## THE FORGOTTEN FIELDS (NOVEL) - Chapter 126
Talia stared intently at his back, which was instantly submerged in a dense shadow, her face tense, and crossed the room in a hurry.
She saw his silhouette outlined as he turned in the darkness.
She extended her hand immediately.
She felt the rough texture of the bandage covering his bare skin.
"Are you hurt?"
"It is just an insignificant scratch from subduing the beasts."
"A... a simple scratch! What kind of monster was it?"
How could a man with such colossal strength as to subdue wyverns with ease end up injured?
Talia raised her wide-open eyes to try to make out the outline of his face. Varkas replied with a voice intermingled with a sigh:
"There was a pair of drakers nesting in the north. Since they are rare beasts, I tried not to damage their hides..."
He stopped abruptly when her hand brushed his bare chest.
Talia moved the tips of her fingers along the bandage with the intention of checking the depth of the wound. The thick fabric wrapped around his left shoulder and his chest diagonally.
"How serious is it?"
"It is nothing."
"Light some light. I cannot see well."
Varkas took a deep breath, reached out, and drew back the window curtains.
Talia stared at him absently as he was enveloped by a faint bluish light. Jet-black clouds completely covered the sky, but it was not so dark that she could not see his entire body without difficulty.
Varkas stood barefoot on the carpet, wearing only loose, comfortable Oriental-style wool trousers. He held a medicine bottle in his hand, as if he had been treating himself.
Seeing that, Talia raised her voice in indignation:
"Why didn't you call a healer?! If you healed yourself with magic...!"
"The claws of drakers are contaminated with a poison that resists magic. The healing spell will not work at all until the poison is eliminated naturally."
Varkas replied coldly and then turned toward the bookshelf. Thanks to that, Talia was able to examine his back, which was exposed directly before her.
Varkas's body looked like an architectural work from which any unnecessary element had been removed. The solid bones, of perfect symmetry, housed dense muscles without a single empty space; upon his skin, which reminiscent of marble, the tense veins and tendons stood out like a meticulous engraving. Even the bandage wrapping his torso looked beautiful, like an ornament that enhanced the majesty of his imposing physique.
"The poison will disappear in about a week, and then I will be able to use healing magic," Varkas added with indifference as he set down the medicine bottle.
Talia snapped out of her amazement and lowered her eyes timidly.
"...Does it hurt?"
"Not at all."
That dry response made Talia doubt. Certainly, there was no trace of pain in Varkas's movements as he applied the bandages. However, unable to remain at ease, she asked suspiciously:
"Are you truly alright?"
"Do not worry, there will be no problem in carrying out the matter."
He said it with a disinterested tone.
Talia looked at him with an expression as if she had been slapped right across the face.
"Do you think I am anxious to do that with you?"
"Did you not come to visit me to spend the night with me?"
The man tilted his head to one side and looked at her with strangeness. His tone sounded like someone confirming an irrefutable fact, not like an attempt at mockery.
She was left speechless for a moment. Because, in effect, she had gone there to lie with him, just as he said. With her face flushed red, she stammered:
"Do not misunderstand. I did not come because I desire you. I came solely to get pregnant..."
"Do not worry. I have not misunderstood your intentions in the slightest."
Varkas interrupted her excuse with a calm voice.
Talia bit her lower lip. She should feel relieved that he did not doubt her words, but why did she feel that bothersome tightness in her chest?
"Anyway, I do not intend to do it with someone who is injured. So light the fire in the fireplace."
"...Will you stay in this room?"
At that moment, a hint of surprise crossed his face.
Talia's countenance changed color. It seemed that this man truly believed she only sought him out for that sole purpose. Although it had been she herself who tried to make it seem that way, it felt strange and painful to her that Varkas did not notice her true feelings even a little.
She fixed her gaze on the floor and took a step back.
"If you do not want me here, say so. I will return to my room..."
"Stay here, please."
He said it, catching her hand suddenly. Talia shuddered and raised her head.
