Chapter 10: The Woodcutter’s Wife (2)
There once lived a woodcutter deep in the mountains with his beautiful wife.
Having grown up together since childhood, the two naturally fell in love and married.
The woodcutter spent his days chopping timber, while his wife cultivated medicinal herbs.
Their life was peaceful and happy.
Then, one day…
The woodcutter returned from the forest carrying a wounded man covered in blood.
At a glance, the stranger’s luxurious clothing made it obvious he was a nobleman of high birth.
The woodcutter and his wife nursed him with sincere devotion.
They did not expect any reward.
They only hoped to avoid becoming entangled with someone of noble blood and inviting misfortune upon themselves.
Thanks to their care, the man recovered quickly.
But…
That was where the tragedy began.
He fell in love with the woodcutter’s wife.
Revealing his noble status, he courted her, promising her a life of wealth and glory.
The woodcutter’s wife, however, loved her husband.
She rejected him.
Seeming to accept her refusal, the man quietly departed from their cabin after making a full recovery.
For a time, it appeared the couple’s peaceful life would continue.
But the man had never given up.
He returned with his soldiers.
He beheaded the very woodcutter who had saved his life…
And stole his wife.
After bringing her back to the royal palace, he imprisoned her in the Eastern Tower.
Then, after his second wife died, he took her as his third queen.
The man who committed such a monstrous betrayal of all human decency…
Was none other than King Blake Clayton of Molvian.
And that beautiful, unfortunate woodcutter’s wife… is Mother.
As Ariana walked toward the deepest part of the palace where the queen resided, a faint smile escaped her lips.
Perhaps because he knew how shameful his actions truly were, the king had heavily embellished the story of how he and her mother had met.
According to the tale spread throughout the kingdom…
The wounded king had been rescued by a woodcutter and the woodcutter’s younger sister.
When he later returned to repay their kindness, the woodcutter had already been killed by a wild beast.
Only his poor younger sister remained.
The king mourned the dead woodcutter, brought the lonely young woman back to the palace to repay his debt…
And the two naturally fell in love.
“What do you think? How many people actually believe the story that the First Queen, consumed by jealousy over the king’s ‘true love,’ tried to murder Mother, failed, and then committed suicide?”
Molvian recognized only one legal spouse at a time.
However, remarriage after divorce or widowhood was perfectly acceptable.
The king’s second queen had married him after the first queen died shortly after giving birth to a son.
How must she have felt…
After giving birth to twins…
When she learned that her husband had hidden a commoner woman inside the Eastern Tower?
And then…
What if she had also learned that woman was pregnant?
“I would’ve tried to kill her too. What about you, Maia?”
Ariana glanced back at Maia, who was quietly following behind her.
“I couldn’t say, Princess.”
“An excellent answer.”
There were many things one had to pretend not to know within the royal palace.
The more you knew…
The sooner you died.
If you wished to survive, ignorance was often the wiser choice.
In that respect, Maia was a truly exceptional head maid.
“By the way, Maia… did you know there’s another chapter hidden inside that story?”
“…Pardon?”
In truth, the second queen had never intended to kill the woman herself.
She had wanted to kill the child growing inside her.
If she murdered the king’s beloved outright, the consequences would have been disastrous.
Instead, she planned to destroy the unborn child…
And ruin the woman’s body so she would never bear another.
Her plan only half succeeded.
After drinking the poison the second queen had sent, the woodcutter’s wife went into labor prematurely.
Her body was permanently damaged, leaving her unable to conceive again.
Yet the child the queen had tried to kill…
Was born safely.
Even the royal twins never learned that the furious king had personally executed the second queen after learning she had nearly killed the woman he loved.
That was the hidden chapter everyone knew nothing about.
But the true secret was something else entirely.
The child carried by the woman the king loved… was actually the woodcutter’s child.
Ariana had learned that truth directly from her mother before her regression.
“I was already carrying you.”
“To protect you, I accepted the king.”
