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Chapter 94
Isn’t This Hell?
Before attending the archery gathering, Diana practiced quite diligently. Even after Princess Kragel and Princess Leveyan had left the palace, she continued to train in the corner of the knights’ practice field.
“You need to rest a little. At this rate, you’ll strain your arm.”
Rogafl muttered near Diana, in a somewhat whiny tone. Eventually, Rogafl subtly started interfering with Diana’s practice. Diana ignored his words; for now, she was fine.
A sigh escaped Rogafl.
“Sir Aines, do something about this.”
One of the knights Rogafl had brought out sighed. He was one of the knights who had glanced at Diana and then walked past.
“Your Majesty, the Queen. You’ll never improve your archery this way. Please, put down the bow.”
That sounded genuinely earnest.
“Please listen to Sir Aines. He’s the best in Varghati when it comes to archery.”
Only then did Diana turn to look behind her.
“Sir Aines, you said?”
“Yes.”
“I could use your help. Would you assist me?”
“Of course. Command me anytime.”
Aines of Varghati wasn’t as gentle as Rogafl, but he seemed amicable enough. So, after Princess Kragel left, Diana began learning archery from Aines.
“I apologize for taking your time.”
“Not at all. His Majesty commanded that I serve Your Majesty, the Queen, wholeheartedly.”
“Wholeheartedly…”
Diana thought of Giskar. He must have given his knights strict orders. Indeed, her earlier suspicions were correct.
Giskar had instructed his knights to attend to Diana.
Diana tried to distance herself from those warm feelings, but her mind kept drifting into sweetly positive thoughts.
It was strange. She had thought that everyone, like Bill, would see her as ugly and unfit to be queen, just because Rogafl was alive. Yet there were people like Rogafl and Aines who faithfully followed her.
Regardless, archery practice was hard, but Diana began to make some progress.
Meanwhile, the knights of Varghati were thrown into confusion. They intensely disliked Diana Brien. They had expected a queen who would be frail, whining, or arrogant while bedridden—but she turned out to be better than expected.
According to Rivus, those who had defied the queen’s orders previously had committed many wrongdoings within the palace. And now, seeing how competent she was, they were forced to reevaluate her. Yet despite her skill, she still came out occasionally to practice archery—a remarkable sight.
The essence of knights lay in effort, and they didn’t hate those who worked hard despite being weak. Though they disliked laziness and reluctance, seeing Diana actively practicing made them want to help. Since the queen still disliked the knights for past reasons, they discreetly assisted through Rogafl.
They laid stones imbued with warm magical energy on the cold practice field, gathered softer beginner bows, stocked lighter arrows…
Observing her practice and preparing what she needed became part of their duties.
“Should I apologize?”
Bill spoke gloomily.
He realized how terribly wrong he had been. Judging the queen’s face and status recklessly was a grave offense—he was lucky to still have his head. Giskar had dealt with him more severely, but still…
“I doubt she’d accept your apology,” Rogafl said coldly. Since ‘that incident,’ Rogafl hated Bill.
“Before coming here, we should at least protect your safety,” Aines sighed.
Thus, their queen continued her archery practice, shooting arrows in a manner that even Aines considered ‘commendable,’ though her accuracy was poor.
Following Princess Kragel’s advice, Diana was glad she wore practical clothes. Though she was a queen, she wasn’t used to wearing non-luxurious activity wear. The outfit didn’t constrict her waist, and her wrists were secured with ties, making it comfortable.
Duchess Islaag received Diana with moderate hospitality. Diana worried she might be mocked, as had happened with other noblewomen in her previous life. Yet the duchess held a ‘match’ and divided participants into teams. Diana was included in a team.
Of course, her teammates sighed upon seeing her.
Still, Diana sensed something peculiar. She felt a sense of hostility from Duchess Islaag, different from Princess Leveyan’s malice.
Why was that?
In her previous life, Diana had no real interactions with Duchess Islaag. The duchess’ servants followed Princess Leveyan, and though they sneered at Diana, they didn’t harbor such outright hostility.
