The Forgotten Field

"What does it matter to you whether my lips turn purple or green?!"

She flung his coat onto the ground and raised her voice.

Another sigh followed.

Her eyes burned.

He smiled for Aila, yet whenever he stood before her, all he ever did was sigh.

She could not stand the sight of him.

"Even if I freeze to death here, I won't let it inconvenience you in the slightest, so go! Go to the birthday banquet of those noble twins! Go flatter them to your heart's content!"

"Even if Your Highness spends the entire night here, you won't freeze to death. At worst, you'll catch a cold."

"Then I'll catch a cold and die!"

When she shouted furiously, he brushed the wet hair clinging to his forehead back with a somewhat rough motion.

The gesture carried unmistakable irritation.

Talia shrank slightly.

Yet when he spoke, his voice remained as even and flat as ever.

"What exactly must I do to make Your Highness stop playing the tragic heroine?"

The sharp remark immediately made her eyes narrow again.

He was always courteous to Aila, yet with her he never missed an opportunity to be sarcastic.

It was infuriating.

Glowering at him with blazing eyes, Talia pulled a pearl ornament from her intricately braided hair.

Without the slightest hesitation, she hurled it across the lake.

"Bring that back for me. Then I'll stop."

Varkas's eyes narrowed.

Talia expected him either to explode in anger or to turn around and leave without mercy.

If that happened, she intended to stay there all night until she collapsed.

Let him feel guilty when he saw her corpse.

But as always, Varkas refused to act according to her expectations.

Deliberately, right in front of her, he began undoing the buttons of his uniform jacket one by one.

Talia's eyes widened.

Then she scoffed.

He's bluffing. He thinks I'll stop him.

There's no way he's actually going into the water.

Feigning confidence, she watched as he removed his knight's uniform jacket and laid it beneath the tree.

Then he pulled off the boots that reached nearly to his calves.

So we're really doing this?

Varkas even removed the sword belt around his waist.

Dressed only in a thin shirt that nearly revealed the outline of his body and a pair of light trousers, he approached the lakeshore.

Then he stood there silently, staring at the rain-speckled lake.

He's definitely just trying to force me to back down.

She mocked him inwardly.

Then, without warning, he dove into the water.

Splash.

Talia jumped to her feet.

The gray surface swallowed him in an instant.

Staring blankly, she hurried to the shore and peered into the dark water.

"Varkas?"

The lake remained silent.

There was no trace whatsoever of the eighteen-year-old boy who had grown frighteningly tall and handsome after turning sixteen.

She raised her voice.

"Varkas!"

Only her own voice echoed through the drizzle.

Now Talia was shouting in earnest.

"S-Stop fooling around!"

A gust of wind swept across the water.

The surface rippled briefly.

Still, there was no sign of him.

Suddenly, she could not breathe.

Without thinking, Talia plunged into the lake.

She had taken only a few steps before the water rose to her waist.

Thrashing at the surface with both hands, she screamed.

"Varkas! Varkas! Where are you?!"

Beneath her feet she felt slippery mud and tangled branches.

She ventured farther out.

Before she knew it, the water had reached her chest.

She clawed frantically through the freezing water and let out broken sobs.

"I-I'm sorry! So come out already!"

She had completely lost her reason and was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Then the nearby water suddenly surged.

A long shape emerged from beneath the surface.

Talia stared at it with frozen eyes.

Varkas shook his head, scattering streams of water.

Beneath rain-soaked eyelashes, blue eyes gleamed faintly.

"There."

Lightly gripping her shoulder with one hand, he extended something toward her.

Talia stared at it blankly.

"Is that sufficient?"

Resting on his palm was the pearl ornament she had thrown away.

A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

Covering her forehead with one hand, Talia let out a string of breathless laughs.

Then, in the very next moment, her face twisted as though she had been possessed.

She snatched the ornament and threw it away again.

Even after watching her toss aside something he had painstakingly retrieved, Varkas showed no reaction.

His calm face only made her angrier.

Unable to contain herself, Talia struck him.

"That was on purpose, wasn't it?! You were trying to scare me!"

Even after she slapped him across the cheek, he remained silent.

For some reason, that composure only made her more vicious.

Talia began hitting him repeatedly with her fists.

"You kept it up until I admitted I was wrong! You awful bastard! I hate you so much!"

"That's enough."

Varkas suddenly grabbed both of her wrists and lowered his voice.

Talia looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

The expression on her face practically screamed that she had been wronged.

A disbelieving sigh escaped him.

"You've fulfilled today's quota. Stop throwing tantrums and come out."

"No! I'll never listen to you! I'm going to drown right here, so you leave instead!"

While she continued shrieking at him, he simply dragged her toward shore.

Even then, Talia kept punching his back.

Watching her with utter disbelief, Varkas shook his head.

He picked up the coat he had discarded earlier and wrapped it tightly around her.

Then, to prevent any further attacks, he used the sleeves to bind her arms securely against her body.

Talia struggled furiously to free herself.

When her arms refused to move, she kicked him in the shin.

"Have you lost your mind?! How dare you tie up an Imperial Princess, you thug!"

"You're one to talk."

Letting out a long breath, Varkas slung her over his shoulder like a sack.

Talia shrieked like an enraged duck.

"I'm royalty, you idiot! What kind of knight treats an Imperial Princess like this?!"

Without responding, Varkas gathered his sword and clothes and began walking through the rain.

Talia struggled wildly, like a trapped animal, hurling every insult she knew.

Eventually, however, she went limp.

Only after they reached the annex palace did he finally put her down.

Talia glared at him furiously.

Before long, however, she collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

And that very evening, exactly as she had predicted, she came down with a terrible fever. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Varkas pulled a chair beside her bed and sat there quietly reading a book.

She could not describe how irritating he looked.

Unable to endure it, she provoked him.

"You'd be happy if I were sick all the time, wouldn't you?"

Turning a page, he answered calmly.

"Occasionally, it isn't so bad."

Talia glared at him through fever-bright eyes.

Occasionally is still something.

The foolish thought crossed her mind as she buried her face beneath the blanket.

Secretly, she was happy.

Happy that he had stayed by her side instead of attending Aila's birthday banquet.

Because of that, she could generously forgive a little rudeness.

Suppressing the smile threatening to appear, she forced herself to sleep.

Though the fever tormented her terribly, she kept smiling for some reason.

It had always been that way whenever she was with Varkas.

He made her miserable, frustrated, and furious.

Yet at the same time, her heart swelled so painfully she hardly knew what to do with herself.

Sometimes, he even felt like someone very close to her.

Perhaps we're almost friends.

Within that shameless misunderstanding, the years that belonged only to the two of them quietly accumulated.

For him, they had likely been a burden.

For her, they had been days as precious as jewels.

Because he existed, she had been able to endure those unbearably lonely years.

But now those memories were no longer a comfort.

They had become shackles she could never sever, binding her in place.