Forgotten Fields - Chapter 261

Thalia, glaring at the sight as if it were preposterous, sped past him and stepped out of the carriage.

Khan, who followed immediately, stood between her and Lucas as if on guard.

"You have some really fearsome guards."

Lucas glanced down at the wolf baring its teeth at him and spoke sneerily. Thalia ignored him and bent down to stroke Khan's head.

"Don't worry about that person, Khan."

Then, she shouted in an overbearing tone toward Tiuran, who was standing awkwardly beside the carriage.

"You said we were going to look around the festival! Why are you just standing there doing nothing instead of guiding me?"

"I apologize. Your Highness, please follow me."

Tiuran immediately approached her side.

Thalia left Lucas behind and led Khan and Tiuran across the bustling square. Then she could feel countless eyes flying at her like needles.

Thalia flinched for a moment, then held her head high. She realized that what people were paying attention to was not her splendid gait, but her blonde hair and pure white skin, which were rare in the East, and the young wolf following her closely like a loyal dog.

The people gathered in the street stared intently at her appearance, which was instantly recognizable as noble, for a long time before shifting their curious gazes to Khan. Everyone seemed fascinated, viewing Khan as nothing more than a hunting dog resembling a wolf.

"If you go that way, there are rows of stalls where you can sample new wine made from this year's harvest. Would you like to go take a look?"

Tiuran cautiously suggested it as she quietly followed her.

Thalia let out a small snort.

"You want me to put something made by commoners to my mouth?"

"Then how about watching a traveling performance..."

"I have no interest in such vulgar spectacles."

"Then..."

Tiuran looked around the crowded square with a bewildered expression. Seeing her gaze, which seemed at a loss as to where to take her, Thalia, who had been walking with an indifferent look, suddenly grabbed her wrist and entered the street lined with stalls.

"Let's just look around the market. If there is anything you want, I’ll buy you one as a special treat."

"I am fine. Rather, Your Highness, I like it..."

"Do you think there would be anything to my liking in a marketplace like this?"

Thalia, snapping somewhat curtly, strode toward a stall piled high with colorful fabrics.

"Since we're out on the festival street, I want to get into the market, so let's at least buy something from you."

"I..."

The woman, who had been waving her hand with an embarrassed expression as if to refuse, fell silent at the fiercely sharp gaze.

Finally, Tiuran let out a sigh of resignation and shifted her gaze to the stall. Then, she picked up a simple cloth belt.

"Then this..."

"Are you determined to humiliate me? How do you plan to take responsibility if word gets out that the Grand Duchess gave her servant nothing more than a scrap of a handkerchief?"

"I'm sorry. Then... here."

She picked up a thin sheet of cloth from one side of the display stand. Thalia, who had been watching it with an annoyed look, pointed with her fingertips at a pile of silk stacked on the other side of the stand and spoke.

"Please pack all of this for me."

Then, she arrogantly gestured her chin toward Lucas, who had been silently watching them from a short distance away.

"What are you doing not coming over to pay?"

Lucas, who had been blinking blankly, let out a small sigh and approached the stall. Then, he took a leather pouch from his belt and handed a handful of gold coins to the fat merchant.

"This shouldn't be enough, right? Load the items this lady chose onto the carriage parked over there."

"Ah. Thank you! I will move it right away."

The merchant's eyes widened at the sight of the gold coin bearing the imperial crest. Judging by his reaction, it seemed he had paid a fairly generous price.

Thalia watched the merchant wrapping silk with an excited expression, then shifted her gaze to the stall set up next to him, looking bored.

Various types of jewelry were neatly arranged on the display stand. After browsing through them, she picked up a silver necklace with a ruby and held it out to Tiuran.

“Take this too.”

Tiuran looked down at it with a troubled expression.

"Your Highness, this is more than I deserve. That silk from earlier alone is already more than enough."

"Are you ignoring my sincerity right now?"

Thalia glared at her with a cold gaze.

"I'm giving this to you with the intention of making you work your ass off from now on, so stop complaining and just take it."

She forcibly handed the necklace to her, almost forcing it upon her, and then gestured again toward Lucas, who was standing there with a strange expression. Lucas, who had been making a dumbfounded face at the unspoken signal to pay, took a gold coin out of his pocket again and handed it to the merchant.

While he was paying, Thalia began browsing other stalls. They had said there was plenty to see, and indeed, the market in Kalmor was filled with things that looked interesting even to her eyes, which were accustomed to all kinds of rare items.

She looked around at a silk sash with unique embroidery patterns, then picked up a deep blue sash adorned with dangling white jade ornaments. After examining it closely, she loosely wrapped it around Khan's neck and tied a pretty ribbon around it.

"You're so pretty. There's no wolf cuter than you in this whole world."

As if not entirely pleased with her gift, the wolf immediately began wagging its silver tail rapidly from side to side when he rolled its ears back.