Something had changed since her past life. Was it due to her new behavior? She couldn’t tell.
Though Duchess Islaag appeared to treat Diana normally, Diana had to remain alert, sensing invisible webs of danger.
Duchess Islaag was on the opposite side of the match and skilled. Meanwhile, Diana’s team was rowdy. They scored high, led by Princess Kragel, but slightly behind overall.
When Diana’s turn came, she deliberately took her beginner bow. Some onlookers made negative comments, but she shot her arrow.
Immediately, Diana realized something was wrong. A sylph transporting the arrow had been displaced. If she hadn’t summoned multiple sylphs just in case, the arrow would have veered off target.
“The arrow is enchanted.”
Diana had intended to slightly miss, but the enchanted arrow kept altering its trajectory, forcing her to hit dead center.
[Hehe! Fun!]
The sylphs giggled as they embedded the arrow. She had tried to score moderately, but the magic ruined her plan.
The more she shot, the clearer the arrow’s purpose became: it was designed to target a servant standing beside the target.
In other words, it was meant to coerce Diana into committing ‘murder.’
“What kind of woman is she?”
Diana glared at Duchess Islaag, who coldly maintained her composure.
If she wanted to trap someone, why involve a person’s life? Diana didn’t know why this woman disliked her, but unlike Princess Leveyan, she was more sinister and cruel.
“Were you always this talented?”
Princess Kragel shouted with a bright smile. She seemed pleased that Diana had won. Princess Leveyan frowned; she had performed poorly and received subtle criticism from her teammates.
Several people approached Diana warmly.
“I see you differently now.”
“You must have learned archery in Panborough, right?”
“Catching Echidna wasn’t just luck, was it!”
Diana felt guilty. She had intended to deceive with the sylphs, but the enchanted arrows caused her to perform excessively well. The score wasn’t truly hers.
Trying to hide her guilt, she said:
“I’m actually not good at archery. Princess Kragel helped me practice.”
Princess Kragel cleared her throat, and the women all stepped back. Her sharply featured face appeared fierce when contorted. Diana, seeing Kragel embarrassed, teased playfully:
“Even though she looks strict, she taught me kindly.”
“K-Kindly!”
Princess Kragel tried to speak but pressed her lips shut. Diana chuckled softly.
“I was actually lucky. I knew nothing about archery and struggled a lot.”
“What? You did so well without knowing? Your Majesty, the Queen, must be naturally gifted.”
People complimented her, but Diana smiled ambiguously. There was no need to boast about her true skill with elemental magic. Perhaps because they had ‘won together’ in the match, Diana could converse comfortably with them for a while.
Strangely enough.
This change felt unfamiliar to Diana. Yet she didn’t dislike it. Was it really okay to act this way? To change the future like this? She felt apprehensive.
Even now, her different actions drew hostility from Duchess Islaag.
Yet she could converse normally with these others. It was as if she had returned to being Princess Brien of Panborough, able to interact with them freely.
Whether it was the worst decision or the right one, she didn’t know.
One thing was certain: Diana was living in the moment, and the satisfaction from that brought a quiet comfort, reminiscent of the exhilaration she had felt when freeing Giskar from slavery in her past life.
After returning from the archery gathering, Diana heard that Giskar would arrive in half a month. Spring was coming. Unlike her past life, the expedition had been prolonged.
Diana gathered the staff and instructed them to tidy the palace. She transplanted seedlings from the greenhouse outside and hired more gardeners to plant spring flowers.
Even though she had resolved to do nothing, she kept working. Strangely, she realized that this was more peaceful than she expected.
Huh, strange.
This doesn’t feel like hell.
Diana blinked. Princess Leveyan, who had always tormented her, was subdued by Princess Kragel’s presence. Leveyan, who typically engineered mistakes to ruin Diana, couldn’t succeed this time.
“When things are so peaceful, something always happens…”
Diana realized she had spoken what she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t take it back.
Words have power. The next morning, Diana’s eyes widened at the report she received.
“Gargoyles?”
She bit her lip. In the waning winter, a flock of gargoyles was attacking the capital.
