Object Of Revenge

“You’re pregnant.”

No congratulations were uttered.

The queen, a walking corpse, had a notorious reputation for detesting the king. Upon hearing the word ‘pregnancy,’ the maids exchanged furtive glances, and the queen, who had conceived, maintained silence while staring outside the window.

“How long has it been since your lunar cycle has been irregular…?”

The physician peered at Diana’s belly through a magical device.

“Around twelve weeks, at least.”

“Alright. Well done. Everyone, withdraw.”

Diana was left alone in the room, staring blankly at the sky. There was a child in her slender belly.

A child.

It didn’t feel real.

‘A child in this small stomach? A baby? My baby?’

She spent the whole day caressing her belly.

‘A child was conceived between that monster and me?’

Diana tried to pinch her belly, but she couldn’t bring herself to exert any force. The presence of life inside her belly was fascinating—marvelous, even. However, above all, it was horrifying.

She held her stomach and broke down into tears.

In the end, she even conceived that bastard’s child! That’s how it was!

It disgusted her. She punched her stomach with her fist; she kept hitting it over and over again.

There was, in fact, a surefire way: taking abortion pills or hitting her stomach against a sturdy piece of furniture.

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to do that.

Diana cried and kept punching her stomach until she fell asleep.

━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━

Young Lady Levianne offered Diana a teacup.

It was tea time with the noblewomen, who were friendly with the Levianne household, to congratulate the queen’s pregnancy.

“The physician mentioned that this tea is good for the fetus.”

“….”

As Diana kept staring at the tea, Lady Levianne spoke with a hint of sadness.

“Why? Do you think there’s something wrong with the tea?”

She lowered her charming eyelids and pouted her lips.

Diana looked at her face—shining like the sunlight—and then looked at the cup.

“You’re going too far, Your Majesty. What did Young Lady Levianne do?”

One of the older noblewomen scolded Diana. The young ladies around started to whisper among them. Even the knights began to insult Diana as if they wanted others to listen.

Right. With so many people around, would a noble lady dare to do anything to her?

Even if she wanted to be presumptuous, Diana couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

She took a sip of the tea and…

“Ah—ah! Aaah!”

She lost the child.

Young Lady Levianne smiled coolly as she looked down at Diana, screaming.

━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━

“Ann!”

The door to Diana’s bedchamber creaked open, and a man entered.

It was Guiscard. His quivering violet eyes showed an anxious expression.

Diana looked at him with a lifeless face.

“You came back quickly.”

It hadn’t been long since Guiscard left to battle. On a closer look, he didn’t look as if he had just come back.

He took a step and approached Diana.

“More than that, a child…”

Seeing the peculiar excitement on Guiscard’s face, Diana realized that no one had informed him about what had happened to the child.

“You’re with child…”

“It’s gone.”

“What?”

Guiscard’s face changed. His pupils turned cold and pierced Diana’s face. The warmth that had briefly appeared on his face vanished in an instant.

“It’s gone.”

“….”

“It’s gone! There’s no child anymore! I drank abortion pills!”

Diana screamed like a banshee. Her screams sounded desperate. She hadn’t even decided yet whether she would love or hate that child.

“Why? Did you want to have a child with me? A child from Fanberoux’s slave?!”

Diana had already lost her mind. Barely a day had passed since she realized its existence.

Such a foolish mother she was; she had been neglecting her child for three months without even realizing its existence.

So, should she be relieved that this monster wasn’t there? Should she be sad? Diana let out a bitter laugh.

She tried to tell Guiscard about what happened at the tea party. Yes, if Guiscard showed interest in the child, then maybe he would seek revenge.

“Your Majesty, the child—”

Yet Guiscard, looking at her as if he were looking at something dreadful, cut off her words.

“Are you saying you got rid of the child yourself?”

After such remarks, Diana strongly argued that it was Young Lady Levianne who had killed the child. Surprisingly, Guiscard easily commanded Lady Levianne’s capture.

Diana’s face, having lost the child not long ago, lacked vitality.

“How could I, in front of everyone, harm Your Majesty’s child, causing damage to the royal bloodline?!” Lady Levianne shouted, flabbergasted.

She made a fuss in the audience chamber.

