TSMMT Ch 122

Why He Could Never Write a Letter

[Sasha] "It has been far too long. Ah, I suppose I should greet you as Her Majesty the Queen of the Lodbrog Kingdom now."

[Dianna] "..."

[Sasha] "Greetings to Her Majesty, the Queen of Lodbrog."

Sasha bowed in reverence. Dianna bit her lip in indescribable emotion.

[Dianna] "Please, speak casually with me. This feels uncomfortable."

[Sasha] "Still..."

[Dianna] "It is a position I will be stepping down from soon anyway."

Receiving such formal deference from Sasha felt agonizingly awkward. As she opened her mouth to protest, Dianna shook her head, prompting a soft sigh.

[Sasha] "Ann, weren't you supposed to come to my kingdom? I was worried sick when you vanished."

Dianna suddenly realized that the truth exposed to Guiscard remained entirely unknown to others. Only he knew. Yet even though he was the sole person who knew, she had felt as if her dark secrets had been laid bare to the entire world. That realization brought an odd sense of relief.

[Sasha] "I tried tracking you down, but your whereabouts were completely untraceable."

Before running away from home, Dianna had quietly informed a few people of her departure before vanishing without a trace. No one knew she had been dragged back home and subjected to torture, naturally, since her father had been waiting for that exact opportunity.

[Dianna] "Circumstances forced me into hiding. I intended to contact you, but my situation became impossible. I am truly sorry."

Sasha nodded, her brows knitting together in a somber expression.

[Sasha] "My necklace seems to have been of little help to you."

[Dianna] "No... that isn't true."

When she was imprisoned like a slave, the necklace had been stolen. Sensing the mana infused within it, Emil had shattered it to pieces right in front of her. Inhibited by the enchanted restraints, she couldn't even perceive spirits, robbing her of any chance to call for aid.

[Sasha] "You must have endured so much... not to mention being placed on a wanted list. It astonished me."

Glaring at Adelheit behind them, Sasha clicked her tongue.

Why a wanted list? What wanted list?

Adelheit averted his gaze sheepishly.

[Sasha] "I heard you intend to depart from this place."

[Dianna] "..."

[Sasha] "I must remain in Neust for a prolonged period due to official business. Why not join me and dedicate yourself to training?"

[Dianna] "Training...?"

[Sasha] "As a spiritist."

Dianna pondered the offer.

[Adel] "She's right, Dianna. Spiritists are extraordinarily rare. If you become one, countless opportunities will await you everywhere!"

[Dianna] "It seems Your Grace already knew I possessed spirit affinity."

He flinched slightly before letting out an embarrassed chuckle.

[Adel] "Well... yes. I knew, in truth."

Averting his eyes, he stammered out the admission, bringing an exasperated smile to Dianna's lips.

It wasn't particularly surprising. Considering the true purpose behind the founding of Neust Academy, his knowledge was hardly unusual, nor was his connection to Sasha.

In any case, returning to Neust Academy offered a path back to normalcy. She could work as a librarian or pursue the path of a spiritist as she had once envisioned, especially since she had yet to master summoning intermediate spirits.

[Adel] "Let us restore everything to how it used to be."

His sudden words left Dianna staring blankly. She could break free from her fate, not three years from now, but immediately, tomorrow even.

In the past, she would have smiled radiantly at such a prospect. Yet why couldn't she smile now?

---

On her way back, Revius stood outside her chamber door. Catching sight of Dianna, he offered an awkward smile.

It felt unnatural; he undoubtedly knew she intended to leave. By all accounts, he should have confronted her with harsh reprimands the moment he saw her.

The queen of a nation was on the verge of abandoning the King. Revius should have demanded whether she knew what predicament this would inflict on Guiscard and pressed her to take responsibility. She knew him all too well.

[Revius] "May I trouble you for a cup of tea?"

At his polite request, Dianna nodded and ushered him inside. Before the tea arrived, He spoke in a quiet voice.

[Revius] "Do you intend to depart?"

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "Or have you yet to make up your mind?"

He studied her face as if gauging her intentions. Comically enough, his words already excluded the option of her staying.

Meeting his gaze without flinching, she responded.

[Revius] "Naturally..."

[Dianna] "Naturally, I am leaving."

A sigh like a heavy lament escaped his lips. Uttering those words crystallized what she truly desired. Just as Revius implied, remaining here had never been an option for her. She longed to escape Guiscard, to step forward into a new life.

Loving was agony, and not loving was equally agonizing. Thus, escape remained her sole refuge, escaping the destructive fate named Guiscard.

As she voiced her intent to leave, clarity settled over her mind.

[Revius] "I see."

[Dianna] "You don't blame me? I expected you, of all people, to criticize me sharply."

[Revius] "Who would dare blame you?"

Her eyes widened at his response. Revius continued, his expression wearing an unfamiliar awkwardness.

[Revius] "No one has the right to condemn you. It is an undeniable fact that Guiscard forced you here against your will."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "Everyone knew it. Yet, people stood by quietly, dismissing it as your fitting punishment. It is disgraceful, everyone acquiesced to your abduction and forced ascension as queen."

