TSMT 02

Chapter 2. The First Death

“Is it true that His Majesty really took you to his bed?”

“Of course. Do you know how virile His Majesty is? He was so gentle with me.”

Diana knew that her husband hated and despised her.
But why did it feel as if her very last foothold had just collapsed?
When she saw Lady Levian touch her own belly, Diana instinctively knew—she had nothing left.

“He always whispered to me. Said you were stiff as a corpse, that there was no pleasure in holding you.”

Diana let the woman’s words enter one ear and leave the other. She had to make an effort to do so.
She wanted to drive Lady Levian out, but sadly, the people who served her could not withstand the lady’s influence.

“He said he never intended to use your womb to continue the royal bloodline. He regrets making you queen.”

Please. Forget it. Just forget it.

“Why do you think I killed your child?”

When the lady handed her a cup of poison in plain sight, Diana lost her child.
Yet Lady Levian still walked with her chin high, showing her face to the heavens even though she had murdered the child in her womb.

And her husband—he had lain with this woman and made another child!
If anything, he should have dragged her down to the same level of slavery, not made a loathsome public vow called marriage!

When Diana’s gaze hardened, Lady Levian looked at her with smiling eyes.

“Oh my, finally showing your true colors? I’m delighted, Diana!”

A bright, carefree laugh rang out. Diana had to fight to keep from losing her composure.

“Diana Brienne. The fallen daughter of House Panborough. You didn’t think you could make our precious Majesty your slave and still live in peace, did you?”

“……”

“Shameless woman. You’ll live like a worm, always crawling in the dirt, begging to be killed.”

Lady Levian stripped away her mask and crushed Diana with words.
The woman who had already harmed her now aimed to steal even the queen’s seat.
Everything belonged to that woman.

Diana’s hand moved to her belly out of habit. She forced down her anger.
Yes. Of course. That woman wasn’t wrong.

I’m just paying for my sins.

Her anger slowly turned into resignation, and Diana decided to die.
She couldn’t go on only receiving punishment.
She wanted to escape through death.

“Your Majesty!”

Lost in thought, Diana snapped back to reality.
Below the balcony, she heard the voice of a royal knight.
Glancing down, she saw them rushing forward, stretching out a safety net.
If she jumped now, she wouldn’t die.

Just as her body tensed, someone grabbed her hand and yanked her back.
Her balance broke, and she fell forward—
only for strong arms to catch her before she hit the marble.

She struggled to break free, but she couldn’t.
It was like being caught in a spider’s web—she couldn’t move at all.
A suffocating pressure bound her tightly.

Guiscard was looking down at her, the corner of his mouth curling coldly.

“Nice little stunt you pulled, Anne.”

The low, clenched tone made it clear just how deep his anger ran.
It was the voice of a judge, contemplating what punishment to give a brazen criminal who had dared to dream of escape—
a voice laced with almost ecstatic excitement.

“Trying to run away? I’ll never allow it.”

The monster had declared it.

Of course.
This monster had no will to talk.
He only knew how to dominate, to force obedience, to bind.
Now that what he had feared losing was back in his grasp, he reverted instantly.

“You’re going to tell me why you did something this foolish.”

Would he use violence this time?
Or destroy what little she cherished, as he always had?
Or would he restrict even the small freedoms she had in this gilded cage?
No—more likely, he would make Lady Levian queen, and humiliate her completely.
He would strip away even the appearances he had once given her, and crush her utterly.

Why am I like this?
You already shattered the tiny patch of ground I had left to stand on.

Resentment toward Lady Levian rose to her lips, but Diana swallowed it down.
That was her pride.

“No, you monster.”

She ground her teeth and whispered.
Then, she pricked her finger on the poisoned needle hidden inside her ring.

The poison worked instantly.
Her stomach churned, and then—blood surged up her throat.
Her lips pressed against a hard shoulder, warm liquid flowing.
Sensing something, he finally looked at her face.

“Diana!”

Her silver-gray eyes were filled with hatred.
Tears streamed down.

If only you hadn’t touched the last thing I had left.
At least let me say goodbye while I was still whole.
But this selfish monster had ruined even her final farewell.

Blood kept spilling from her mouth—again, again, and again.

“No, no! Diana, no! Somebody!”

Leaning weakly in his arms, she felt herself fading.

They had told her the poison was painless—thankfully, it was.
Instead, numbness spread everywhere.
Before her tongue stiffened completely, Diana clutched Guiscard’s collar.

“Guis… card…”

Her stiff tongue pleaded his name.
It was the first time she had called this monster’s name since the day she lost everything.

The monster—her husband—looked at her face.

Why are you making that face now?
As if you’ve lost the whole world?
Don’t you hate me?
Don’t you despise me?
Are you just upset you couldn’t keep me in your grasp?

Tears filled Guiscard’s eyes.
The hero who had supposedly slain the Dragon of Panborough was crying helplessly beneath her death.

“No, no… don’t leave me, please…”

As if to awaken the dulled sense in her hand, he squeezed it tightly.
His touch was desperate and warm.

This was the same man who had made a child with another woman, holding his enemy’s daughter and crying—like an ordinary husband weeping over his dying wife.

That was what made Diana let go of everything.

“I… regret it…”

“What?”

“Saving you…”

Even at such cruel words, Guiscard did not answer.
It was as if the words meant to wound him didn’t matter—he cared only for her life.
Her life’s flame was dying out.

Even as she said it, Diana regretted it.
What right did the shameless daughter of an enemy have to say such a thing?

“I shouldn’t have saved you that day…”

“You…”

“I shouldn’t have freed you from your chains…”

“You!”

“I regret it… I really regret it…”

And yet, selfishly, she spoke for her own vengeance—to leave a curse etched into his life.
She wanted him to know how much she had suffered.

His eyes widened, his face twisting in grief.

“Guis… card.”

“Don’t talk, don’t! Please…”

“Mi…”

“Diana, please, please… God, please…”

You said you hated me—so why do you cry like this?
You said you’d abandon me—so why do you call on the God you rejected?

Drowsiness overtook her.
Peace wrapped around her body, and all emotions left her.
Hatred, resentment—gone.
She wanted to cover the curse she’d meant to leave as her last words.

She wanted to say she was sorry.
Sorry she hadn’t saved him sooner.

But the poison had spread too far—her tongue wouldn’t move.
Her last sense was hearing Guiscard’s cries.
It was too late to take it back.

If we have another life… I hope we won’t hate each other.

Was it her own tears, or someone else’s, that wet her face?
She could still feel the touch.

Ah… even in death, I’m trapped in his arms.

Diana closed her eyes.
She doubted she would find happiness in God’s embrace after ending her own life,
but she found comfort in knowing this painful relationship was over.

Goodbye, Guiscard.

She remembered the bruised boy who had once looked at her in her youth—
the boy who had smiled brightly when she reached out her hand.
He had never smiled like that again… but now, at the end, he did.

She never understood why the last person she saw was the monster who had made her suffer most.
She closed her eyes.

“Anne, Anne!”

That was Diana’s first death.

It had been a truly wretched life.

She had lived as best she could… but where had it gone wrong?
Where could she have turned it back?

She reflected on her life—again and again—until the moment she died.