"Were you not the one who always said you did not want to stay? It was always I who begged you to stay."
Talia contemplated him with misty eyes and then lowered her gaze to the hand holding hers. She always felt vulnerable after being intimate with Varkas. She lived in tension for fear that his hand might brush her leg at any moment, and she worried that he might see her disheveled appearance when his eyes adjusted to the gloom.
And most importantly: she was afraid that her longing for his caresses and his warmth would grow until it became uncontrollable.
But...
She looked at him cautiously under the dim blue light. The white bandage peeked out from the openings of his half-open shirt. With his damp hair pushed back, leaving his forehead exposed, he looked like a lonely boy looking at her in silence.
That strangely innocent appearance weakened her defenses.
"Fine, I will stay just for a little while. If I go back now, the nanny will not stop complaining..."
Fine wrinkles formed around his eyes at the excuse she offered with evident nervousness. Talia felt a pang of guilt; that was equivalent to admitting that the nanny was pressuring her to conceive a child.
He spoke coldly:
"If that woman is so bothersome, I will send her back to the imperial palace."
"No!" Talia shouted vehemently. "Try it and you will see! I will never forgive you!"
He looked at her with an intense, unreadable gaze. His expression suggested that he could not understand why she protected a woman who treated her without the slightest respect.
Talia raised her voice to defend her:
"She is the person who took care of me since I was a newborn. She is like my true mother."
"..."
"If you send the nanny back to the imperial palace, I am leaving with her."
His features hardened when she sentenced that firmly. The man parted his lips as if he wanted to retort, but immediately let out a sigh and turned toward the fireplace.
"Do not just stand there, sit down, please."
Straight after, he began to light the fire himself instead of calling a servant. Talia, relieved by the change of subject, approached him stealthily.
"Let the servants take care of those things. Sit down and rest."
"I am fine with this."
Shortly after, the flames caught onto the firewood. Talia, who was walking back and forth restlessly, immediately tugged at the edge of his clothes.
"Sit down already."
When she pushed him toward the edge of the bed, pressing his shoulder to make him lower himself, he looked at her with strangeness. Was he surprised that she was trying to care for him in a way so unusual for her, who always used to push him away?
The man sat on the edge of the sheet after observing her for a moment.
Talia sighed in relief and headed toward the storage cabinet.
"You say you are poisoned? Shouldn't you take something for the fever? Or a painkiller..."
"I do not feel any pain and I do not have a fever."
Talia ignored his response and opened the drawers abruptly. After a moment, she found a bottle containing mandrake essence. She removed the cap, checked the contents, and poured an appropriate amount into a teacup before extending it to him.
"Here, drink this quickly."
Varkas contemplated the cup in silence.
*Does he perhaps suspect that I am going to give him something strange?*
She looked at him with irritated eyes, to which Varkas reacted by caressing her waist.
"I will drink it if Her Majesty feeds it to me."
Talia looked at him incredulously, as if she had not heard correctly. Varkas waited for her response patiently, without altering his expression. Only then, her stalled mind began to react with difficulty.
"You have hands to take the medicine yourself!"
"I have always fed you. It is time to return the favor."
Talia's gaze oscillated between the medicine bottle and Varkas's face, deeply embarrassed. Suddenly, she felt a wave of anger at his brazenness in making such a bold request without the slightest embarrassment.
She wanted to yell at him that she didn't care if he didn't take it, but Talia changed her mind and took a gulp of the bitter extract.
His eyes widened slightly, as if he had not truly expected her to comply.
Talia deliberately took his face and joined her lips to his, from which emanated a faint scent of soap. At that instant, he wrapped his arm around her waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She clung to his shoulder by instinct, but upon feeling the texture of the thick bandage, she withdrew her hand quickly.
She poured the liquid carefully into his mouth. However, the matter did not turn out as cleanly and skillfully as when he did it. Feeling the excess liquid wetting her own lips, Talia raised her head, and just then, Varkas held her gently by the cheek.
