TSMMT Ch 1

The Second Suicide

Drops of blood dripped from the tip of the blade. Dianna stared blankly at it. The metallic scent of blood splattered the floor. She hadn't encountered blood in a long time. Dianna watched its cruel color.

[Man] "Aaaaargh!"

The bleeding man groaned as he clutched his mangled arm. A deeper cut would have severed it completely. No, perhaps that arm has already lost all hope. Dianna looked at the injured man, completely detached from reality. She held no sympathy for him. He had tried to assault her, after all. However, the man who saved her posed the real problem.

Guiscard Lodbrog.

The man who ruined her life.

The man who threw her into the depths of hell and watched her until the very end of her life. Her own monster, who once looked wonderfully lovely during their youth.

[Dianna] "Why……"

She believed he wouldn't follow her into this second life. She resisted her fate with all her might. She thought he would never go this far to capture her. Yet, just as the prophecy foretold, the monster found her again in the end.

His beautiful purple eyes turned toward her. Dianna avoided his gaze as it swept over her body. At that, he frowned.

[Man] "W-what is the meaning of this! What did you..."

[Guiscard] "This is the price for insulting my wife."

Wife?! Husband and wife.

Dianna opened her mouth. The man who found her and brutally invaded her world spoke those words with complete indifference! A curse threatened to escape her elegant lips. Absolute despair consumed her.

[Dianna] "Wife? Your wife? What do you mean!"

[Guiscard] "Exactly what I said, my lady."

She shook her head. But the monster didn't care. Of course, he didn't. He behaved the same way in her past life.

Marriage became the very trap that dragged Dianna into the abyss back then. Living by that monster's side, enduring his torment. She faced that exact hell once more.

She shook her head in disbelief.

No. It can't be. I fought so hard this time. Unlike my first life, I tried even harder in my second. Just to avoid marrying you.

Marriage?

Marry him again?

She suffered so much misery after marrying this bastard in her past life, and now she had to marry him again?

Dianna looked around. The knights of the Lodbrog Kingdom surrounded her. No escape existed. If so…… then only one choice remained.

She pulled out a dagger hidden in her clothes.

[Dianna] "I would rather die than marry you."

She grit her teeth and drove the blade directly into her slender neck. This dagger would tear her throat apart. But the pain would pass quickly, and death would follow soon.

This is my second death.

She proudly held that absolute certainty.

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Her first death possessed far more drama. What did she hope to achieve by dying with such a spectacle?

Later in life, Dianna often mocked herself whenever she recalled that first death. The first death carried heavier emotions, deeper despair, and greater agony.

[Guiscard] "Queen."

A woman sat precariously on the snow-white balcony railing. Thick blonde hair, radiant like moonlight, danced beautifully in the night sky. A flowing white dress draped over her fragile frame, and her small, pale feet dangled in the empty air. She resembled a fairy about to vanish into the heavens.

[Dianna] "Why?"

Her silver-grey eyes crinkled softly. She smiled gently. She had never known such a sense of freedom. The moment she embraced this liberation, the monster’s face hardened. He knew exactly what choice she would make.

Would he wear this exact expression if a rabbit trapped in his iron grip suddenly bit his hand? Either way, it brought her joy. She rebelled with all her might.

[Guiscard] "Step down, right now."

Her face, usually so hollow, now glowed with life like the young girl she once was. People used to mock her, calling her face a cold corpse.

Standing on the edge of her end, Dianna looked breathtakingly beautiful. Did he crave that beauty, or did the fear of losing it drive him mad?

The monster took a step forward. At that exact moment, her expression shattered.

[Dianna] "Stay back. If you come closer, I will jump immediately."

She spat out the words. Nothing stood behind her back. If she released her grip and leaned backward, she would plunge directly to the ground.

The monster froze in his tracks. She stared at him with a satisfied smile.

[Chamberlain] "Your Majesty! What on earth are you doing!"

The furious chief chamberlain shouted. A queen performing a suicidal spectacle naturally outraged him. He had always despised her, after all.

[Guiscard] "Shut your mouth."