She pondered his words in silent shock. Revius was highlighting the very injustice and absurdity she had felt all along. If they had seen it so clearly all this time, why had everyone been so eager to condemn her?

[Revius] "Even so, I wish to persuade Your Majesty."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "Could you not remain here a little longer?"

His expression brimmed with earnest desperation, an entreaty, not a command. Dianna recognized the sincerity in his plea.

[Revius] "I will not defend Guiscard's actions. I acknowledge my own insolence toward you, and I offer my deepest apologies."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "I will also arrange a formal apology for the knights' disrespect. If you choose to stay, I will dedicate my entire existence to protecting you."

[Dianna] "...Why?"

She spoke in a quiet voice.

[Dianna] "Isn't a duke's daughter of this kingdom—like Lady Levian—far better suited to be his wife?"

Her question was a tiny act of retaliation against the Revius of her past life.

[Revius] "Marrying a duke's daughter from a fallen kingdom?! Even a noble lady from our kingdom wouldn't be enough for him, so why her?!"

In her past life, she had heard him fuming aloud, words spoken deliberately for her ears. Dianna remembered those words vividly and hurled them back now.

[Revius] "How could you say such a thing?"

Contradicting his past self entirely, he shook his head vigorously, rising from his chair to kneel before her.

[Revius] "No one is more suited for that throne than you. You know this."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "I have witnessed everything you are. I didn't even factor his love into my evaluation; I evaluated everything beyond that."

Even in a moment like this, he admitted to evaluating her. Dianna found it comical, yet knowing Revius, she felt no anger.

[Revius] "There will never be another person like you."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "As a subject of this kingdom, I beg you. Please stay."

Looking at his desperate face, Dianna reflected on her actions. She had done nothing extraordinary as queen. She simply performed what she could: fulfilling duties because they were assigned, countering attacks when targeted, saving whom she could, helping where possible.

Then he bowed deeply, bowing his head to the floor, startling her.

[Revius] "And as his friend, I beg of you."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "I will ensure your life is not left with only misery. I swear it on everything I own. So please, do not abandon him."

[Revius] "He refers to your act of freeing him from slavery as being 'abandoned'."

Her eyes widened. Why would he say something so absurd...?

[Revius] "Of course, I understand that you saved him."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "He told you to leave, yet he is being abandoned once again."

[Dianna] "You are saddling me with a strange sense of guilt."

[Revius] "Because I am desperate to hold onto you by any means necessary."

He looked up as he spoke. Dianna shook her head in response.

A knock sounded at the door as a maid entered with tea.

Releasing a quiet sigh, she helped Revius back to his feet. Knowing that bowing any further would only distress her, he resumed his seat.

While the maid arranged the tea set on the table, neither uttered a word, lost in their own thoughts. The moment the maid withdrew, he broke the silence.

[Revius] "Guiscard yearned for you ceaselessly. He talked about you constantly."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "That blonde girl. That strange noble lady. The lady who tamed him and abandoned him."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "He even mentioned at times that he missed his days as a slave."

[Dianna] "He is insane."

[Revius] "Yes, I think so too. A complete madman."

She knew his slave days had been agonizingly brutal. Too long for such a place? Pure madness.

[Revius] "They say you cast him aside while declaring you would become queen."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "That is why he resolved to become king."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "So he could take you as his queen."

[Dianna] "Absolute lunacy."

Those words (when she declared she would become queen) had been mere offhand remarks back then. Said to drive Guiscard away because he refused to leave.

To think he took words devoid of meaning to her and made them his life's sole objective! Was becoming a king as simple as choosing a stray dog? It was utterly absurd.

[Dianna] "Isn't that ridiculously foolish? Incredibly foolish... That's why he was so slow to learn how to write."

[Revius] "Have you considered that he learned slowly on purpose?"

[Dianna] "Pardon?"

[Revius] "Yet, he remains too ashamed to write a letter to the very person who taught him. He was terrified that you would be appalled by his clumsy handwriting and terrible phrasing compared to your own beautiful script."

[Dianna] "..."

[Revius] "You frequently exchanged letters with Prince Philip, didn't you? He was renowned for his eloquent writing."

Dianna knew Philip had a reputation for fine penmanship and eloquence, but she hadn't given it much thought. Now, she recalled the boy who used to gaze intently at her while she wrote letters during his slave days.

[Revius] "He said he loved learning to write from you."

It had been an insignificant pastime; she had felt bothered by his illiteracy. She remembered thinking it odd that someone so sharp learned so slowly, feeling frustrated by his delay.

Dianna bit her lip. Because a moment meaningless to me was so precious to him...

She recalled those violet eyes watching her write, eyes she had assumed harbored quiet hatred.

Revius was insidiously cunning, downright despicable. Yet, Dianna wiped her tears with resolute determination.

[Dianna] "Nothing changes."

[Dianna] "Nothing will change. I am leaving, and Guiscard will be free of me. So such persuasion is unnecessary."

She spoke with her head bowed.

Only pained hearts would remain in the end. This was the absolute limit.

---

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