TSMMT Ch 59

A Bloody Reunion

Dianna Brienne.

Ann.

Ann, my master.

The memory remained clear. Those hateful silver-gray eyes stared at him, spilling heavy tears. Standing against the light, the silhouette of her body glowed white.

Back then, the warmth of the girl's hand burned his chest permanently. Experiencing warmth directed entirely at him for the first time in his life, Guiscard cursed his own desperate longing for it.

[Dianna] "Guiscard."

Whenever that gentle voice rang out, he collapsed completely. She had called his name without hesitation, promising to always speak it. Declaring herself his master, Dianna taught him how to read and write.

Dianna Brienne.

Those were the first letters Guiscard ever wrote. He penned her name even before his own. Yet shame overcame him, prompting him to crawl beneath the desk and fill the wood with her name over and over.

Dianna Brienne.

Studying the gentle curves of the letters, he occasionally lay down beside the parchment just to trace the character lines. The written name functioned like a magical shield, protecting him.

Much time passed by her side. Guiscard repeatedly wanted to break the girl who bestowed such goodwill upon him. Her acts of kindness disgusted him, as she was merely the daughter of the man who plunged him into hell. Yet beneath his twisted desires, her absolute righteousness only shone brighter.

In hindsight, Dianna always knew exactly what Guiscard needed. He learned to write, mastered the sword, and survived deadly monster attacks. He even labored frantically to prevent his ownership from transferring to another. Everything learned at the estate aided his survival.

Dianna was a fascinating person. She lowered herself to maintain a faint presence, yet the more she hid, the more she stood out.

Queen.

She claimed she wanted to become a Queen. Yet, would a crown not suit her better?

She belonged at the peak, looking down upon everyone from the highest throne. But if that was her wish, he had no choice but to grant it.

Dianna Brienne. She was a woman whose presence would never allow a final full stop in his life. Faint yet alluring, she drove him to madness because she slipped through his fingers whenever he tried to grasp her.

Days like a night, moonlight spilling across the windowsill. He rejected the light, calling it part of the darkness, yet there was a season when he gathered that precious radiance and held it close to his chest.

Thanks to the light cast into the darkness, he could breathe and survive. He couldn't possess her and wanted to destroy her, yet he cherished her deeply out of fear that she might shatter.

Yet she abandoned him. In truth, no promises bound them from the start. Guiscard had simply desired and coveted her on his own. The fault lay with him for finding satisfaction within the simple dynamic of master and slave. Ultimately, he remained nothing but a pathetic man in her eyes.

[Logaple] "So she rejected you like that, Your Majesty?"

Breaking the young king's thoughts, a knight named Logaple asked.

Guiscard offered a cold smile at the boy knight’s curious expression. Instantly, the faces of the other men turned as white as snow.

Their king, the premier hero of the Lodbrog Kingdom who defeated the dragon, the once-abandoned prince—that hero carried a single painful past. Due to a catastrophic choice made by his mother, Herya, he had lived as a slave within the Panborough ducal house. Furthermore, he owed an immense debt to the eldest daughter of that house, Dianna Brienne.

After the war, Guiscard commanded his men to track the woman of the ducal house, yet her tracks vanished completely.

Observing the King's abnormal obsession with the woman, the newly appointed knight, Logaple, asked with a bright smile. What kind of woman warranted such a pursuit? Was she his first love?

The question shocked everyone, yet Logaple spoke out of pure innocence.

Surprisingly, Guiscard openly shared stories about the woman—the one who made him a slave, reigned as his master, and ultimately cast him away.

Yet, absurdly, a wave of displeasure struck Guiscard simply because Logaple questioned her identity. It resembled a childish possessiveness, like wanting to boast about a hidden gem without letting anyone lay eyes on it.

Ultimately, the knights could do nothing but listen to the stories, questioning Guiscard's circumstances and emotions. Thus, Logaple reached a single conclusion: the King held an unrequited love for the woman, and she rejected him.

[Guiscard] "Rejected?"

[Logaple] "Yes, did she not reject you?"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Logaple] "You wanted to continue the relationship, yet the lady severed it on her own, did she not? Usually, people call that being rejected."

But Logaple was still an inexperienced knight. Driven by innocent curiosity, he spoke the cruelest words possible. Guiscard maintained strict military discipline. He would surely draw his sword against the insolent boy……

[Guiscard] "Perhaps you are right."

He admitted it without resistance. The senior knights resolved to educate the surviving newcomers thoroughly. The ignorant puppy clearly failed to recognize a dangerous lion.

[Senior] "Are you out of your mind?!"

[Logaple] "Why? What did I do?"

[Senior] "You fool, seriously!"

The knights shouted at Logaple. Leaving the commotion behind, Guiscard stared blankly ahead.

Seven years had already slipped by. An immense stretch of time. The slave boy who once carried traces of youth now showed not a single shred of childhood. The once-soft gaze now held a sharp, blade-like cruelty.

