actually a subordinate he valued?

Keeping her mouth shut, she cautiously watched his face. Before she realized it, they had reached their bedroom. Varkas gestured toward the servant standing in the corridor.

"Open it."

The servant immediately threw aside the cloth he had been using to clean the windows and hurried to open the door.

Stepping inside, Varkas gently set her down on the bed before naturally helping her remove her coat.

"How is your back?"

"It's fine. Maybe because I slept so well last night—it hurts less than usual."

Ordinarily, he would have shown at least the slightest sign of relief upon hearing that.

Instead, he remained silent.

After quietly staring at her stomach for some time, Varkas slowly straightened.

He then poured her a cup of the herbal tea the healers had prepared beforehand.

By then, the priestess and the two healers who had rushed over at Varkas's summons had begun examining her.

As expected, neither she nor the child she carried showed any abnormalities.

The priestess, who had practically been dragged from the chapel inside the castle, sighed softly.

"Now that you've entered the stable stage of your pregnancy, you no longer need the absolute bed rest you required before. In fact, gradually moving around—as long as you don't overexert yourself—will actually help relieve your lower back pain."

Talia shot Varkas a triumphant look that practically said, See?

Standing with his arms folded across his chest as he looked down at her, Varkas frowned and asked,

"And exactly what qualifies as 'not overexerting herself'?"

"So long as it doesn't become difficult for Her Highness."

The priestess replied with an expression that was somewhere between a smile and a frown as she packed her belongings.

After being hounded by him for weeks, she'd apparently come to see the Grand Duke of Siorcan—whom everyone else feared—as nothing more than another young husband anxiously fussing over his first child.

With a kindly expression, she continued,

"A regular walk of about ten to thirty minutes should also help ease the pain in your pelvis. However, you must always have someone supporting you at your side. If, by any chance, you fall and your uterus receives an impact, the baby could be harmed."

The priestess gave Talia a reproachful look.

Looking rather guilty, Talia wrapped her arms around her stomach.

Once the priestess left the room, the healers resumed examining her.

While Marisen put up a privacy screen, applied medicinal ointment to Talia's leg, and replaced the bandages with fresh ones, Tiuran placed cushions beneath her back and helped her settle into a comfortable position.

Finally, once all the commotion had ended, Varkas dismissed them all from the room.

Talia noticed that he'd deliberately remained behind because he had something to say to her.

Her expression gradually grew tense.

Standing with his arms folded, he silently looked down at her for a long while before finally speaking.

"Your Highness is a married woman and the Grand Duchess of the East."

Talia stared back at him in bewilderment.

Can he not see this enormous stomach of mine?

Everyone in the world already knew that. Wondering why he felt the need to state the obvious, she merely blinked blankly as Varkas calmly continued,

"I cannot permit you to spend time alone with other men as though you were still a carefree teenage girl. Please conduct yourself as befits the Grand Duchess."

His sudden reproach made Talia's face burn crimson.

Anger surged to the top of her head in an instant.

"I merely spoke with my former knight for a little while. What exactly did I do wrong?"

"The very fact that you remained alone in the same room with an unrelated man was inappropriate. Surely you understand that much."

That was true.

A married noblewoman was expected to be accompanied by attendants at all times.

Especially when meeting a man who wasn't her husband.

However, Talia, who had spent her entire life refusing the company of anyone except her nanny and Varkas, couldn't stand having people constantly trailing after her.

It always made her feel as though she were being watched.

She glared at him defiantly.

"Don't make it sound as though I secretly arranged some illicit rendezvous. More than two hundred people live in this keep alone! There were servants walking past the drawing room the entire time."

"They all saw Your Highness alone with a young man from outside. Did it never occur to you that they might start gossiping?"

"If anyone dares wag their filthy tongue, I'll tear it right out of their mouth!"

Talia snapped furiously, her face burning.

"I'm crippled and pregnant! Do you honestly think anyone would even look at me that way? Even if I threw myself at them naked, they wouldn't bat an eye! I'd be lucky if they didn't run away screaming for their lives!"

The moment those words left her lips, a dark shadow fell over her.

Startled, Talia shrank back.

Leaning toward her until only a short distance separated them, Varkas said coldly,

"Don't ever speak about yourself like that."

Since their marriage, he had displayed such an intimidating attitude only a handful of times.

Realizing she'd been frightened, Varkas took a step back and drew a deep breath.

When he spoke again, his voice had become noticeably calmer.

"...I was overly sensitive. If I've offended Your Highness, then I apologize."

It was less a heartfelt admission of fault than a formal apology meant to put an end to a pointless argument.

Talia lowered her eyes without saying a word.

Seeing the rims of her eyes turning red, Varkas sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

He lifted her onto his lap and gently stroked her hair.

It felt as though he'd struck her only to comfort her afterward, yet Talia made no effort to push him away.

She felt considerable relief that Varkas had returned from being the cold, hostile enemy of the past to becoming her devoted protector once more.

"...After we've eaten, let's go for a short walk."

Once he was certain she had calmed down, Varkas proposed politely.

Still pouting, Talia shook her head.

"No. Go do your own work. I'm just going to take a nap."

Varkas parted his lips as though he wanted to say something, but instead gently laid her back on the bed before leaving the room.

As soon as he was gone, she quietly climbed out of bed and walked to the window.

Beyond the castle's spacious inner courtyard, she could vaguely make out Edrick Rubon leading a horse away.

A moment later, he mounted it and began riding across the broad hillside.

Dark snow clouds were slowly gathering overhead.

She silently prayed they weren't an ill omen.

* * *

Winter slipped away in the blink of an eye.

Before long, Talia no longer had the luxury of worrying about the northern rebellion or the war.

As her stomach continued to grow, the pain pressing down on the lower half of her body had reached the point where it was almost unbearable.