TSMT 09

Chapter 9

“Who’s that kid?”

“Oh, young lady, that one’s a slave. You see the restraints, don’t you?”

At the servant’s words, the girl with pale blond hair looked curiously at the boy carrying wood. His appearance was neat and clean, though his face was smeared with dirt. His rare amethyst-colored eyes were undeniably beautiful.

Then, the boy stumbled. Because he was limping, the wood hanging from his shoulder fell to the ground.

“You brat!”

The servant shouted, rushing over.

“Do you know how expensive this wood is?! Useless slave scum!”

The servant’s kick sent the boy rolling across the ground. He then mercilessly drove his foot into the boy’s stomach. Diana flinched in shock.

“Stop it! What do you think you’re doing?”

She shouted, running over. The boy, now sprawled face down, was completely covered in dirt. She crouched beside him and reached out her hand, not caring if her dress got soiled.

“Young lady! That’s a filthy slave! Don’t touch him!”

“He’s not filthy at all. What’s so dirty about him?”

The noble daughter of the Brien dukedom reached her hand toward the slave for all to see.

“Are you alright?”

“Young lady, lazy slaves must be disciplined. If not, I—”

“Even so, beating a person like this is wrong!”

The girl stood up to the servant blocking her path. The boy, lying on the ground, lifted his bruised face. There wasn’t an uninjured spot on him; his leg throbbed as if the bone was broken.

Yet, amid his pain, the girl’s words struck him in an odd way.

Damn it, what the hell is this wretched girl saying?

It was the resonance of fury. Her empty, hypocritical mouth flapped with pretended kindness—it was utterly disgusting. If he’d had the strength, he would have grabbed her by the throat. That’s how deeply he was enraged.

The girl saw something vile in his gaze as he looked up at her—eyes like a predator’s, glinting with murderous intent.

But Diana could not read that emotion, for she was ignorant of human malice—malice deep enough to take someone’s life. Instead, she found herself unable to look away from those dazzling, venom-filled eyes.

Charity and hatred.

This was the first meeting of Giscarr Lodbrok and Diana Brien.

The second first meeting came in an even more wretched form. Diana closed her eyes; it was as if a dreadful future had unfolded before her. She turned abruptly—Giscarr. That monster was reaching out a hand.

A heavy stench of blood seemed to wash over her. Her breath caught; she clenched her fists, wanting to scream for him to be thrown out—no, she wanted to run away.

It felt as though fate itself would swoop in and drag her back to that time. Suddenly, her stomach prickled with phantom pain. Oh, how she wanted to kill him.

No.

She couldn’t do that.

She instinctively suppressed the emotions that were about to burst out. It was certain—she had returned to being twelve years old. So, she had to make her father, the Duke, drive him out.

Diana knew her father’s personality well. In her memories, he was always strict. If she acted like a child throwing a tantrum, he would use it as an excuse to discipline her even more harshly. If she demanded Giscarr be expelled, he’d dismiss it as childish whining and never agree.

I have to stop this.

I have to stop this man.

She looked at the boy wearing a collar. Seeing him restrained brought to mind her own image. Yes—wearing a collar at her wedding had been his revenge.

The realization was almost laughable. Now she understood one of the reasons she had hated him so much. She looked at the monster who would ruin her life. The violet eyes held no will to live, as if they were already lost in the abyss. She turned away, biting her lip until she tasted blood, her fists clenched tight. Hatred and fear came flooding back.

I want to see you suffer. You made me miserable—now I want you to be in agony again.

It might be petty, but so what? He was going to be punished again.

“I came to drag you into hell.”

The whisper rang clear in her ears. God was punishing him—he was doomed to repeat his hell. Diana forced herself to suppress the sadistic satisfaction. She had to stay calm.

She had to get him thrown out.

“So in the end, you’re saying you want him gone just because you have a bad feeling?”

Duke Brien looked at Diana. She nodded, speaking with some nervousness before her father. She hoped he would think her earlier conversation with the queen showed maturity. After all, she couldn’t just do nothing.

“Couldn’t you make sending him away my twelfth birthday present?”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed. Diana took care not to appear as if she was throwing a childish fit. She kept her face calm and voice steady. Even meeting her father again after so long, he remained an intimidating figure. And she knew this request could easily be seen as nothing more than petulance.

“He’s a slave granted by His Majesty.”

“But if he’s not good at his work, you can dismiss him, right?”

How could she explain that he was the missing prince of Lodbrok and would one day come back for revenge? If she said that, her father might send her to a mental institution. It was an outrageous claim. She didn’t even know why the King of Panborough had sent a prince here as a slave.

