TSMMT Ch 7

The Birthday Faced Again

Guiscard shoved Dianna against the wall the moment they entered the room. He stared down at her. She spoke to the man, straining to suppress his immense fury.

[Dianna] "I didn't."

[Guiscard] "You didn't?"

[Dianna] "I didn't do it."

[Guiscard] "Didn't do what?"

[Dianna] "I didn't kill it."

[Guiscard] "But you tried to. You wished for its death."

[Dianna] "……."

[Guiscard] "My Lady is honest."

He stroked her hair as if finding her cute, then gripped it tightly. She bit her lip at his force.

[Guiscard] "Why? Did carrying a monster's brat disgust you that much?"

[Dianna] "……."

[Guiscard] "Yes, it must have. That's why you destroyed the child. I understand your coldness, your cruelty."

[Dianna] "……."

He had completely lost his mind. He spoke while frantically stroking her abdomen where the child used to be.

Overwhelmed with rage, he slammed his fist against the wall.

[Guiscard] "I waited so long for that child! Only then would you……! You foolish lady! You only care about protecting your pathetic pride?!"

[Dianna] "I didn't……"

[Guiscard] "Even if it wasn't you, you failed to protect it! You couldn't even protect a single child!"

His words made Dianna laugh in utter disbelief. She never possessed the strength to protect anything. He had abandoned her like a dog, stripping her of all power, yet he dared blame her for failing to protect the child.

[Dianna] "Did I ever say I wanted this child?"

He shut his mouth tightly at her words. He never even treated her like a proper wife, yet he threw this violent tantrum over a lost child.

[Dianna] "Did you actually plan to raise a family with me?"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "Did I ever call your revenge unfair? Not once! I accepted it every single time!"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "But a child? A baby? Did you want to play family with me? Didn't you do this to inflict pain on me?"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "Why aren't you enjoying my suffering? That's what you want! Fine, it was horrific. Absolutely horrific! Having your child inside my body was utterly monstrous!"

She screamed. Whether he believed her or not no longer mattered. She preferred his misunderstanding. Whether she took the medicine or not, he had already resolved to blame her anyway.

[Dianna] "I hate it! I hate it! I absolutely hate it!"

His face blanked. Dianna wanted to trample that expression. His grip on her hair loosened, his hand slipping away.

[Dianna] "Life with you is horrific! This entire existence is horrific! Just kill me! Please, kill me!"

[Guiscard] "……."

[Dianna] "Please kill me! I can't take this anymore! I hate it!"

She shrieked like a maniac. Constant anxiety over potential attacks had kept her on edge. Her frayed nerves tormented her mind, forcing her to hate him despite recognizing his revenge as justified.

[Dianna] "Please, just kill me!"

She sobbed uncontrollably. She shoved his chest with all her might.

Let me die. I'd rather die. If things have come to this, there is no reason to live.

[Guiscard] "Alexa, wasn't it?"

[Dianna] "……."

She flinched and raised her eyes. Alexa was her younger sister, whom she had sent away for safety when the war broke out. Although Dianna received no news, she believed her sister was doing well.

He looked down at her.

[Guiscard] "For her sake, you must stay alive."

[Dianna] "Are you threatening me?"

[Guiscard] "Yes."

He confirmed it softly.

Overcome by sudden fury, Dianna swung her hand. Unexpectedly, he let her slap his cheek without resisting.

[Dianna] "You disgusting monster."

She spoke through gritted teeth.

A monster. This man is a monster. We should never have met. We should never have reunited.

[Guiscard] "Not as much as a mother who murders her own child."

Madness fueled his quest for vengeance, and having become the tool for his revenge, she had also lost her mind.

---

The alleged murder of the unborn child destroyed whatever remained of Dianna’s standing. Rumors that she had killed her own baby circulated secretly through high society, and people refused to speak to her.

Even the clergymen who once pitied her turned away. Whenever Dianna went to pray, they cleared their throats, glared at her, and avoided her. They treated her like filth, avoiding her as if she carried a plague.

Guiscard never visited her chambers again after that day. He avoided all contact, including shared meals. He even instructed her to rest quietly during state events.

This amounted to total imprisonment.

The queen's palace grew so silent that even the buzzing of an insect's wings echoed through the halls. Dianna wore a hollow expression.

I have no reason to live. I want to die.

