The Forgotten Field

However, there were very few mourners.

Since the Grand Duchess had still not regained consciousness, hardly anyone spared any attention for the tiny lump of flesh that had been far too small to be called a person.

Lost in complicated emotions, Lucas took another sip of wine.

After all the chaos had unfolded, his elder brother, who had shut himself away in his chambers, finally emerged only after the Grand Duchess's bleeding had stopped, solely to see the child that had died.

Lucas, who had rushed over after hearing the news to see what had happened, shuddered as he recalled the expression Varkas had worn that day.

The man had stared silently at the tiny bundle wrapped in cloth for a long, long time with hollow eyes that seemed utterly devoid of emotion.

Only after one of the maids finally broke down in frightened sobs did he calmly instruct them to bury the child with proper rites before turning away.

His composure had been chilling.

Yet what truly sent a shiver down Lucas's spine was the shadow he had glimpsed crossing his brother's face.

It was the kind of dreadful darkness one would expect to see only upon the face of a decapitated corpse.

Looking as though every drop of blood had drained from his body, Varkas returned to the bedchamber and firmly shut the door behind him.

For the past three days, he had remained silently at the bedside of his wife, who still hovered on the brink of death.

There were countless matters requiring the Grand Duke's approval.

Yet no one dared knock on that door.

No one could bring themselves to burden a man who had not only lost his first child but now stood on the verge of losing his wife as well with official documents.

But with the threat of war drawing closer by the hour, they could not simply sit back and wait forever.

'If... Brother still hasn't come out by tomorrow... I'll have to force my way in.'

Entrusted with that miserable responsibility, Lucas let out a heavy sigh before taking another swallow of the strong liquor.

Just then, a clear voice rose from below the castle wall.

"What are you doing up there?"

Turning his head, Lucas spotted Raina leading a dark chestnut stallion through the castle gate.

His brows immediately furrowed.

As usual, she had apparently slipped out of the castle alone without any guards. Pulling her hood low over her face, she stopped at the foot of the staircase leading to the battlements and looked up at him with an expression of utter disbelief.

"So you've got nothing better to do than mope around up there?"

"And what about you?"

Lucas answered indifferently after moistening his lips with wine.

"Where have you been with a horse in weather like this?"

"I didn't want to stay inside the castle, so I deliberately went out. I was sick of watching every servant in the castle walk around looking as though someone important had died."

Lucas stiffened at his sister's merciless words.

He had known Raina harbored hostility toward the Grand Duchess.

But he had never imagined she would react so coldly to such a tragedy.

Reproachfully, Lucas said,

"The Grand Duchess is lying unconscious. The least you could do is show a little sympathy."

"When has that woman ever shown sympathy toward Father or me? So why should I?"

Apparently wounded by his criticism, a faint shimmer of moisture appeared in Raina's large reddish-brown eyes.

As though trying to conceal it, she widened her eyes and snapped,

"Don't act so righteous, Lucas. Aren't you the one secretly celebrating this outcome more than anyone?"

Lucas stared at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. Right now, you're the only remaining heir of the Grand Ducal House. Maybe you'll stay the heir from now on, too."

A crooked smile spread across her lips.

"With that woman's build, she was never capable of giving birth to a healthy child in the first place. Unless Brother takes another bride, sooner or later you'll—or your children—be the ones to inherit House Siorcan."

Lucas looked down at her as though she were a complete stranger.

She had always been stubborn and headstrong.

But she had never been this heartless.

Had their father's death truly affected her that deeply?

He narrowed his eyes and studied her face.

After their father died, Lucas himself had begun undergoing rigorous training in earnest.

Perhaps Raina had felt abandoned, left behind all alone.

The bitterness of being pushed outside everyone's concern had gradually filled her with malice.

For a moment, he found himself torn.

Part of him wanted to indulge his younger sister.

But he was afraid that doing so would only lead her further astray.

Neither of them was a child anymore.

They were no longer at an age where anything they said could simply be forgiven.

"I have no desire to become Grand Duke, nor do I possess the ability to do so."

