The Forgotten Field

Talia kept her gaze fixed on Varkas's eyes as she pushed with all the strength she had.

It felt as though a massive boulder were crushing her pelvis. Every pore in her body opened, and cold sweat streamed down her skin.

She gathered every last ounce of strength she possessed.

But she couldn't feel the slightest sign that anything was progressing.

She felt as though she were about to burst into tears.

How much longer did she have to endure this?

Just as the unbearable agony made her want to let go of everything, someone let out a piercing scream.

Talia forced open eyelids drenched with sweat and tears.

The priestess seated between her knees beneath the linen cloth was staring down with a grave expression.

Painfully parting her split lips, Talia whispered,

"Why... why?"

"B-Blood..."

One of the maids standing beside the bed murmured in terror.

The chief maid immediately seized the frightened girl by the arm and shoved her back with a harsh motion.

Before Talia even had time to wonder what was happening, the contractions that had briefly subsided returned with renewed force.

She clung to Varkas's neck once more.

How long did the agony last—the feeling that her bones were splitting apart and every organ and nerve inside her body was being crushed?

Her vision suddenly turned white.

Then, all at once, whatever had been blocking her from below slid free.

The sensation was so overwhelming that her head snapped back on its own, and a shrill scream tore from her throat.

Collapsed limply in Varkas's embrace like a corpse, Talia struggled to draw ragged breaths that caught in her throat.

Her ears rang as though she had been submerged underwater, and her vision remained blurred.

It also felt as though somewhere inside her body had been torn apart.

Yet the searing pain that had felt as though it were burning her brain alive had finally disappeared.

Was it over now?

She stared blankly ahead, thinking that.

Then, without warning, a strange sense of wrongness crept over her.

The room was unnaturally quiet.

With great effort, Talia lifted her heavy eyelids.

Through her unfocused vision she saw the veins standing taut along Varkas's neck.

Grabbing at the hem of his clothes with trembling fingers as though he were distracted by something, she whispered,

"Varkas... why..."

At last, Varkas looked at her.

Talia strained her eyes, trying to make out his expression.

But everything refused to come into focus.

Staring at him as though he were a pale ghost, she barely managed to finish her question.

"Why... isn't... the baby crying?"

"..."

"Varkas... why isn't the baby..."

He gave no answer.

Had she gone deaf?

Confused, she looked around the room.

The maids had gathered together in one corner, wrapping something inside a blanket.

She tried to sit up to get a better look.

But Varkas tightened the arm wrapped around her.

"You mustn't move yet."

It was a rough voice she had never imagined hearing from him.

Talia blinked blankly.

As though determined to prevent her from turning her head, Varkas gripped it tightly with a cold hand whose tendons stood out beneath the skin.

In a frighteningly low voice, he asked,

"Has the bleeding stopped?"

"Not... yet..."

"Then why are you standing there instead of doing something?"

"...Regrettably, there is nothing we can do."

Talia could feel the body surrounding her grow as rigid as stone.

She realized he was furious beyond reason.

But she couldn't understand why.

Near her head, his voice rang out with a metallic sharpness.

"Where is the High Priest? What is he doing? Bring him here immediately!"

"T-That is impossible! No male priest may ever enter a birthing chamber! It is strictly forbidden for them to witness a woman's most primal state—"

Something shattered violently.

Talia clung desperately to her fading consciousness.

Only a heartbeat later did she realize he had thrown something.

"Go and tell him. If he doesn't come here this instant and save my wife, I'll lock him inside the chapel and burn it to the ground with him still inside."

Only after hearing those words did Talia realize her condition was grave enough to require treatment.

Yet she felt no fear.

It was as though every sensation had gone numb.

Staring blankly at Varkas's rigid jaw, she was overcome by an irresistible impulse and tugged weakly at his sleeve.

"Varkas... I'm... fine... our baby..."

Without even understanding what she herself was trying to say, her lips trembled.

"Our baby... save... our baby."

Varkas did not {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} answer.

She knew he was looking at her.

But she still couldn't make out his expression.

Tears streamed endlessly from her eyes.

"I... you promised me..."

She glared at him as though accusing him of betraying her, then tried to look toward the baby again.

But Varkas held her head firmly against him, leaving her unable to move.

She wanted to shove him away with all her strength.

But her arms were as heavy as lead and refused to obey her.

Helplessness overtook her, and her body trembled.

"It's alright. Nothing will happen."

Holding her so tightly that it hurt, the man pressed cold lips against her temple and murmured those words.

A lie.

Talia whispered to herself.

It was all a lie.

Nothing was alright.

Nothing would ever be alright again.

She could feel her body growing colder and colder.

It felt as though she were slowly sinking into icy water.

She was so terribly cold.

So terribly tired.

Why had things ended up like this?

That faint question drifted through her gradually whitening mind.

She had been happy.

Just this afternoon, she had been happy.

Yes.

She had suffered terribly.

She had struggled.

But she had still been happy.

Perhaps she had never been that happy in her entire life.

She searched her fading memories for what had brought her such happiness.

Gathering the last remnants of her strength, she pleaded,

"Varkas... give... the baby... to me."

Even to her own ears, her voice sounded as faint as the dying flame of a candle.

Afraid he hadn't heard, she painfully lifted fingers that felt as heavy as mountains and tugged weakly at his cold coat.

"I... want to... hold... my baby..."

Still holding her tightly, Varkas did not move.

At that moment, resentment welled up from the depths of her very bones.

If only she had been able to, she would have screamed.

You promised you'd give me anything I wanted.

Why aren't you keeping your promise?

Sobbing, she whispered,

"I... I'm begging you like this... please..."

At that moment, she sensed commotion spreading around them.

But every sound reached her as though thick walls surrounded her on every side.

Varkas abruptly turned his head.

She heard him shouting something.

But she could no longer understand the words.

The last of her strength left her, and her limbs fell limp.

The world before her grew darker and darker.

She could no longer tell whether her eyes were open or closed.

Would she never wake again?

If that was true...

Then she wanted to see him one last time.

Talia desperately tried to force her eyes open.

But all she could see was endless darkness.

Tears continued pouring from her eyes.

She felt as though she might drown in them.

She opened her mouth to speak.

But even that no longer obeyed her.

Only after swallowing back her shattered breaths did Talia realize that the word she had been unable to say...

...was his name.

Holding onto that unbearably sorrowful realization, she sank into the cold, endless darkness.

* * *

The rain that had been drizzling since dawn finally began to ease around noon.

Leaning against the battlements while wetting his lips with wine, Lucas spotted three or four women placing flowers before the small grave that had appeared only a few days earlier.

He let out a heavy sigh.

The child who had nearly reduced his own mother to a living corpse had entered the world only to be buried beneath the damp earth without ever properly drawing a first breath.

Only after the Grand Duchess's condition finally stabilized was a modest funeral held for the stillborn child.