“Diana, is that really all? Just a bad feeling?”

At his question, she swallowed hard. She couldn’t tell the truth. Instead, she said—

“His eyes are strange.”

“Strange?”

“They looked like he was going to kill us.”

“Who? That slave?”

The Duke’s lips curved slightly.

“I thought you’d grown up, but it seems you’re still a child. Forget about the slave and go practice your embroidery.”

With those words, Diana knew her request had been denied.

“I have no intention of letting him go.”

“…”

“So don’t throw a tantrum over such things.”

The stern words felt like a death sentence. The firmness in his tone even carried a hint of obsession. She looked at her father as though he were a stranger.

Her father had always been in the emperor’s faction and had opposed slavery. Though blunt, he had a basic kindness that made his servants like him. Why had he accepted a slave? And why did he show not the slightest pity for this one? Diana felt instinctively that she had to approach this matter very carefully.

“I’m sorry, Father. I just wanted to be spoiled a little.”

“…”

“I didn’t mean to interfere in your affairs.”

When she clasped her hands and lowered her head, warmth flickered in the Duke’s eyes.

“It’s not impossible… if you were ready to take your mother’s place. But right now, you’re too young.”

“…”

“I have no plans to remarry until you’ve grown into a proper lady.”

“Yes.”

“I hope you’ll succeed me soon.”

Guilt pricked her for looking at her father coldly. She had resented him for bringing Giscarr—the source of her ruin—into their home.

But that was how he was. Many nobles remarried after losing a spouse to manage the household, but until her death, he had only missed her mother and never remarried.

“As always, Mirva will handle the household. You know that, right?”

The forgotten name made Diana struggle not to frown. Mirva, her mother’s childhood friend and maid, had ruled the household until Diana was fifteen. Their relationship had been terrible.

“Father, I’ll take care of that myself.”

“Thank you for saying so. But you’ve never learned how to manage a household.”

Diana sighed softly. Everything was blocked. She had returned far too early, and there was no freedom at all.

“Young lady, where are you going?”

As she left the mansion, Mirva appeared. She came from a poor baron’s family but dressed in gaudy clothes and drenched herself in heavy perfume, desperate to flaunt her noble status.

How she hated her. Diana’s face twisted in displeasure.

“I’m going for an evening walk.”

“Oh dear, you shouldn’t be learning to go out at night already.”

As a child, she hadn’t understood, but now she did. They had been a long, tiresome match. That was clearly a jab. She wanted to punish the impertinence but instead widened her eyes and said—

“Are you saying Father isn’t respectable?”

“What?”

“His Majesty calls for him to work at night sometimes… I don’t think that’s wrong.”

“Young lady, that’s work. It’s different.”

“Father also goes for evening walks with His Majesty, doesn’t he?”

Diana smiled sweetly and walked past her. She had work to do. She’d managed to drive that irritating woman out by the time she was fifteen, but right now, there was something else to deal with.

Glancing back to see if Mirva was following—thankfully, she wasn’t—Diana continued on. Her maids all knew she enjoyed stargazing at night, so they didn’t think much of it.

Only Mirva always made a fuss. Diana knew well it wasn’t out of concern.

Looking around, she nodded to herself and opened the door to an abandoned shed. The stench was awful, but she ignored it. Moonlight spilled in behind her, illuminating the curled-up figure inside.

She pulled a knife from her pocket.

“My dear Anne, you must always be someone who can protect yourself.”

It was her late mother’s keepsake. All she had to do was walk over to that crouching beast and stab its neck. It was easy—he had a collar and couldn’t resist.

Yes. She didn’t want him to suffer.

Better to just kill him.

Cut the root of future trouble.

This was the man who had killed her family, who had dragged her by the hair and made her his dog, who had violated her, who had watched her wither away, who had finally abandoned her.

She would be the one to break the chain of revenge.

Her eyes flashed. The blade caught the moonlight with a cold, bluish gleam. She raised it to strike—

“Help… me…”

“….”

“It hurts… it hurts so much…”

The monster—no, the boy who was just another victim—groaned and whimpered in pain.

Looking at his pitiful figure, she tried again and again to raise the dagger.

But she lowered it. She looked at the harmless boy, then stepped back. She clenched her teeth.

If she moved this dagger, he would die. Her revenge would be complete—her family wouldn’t die, Alexa wouldn’t suffer a miserable death, and she wouldn’t endure that wretched marriage.

So why—why couldn’t she do such an easy thing?

Her eyes bloodshot, she raised the dagger again.

But it fell heavily to the ground.