The sovereign ruling over the Kingdom of Swords, Lodbrog, had never forgotten his master. In his heart, he remained the slave of those childhood days.

[Logaple] "Your Majesty, I have one more question."

[Clover] "……Logaple!"

Clover, the Knight Commander, tried to silence Logaple, but nothing could halt the reckless courage of the ignorant puppy.

[Guiscard] "Speak."

[Logaple] "So, did you remember the lady's goodwill at the tip of your blade?"

[Guiscard] "No. Not at all."

Guiscard gave a bitter smile. No matter how hidden his identity as a prince had been, how could he forgo revenge against the detestable house that abused him despite knowing his lineage?

Stripping away vengeance, once Guiscard ascended the throne, executing judgment upon the King of Panborough and the House of Brienne became a sheer necessity.

[Logaple] "Then, you ultimately chose revenge, Your Majesty."

A girl with pale blonde hair like moonlight, harboring cool silver stars in her eyes. Whenever he swung his blade, her soft voice echoed in his memory. Nevertheless, his sword pointed toward Panborough as if driven by absolute law.

[Guiscard] "That house was an utter den of filth."

[Logaple] "……."

[Guiscard] "It seems they procured another slave the moment I left."

He let out a cold laugh, Guiscard's mind summoning the image of the blood-drenched basement and Duke Brienne before his death—a man so twisted and sadistic that it baffled him to think he shared blood with Dianna.

Goodwill. The kindness she begged him to remember. How could he honor it? That wickedness deserved nothing but death.

Requesting me to remember goodwill while knowing her father’s sins was a shameless plea.

[Logaple] "You speak the truth."

As if anticipating a day like this, Dianna had delivered that warning, and Guiscard Lodbrog repaid it with a bloody vengeance.

Goodwill met rejection, transforming into retribution. That was the conclusion of their relationship.

[Guiscard] "That must be why she is so difficult to find."

He muttered softly.

Ultimately, his master eluded discovery. Reports claimed Dianna left the estate about a year after Guiscard escaped. High society believed she had withdrawn to the duchy for health reasons, but the youngest sister, Alexa, was the one who actually convalesced. Dianna Brienne vanished entirely one day. And she had not shown herself since.

I know the reason. She refuses to forgive me.

Dianna refused to forgive the man who trampled Panborough and the House of Brienne.

Yet what could he do? Guiscard wanted to fulfill Dianna’s promise. The slave had not cast away his true identity; like a hound pressing its nose to the dirt, he tracked, tracked, and tracked his master’s scent continuously! Finally, a single faint trace of her scent reached him.

---

Guiscard’s horse came to a halt. In the western reaches of the Lodbrog Kingdom, at the Neust Academy operated by Grand Duke Blake, pristine white buildings emerged. The silent academy behind iron bars stood in brutal contrast to the knights mounted on black stallions.

[Clover] "Did we send prior word to Grand Duke Blake?"

Guiscard offered no response to Clover's cautious inquiry.

[Revius] "Sigh. We have received no reply yet."

Revius, the Prime Minister who had remained silent until now, spoke. The deep disapproval dripping from the minister's eyes made it easy for Clover to grasp his distress.

[Guiscard] "So, where is the Grand Duke?"

[Revius] "Reports claim he departed to inspect his territory. He will return in three days."

This place practically served as the front courtyard of the Grand Duke's mansion. Even for a king, pushing an army inside like this could trigger unforeseen disasters.

Revius clutched his hair in distress.

[Clover] "Your Majesty, why did we come to this place of all locations?"

The knights questioned him. Gazing at the academy, Guiscard burst into a bright smile for the first time in ages.

[Guiscard] "To claim my bride."

The King's purple eyes flashed brilliantly.

Yes, the slave had located his master. The sweet, sticky years of slavery, reminiscent of rotting fruit—the very person he yearned for so intensely that he willingly endured those nightmares.

My master, who sacrificed everything to build a beautiful hell for me.

I have finally found my master, Dianna Brienne, my wife—the one who hid because she despised me!

In that manner, Guiscard invaded the academy courtyard belonging to Grand Duke Blake, mirroring his conquest of Panborough. He dismounted quietly and walked across the academy. A loud approach risked causing his master to vanish again without granting forgiveness.

Suddenly, a brilliant spark flashed across his features. The silhouette of a woman with reddish-brown hair appeared ahead. Though her hair color had shifted, her elegant, upright posture remained identical.

He stepped forward silently. He advanced to greet the joyful moment of reunion—the exact instant he had visualized continuously. Yet the moment her current situation filled his sight, his face hardened completely.

[Man] "This is your training to learn proper manners. Hurry up and smile."

The instant the words rang out, Guiscard swung his blade without a single moment of hesitation.

The man whose arm was severed clean from his body shrieked in absolute agony. Crimson blood sprayed in every direction.

The reunion was neither beautiful nor marked by a desperate cry of a curse. It was merely a blood-drenched, copper-scented, crimson reunion.

Guiscard had finally found his master.

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