Hoping to bring her back to her senses, he deliberately added in a cold voice,

"I'm truly disappointed, Raina. I don't like that woman either... but I still feel sorry for her. Isn't that only natural? I never imagined you were someone without a drop of compassion."

"I'm the one who's disappointed, Lucas. I never realized you were this foolish."

Raina shot back with a vicious glare.

"Do you think I'm the only one thinking this? The retainers are whispering about it behind everyone's backs too. If that woman ultimately fails to produce an heir, they'll have no choice but to bring in a new mistress or place their hopes on you."

Lucas fell silent.

Raina looked at him with mocking eyes before tugging lightly on the reins.

"Oh, right. Daren was looking for you at the training grounds."

Then, as though she had just remembered something, she called over her shoulder,

"The Noble Alliance Council will be convening soon. He said he'd like you to attend as the representative of House Siorcan in Brother's place."

"..."

"You should go. There's nothing wrong with making yourself known to the members of the Noble Alliance ahead of time."

After leaving those loaded words behind, Raina calmly headed toward the stables.

Lucas watched her leave with a vacant expression.

The rain, which had been easing, gradually began falling heavily once more.

Pulling up his hood, he lowered his gaze between the battlements.

The small grave stood there beneath the rain.

The maids who had come to pay their respects had already left.

Lucas quietly looked down at the pale bouquet of lilies resting atop the little grave before finally turning away with a bitter sigh.

His mouth tasted as though it were full of ashes.

* * *

A dull ache pierced through her hazy consciousness.

Talia barely managed to pry open eyelids that felt as though they had been glued shut.

Through her blurred vision, hazy as though she were submerged beneath water, she vaguely made out a room bathed in bluish light.

For a brief moment, she believed she had merely experienced a long, agonizing dream.

Then her hand absentmindedly rested upon her stomach.

Feeling how completely flat it had become, she finally realized she had awakened not from a dream—

but into a nightmare called reality.

"Talia."

As she blankly stroked her throbbing abdomen, someone gently cradled her head with a large hand.

Only after a long while did she realize someone was quietly embracing her from behind.

Turning her head unconsciously, Talia found herself looking upon the man she had spent half her life desperately longing for.

Her eyelids slowly fluttered.

She saw those beautiful eyes that had always made her chest tighten simply by looking into them.

Yet she felt nothing.

It was as though she had already died while still breathing.

Perhaps...

Perhaps I really have become a corpse.

"Talia."

As though denying that thought, his clear voice sounded beside her head.

It was a strange...

Such a strange voice.

Like a child who had only just learned to speak, endlessly repeating the same word.

"...Do you recognize me?"

Receiving no response, the man lowered his head to look directly into her eyes.

His ash-gray hair, which had grown noticeably longer over the past several months, brushed lightly against the corner of her eye.

Talia blankly gazed at his sharp face, shadowed with exhaustion.

Then she slowly lowered her eyelids again.

"I'm cold..."

Not missing the whisper that escaped her lips like air leaking from a punctured vessel, he immediately wrapped her body tightly in the thick blanket.

But she could not feel even the slightest warmth.

It felt as though she had been buried beneath cold earth.

She wondered why she knew what that felt like.

Then, suddenly, she remembered.

She had once been buried beneath rocks and soil.

Perhaps...

Perhaps she had never truly left that place.

Perhaps she had remained buried there all this time.

Wasn't that the only explanation?

There was no way she could truly have married Varkas, become his wife, carried his child...

...only to lose that child so meaninglessly.

She had simply been trapped beneath the earth, slowly decaying while dreaming an impossible dream.

Talia felt a single tear roll down her cheek.

Yet her heart remained unnaturally calm.

It felt as though her body and her mind had completely separated.

Reality and dreams.

Past and present.

Everything had become hopelessly tangled together until she could no longer think clearly about anything.

As dizziness slowly overtook her, she gently closed her eyes.

If she fell asleep now...

Perhaps the next time she opened them, it would be beneath that cold earth once again.

Perhaps...

That would be better.