## THE FORGOTTEN FIELDS (NOVEL) - Chapter 152
But there was only a small number of mourners.
Not many people were interested in that tiny fragment of blood that could barely be considered a human being, especially since the Grand Duchess had not yet regained consciousness.
Lucas took another sip of the wine, lost in a whirlwind of mixed feelings.
His brother, who had remained secluded in the bedroom since the tragedy occurred, opened the door and came out only after the Duchess's bleeding had stopped to see the deceased baby.
Lucas's body shuddered as he remembered Varkas's face, which he ran into at that moment when he rushed to learn about the situation after receiving the news late.
That man, who silently and for a long time contemplated that small fragment of blood wrapped in a cloth, with empty eyes as if all his emotions had evaporated, turned around after ordering them to bury it properly, causing a maid to burst into sudden tears. Terror dominated her features as she wept bitterly.
It had been a behavior so serene that it sent chills down the spine, but Lucas experienced a strange dread. Because he saw a mournful shadow on his brother's face as he passed by him, similar to the shadow discerned on a decapitated corpse.
That man, whose face was devoid of life as if he had spilled every last drop of his blood, entered the bedroom again and closed the door firmly. And for the past three days, he remained in silence by the side of his wife, who was in critical condition.
There was an infinity of matters that required the Duke's approval, but no one dared to knock on that door. No one was capable of presenting official documents to the man who was at risk of losing his wife as well, not to mention the heartbreak of having lost his first child.
However, they could not afford to wait forever at this moment when the danger of war was drawing closer and closer.
"If my brother does not leave the room by tomorrow... I will be forced to cross that door and enter by force."
Lucas let out a heavy sigh at finding himself entrusted with such an ungrateful role, and drank from the strong liquor once more.
At that moment, a resounding voice was heard from the lower part of the castle wall.
—What are you doing in a place like this?
Lucas turned his head and frowned upon seeing Lina crossing the castle gates while leading her chestnut-furred horse.
Apparently, she was returning after slipping out of the fortress without a personal guard once again; Lina pulled back the hood she wore pulled low, stopped before the steps connecting to the castle wall's rampart path, and looked at him with disdain.
—Do you really have nothing better to do than stand there with that whole air of gloom?
—And what about you? —Lucas took a gulp of wine and replied coldly—. Where were you going with your horse on a day with this weather?
—I didn't want to stay inside the castle, so I went out on purpose. It bores me to see all the fortress servants looking as if a monumental catastrophe had occurred.
Lucas's body tensed slightly at his sister's implacable tone. He knew Lina held enmity toward the Duchess; however, he did not expect her to show such an indolent attitude in the face of such a tragedy.
Lucas told her by way of reproach:
—The Duchess is bedridden and has not regained consciousness. Can you not show at least a little compassion?
—Did she ever show compassion toward our father or toward me? Why should I do it, then?
Perhaps upset by his accusing tone, slight tears surfaced in Lina's large reddish-brown eyes. She squeezed her eyelids to hide it and shot him a sharp look.
—Don't play innocent, Lucas. Aren't you the one rejoicing in your heart more than anyone that things turned out this way?
Lucas looked bewildered.
—What do you mean by that?
—Don't pretend you don't know. Right now, you are the sole heir to the Duke's family. And perhaps you will remain so forever.
A crooked smile formed on his sister's lips.
—That woman's constitution does not fit her to give birth to a healthy child. Unless my brother takes a new wife, you or your children will inherit the Shierkan family someday.
He contemplated his sister as if she were a stranger. She was stubborn and overbearing, but she had never possessed such a cruel personality. Had their father's death caused an impact of such magnitude on her?
He looked at her with narrowed eyes as he reflected. Perhaps Lina felt isolated after the loss of their father and the start of his military training. It was the affliction of having been displaced from the center of everyone's attention that drove her to harbor that resentment.
Lucas hesitated for a moment. He felt the desire to yield to his sister's stubbornness, but feared she would stray even further out of bounds. Neither of them was a naive child anymore who could be forgiven for anything they said.
