TSMMT Ch 77

Gossip

Dianna rubbed her brow.

Revius had insisted on arranging the audience for the very next day. His reasoning stood simple: the high nobles she needed to receive were few, and since they resided in the capital, an immediate meeting was best.

This was something she had never done in her past life. Yet Revius' challenging attitude made anger flare within her involuntarily.

In her previous life, merely breathing felt like swallowing shards of glass. Every step felt like walking on thin ice, with everyone tracking her movements.

Build her own strength? The advice was accurate. But how was she supposed to achieve that? Who would lend power to a queen who married while wearing a slave collar? Everyone mocked her.

Glaring at Revius, Dianna agreed to his terms. Receiving greetings as a queen was a duty she had performed countless times. It was all the same anyway. Those who bowed before her laughed behind her back, and some openly mocked her. Knowing the nature of the event, she still accepted. Now, she regretted her choice.

Why did I agree to this?

It was a decision of utter folly.

As she sat holding her head in her room, a visitor arrived.

[Logaple] "Ah, Your Majesty!"

Dianna looked at the boy who had come to see her. It was Logaple.

[Logaple] "Congratulations on your marriage. I am the one on guard duty this time!"

He smiled brightly as usual. However, having grown up in a household with many older sisters, he detected Dianna's anxiety instantly.

[Logaple] "Is something troubling you?"

---

Revius had faced death multiple times before, but today he came exceptionally close to a fatal end.

The moment the grand council concluded, Guiscard dismissed every administrator and knight from the room before locking his glare onto the Prime Minister.

The King looked ready to execute him on the spot. Revius forced a smile.

[Guiscard] "To display such an insolent attitude toward the Queen of this nation……"

The expression reminded Revius of the dark times when Guiscard slaughtered his enemies. A bitter rage coated his features. A man fighting to protect his own property is far more terrifying, and Guiscard grew increasingly menacing by the second.

Revius regretted his actions for a brief moment.

[Revius] "Forgive me, Your Majesty."

[Guiscard] "How many times must I repeat myself? My escape from that wretched place is entirely due to that woman. It is due to my wife."

[Revius] "……"

[Guiscard] "Yet you humiliate my wife in public?"

Had a sword rested at his hip, Guiscard would have drawn the blade already.

[Guiscard] "M-My wife already……"

Revius let out a sigh, addressing his friend by name to continue.

[Revius] "But Guiscard, do you know how much gossip has spread because the Queen failed to appear at the banquet hall……"

Catching Guiscard's fierce glare, he backed down immediately.

Guiscard ruffled his own hair in frustration.

[Guiscard] "What on earth could my wife have done there? Suffer their mockery?"

Revius let out a heavy sigh.

[Revius] "Yes. Even so, she should have endured it."

His tone turned serious. Wearing an annoyed expression, Revius continued, clearly reluctant to voice these words.

[Revius] "Your Majesty, regardless of the circumstances, that position stands beside the King of a nation. She is the woman you secured even after rejecting a marriage alliance with the House of Levian."

[Guiscard] "……"

[Revius] "Criticism and mockery? She must face them. Shielding her so desperately is equivalent to declaring openly that the wo—no, that the Queen is your weakness."

His logic held truth.

[Revius] "We have barely managed the remnants of Mikail and the teeth of Fenrir. Eislag and Kragel also hunt for Your Majesty's neck. They don't recognize you as the true king."

[Guiscard] "……"

[Revius] "Your Majesty, your authority is not yet stable. Please……"

The only reason Guiscard refrained from executing Revius was because of this loyal advice. The King wanted to slice him for that mouth, yet that very mouth kept him alive.

[Guiscard] "I care nothing if she becomes my weakness. Cancel the Queen's audience."

[Revius] "Did the Queen not request this arrangement herself?"

[Guiscard] "You forced her hand with your malicious tongue."

Revius laughed softly.

[Revius] "You don't need to shield her so desperately."

[Guiscard] "……"

[Revius] "I discovered she was extraordinary on the way here, and she remains unchanged now."

[Guiscard] "……"

[Revius] "Therefore, rest easy. I believe the woman you took as your wife is by no means ordinary."

Guiscard offered no reply. Revius realized he agreed with the statement.

However, not long after, news arrived that drove Guiscard into an absolute rage.

---

The knights at the training ground were busy sharpening their swords. Their daily routine always began and ended with the blade. With no bandits, noble rebellions, or monsters to hunt at present, they should have been bored, yet they conversed in angry voices.

[Knight] "This is a direct insult to us!"

[Knight] "How could His Majesty allow this!"

[Knight] "Lord Revius was displeased as well."

These men held profound respect for Guiscard, who served as their practical commander. The King wielded a heavy greatsword as lightly as a sheet of paper, his sword energy sharp and precise. Anyone who witnessed him slaughter monsters had to revere his power.

