Chapter 08
I will not run away. Even if I end up dragged into a mud fight and lose my life.
“I will do what I can here. I will not run.”
“…….”
Isabella didn’t answer. She simply held Diana’s unwavering gaze.
“……You’ve grown so much.”
Isabella murmured softly.
“I understand your intent. But my decision will not change.”
“Your Majesty!”
“This is for your own good, Natasha!”
Isabella called for Natasha immediately, leaving Diana no chance to protest.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“It seems I’ve kept Gilrod waiting for too long. See the princess off.”
Diana looked at Isabella longingly, but Isabella deliberately avoided her gaze.
Reluctantly leaving the office, Diana asked in a voice she tried to keep calm:
“Your Majesty… you’re… well, right?”
“……Do not worry.”
With those words, Isabella faintly smiled. That smile belonged not to the Queen, but to Diana Ahiel’s aunt, Isabella Ahiel.
After sending Diana off, Isabella turned back to the window, gazing into the distance.
“Children grow up too fast.”
As she muttered quietly, there was a knock at the office door.
“Isn’t the checkup schedule coming around too often? Seeing your face makes me feel worse.”
Gilrod entered, and Isabella greeted him curtly.
“The kingdom cannot remain stable unless the monarch is well.”
Gilrod spoke firmly before immediately beginning a simple examination.
Gilrod Paole, a respected pharmacist and vice dean of the Royal University, had been serving as the royal physician even before his appointment as vice dean.
As the Queen’s personal physician, he visited her office more than twice a week to check her health.
When Isabella let out a small sigh during the checkup, Gilrod glanced at her over his thick glasses.
“Did something happen with the princess?”
Isabella glared at him as if he were a ghost.
“Your Majesty’s sigh sounded different. Normally, it’s just… ha… but now it’s haah… Hahaha, just joking. I saw Princess Diana leave.”
“Trying to poke fun at the monarch… have I lived long enough to see this?”
Though a chilling joke, Gilrod just laughed it off.
“Am I not Your Majesty’s only friend? If you kill me, who will you exchange trivial jokes with to pass the time?”
“Lately, Natasha’s sense of humor has been improving, it’s quite amusing.”
Isabella’s remark left Natasha looking sincerely embarrassed. Seeing the strange combination, Isabella leaned back and laughed heartily.
“So, what did the princess say to make you sigh so deeply?”
“Gilrod, it’s not easy to say this in front of you… but I’ve been able to stay sane thanks to my two children.”
“I understand your feelings. Though I’ve even lost a grandchild… isn’t that what war is all about?”
“Even if war is always like that, when Edgar died, I felt like I was going mad. You’ve known me long enough to know how much I respected my father. His words were more than just law to me.”
Isabella clenched and unclenched her stiff right hand as she continued.
“I thought maintaining the country according to my father’s wishes was the best I could do. But I was mistaken. The world was changing rapidly, and my arrogant choices split the nation in half, setting it to fight. I might as well have killed my own family with my hands.”
Gilrod remained silent but listened more intently than anyone. His deep eyes seemed to recall the children lost to war, and even the grandchild he barely knew.
“If only I could go back in time… I would risk my life to prevent the war.”
“You have always done your best. Do not blame yourself.”
“Gilrod… I regret it.”
Isabella’s deep eyes blazed with a vivid blue.
“But Diana told me something. She said she doesn’t want to regret. She said she will not run away.”
“…….”
“Seeing Diana reminds me of the fearless young me. I want to protect that child. I do not want to lose my family again. I’m tired of regrets. So I will protect her in the way I believe is right. But……”
At that moment, the cry of a hawk soaring freely outside reached her ears. Isabella’s gaze followed the blue sky.
“……Sometimes, I wish I were wrong.”
Meanwhile, Diana watched the sunset over the horizon.
“This concludes the afternoon duties, Your Highness. Please take a short rest.”
Jerome spoke as he organized the documents.
Diana propped her chin on her hand, staring blankly into the air. She had tried all day to shake off the melancholy, but she realized that if the Queen refused to meet her, multiple petitions would be useless.
If she had to leave soon, she would need to find what she could do within the kingdom. The problem was, she didn’t know where to start.
“I’ll go for a walk.”
“I’ll a….”
“Alone. Please don’t follow. I’ll just walk around the garden here.”
Jerome squinted, and Diana quickly added:
“If you’re so worried, you can just watch from the terrace.”
“That was my plan anyway.”
A moment later, as she stepped into the garden and looked up at the palace, she saw Jerome standing on the terrace, watching her.
Diana frowned at his presence. Jerome, who seemed like nothing more than a nag, was actually a highly capable aide from an elite family.
Graduating top of his class at the Royal University, he had become a royal aide at the age of twenty-two, and had been by her side since she was fourteen.
Previous aides had all quickly given up, unable to handle her or her restless nature. In that sense, Jerome’s over-five-years-long service made him exceptionally competent.
Isabella had offered Jerome every possible reward to keep him at the palace, but he refused all the perks and stayed purely to support Diana.
Diana had never asked why he stayed, but she guessed it had something to do with Louis. They had known each other since childhood. Or rather…
“I don’t know. Their relationship is complicated.”
Diana took a deep breath instead of sighing. She opened her arms, feeling as if the soft touch of blooming spring flowers brushed her fingertips.
As she enjoyed this modest freedom, she faintly heard the sound of a scuffle.
She followed the noise and asked:
“Huh, what are you doing here?”
She found Ian struggling to stop Yan from eating flowers.
“Ha… Your Highness, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
Ian pointed to Jerome, still watching Diana from a slightly distant terrace.
“Honestly, it’s like you’re leaving a trail wherever you go.”
Diana sighed at Jerome. He looked at her with Ian, eyes wide, as if ready to leap from the terrace.
“You seem to have a very serious misunderstanding. Ian, you should be careful of Jerome for now…!”
At that moment, Yan leapt toward Diana.
“Ahahaha, Yan, you’re tickling me!”
As Yan licked her arms, Diana held his head with both hands, rubbing it in mock revenge.
“He missed you terribly. I’ve been exhausted trying to stop him from causing trouble.”
“I missed you too.”
Diana’s reply left Ian momentarily speechless, scratching his neck and looking away.
“Then I’ll come at this time every day.”
“Yes?”
Ian smiled as if ignoring her question. At that moment, they heard Jerome’s voice behind them—it wasn’t imagination, he was really running toward them.
“Should we run away?”
“What?”
She instinctively grabbed his hand as he swung over Yan.
“Your Highness! You said we’d only walk in the garden!”
Jerome’s protesting voice quickly faded behind them.
“Now let’s head back!”
Diana called.
But Ian sped up with Yan, and Diana grabbed his waist tightly, feeling his playful laugh. She glared at him from behind, though he probably didn’t notice.
They headed toward the western forest. Inside the walls, there were multiple groves; the western forest was closest to the walls but farthest from the central palace buildings.
Soon, reaching a higher hill in the western forest, Ian stopped Yan.
“How did we end up all the way here…?”
“You took my hand, Your Highness.”
Diana’s playful complaint was met with Ian’s innocent expression. She was annoyed but had no response.
“Come stand by me, Your Highness.”
Diana reluctantly climbed to his side.
Looking out from their vantage point, Diana was momentarily speechless.