“I deliberately drank the medicine the second queen sent me so it would look as though you had been born prematurely.”
“And because I feared the suspicious king would question your birth if he ever saw how much I loved you…”
“I deliberately kept my distance from you all these years.”
“You are the precious child I conceived with the man I truly loved.”
“So you must never die in this place.”
Her mother had stroked Ariana’s cheek over and over, tears streaming down her face as she spoke.
Back then…
Ariana hadn’t been able to say a single word.
“We’ve arrived at Her Majesty’s garden.”
How long had she been lost in those memories?
Maia’s voice brought Ariana back to the present.
Looking around, she found herself surrounded by nameless wildflowers and herbs that looked more like weeds than ornamental plants.
Could this truly be called a garden?
The king certainly did.
He proudly referred to it as the queen’s garden and allowed her to cultivate whatever she pleased.
After all, before bringing her to the palace, he had personally witnessed her tending medicinal herbs and wildflowers.
Those very herbs had healed his wounds.
Perhaps, every time he looked upon this garden, he indulged himself in memories of that “happy” past.
But Ariana knew what this garden truly represented.
The thought of the king reminiscing over it almost made her laugh.
“Mother takes care of all this herself, doesn’t she?”
“Yes. She tends every plant with great care.”
“Then we should be careful not to step on anything. This is a place filled with Mother’s… love.”
She meant those words sincerely.
Choosing each step with care, Ariana crossed the garden until she reached an elegantly decorated door.
Without realizing it, she held her breath.
She was about to meet her mother.
The nervousness she felt was entirely different from what she’d experienced before meeting Rashan.
“Greetings, Princess Ariana.”
The maid standing before the door had served the queen faithfully until the very end.
Like Maia, she owed the queen a tremendous debt.
Before Ariana’s regression, she had even sacrificed her life trying to save her mistress.
“Is Mother inside?”
“Her Majesty is waiting for you.”
“I’ll remain here.”
Leaving Maia outside with a small wave, Ariana slowly stepped through the door the queen’s head maid opened for her.
The room overflowed with light.
Countless green plants filled every corner, creating the illusion of walking through a living forest.
Taking in the scenery, Ariana drew a long, steady breath.
This was a place filled with her mother’s longing—
For the forest…
And for the husband she had loved her entire life.
Passing through the room, Ariana finally reached a great window.
There, waiting for her, sat her mother.
Brilliant golden curls.
Eyes as green as spring’s first leaves.
A beautiful woman who looked almost exactly like Ariana herself.
The unfortunate woodcutter’s wife.
Marianne Clayton.
“Greetings, Mother.”
Following Molvian court etiquette, Ariana lowered herself in a respectful curtsy and remained with her head bowed until her mother answered.
The atmosphere felt entirely different from when she faced the king.
Much colder.
“Rise.”
“Thank you.”
Straightening at the queen’s permission, Ariana looked at her mother.
Will I look like that when I’m older?
No…
She could never possess such quiet elegance.
Who could possibly look upon this woman and call her nothing more than a powerless commoner queen?
“How did you know Maia was my person?”
“It just… happened.”
Still standing, Ariana answered with a small smile as she watched her mother struggle to meet her eyes.
Once…
That behavior had only hurt her.
“It just happened… and I ended up learning many other things as well.”
Despite not being given permission to approach, Ariana slowly walked forward.
She knelt at her mother’s feet and looked up at her.
“So, Mother…”
“You don’t have to keep pushing me away to protect me anymore.”
“…What are you saying…?”
“They say my eyes resemble yours, don’t they?”
At that instant, the queen’s eyes widened.
For the first time, she met the gaze of the daughter she had spent years avoiding.
Was the reflection she saw in those trembling eyes so beautiful because her mother could no longer hide the love she felt?
Unable to speak, the queen simply stared.
Ariana quietly asked the question she had carried with her.
“Ethan Denil…”
“Do I resemble him very much?”
