TSMMT Ch 80

A Devoted Husband

His purple eyes locked onto Dianna. The intensity of his gaze made her skin prickle.

She rose from her seat.

[Dianna] "I greet Your Majesty."

At her polite greeting, Guiscard stepped right beside her. Revius followed immediately behind the King with knit brows.

[Guiscard] "I believe I asked why you are in this place."

A lethal tension filled the air at his words. Dianna tracked the silent confrontation between the two men.

[Adelheit] "I understood that Your Majesty was away today inspecting magical tools built to suppress monsters……"

Ah, I heard he was out, but he left to inspect magical tools.

[Guiscard] "I asked why you are here."

His voice carried a terrifying threat, but Adelheit remained completely composed.

[Adelheit] "Is that not obvious? During an audience ceremony, supporting nobles and knights stand by the Queen's side."

[Guiscard] "……"

[Adelheit] "Yet, absolutely no one stood beside the noble Queen. My heart collapsed when I witnessed a knight giving orders to the woman I serve, telling her to hurry because other guests were waiting."

Adelheit clutched his chest with an exaggerated expression.

Guiscard's fierce glare swung toward the guards. The knight who had spoken to Dianna flinched and averted his gaze.

[Adelheit] "The House of Blake wishes to offer proper support, but unfortunately, I am the sole member of my house. Since there is no lady-in-waiting to attend to her, I must do it myself. Furthermore, I have received an official knighthood from the royal court, so protecting the Queen as a knight presents no issue."

[Guiscard] "……"

[Adelheit] "Is there any flaw in this protocol?"

Guiscard remained silent. Just as the King prepared to speak, Revius intervened.

[Revius] "Your Majesty, this is no time for this. You must consult with the nobles regarding the monster that appeared in the middle of the city today……"

A monster? In the middle of the capital? Had they not just mentioned a magical tool inspection?

Yet Dianna kept her mouth shut.

[Guiscard] "No, I shall stand beside my wife."

[Revius] "However, only the House of Levian remains."

[Guiscard] "Exactly!"

Guiscard shouted with an irritated expression.

Revius let out a soft sigh. As the Prime Minister gestured to the attendants, they quickly placed a chair next to Dianna.

[Guiscard] "Is a husband not a wife's most powerful support?"

He made the bold declaration without a shred of shame.

Grand Duke Blake spoke.

[Adelheit] "Are you not far too late for that?"

[Guiscard] "We shall see."

Delivering the cryptic reply, Guiscard clasped Dianna's hand. Locked beneath his tracking gaze that demanded an answer, she remained silent.

[Guiscard] "I am sorry I am late, Ann."

[Dianna] "……"

[Guiscard] "I intended to stay with you all day, but an urgent matter arose early this morning."

He spoke tenderly, stroking her fingers.

[Guiscard] "I am sorry for leaving you alone."

In this exact moment, she couldn't comprehend what he wanted from her.

[Dianna] "I did my best to protect your reputation even in your absence, Your Majesty."

[Guiscard] "……"

[Dianna] "Prioritizing the nation over a single individual is a far more righteous path, so please don't trouble your heart."

An absolute silence descended instantly at her words. Adelheit, Guiscard, and even Revius stared at her with rigid expressions.

Each harbored a distinct emotion: irritation, disappointment, sympathy for a woman delivering empty, resigned compliance without exposing a shred of raw feeling, or an icy dread and rising anger born of pure frustration. Dianna couldn't comprehend their reactions.

---

[Saruvia] "How did it go?"

Lady Levian spoke as she waited outside the main castle. With vivid pink hair braided beautifully down like spring cherry blossoms, her appearance drew admiration. Yet her green eyes were clouded with deep irritation. Duke Levian looked at his daughter and spoke.

[Duke] "What do you mean, how did it go? Nothing unusual happened."

[Saruvia] "Did that woman say nothing to you? No, did she even receive the greetings properly?"

[Duke] "Well……"

[Saruvia] "Father, you said she would behave foolishly. We should have crushed her spirit……!"

Duke Levian let out a sigh.

[Duke] "My child, it is not as simple as it sounds."

[Saruvia] "……"

[Duke] "Though they were not of the Vargrhati Order, six royal knights guarded her. Furthermore, His Majesty the King and Grand Duke Blake stood beside her."

[Saruvia] "What…… His Majesty did?"

Saruvia ground her teeth. High nobles held audience ceremonies with their own vassals just like royalty, yet rulers rarely participated together. Though they were husband and wife, distinct duties required their individual attention.

The King stood beside her? She had heard that devoted husbands among the nobility occasionally acted that way.

The King a devoted husband? Guiscard? That stands completely impossible.

How could a man with such freezing eyes dote on the daughter of the house that once held him as a slave?

[Saruvia] "I saw it myself. Clearly, that woman kept His Majesty as a slave……"

[Duke] "……"

[Saruvia] "Are they insane? A devoted husband?"

She let out a hollow laugh. Furthermore, what was the deal with Grand Duke Blake? Why did a man who supposedly never left the Neust Academy stand beside the Queen here?