—I do not wish to become Duke, nor do I possess the capacity for it —he added coldly on purpose, hoping she would regain her senses—. You leave me truly disappointed, Lina. I do not like that woman either, but even so, I feel pity for her. Is that not the most basic sense of humanity? I never imagined you were such a heartless and tearless person.
—I am disappointed in you too, Lucas. I didn't know you were such a stupid man —Lina retorted with a resentful face—. Do you think I'm the only one who thinks this way? The servants are also whispering behind your back. If that woman fails to conceive an heir in the end, my brother will have no choice but to bring a new wife or cling to you.
Lucas remained silent, finding no words to reply.
Lina looked at him with contempt, as if mocking his appearance, then pulled her horse's reins and turned around abruptly.
—By the way, Daren was looking for you at the training ground —she exclaimed, turning her shoulder as if she had just remembered something—. He said he expects you to attend and represent the Shierkan family at the upcoming noble alliance council meeting instead of your brother.
—...
—Go quickly. It doesn't hurt for you to start making yourself known to the members of the noble alliance beforehand.
Lina dropped those intentional words and began to advance peacefully toward the stable.
Lucas contemplated his sister's back in stupor, then adjusted his hood as he felt the raindrops begin to fall heavily once more, after having gradually diminished.
Looking down between the castle battlements, he spotted the cemetery receiving the impact of the rain. The maids who had come to offer their condolences had already withdrawn.
He silently contemplated the withered bouquets of lilies placed on the small grave and then turned around with a bitter sigh. He had a taste in his mouth as bitter as if he had swallowed ashes.
A slight pain penetrated her disturbed consciousness.
Talia opened her eyelids, which were tightly adhered as if they had been covered with glue, with supreme difficulty.
She spotted the panorama of the room bathed in a dimly bluish light within her blurred vision, as if she were submerged in water.
For a brief instant, she believed she had had a long and painful dream. However, upon feeling with her palm, which descended unintentionally, her belly that had drastically shrunk, she understood she was in the midst of a nightmare called reality.
—Talia.
While she touched her belly that throbbed clumsily, someone gently enveloped her head using a large palm.
After a long time, she realized that a person was holding her peacefully from behind.
Talia turned her head involuntarily and saw the man she had longed for and desired to see with fervor during half her life, and blinked slowly.
She saw his beautiful eyes, the very ones that always made her heart squeeze just by looking at them. However, Talia was not capable of experiencing any emotion. It was as if she had died while being alive.
"Perhaps I have truly become a corpse."
—Talia.
A clear voice resonated over her head, refuting those thoughts. It was a strange voice, extremely strange. As if he were a child learning to speak for the first time and repeated the same word without a fixed purpose.
—...Do you recognize me?
Seeing that she showed no reaction, the man tilted his head and looked into her eyes. His gray hair, which had grown considerably over the past few months, brushed her eyes.
Talia clumsily contemplated his sharp face, upon which a mournful shadow had settled, and then closed her eyelids peacefully.
—I'm cold...
The man, who captured her voice emerging like a breath of air, covered her tightly with a thick blanket. However, she did not experience any warmth at all. It was a sensation similar to being buried in cold earth.
Talia wondered why such a sensation was familiar to her. Then she suddenly remembered that, on one occasion, she had been buried among the stones and the earth.
A strange idea assaulted her that perhaps she had remained there from that moment until the present. That was how it was. For the story of her marriage to Varkas, becoming his wife, conceiving his child, and then losing that baby consumed by heartbreak could not be real.
"I have been locked in the earth, rotting and submerging myself solely in groundless fantasies."
Talia felt a tear slide down her cheek. Nonetheless, her heart remained strangely calm.
Mind and body were completely dissociated, as if reality, dream, the past, and the present were confusedly intermingled, and it was no longer possible for her to coordinate any thought clearly.
She felt the vertigo gradually increase, so she closed her eyes tightly. She thought that if she fell asleep this time, perhaps she would wake up next time in the midst of the cold earth.
Perhaps that would be for the best.
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