TSMMT Ch 40

An Honest Conversation

Dianna wept for a long time. Guiscard quietly watched her shaking shoulders. He had never seen her cry like this before. Her tears refused to stop despite her efforts. Just then, he listened closely to the sounds outside.

[Guiscard] "Don't cry."

[Dianna] "……Waaah!"

Stripped of her usual composure, she looked no different from Alexa. However, while Alexa wept while blaming others, she blamed herself. She had been incredibly foolish. Then he spoke up again.

[Guiscard] "My Lady, I told you to stop crying!"

[Dianna] "I... I let greed get the better of me for nothing……!"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "Now both you and I will die……."

[Guiscard] "Ah, I told you to stop!"

She opened her eyes wide. Thinking his voice finally brought her to her senses, he shouted.

[Guiscard] "My Lady! This is no time to cry!"

[Dianna] "Shh!"

She covered his mouth. Who was silencing whom now?

Just a moment ago, Guiscard kept telling her to be quiet. Regardless of his sense of injustice, she quieted down and listened intently to the surroundings.

[Monster] "Where are youuuuu? Come outttttt!"

The monster's voice echoed. He stared at Dianna with wide eyes. Did she know something? How did she detect the monster's presence?

In truth, Sylph was keeping watch on her own. The moment the warning came, Dianna regained her full focus.

She looked straight into his face. She realized her hand still rested over his mouth. They stood far too close.

Guiscard now resembled a young man more than a young boy. Surprisingly, this proximity didn't disgust her. Facing imminent death erased any discomfort.

When the snake monster's voice faded, Dianna lowered her hand and looked away. Mortification washed over her. She had covered Guiscard's mouth, and they were so close. He placed a hand over his own lips, perhaps finding the contact unpleasant.

Flustered by his reaction, Dianna pulled back, only to flinch and let out a groan. The arm bitten by the Lepus throbbed with intense pain. Guiscard's purple eyes shifted to the arm she was cradling. Crimson blood soaked through.

[Guiscard] "Why... why didn't you say you were hurt?"

He hissed in a low, sharp voice.

[Dianna] "I am fine. It is just a bite."

It was merely a set of teeth marks.

When she forced a smile, Guiscard suddenly tried to tear the fur cloak she wore. However, the thick cloak refused to rip. She lifted her skirt.

[Dianna] "Tear this."

He froze in embarrassment as her underskirt came into view.

[Dianna] "Guiscard, I lack the strength to tear the fabric myself."

He closed his eyes tightly and reached for her underskirt.

Rip!

The fabric tore apart. Dianna knew well that an underskirt served as an excellent bandage to stop bleeding.

Guiscard wrapped the cloth around her arm. Once the fabric bound her arm tightly, the pain lessened. She accepted his care.

[Dianna] "Thank you."

She offered a faint smile, but he remained silent. Guiscard looked out of the cave, then turned his gaze back to the girl beside him.

[Guiscard] "I expected you to reject my touch."

[Dianna] "What?"

[Guiscard] "Are these hands not the hands of a slave?"

[Dianna] "Reject you because you have a slave's hands? Even in a situation like this?"

She asked in confusion. In truth, she failed to understand his intention.

A slave? Rejection? When had she ever treated him poorly because of his status? If anything, she behaved so cautiously around him that Philip had explicitly pointed it out.

[Dianna] "I have never done that……."

[Guiscard] "You are clearly unaware of your own actions."

She stared at him, dumbfounded. While she had feared Guiscard in the past, she had never despised him.

[Dianna] "Did I... did I ever show hatred or contempt toward you?"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "Really?"

Perhaps because an intense sense of injustice covered her face, Guiscard fell silent. Instead, he spoke in a low voice.

[Guiscard] "Whenever my hands...... whenever my hands specifically touched you, you reacted that way. And sometimes when you look at my face, you display dislike......"

Ah. The issue was my fear.

How should she handle this misunderstanding? Or rather, did she even need to clear it up? She pondered the matter for a long time.

[Dianna] "The reason I acted that way is......"

[Guiscard] "……."

He stared intently at her. With a serious expression, Dianna squeezed her eyes shut as if reluctant to utter the words.

[Dianna] "Because you are an unrelated man."

A breathless sound escaped his lips at the completely unexpected answer. Dianna continued with a solemn face.

[Dianna] "You have no idea what filthy things Mirva said when she first brought you to the estate, do you? It was because of that."

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "A noblewoman must never be loose. She must maintain strict boundaries. If foul rumors spread, no marriage proposals will ever come my way."

Guiscard didn't look entirely convinced. However, a cold smile touched his lips at the mention of marriage proposals.

[Dianna] "Besides, you are unfamiliar to me, and you frighten me. Doesn't experiencing such emotions prove that I don't look down on you as a slave?"

