TSMMT Ch 160

An Unexpected Reunion

Night had fallen by the time Dianna opened her eyes. A throbbing ache pounded in her head as she sat up. Memories of the moments before her collapse resurfaced.

Ah, Levian claimed she was pregnant, didn't she?

Though absurd, the claim had shaken her to the point of fainting. How ridiculous must she have appeared to others? To Guiscard?

[Dianna] "I must apologize."

She rose from the bed. Reliving her past life in her dreams left a nagging ache in her head. She pulled the bell rope to learn what had happened after she lost consciousness.

Yet despite her summons, no one arrived. She stood with a bewildered look.

Why is no one coming?

A sudden shudder ran through her as she surveyed her surroundings.

An extravagant bed draped in lace and fragrant linens stood in the center of a room that was otherwise chillingly barren. No paintings hung from the walls, and no teacups rested on the tables. It was utterly vacant.

Terror struck her instantly.

This was the very chamber where Dianna had spent her final days in her past life. It was her place of confinement, a desolate room where no soul ever set foot.

Suffocation gripped her chest.

[Dianna] "Why on earth am I here...?"

Anxiety overwhelmed her. Was this a dream, or reality?

[Dianna] "Guiscard, Guiscard!"

Involuntarily, she called his name. Yet no answer came.

Whenever she collapsed, he remained by her side without fail. She looked around and realized the room was not merely quiet. It was completely empty.

[Dianna] "A dream... It must be a dream."

It has to be a dream.

Her hands trembled.

Which was the actual dream? Was this current reality a dream, or had her regression been the illusion?

No, I can't survive in this hell again.

She yanked the door open and sprinted down the vacant corridor. Everything felt wrong. Why was no one here?

Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted beneath her feet and pulled her into an abyss.

---

Guiscard released a heavy sigh. He had remained by Dianna's side constantly, only to be forcibly dragged away by the nagging entreaties of his subordinates.

The image of Dianna sleeping after her collapse haunted his thoughts. Her face had drained to a sickly pallor, and her once-crimson lips looked as pale as a corpse's.

She feigns strength, yet she is so fragile.

[Guiscard] "Damn it."

[Minister] "Sire?"

He muttered a low curse. He had assumed executing Levian's downfall would bring Dianna satisfaction. Yet what a shallow display of affection that had proved to be. She had felt no joy. Instead, he had only inflicted raw wounds upon her.

He had done nothing wrong, yet he had expected Dianna to trust his word implicitly.

[Dianna] "I hate you. I hate you."

The memory of those words and the movement of her lips made him feel as though his world had collapsed. Guiscard writhed in agonizing turmoil.

Why couldn't you trust me...?

It was an ordeal she never needed to suffer. Was his heart, his devotion, so unworthy of trust? His desire belonged exclusively to Dianna Brienne.

Did Dianna not know this as well? Guiscard and Saruvia shared no connection whatsoever. Though he had harbored no interest in the woman initially, knowing how deeply Dianna despised her made him long solely for Levian's downfall.

How could he possibly harbor affection for such a repulsive human?

When he lay bedridden earlier, Levian had stroked his hair.

[Saruvia] "Do you remember when you visited me at my estate while confined there?"

What utter drivel.

[Saruvia] "I dream of you every day. In my dreams, you are far gentler to me."

What absurd nonsense. She was entirely delusional.

[Saruvia] "Ever since, I have been having strange dreams."

She had whispered softly.

[Saruvia] "Unlike now, I was profoundly happy in those dreams. Your Majesty never treated me harshly, and that woman crawled beneath my feet."

Should I have snapped her neck right then?

[Saruvia] "In those dreams, I discovered the way. Hehehe."

She had exhaled a strange fragrance, radiating a chillingly familiar aura. She babbled senseless claims, mostly bizarre obsessions with him.

[Saruvia] "Why am I in such a wretched state here?"

[Saruvia] "You belong to me."

[Saruvia] "I believe I quite liked you back then."

She was a madwoman. How had she breached the cordon of his royal knights to escape? And how dared she falsely proclaim she carried the King's child?

She deserved an execution far more gruesome than Duke Levian's.

A heavy gloom weighed on his heart as he thought of Dianna's collapse.

[Minister] "U-Um, Your Majesty."

As he set documents aside while receiving the Minister of War's report, a frantic shout shattered the quiet.

[Voice] "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

An unpleasantly sharp voice pierced the peculiar silence.

[Voice] "Her Majesty the Queen has vanished!"

Guiscard stood up instantly, bolting toward her chamber without a word. He threw the door open to find a barren, empty room.

[Logaple] "My deepest apologies, Sire."

Logaple and Inez bowed low. Guiscard surveyed the empty room and questioned them calmly.

[Guiscard] "How did this happen?"

[Logaple] "Her Majesty suddenly bolted from the room and vanished without a trace."

[Inez] "It appears she used spirit power to escape."

Guiscard released a heavy sigh at their explanation. The situation was disastrous.

[Guiscard] "She fled of her own accord?"

[Logaple] "Yes, Sire."

Silence descended upon the room. Everyone recognized why Dianna had fled, though the underlying reason seemed slightly skewed. Had she fled over Levian's unilateral claim regarding a child?

[Guiscard] "She grew to despise this place."