“That’s right. There’s no way Young Lady Levianne would do such a thing. How can she openly harm the royal bloodline in front of people?”

The nobles who were present at the tea party shouted. Diana looked at them and said,

“Then who gave me the abortion pills?”

People murmured at Diana’s calm words. Tears welled up in Lady Levianne’s blue eyes.

“No one at that tea party poisoned Your Majesty the Queen. Absolutely no one.”

“Is that so?”

A simmering, dark voice was heard. The chill voice seemed to come right from hell. Guiscard’s anger was immense.

Diana thought the truth would be revealed. But the world was always unreasonable.

“I know Your Majesty dislikes me,” Lady Levianne said with a trembling voice.

“But isn’t it too much to plot to get rid of me using His Majesty’s child? Her Majesty the Queen has orchestrated everything.”

What she said matched exactly Guiscard’s suspicions.

“Your Majesty, Sir Alsio has captured a suspicious man in the royal palace.”

“….”

“I tried to keep this story a secret, but for the sake of my honor, I must reveal it,” Lady Levianne said.

As she beckoned, an arrested man came forward and knelt.

He was someone Diana had never seen before, but the man seemed to recognize her. Looking at her, the man cried out as if he was unjustly treated.

“Your Majesty! Why did I—? Didn’t you say you would spare my life?!”

“Who—”

Young Lady Levianne cut off Diana’s words.

“This person claims that Her Majesty bought him abortion pills.”

“….”

Diana looked up at Lady Levianne.

The gazes of the people around her changed. Guiscard’s guards, advisors, servants, and the nobles from the tea party all looked at Diana with horrified expressions as if she, who had killed her child, was a dreadful figure.

“No. I never did such a thing.”

Diana desperately shook her head.

“I truly never…”

She spoke with a trembling voice and looked back at Guiscard. At the same time, he stared at her with his usual cold expression.

For the first time, Diana tried to defend herself.

“Believe me. I truly… such a thing…”

All of this is Lady Levianne’s doing. I remember her face, her arrogant smile. She personally forced me to drink the poison. But such truth had already been manipulated.

As Diana spoke to him in earnestness, Guiscard’s face showed a strange emotion; it almost looked as if he were pleased.

“…Guiscard.”

When Diana called his name, Guiscard looked ahead and said,

“There is no way she could have harmed herself. Moreover, how could a mother kill her own child?”

‘Did he believe me? Did he truly believe me? Does this person still recognize my truth?’

Nevertheless, Young Lady Levianne spoke sternly.

“No, it’s a lie! There is concrete evidence.”

“Evidence?”

“Your Majesty, why are you hiding everything? Didn’t you inflict wounds on your noble royal body?”

‘Wounds?’ Diana made a puzzled expression.

“My Queen! Didn’t you want… to erase the child? I know about the bruises on your belly.”

Diana’s pale face turned even whiter.

That was true; at the moment she knew she had a child, Diana had abused her belly like crazy.

“It’s such a terrible bruise that only I, as her lady-in-waiting, know about it.”

“….”

“Your Majesty can confirm it yourself.”

Guiscard looked at Diana’s face. This time, she couldn’t bring herself to deny it. She couldn’t possibly lie.

Upon that expression, Guiscard reached a conclusion. He raised the corner of his mouth.

“There seems to be no need to confirm.”

“….”

“Let’s leave this matter undisclosed.”

Guiscard got up from his seat, speaking coldly; his face was still, but a breathtaking sharpness weighed on them.

He took Diana’s hand with a chilling smile.

Why did his warm hand give her goosebumps?

She followed him helplessly. A cold hand and a warm hand touched.

Guiscard looked at Diana, raised the corner of his mouth, and drew his sword.

‘Are you trying to kill me? Are you finally going to kill me now?’ Diana flinched and closed her eyes.

“Ahh!”

However, she was startled as she heard a man’s muffled voice. It was the man who claimed to have sold the abortion pills to her.

“No other man should dare to enter the Queen’s chambers.”

Guiscard muttered something strange.

Hearing that, Diana shook and looked back. She had fallen into a perfect trap.

Guiscard didn’t trust her.

She stared at Lady Levianne’s smiling face and the nobles following her.

…Each one of them was a monster.

Tears rolled down her closed eyes.

Diana genuinely began to abhor this place.

_