The Forgotten Field Novel - Chapter 100
Chapter 100
Lucas turned around immediately and fled.
Daren, who was watching the scene from nearby, clicked his tongue with a worried expression.
“Don’t you think that was a bit excessive? What will you do if the young man starts to hold a grudge against you, Grand Duke?”
“Currently, Lucas is the sole successor to the house of the Grand Duke. If something were to happen to me, he is the one who must inherit the family.”
Varkas uttered the words with complete indifference.
“Rather, I would like to ask what you all were thinking by leaving him unattended until he reached this state.”
“You are young and strong, Grand Duke. What need is there to prepare the second young master as a successor so soon?”
Daren shrugged his shoulders with a light attitude.
“Besides, now that you are married, it won’t be long before you have direct offspring, will it?”
Varkas did not answer and simply opened the waterskin hanging from his waist to wet his mouth.
Among the soldiers moving busily, fourteen baggage wagons and a large four-horse carriage designed for travel could be seen.
A dwarf carrying a large bucket of water approached that direction. It seemed he was going to assist his wife with her needs.
Suddenly, a harsh taste, as if he had chewed old metal, spread through his mouth.
Since she injured her leg, Talia reacted with extreme sensitivity to any exposure of her body. To the point of not allowing anyone to touch her leg, with the exception of the healer that that woman and her mother had assigned to her.
Recalling how she suffered a sort of fit every time he tried to examine the wound himself, the metallic taste in his mouth became more intense.
Feeling his throat rough as if it had sand, he drank one more sip of strong liquor and, consciously, changed the subject.
“Was there anything unusual inside Dorkane Castle?”
“Nothing particularly suspicious could be found. It seems they invited you simply with the intention of establishing a bond with the house of the Grand Duke.”
Daren continued speaking calmly while stroking his beard.
“While you were in the private meeting with the lord of the castle, I inspected even the training ground, and it seems to be true that they lack soldiers.”
“Is there any special reason why their troops have decreased?”
“I believe it is due to financial problems.”
Daren let out a deep sigh.
“It seems that the lord of Dorkane does not have much talent for managing the territory. Being unable to pay salaries properly, many warriors abandoned the place; and with the looters doing as they please, they have suffered a severe loss of men. I do not believe that man is capable of rebelling against the Grand Duke.”
Varkas contemplated the field tinged by the glow of the sunset, lost in thought.
His judgment did not differ much from Daren’s. While his father was on his sickbed, the local nobles had been increasing their troops and expanding their individual power.
For a lord who did not possess an adequate military force, the existence of the neighboring lords, who grew stronger each day, must have represented a threat.
He would have thought that, even for his own safety, it was better to support the new Grand Duke.
The problem was whether that man was useful to him or not.
“Do you plan to support Dorkane to keep the other vassals in check?”
Daren threw out the question just as Varkas was making mental calculations.
Varkas shook his head slowly.
“We will decide after meeting the rest of the local nobles as well.”
“It is a wise decision.”
After finalizing the conversation with Daren, Varkas headed toward the center of the camp.
The soldiers had already gathered near the campfires for dinner. After scanning the camp with his gaze, he headed toward his own tent.
Upon entering the dark tent, the dense aroma of rose oil and a sweet, sticky fragrance hit his nose.
Varkas stopped at the entrance and directed his gaze toward the bed illuminated by candlelight. He saw the woman, dressed in a loose blue linen nightgown, reclining on the blankets.
In an instant, a chilly air seemed to seep between his ribs.
He approached the bed with long strides and placed the back of his hand on her cheek. Upon her skin, smooth as glazed porcelain, there was a light layer of cold sweat.
Was she perhaps suffering from pain again?
Varkas frowned, sat up, and searched the supply shelf. He thought that, if she was suffering even while sleeping, it would be better to burn some medicinal herbs.
He placed a bundle of dried herbs into a small censer that the healer had previously prepared.
Just as he was about to light the fire, he heard a faint voice very close to him.
“…Varkas.”
Turning his head, his eyes met cloudy pupils that still retained the trace of sleep.
Seeing her with that appearance, as if she were under the effect of some substance, he narrowed his eyes.
Had she already burned sleep herb?
He leaned toward her and brought his nose close to the edge of her clothes, but he could not smell smoke. Instead, a body fragrance so sweet that it felt thick in his throat flooded his senses.
Faced with that excessively dense stimulus, his mind clouded for an instant. Feelings that had been withered and buried a long time ago seemed to awaken all at once.
Striving to shake off that strange sensation, he raised his head carefully and noticed her shoulders shrink back, as if the closeness made her uncomfortable. Pretending not to notice, he asked in a deliberately calm tone:
“Do you happen to have a fever?”
She pulled the blanket toward her chest and replied abruptly:
“I’m fine. I just fell asleep for a moment.”
“Have you eaten dinner properly?”
“I ate a short while ago.”
She pointed with her chin toward a tray placed beside the bed.
Varkas looked at the plates filled with food and frowned.
There were barely any signs that she had eaten. She probably had only brought a little honey wine and a couple of pieces of fruit to her mouth.
Feeling how that strange sensation shaking his nerves transformed instantly into irritation, he scratched his hair with a certain roughness.
Talia observed his reaction. Seeing her so restless, Varkas’s nerves became sharper. He thought it would be better to be outside until she went back to sleep.
He turned toward the entrance of the tent.
“Go back to sleep, then.”
“Va… Varkas!”
At that moment, a hand emerged desperately from behind.
He turned around in surprise. Talia, who held the sleeve of his coat tightly while her eyes moved restlessly, blurted out with a strained voice:
“My… my leg hurts.”
Since he showed no reaction, Talia swallowed hard and continued with difficulty:
“Give me the medicine.”
Varkas blinked dazed and lowered his gaze toward her lips. Her red and slightly swollen lips looked like crushed pomegranate seeds.
He remembered the sensation of when he took them into his mouth and sucked them. The touch of the wet flesh wrapping softly around his tongue revived vividly in his memory.
Suddenly, a burning thirst arose from deep within his throat. He walked slowly toward the shelf and took out a small glass vial. As he sat on the edge of the bed with the vial in hand, a dense anxiety appeared on her face.
He showed her the vial, as if he were putting her to the test.
“This?”
A rosy flush spread over her skin, so transparent that it almost revealed what lay beneath.
With her ears and the nape of her neck tinged red and her eyes moving from side to side, the woman nodded slightly.
He opened the stopper immediately and held the thick liquid in his mouth.
As he wrapped his hand around her neck, so slender it looked as though it could break, he felt a rapid, strong pulse.
He remembered the time he held a small bird in his hands. He felt a wave of uneasiness, similar to when he perceived the heart beating hard under soft, delicate skin.
He gripped her jaw, delicate as a sculpture, and joined his lips over that plump flesh that seemed forged from drops of blood.
As he introduced his tongue through the opening that formed slightly, a groan, similar to the purring of a cat, tickled his throat.
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