He spoke in a quiet voice.

Exposing her to that gruesome scene had only invited filthy misunderstandings. She must have grown utterly sick of this palace.

She liked him yesterday, but not today. She claimed to stay beside him yesterday, but not today. A sudden change of heart had taken hold. She was not abducted. She had departed voluntarily.

[Revius] "Your Majesty."

Revius whispered in a grave tone.

[Revius] "Pray, calm yourself."

[Guiscard] "..."

[Revius] "Something about this feels wrong. Her Majesty would never act so impulsively."

[Guiscard] "She would never act impulsively? No. She preferred death over remaining beside me."

She stabbed her own throat without hesitation, claiming she would rather die than stay with me.

She was precisely that impulsive. From the beginning, remaining at his side was against her wishes. Was it because he sliced off the duke's ear? Perhaps that brutal display had turned her against him entirely.

[Revius] "Hey, pull yourself together!"

Guiscard raised his eyes at Revius's sharp outburst. Revius wore an incredulous expression.

[Revius] "Get a grip! The Queen loves you so deeply, and you fail to see it?"

[Guiscard] "What?"

Revius ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

As Guiscard sought confirmation, the surrounding knights nodded in agreement. Just as he prepared to speak, a sudden uproar erupted throughout the palace.

[Crowd] "Monsters! Monsters have appeared!"

---

[Saruvia] "Are you awake?"

Dianna raised her head blankly. Saruvia stood before her, curling her lips into a smirk.

The moment she opened her eyes, a hand struck her sharply across the cheek.

Dianna stared at Saruvia with a stunned expression. This time, it was no hallucination. It was real.

[Dianna] "Where is..."

[Saruvia] "My, where could we be?"

Saruvia chuckled softly. Dianna narrowed her eyes.

Is this my past life, or the present?

Saruvia appeared far gaunter than her past-life self, her eyes swirling with cold malice. Dianna shuddered as she looked at that ethereal yet sinister face.

[Saruvia] "Hmm, still confused? I understand. I get confused sometimes too."

Saruvia spoke in a gentle tone. Dianna bit her lip as cold tension filled the air. The location resembled a noble banquet hall.

[Saruvia] "Still, let me tell you. This is a world where I fell from grace, and you hold power. A thoroughly wrong world."

[Dianna] "..."

[Saruvia] "Meaning, this is not the world where you swallowed poison and killed yourself."

Dianna knitted her brows at those cold words, a sudden sinking feeling gripping her heart.

This woman knows something.

[Saruvia] "Everything was ruined because of you."

[Dianna] "..."

[Saruvia] "Why on earth couldn't you just stay dead?!"

[Dianna] "..."

[Saruvia] "Did I not claim to carry His Majesty's child this time as well?!"

At her tirade, Dianna's eyes settled into a calm stillness.

[Saruvia] "Then you should die! Why are you still breathing?!"

[Dianna] "..."

[Saruvia] "Why am I in such a wretched state in this world?! Aaaargh!"

Saruvia clutched her head and shrieked hysterically.

[Dianna] "Do you possess memories of your past life?"

Dianna asked quietly. Saruvia responded instantly.

[Saruvia] "Are you referring to the past life? Well, since you died then. When I was being hunted by your wretched forces, I remembered everything. At first I thought it was a dream world, but now I see it is another reality entirely."

[Dianna] "..."

[Saruvia] "How... How could this happen? How could a wench like you reduce me to such a pitiful state here?!"

Her lips twitched wildly. Upon closer inspection, her once-stunning beauty was completely ruined. Dark shadows encircled her eyes, and her lips were cracked raw.

[Saruvia] "Do you know? His Majesty loves me. He has never forgotten me."

She spoke with absolute conviction.

[Saruvia] "So now, things must be restored to how they were."

[Dianna] "Restored?"

[Saruvia] "Yes. Back to the pitiful foreign queen. Back to the queen crawling on the floor, reviled by everyone. That is how it should be. That is the 'original' world!"

[Dianna] "..."

[Saruvia] "The person everyone hates and despises is you! Everything will fix itself if you return to where you belong!"

Dianna asked in a quiet voice.

[Dianna] "If my assumption is correct... you are saying you are the Saruvia Levian I knew from my past life. The one who tormented and crushed me..."

[Saruvia] "Yes! I am the one you couldn't even raise a finger against! Do you still fail to comprehend?!"

[Dianna] "How did you spirit me away from the palace?"

At her question, Saruvia smirked.

[Saruvia] "I employed illusion magic. You walked right into the teleportation magic circle all on your own."

[Dianna] "Aha..."

She nodded slowly.

[Dianna] "Then where are we now?"

[Saruvia] "We are at... my family's estate... Wait..."

Saruvia wore a bewildered expression, thrown off by Dianna's composure.

This woman possessed memories of her past life. She remembered how Dianna had cowered in terror when facing her back then, shrinking like a criminal and unable to meet her gaze. Yet now, Dianna's bluish-gray eyes were remarkably clear.

[Dianna] "God must be helping me."

The bindings around Dianna's arms loosened and fell away.

The ground beneath Saruvia's feet suddenly caved in, sending her tumbling downward.

[Dianna] "To grant me the exact moment to take my revenge upon you."

She rose from her bindings and offered a radiant smile for the very first time.

---

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