TSMMT Ch 9

The Second First Meeting

[Dianna] "Who is that boy?"

[Maid] "Oh, My Lady. That boy is a slave. You see his collar, right?"

At the maid's words, the young, pale-blonde girl fixed her curious gaze on a boy carrying heavy lumber. He possessed a clean, neat appearance. Though dirt covered his face, his rare amethyst eyes held a striking beauty.

Suddenly, the boy tripped, his limp giving way. The heavy lumber tumbled from his shoulder.

[Servant] "You rascal!"

The servant shouted and rushed forward.

[Servant] "Do you have any idea how expensive this lumber is?! You useless slave brat!"

The servant's brutal kick sent the boy rolling across the ground. Then, the servant repeatedly stomped on the boy's stomach without mercy. Shock rippled through Dianna.

[Dianna] "Stop it! What do you think you're doing?!"

She screamed and ran forward. The boy lay prone on the ground, now completely caked in mud. She crouched down and reached toward him, entirely unconcerned that the dirt might ruin her dress.

[Maid] "My Lady! He is a filthy slave. Don't touch him!"

[Dianna] "He isn't filthy at all. What about him is filthy?"

The noble daughter of the proud House of Brienne openly extended her hand to the slave.

[Dianna] "Are you okay?"

[Servant] "My Lady, a lazy slave rightfully requires discipline. If you interfere, I……!"

[Dianna] "Even so, beating someone like this is wrong!"

The young girl stood her ground against the protesting servant.

The prone boy lifted his bruised face. The ruthless beating left no part of him uninjured, and a deep ache throbbed in his leg as if the bone had snapped. Yet, as he endured the pain, the girl's words struck a bizarre chord within him.

What the hell is this damn girl talking about?

Pure fury erupted inside him. Her hollow words of pity reeked of disgusting hypocrisy. If he possessed an ounce of strength, he would have strangled her on the spot. Malice consumed his entire being.

Looking up, the boy fixed his gaze on the young girl, his eyes flashing with a savage, murderous intent like a wild beast.

Yet Dianna failed to read his emotion, utterly blind to human malice. She stared back, completely captivated by his eyes, unable to look away from that profound, dense hatred—a venomous gaze capable of taking her life.

Charity and hatred.

This marked the first meeting between Guiscard Lodbrog and Dianna Brienne.

Their second first meeting took an even more wretched form.

Dianna closed her eyes as a horrific future flashed before her. She flinched and spun around.

Guiscard. The monster extended his hand. A thick scent of blood choked the air.

Gasping for breath, Dianna clenched her fists. She wanted to scream at them to throw the monster out this instant, or better yet, she wanted to run away.

Fate closed in to drag her back. A sharp pain stung her abdomen.

I want to kill him.

No. I can't do this.

She suppressed her surging emotions through sheer habit. She had returned to her twelve-year-old self. Therefore, she had to make her father, the head of the house, cast him out.

She knew her father's personality inside out. In her memories, he always ruled with a strict hand. Whenever she threw a childish tantrum, he used discipline to suppress her further. If she demanded to throw Guiscard out, he would dismiss it as a mere tantrum and ignore her plea.

I must stop this.

I must stop this man.

Dianna stared at the collared boy. The sight of his leash brought back memories of her own past.

Yes, forcing me to wear a collar at our wedding was his twisted revenge.

It was utterly absurd. For the first time, she understood one of the reasons behind his deep hatred.

Dianna stared at the monster destined to ruin her life. His purple eyes lacked any will to live, already wandering the depths of an abyss. She turned her gaze away, biting her lip until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Every ounce of past hatred and terror revived within her.

I want to see you suffer like this. I want you, the one who tortured me, to experience this agony again.

This home might be the root cause of your pain, but so what? You deserve to be punished like this again.

[Guiscard] "I came to plunge you into hell."

His past whisper echoed clearly in her ears.

God had punished him. He was doomed to repeat his living hell.

Dianna forcefully suppressed her sadistic urge. She needed to remain calm and cold.

She had to expel the boy immediately.

---

[Duke] "So, you are telling me to send that boy away simply because you have a bad feeling about him?"

He stared at Dianna as he spoke.

She nodded. Tension gripped her as she stood before her father. She desperately hoped he would view her response to the Queen earlier today as a sign of maturity. She couldn't afford to sit idly by.

[Dianna] "Can you please send him away as my twelfth birthday gift?"

Duke Brienne squinted at her. She carefully ensured her request didn't mirror a childish tantrum. She kept her face calm and forced her voice to remain steady.

Her resurrected father always commanded an intimidating presence. She knew this plea risked sounding like a stubborn whim.

[Duke] "The King granted us this slave."

[Dianna] "We can easily send him away on the pretext that he is unfit for labor."

How could she possibly explain that the boy was the missing prince of the Lodbrog Kingdom, destined to return for bloody vengeance? If she uttered such words, her father would lock her away in an asylum.

The tale sounded completely insane. Why did the King of Panborough offer a foreign prince as a slave in the first place? In truth, Dianna didn't know either.

[Duke] "Dianna, why go to such lengths? Merely because of a bad feeling?"

She swallowed hard at her father's question. She couldn't reveal the critical truth. Instead, she offered a different excuse.

[Dianna] "His gaze is strange."