The monster growled. For a brief moment, a thick wave of killing intent filled the air. Pure malice. The very weight that had crushed Dianna for so long. The terrifying force that always forced her to live in fear…… But it no longer scared her. She intended to end it all right here.

[Dianna] "Your Majesty, we have known each other for far too long, haven't we? Including our marriage, it easily exceeds ten years."

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "And it has been entirely exhausting."

As she spoke calmly, the monster—no, her husband—stared at her.

[Dianna] "Revenge. Yes, revenge. That predictable, horrific game."

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "I don't blame you. I don't care much about you crushing my kingdom or destroying my family. I wanted to kill you, of course, but my kingdom and family insulted and abused you when you were a prince. That remains a fact."

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "Isn't that right? Revenge is the law among nobles and royalty. Even if you dragged me here like a dog while I wept over the severed heads of my father and brother, forcing me into marriage, I have no right to complain."

She spoke with sarcasm, but she meant every word. Her calm tone contrasted sharply with her bloody, cruel message. She had never spoken these words before, fearing it might ease his guilt, or that uttering them while trapped in his grasp would make her look pathetic—like a dog rolling over to beg for mercy. Her pride would never allow that.

[Dianna] "But…… I can't live for you anymore, you bastard."

For the first time, a foul word slipped past her elegant lips. It was the crudest language to ever come from a refined noble lady and noble queen.

[Guiscard] "What, exactly what is it?"

He spoke as if he couldn't comprehend.

Her breath caught in disbelief, forcing out a dry laugh. She ruled as a queen in name only. A queen from a destroyed kingdom, born a noble rather than royalty.

Revenge.

Purely for revenge, he dragged her here, trampled and insulted her noble pride, and laughed, turning her cries into his victory song. After dragging her into this hell, he dared to ask what? What?

Dianna bit her lip, staring with a face full of hatred at her husband—the monster who ruined her entire existence. Her stomach twitched, and she touched her belly.

She endured so much. She did her absolute best to disappoint those who wished to see her break down and weep. But she had reached her limit.

[Dianna] "They told me, Alexa, my beloved younger sister, already died."

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "I thought if I stayed alive, I might see her again."

The monster flinched. For the first time in a while, panic broke his composure.

Dianna gently caressed her stomach. A slow wave of satisfaction filled her.

In truth, she knew of Alexa's death long ago. She had already wept tears of blood in secret and let her poor sister go. What she said now served as a mere excuse.

She refused to give this man her real reason for dying, even in death.

I'm sorry, Alexa.

She apologized for using her sister's death as an excuse.

[Guiscard] "Dianna, I can explain that."

Panic filled his purple eyes. Dianna calmly watched his desperate gaze. She offered the softest smile she could manage.

[Dianna] "An explanation? Why start now, darling? That doesn't suit us at all."

[Guiscard] "Dianna!"

Why did he make that face? Why did he look at her with such an expression? He enjoyed watching her misery. He abandoned her to her suffering, waiting for her to beg at his feet.

[Guiscard] "Please, please step down, Dianna."

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. The sorrow she refused to show him rushed forward in waves. She must not let that face deceive her. Yet, his begging voice shook her resolve.

[Dianna] "Your Majesty. I have nothing left now."

Every reason and purpose to stay alive vanished. She had prolonged a life that should have ended long ago. She knew she was a mere trophy. He dragged her here with a leash around her neck from the very first day of their marriage; how could anyone miss that?

She always faced constant insults for being a queen in name only, a foreigner, and a mere noble from a fallen kingdom.

Yet, she always chose to live. She believed that dying meant losing. But now, she accepted defeat. The time arrived to stop.

[Dianna] "I carried your child."

One day, while despair gripped her after learning of her sister's death, Lady Saruvia Levian visited. Rubbing her stomach with full confidence, the triumphant woman spoke sweetly.

[Saruvia] "That useless crown—I will set you free from it."

The woman who murdered Dianna's child came to her, pregnant with a child of her own. With beautiful hair that resembled falling cherry blossom petals and brilliant teal eyes, that woman smiled exquisitely.

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