Yet, she had to endure for Alexa's sake. Her sister bore no guilt.

She could never forgive Lady Levian. Dianna desired the death of the woman who killed her baby before she could even decide to love or hate it. However, she lacked the power to exact revenge.

Watching Lady Levian torment her, Dianna trembled with agony as memories of her days as Lady Brienne of Panborough flooded her mind.

The lady possessed everything Dianna had lost. That reality fueled her hatred for Saruvia, and she loathed every breath of the monstrous man who stripped away her life and trapped her in this hell.

Naturally, she hated Guiscard just as much. He was no different, refusing to believe her words while sparing the woman who actually murdered their child.

[Dianna] "My child, I will forget you."

She spoke numbly while stroking her abdomen. Their accusations were not entirely wrong. Part of her had wished for this existence to disappear.

[Dianna] "If a woman unfit to be a mother remembers and clings to you, you won't be able to rest in peace, will you?"

She laughed like a madwoman. It was a weak escape. Thus, she buried the child deep within her heart.

---

Dianna received news about Alexa. She learned the update purely by chance. She wailed for hours. In the deserted, silent queen's palace, she could finally weep without restraint.

I have no reason to live.

Yet, for some reason, Dianna remained alive. Why did she still draw breath? It was a mystery. As she lived her life like a doll, her enemy, the lady, visited her.

[Saruvia] "Your Majesty. Please forgive my sins."

Asking for forgiveness for murdering a child. Dianna stared at Lady Levian. A smirk played on the lady's lips, her expression mocking as if looking at a pitiful creature.

[Saruvia] "I am pregnant with His Majesty's child."

She froze, staring at the lovely lady. Flaunting her universally adored, beautiful face, the lady spoke to Dianna.

[Saruvia] "I will free you from this empty title of queen."

[Dianna] "How can you! How can you do this!"

Veins popped on Dianna’s face.

It defied all reason. How could a murderer carry a child? Especially the seed of the very father whose child she had just killed!

At Dianna's first display of intense fury, Lady Levian laughed out loud, spewing venomous words.

[Saruvia] "Dianna Brienne. The lady of fallen Panborough. You surely didn't expect a peaceful life after daring to enslave our precious King, did you?"

Dianna choked on her breath, unable to utter a single word.

[Saruvia] "Shameless woman. You will live like an insect. You will crawl beneath the dirt forever, begging for death."

The lady glared at her, then instantly shifted her expression, offering a bright smile.

[Saruvia] "So I will take that position now. You sat in a place where you never belonged for far too long."

[Dianna] "……."

[Saruvia] "Don't worry. His Majesty will never abandon you. He promised never to let you leave this palace."

After Lady Levian left, Dianna stared blankly at the sky. Intense hatred for Guiscard flared within her for a brief second before her turbulent emotions settled.

She no longer raged at her child's murderer or at Guiscard, who had fathered the baby. She didn't even utter a curse at Lady Levian. Only a single thought filled her mind.

Ah, it's time to die. I can die now.

Death is my only option. So, let me die.

At twenty-five, Dianna chose death. She had intended to jump right in front of Guiscard, but instead swallowed poison, dying in his embrace.

This marked the end of a long, torturous fate.

---

Dianna woke, staring blankly at her surroundings. She expected heaven, but this place was not heaven. It was simply a familiar location.

Her bedroom in the Duke of Brienne's mansion in Panborough.

The very place she had desperately longed to return to.

Did my suicide fail? But how can I exist here when this place burned down?

Lost in blank thought, she placed her hand on the vase resting on the nightstand. Along with the porcelain's cool texture, she saw a tiny hand. An incredibly young hand.

She wiggled her fingers. She possessed the hand of a child.

Shocked, she rushed to the mirror.

[Dianna] "Uh……"

Confusion filled her face as she tilted in confusion. Her cheeks, still full of baby fat, flushed a vibrant red like a watercolor painting. A red ribbon bound her neatly maintained hair, and she wore a dark lilac dress.

She touched the glass of the mirror.

[Brother] "Happy twelfth birthday, Ann!"

Dianna ran forward instinctively as someone flung the door open. A shiver ran down her spine.

I don't know if this is a dream or reality.

Yet, within this longed-for time, she could meet the person she missed so deeply.

It was her brother! Ah, he was alive!

This marked the beginning of her second life.

---

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