[Duke] "His gaze?"

[Dianna] "It felt as though he wanted to kill us."

[Duke] "Who, that slave?"

Duke Brienne smirked.

[Duke] "I thought you grew more mature, but you remain a child. Forget about the slave and go practice your embroidery."

She realized her request had failed.

[Duke] "I have absolutely no intention of sending that boy away."

[Dianna] "......."

[Duke] "Therefore, don't throw tantrums over such matters."

His stern voice sounded like a death sentence. His refusal carried a strange note of obsession, causing Dianna to stare at her father as if he were a stranger.

Her father belonged to the imperial faction and opposed the slave system. Despite his blunt nature, he possessed a kind heart, earning the deep respect of the servants.

Why did he accept this slave? Why did he refuse to show even a shred of pity toward the boy?

This matter required a cautious approach.

[Dianna] "I am sorry, Father. I merely wanted to act like a spoiled child."

[Duke] "......."

[Dianna] "I didn't mean to interfere in your affairs."

She bowed with clasped hands, and a sudden warmth entered the Duke's eyes.

[Duke] "There is no reason you can't, provided you take your mother's place. But you are far too young right now."

[Dianna] "......."

[Duke] "I don't plan to remarry until you become a proper lady."

[Dianna] "Yes."

[Duke] "I hope you succeed me soon."

Guilt washed over Dianna for viewing her father with such cold suspicion. She had resented him for bringing Guiscard home, the root of their ultimate downfall. But her father genuinely cared—no, he loved deeply.

Unlike other nobles who quickly remarried after losing a spouse to manage the household, her father spent the rest of his life mourning her mother, never taking another wife until the day Dianna died.

[Duke] "Mirva will continue to manage the estate, just as before. You are aware of that."

Dianna fought to keep her expression neutral at the mention of that forgotten name. Mirva, her late mother's childhood friend and lady-in-waiting, had controlled the entire mansion until Dianna turned fifteen. They possessed the worst compatibility imaginable.

[Dianna] "Father, I will handle that matter myself."

[Duke] "I appreciate the thought. However, you have yet to learn estate management."

She let out a quiet sigh. Obstacles blocked her at every turn. She had regressed too early into the past, stripped of all freedom.

---

[Mirva] "My Lady, where are you going?"

Mirva appeared the moment Dianna stepped onto the estate grounds.

Mirva hailed from a humble baron family. Eager to display her noble status, she wore vulgar, overly flashy gowns and drenched herself in heavy perfume.

Dianna frowned in disgust.

[Dianna] "Just going out for a short evening walk."

[Mirva] "Oh dear, you shouldn't learn to wander around at night so early in life."

As a child, she never understood the underlying malice, but now she saw through it completely. Their past relationship had been a nightmare.

Mirva's comment, dripping with sarcasm, provoked her. Dianna wanted to punish the woman for her arrogance, but instead, she widened her gaze innocently.

[Dianna] "Father goes out at night too. Are you saying he lacks respectability?"

[Mirva] "What?"

[Dianna] "He leaves to work at night whenever His Majesty calls…… I don't think that's wrong."

[Mirva] "My Lady, that is for royal business. The situation is different."

[Dianna] "Father goes on night walks with His Majesty too, doesn't he?"

Diana smiled brightly and walked right past Mirva. She had a mountain of tasks ahead.

In her past life, she finally managed to expel this woman at fifteen. While she desired to throw the annoying woman out immediately, she had a more urgent matter to attend to.

Dianna glanced back to see if Mirva followed, but the woman stayed behind.

The servants under her care knew Dianna enjoyed stargazing at night and thought nothing of it. Yet Mirva always caused trouble. Dianna knew her interference arose from malice, not genuine concern.

---

Scanning her surroundings, Dianna nodded to herself.

She approached the abandoned barn. A foul stench filled the air, but she ignored it and flung the barn door open. Moonlight flooded the interior behind her, illuminating a curled-up figure.

She pulled a knife from her pocket.

Beloved Ann, always be someone who can protect yourself.

Her mother's final keepsake. She only needed to approach the curled-up beast and plunge the blade into his neck. It required no great effort. The restraining collar secured around his neck prevented any resistance.

Yes, I don't want you to suffer. I'll just kill you instead.

Let me destroy the seed of future disaster.

The man who murdered her family dragged her by the hair, reduced her to a dog, violated her body, and watched her wither away by his side. The man who ultimately betrayed her!

I will break this chain of revenge myself!

Her gaze flashed. The blade reflected the pale blue moonlight. She raised the dagger, preparing to plunge it down, but suddenly froze.

[Guiscard] "Help…… me……"

[Dianna] "......."

[Guiscard] "It hurts, it hurts so much……"

The whimpering monster—no, a helpless boy—groaned and sobbed in agony.

Faced with his wretched state, she tried to force her hand to strike multiple times.

Dianna lowered the dagger. She stared at the harmless boy and took a step back, gritting her teeth.

If she drove this blade home, the boy would die. Her revenge would be complete. Her family would survive, Alexa would escape a horrific death, and she would avoid that dog-like marriage.

Yet, why couldn't she execute such a simple task?

Dianna raised the dagger again with a furious glare, but it slipped from her grip, dropping heavily to the ground.

---

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