Thalia giggled at the adorable sight, cupped Khan's ears in both hands, and playfully flapped them. Then, she suddenly noticed a pair of golden eyes staring down at her and frowned.

"What are you staring at?"

As she shot back with a barbed tone, wrinkles formed even on Lucas's smooth forehead. He let out a hollow laugh in disbelief and spoke.

"Aren't you going too far? My wallet is about to be ruined because of you, sister-in-law... You could be at least a little bit friendly to me."

"Do I have to cater to your whims just for a few pennies?"

Thalia let out a loud snort.

"Wake up. Even if you bought everything in this market and offered it to me, I wouldn't fawn over you."

"That's not what I meant..."

Lucas, who had been shrugging his shoulders as if to rebut, the next moment put his hand to his forehead and shook his head.

"Aren't you tired of putting up your quills for everyone like that? Try treating the people around you even half as kindly as you treat that wolf. Then everyone will see you differently."

Thalia, who was moving to a relatively secluded place with the wolf, turned back to him with a mocking look.

"How exactly do you see me differently?"

"Well, as a good person..."

Lucas trailed off awkwardly. He seemed to realize that his words meant she didn't come across as a good person at the moment.

Thalia twisted the corners of her mouth cynically.

"What kind of person is a good person?"

Lucas, who had been furrowing his brow at the confrontational question, soon spat out curtly.

"Are you asking because you don't know? Of course, I am a kind and good person."

"What on earth is being kind and good?"

Lucas's temples twitched at the continuous nitpicking.

"At least I am not the type of person to pick a fight over every little thing like this."

"That makes sense, since being kind and good-natured likely means conducting oneself well so as not to offend others."

Thalia stopped in front of the weapons counter and languidly continued speaking while stroking a silver dagger on the display shelf.

"On top of that, you should know how to not get angry even when treated unfairly, and how to generously forgive even when insulted, right? You must prioritize the satisfaction of those around you over your own desires, and it would be the icing on the cake if you didn't hesitate to make sacrifices sometimes."

"Don't jump to conclusions... I never said it that way."

"You said you wanted me to act kind and benevolent?"

She stroked the tip of thr dagger and glared at him with a cold gaze.

"Goodness means being useful to the majority. A good person does not harm others. They prioritize the interests of others over their own and are compliant with the demands of others. That is why everyone likes good people. Because it benefits them."

As if shocked by her twisted way of thinking that defied imagination, not only Lucas but even Tiuran looked at her with speechless expressions.

Thalia raised the corners of her eyes.

"I have absolutely no intention of becoming someone who suits your tastes. So stop giving me your presumptuous advice."

Then, she took Khan and hurried through the relatively quiet streets.

How long had they spent looking around the market like that? By the time they reached the edge of the city center, the sun had begun to set.

Thalia looked up at the slightly darker sky, then turned around and began walking along the perimeter path encircling the outskirts of the city. However, she inadvertently stopped when she saw a long line of people marching with torches beyond the wide-open southern gate

“What is that?”

Tiuran, who had been quietly following her, looked toward the castle gate and calmly explained.

"This is the eve procession. It is a ritual of an ancient autumn festival held only in the East."

Thalia watched the people walking in line with curious eyes. They were all wearing flowing traditional Eastern attire and strange masks on their heads that looked as if they were modeled after the faces of beasts.

"Would you like to take a closer look?"

At Tiuran's cautious suggestion, one of the guards who had been quietly following at a certain distance approached and dissuaded her.

"Going outside the fortress walls is..."

"Leave it alone. There's no need to be so strict just to watch a festival."

Lucas, cutting off the guard's words somewhat irritably, glanced down at her and asked.

“What are you going to do?”

Thalia looked suspiciously at Lucas, who was strangely taking her side, and soon took Khan and set off toward the castle gate.

As she followed the masked men out of the walled city, she could see a group of people holding torches beyond the long, straight road and the open hill.

Thalia slowly moved her legs, which had become stiff from walking for too long, and tried walking up the gently sloping hill.

Not long after, the booming sound of drums and the strange melody of percussion instruments were carried on the breeze. Thalia, who had hesitated for a moment, climbed onto the hilltop as if drawn by something and looked down. The sight of women holding torches dancing in a circle on the undulating meadow came into view.

The elderly women standing in the middle began to sing a strange song, which she had never heard before, in rough voices mixed with an Eastern accent.

On a night when the whole earth was deeply asleep, 

the moon was swallowed by clouds and the air violently turbulent; 

a black beast awoke and left an indelible scar on Tiramer's body.

The sorrowful spirit

Embracing a ferocious beast

I entered the forest of eternity

On the night when three heads cry out, 

in the time when stars, the moon, and the sun mingle, 

where spirits and beasts become one, the Immortal King rises; 

worship him.

worship him.

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