[Guiscard] "But……."

[Dianna] "What?"

[Guiscard] "No, it is nothing."

He fell deep into thought. Dianna addressed him directly.

[Dianna] "Then, can you tell me now?"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "What was your reason for wanting to betray me?"

Only then did he realize what he had confessed earlier. Dianna maintained a calm expression.

Betrayal.

He had admitted with his own mouth that he weighed betrayal, noting that she should have suspected Emil.

[Dianna] "I understand why Emil betrayed me."

Her face remained impassive as she spoke, though her voice shook with unshed tears. Uttering the truth that her own brother had sent her to her death, Dianna let out a heavy sigh.

[Dianna] "I knew something was wrong. Even though we were outside the main forest, every single knight from the Brienne House followed Emil."

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "I don't know how the snake monster got involved, but the Lepus swarm is definitely my brother's doing. They say a specific leaf scent attracts the Lepus, and it comes from this cloak. My brother gifted me this cloak and hat."

Guiscard leaned in to smell the fur cloak. A sharp scent wafted up. His expression hardened instantly.

If they remained here like this, the Lepus would return. He pulled the cloak off Dianna and tossed it far out of the cave. He attempted to throw the red hat as well, but she stopped him.

[Dianna] "It seems Emil betrayed you as well. My brother must hate me terribly to wish for my death."

Guiscard cast his eyes downward at her words. Observing his shame-stricken face, she questioned him.

[Dianna] "Did he offer to grant you freedom?"

He didn't answer immediately. She felt no real anger. Instead, he closed his eyes, avoiding her gaze.

[Guiscard] "Yes."

[Dianna] "……."

[Guiscard] "I am sorry."

[Dianna] "There is no need for that."

The girl who had wept in despair moments ago accepted her slave's betrayal with surprising calm.

[Guiscard] "Why...... why are you so indifferent? Does this not anger you?"

She opened her eyes wide at the sound of his voice.

[Dianna] "You said you wanted to be free, didn't you?"

Guiscard looked utterly bewildered. For a moment, his composure cracked completely.

In truth, Dianna didn't mind. She had already experienced bitter betrayal in her past life. Frankly, feeling betrayed was a luxury she couldn't afford, yet she had allowed herself to hold onto it.

The slave she had saved returned in her past life to slaughter her entire family. What betrayal could surpass that? Emil's scheme was entirely understandable by comparison.

If anything, learning the true thoughts of someone she considered a mystery brought a sense of relief. At least she knew he would rejoice when she eventually set him free.

Should she reveal her plans to him right now? However, her strategy relied entirely on her knowledge of the future. If Guiscard learned later on that she possessed foresight, how would he react? She chose silence instead.

[Guiscard] "However, while I considered betrayal, I didn't go through with it."

[Dianna] "……."

[Guiscard] "I... I don't want my master to die."

Of course.

As she nodded, a sudden realization sparked in his eyes.

[Guiscard] "I see. To avoid betrayal, I should have informed you the moment your brother made the offer."

[Dianna] "……."

[Guiscard] "Merely weighing the option was a betrayal in itself."

He looked stricken with profound guilt.

You really don't need to take it that far……

Despite her silent thought, his face turned pale.

[Guiscard] "I am sorry."

He had no reason to apologize. Instead of responding, Dianna tugged at his cloak.

[Dianna] "Guiscard, I am cold since you threw the cloak away."

Coming to his senses, Guiscard quickly unfastened the cloak from his own shoulders and draped it over Dianna. She leaned limply against his shoulder. At that moment, he flinched.

[Dianna] "Sylph."

She summoned the wind spirit keeping watch. Sylph flew over instantly.

[Dianna] "Hang this at the very top of a tree. Place it high up so that the snake monster can't see it."

Sylph nodded, picked up Dianna's fallen hat from below, and took off.

Guiscard watched in utter shock as the hat floated away into the air. She didn't explain. She had successfully sent a signal for rescue.

Exhaustion overcame Dianna. She closed her eyes beside him. Sheltered inside the small cave, she drifted into a light sleep.

It was a sweet rest on the brink of death. For a brief moment, she dreamed of the Guiscard from her past life—the prince who became a hero by slaying a poisonous dragon. The moment she envisioned his back, she jolted awake.

Ah, right. That is what we must do.

Though she had displayed an unseemly side earlier, she refused to die here.

[Dianna] "Guiscard, let us make it out of here alive."

[Guiscard] "Do you have a plan?"

[Dianna] "Yes."

She spoke with a smile.

[Dianna] "We just need to kill that snake."

Certain challenges couldn't be avoided. To survive, the current Dianna had to confront the threat head-on, just as Guiscard had done in his past life.

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