[Duke] "My child, it seems we must refrain from provoking the Queen recklessly."

[Saruvia] "What on earth are you saying, Father? You said no one would want an inferior creature from Panborough to become the Queen."

[Duke] "No, she is not an easy opponent."

Duke Levian gestured a refusal.

[Saruvia] "Did Grand Duke Blake and His Majesty support her that fiercely?"

[Duke] "No."

Duke Levian let out a sigh.

[Duke] "The Queen herself. She is by no means an ordinary woman."

The aristocrats had anticipated the terrified posture of a captive. Alternatively, they expected her to force a smile to win their favor. Yet completely contrary to the nobles' expectations, the Queen projected a strange presence. Whether it stemmed from utter resignation or something else, she maintained a strangely detached and relaxed composure. An attitude that suggested they amounted to nothing. A posture stripped of desperation occasionally commanded such power.

Duke Levian felt certain. Even if he insulted this Queen, she wouldn't care in the slightest. Did she act this way because she possessed a reliable faction?

Then again, the figures standing by her side were by no means ordinary men. Rather than projecting confidence, that peculiar, relaxed demeanor naturally induced a heavy tension in others.

[Duke] "That is precisely why you can't compete with her."

Looking at his daughter, who looked far too desperate in contrast to the relaxed Queen, he let out a sigh.

[Saruvia] "What do you mean I can't compete? I tell you, she is an idiot!"

Saruvia shrieked in protest.

Duke Levian had purchased Panborough-style dresses for her and acquired instruments from Cagliari, rumored to produce heavenly music. He bestowed upon her gems crafted from mermaid tears and jewelry forged through the exploitation of dwarves. Nevertheless, his daughter continued to scream that it was insufficient.

If only that woman didn't exist……

Saruvia remembered her very first defeat during the Taillach festival—the day everyone viewed her as a foreign outsider and mocked her. Had that woman not intervened, she would never have insulted Guiscard by calling him a slave. He explicitly cited that incident when declaring he could never take Saruvia as his bride.

Though the fault lay entirely with her, Saruvia Levian had spent her life deflecting blame onto others while pretending to be completely faultless. She put extensive effort into ruining his wedding, even bribing a newly hired maid to trample the flower crown. Yet her machinations achieved absolutely nothing.

[Duke] "The other nobles feel the same way. In any case, you will become the true authority within the palace, will you not?"

[Saruvia] "I refuse to become a lady-in-waiting! Why must I serve beneath that horrific woman?!"

Saruvia shouted in rage.

Duke Levian clicked his tongue and walked forward. He held many grievances of his own. Guiscard Lodbrog—a man they raised to the throne, only for him to reject his daughter.

Why take such a winding path when crowning Saruvia as queen would settle everything cleanly?

He fully intended to keep this insult in mind.

---

Dianna settled into a chair. As the tension melted away, a dull ache throbbed in her shoulders.

[Mable] "I shall hasten the preparations for your bath, My Lady."

Dianna nodded.

As Mable departed, perplexity gripped her. Why did the maids exit the room as well?

She still wore the heavy tiara. Her tightly bound hair felt suffocating. Dianna considered summoning the attendants, but resolved to wait.

Slipping off the cloak and draping it over a separate chair, she rested in her seat. The blazing fireplace provided warmth. Sitting in silence, she studied the dancing flames.

Soon, the sound of the door opening echoed through the space. Assuming the maids had returned, she waited as light footsteps approached and the heavy tiara was removed from her head.

[Dianna] "Unbind my hair quickly as well."

As Dianna rose from the chair, cautious fingers carefully unraveled the strands. The touch felt hesitant rather than practiced, prompting her to wonder if the servant was a novice.

Could it be the girl who called me beautiful earlier?

With her hair completely unpinned, relief washed over her frame. Yet the attendant remained perfectly still afterward. Displeasure flickered through Dianna at the servant's apparent incompetence.

[Dianna] "Will you help me undress? It feels suffocating."

At her request, the ruby ornaments decorating her form were stripped away. The instant the dress securing her back loosened, she cast a sideways glance and caught the silhouette behind her.

The shadow loomed far too tall for a maid. Spinning around, she realized that while the identity differed, this person had indeed called her beautiful the night before. Before she could react, his lips collided with hers.

[Dianna] "Your Maj…… mnh!"

She stared at the man who had stolen her lips.

Gripping her waist as if unable to contain himself, Guiscard caressed her body with massive palms while his tongue teased her lips. Breaking the kiss, he whispered through ragged breaths.

[Guiscard] "Did your command to undress you not carry that exact meaning?"

[Dianna] "……"

He traced her crimson lips. Though smudged from the intense kiss, they remained strikingly beautiful. Capturing her face under the firelight, his features curved into an enchanting smile.

[Guiscard] "Ann, you violated my warning."

His hands slid over her thin garment, sending a sudden tremor through her. Freezing breath brushed against her neck.

[Guiscard] "I commanded you to lock your gaze strictly onto me and ignore every other man."

He spoke, pressing his lips against the back of her neck.

[Guiscard] "That is why you are driving me to utter madness."

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