[Knight] "That woman. The daughter of the criminal."

With Clover away at the grand council, the knights vented their frustrations regarding the new queen. She had dismissed them during the proposal ritual, and the current situation was no different. A sovereign's consort ought to show proper respect to the vassals by arranging an introductory meeting.

[Darium] "Cease this talk. Do you not realize those words insult His Majesty?"

Darium, who possessed a more logical mind, spoke up. Yet Bill refused to accept it.

[Bill] "We are not insulting His Majesty! That woman is the one insulting the King!"

Bill shouted in anger. The fact that she failed to greet Guiscard's vassals infuriated him, but he could overlook it since he knew the ridiculous sense of privilege those Panborough fools held. However, this Panborough woman even ignored Lodbrog's nobility, putting the King in a difficult position. This was unacceptable.

[Darium] "His Majesty commanded her to rest. Why don't you control yourself?"

Darium spoke coldly. However, to someone determined to hate, no defense registers.

[Inez] "Logaple said she is His Majesty's first love."

Inez spoke. He looked after Logaple like a younger brother and conversed with him frequently.

[Inez] "I heard that the lady—no, the Queen—is not a bad person."

[Darium] "Yes. His Majesty must have his reasons. And personally, he probably holds deep affection for her."

A few knights clearly remembered the prince speaking about a woman long ago when he was drunk.

[Knight] "If His Majesty issued the command, we must obey."

The knights' opinions varied: disgruntled but accepting, mindlessly obedient, or furious. However, as the others turned away, Bill found himself cornered and grew even angrier.

[Bill] "What? First love? Bullshit."

He spat out a curse he hadn't used since becoming a knight.

[Bill] "Her face isn't even beautiful."

[Darium] "Bill. You crossed the line."

Regardless of the warning, Bill continued to shout.

[Bill] "I admit she is passable. But doesn't she look exactly like a decaying tree? Her eye color is completely dull and vacant too……"

[Knight] "……"

[Bill] "Nobody even knows what she's thinking. With her arrogant face, she might be looking down on knights like us and Lodbrog as savages. That's why she doesn't even bother to greet us. The King definitely covered up for her by claiming he issued the order himself."

[Darium] "Hey, Bill!"

[Bill] "If she were gentle and beautiful like Lady Levian, I could understand. That stiff, ugly thing……"

[Darium] "Hey!"

Darium shouted. The knights stared at a single spot in pure shock.

Sensing a lethal presence, Bill turned around.

[Bill] "Ha……"

Standing right there was the main subject of all the criticism. The Queen, who should have been resting in the castle, stood tall, wearing a light green dress and a white fur shawl. She was not smiling. As everyone's eyes locked onto her, she lowered her gaze and spoke softly.

[Dianna] "I came to see Commander Clover."

[Knight] "……"

[Dianna] "I intended to arrange a separate meeting for you all, but I came to offer my greetings before that."

Dianna looked at the maids behind her. Baskets held delicious food.

[Logaple] "Y-Your Majesty……"

Logaple stood beside Dianna, his face completely pale. The timing was disastrous. Had Dianna known they were slandering her like this, she wouldn't have come.

[Logaple] "Everyone is waiting for the Queen's greeting."

Logaple had told her that. Dianna hadn't neglected the idea of greeting the vassals. She hesitated, but Logaple assured her it would be fine.

[Logaple] "If a member of Vargrhati Order stands guard at your audience, the grandeur will be deeply altered! The knights will gladly follow the Queen!"

[Dianna] "They hate me."

[Logaple] "A few do, but the overall atmosphere isn't like that! I swear it on everything!"

She shouldn't have believed his words. She knew perfectly well that those knights excluded her. Nevertheless, she detested being laughed at unprepared at a pathetic audience ceremony. That was why she grew greedy.

[Dianna] "I feel sorry for you all. I was far too careless toward the King's most cherished swords."

She continued calmly.

[Dianna] "However, I have never once considered you savages. Don't misunderstand."

An absolute silence filled the air, without even the sound of breathing. She spoke to the maids behind her.

[Dianna] "Take it all back."

Serving a Panborough-style meal of sandwiches would only offend them. Dianna turned around. The knight's comment that Levian would have been better echoed in her mind. She knew it. Even though she knew……

Dianna walked away, feigning composure. She offered a sorrowful smile and looked up at the sky.

Ah, I understand, O God. I have lost my mind again.

She had searched for differences between her past and present lives, thinking something had changed. Yet it remained the same.

A stiff, ugly thing. Is that how I look in the eyes of others?

She lowered her gaze.

It is fine. I only need to endure for three years. I can bear this kind of humiliation. I mean it.

Yet a part of her heart still ached sharply for no reason.

---

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