MTMT 26

Chapter 26

The Fall of Mirva

“Are you all right?”

Diana opened her eyes wide and looked at Giskar, who had saved her. Why did Giskar save me? In the sunlight, his gray eyes were clear and transparent.

He reached out his hand to Diana, and she, as if spellbound, took it and stood up. The warmth in his hand was almost overwhelming. Startled, she withdrew her hand and looked around. Her father was staring at Giskar with a shocked expression.

Giskar scanned Diana quickly. Her collar had caught slightly on Mirva’s fingers, almost making her lose her balance, but she was unharmed.

Diana, looking at her own appearance, thought silently: What a shame. I should have been hurt. At least a slap on the cheek or a tug at my hair would have made it more dramatic. Could it really have been this easy to subdue me?

Perhaps Giskar noticed her thought, for his eyebrows knitted slightly.

“Lock her up.”

At the duke’s command, Mirva immediately snapped back to her senses. She began protesting furiously.

“Step aside! It’s all her fault! Duke! She—this insolent girl—planned all of this! It was all a scheme!”

Mirva yelled, her voice shrill. Diana looked at her father. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to suspect her, but a reasonable explanation was necessary.

“Father, if there’s any fault on my part, it’s that I brought Mirva along to the tea party.”

“…Brought her along? Why on earth!”

“I said I needed help because I am still inexperienced and clumsy.”

Mirva had forced Diana to endure grueling lessons under the pretense of ‘taming’ her, always citing her youth and inexperience as the excuse. Diana’s eyes welled with tears.

“The Queen graciously invited me… I didn’t know what to do. But Mirva, by persistently contacting other ladies privately, made some of them uncomfortable. So, at some point, I began visiting them alone. Mirva herself became close with the Duchess Poliana.”

Hearing this, the duke gritted his teeth. What could a twelve-year-old know? He was aware that Mirva had been trying to meet other noblewomen. He had thought he would deal with it later, but now this mess had occurred!

“I wanted to tell you several times, but I felt I had no right to stop Mirva’s social activities.”

“….”

“The same goes for the inheritance she stole. My loyal servant said that Mirva’s maid had been sneaking in and out of my room. Yet I tried not to suspect her. But in this situation, I couldn’t believe Mirva wasn’t the culprit.”

“….”

“So, given the circumstances, I wanted to report it to you, Father. And yet you say it’s all my fault! It’s shameless! Father, I’m so upset!”

Diana pounded her chest and wept loudly, her face flushed, her emotions raw. Anyone could see it was genuine. Seeing his usually composed daughter in such a state, the duke let out a hollow laugh, then glanced at Giskar, who was standing beside Diana.

“So, you’ve tamed that servant well, it seems.”

“Huh?”

“She used to hold her head so high.”

Wait—why is he talking about a servant? Diana wondered at her father’s attention toward the servant. The duke’s gaze grew sharp. At that moment, Mirva shouted.

“Your Grace! Please!”

“….”

“Please! You can’t do this to me!”

Mirva’s desperate cries drew a look of irritation from the duke.

“The reason I brought you here, forcibly requesting the king’s approval, was not to forgive you.”

“….”

“It was to investigate how much more you’ve taken. If you remain in this state, the lower servants will speak more freely.”

“….”

“You acted worse than a twelve-year-old. Not only that, you dared to try to kill my daughter with your filthy hands?”

The duke’s eyes flared with rage. Mirva was startled. Only now did she understand what she had to do. Having ruled over the mansion as its mistress, she had been far too slow to grasp the situation.

“I was wrong! I was wrong!”

“….”

“Please! I was wrong!”

“Shut your mouth!”

The knights dragged Mirva away. Diana turned her gaze to her father rather than Mirva.

Why did the words “my daughter” make her chest ache? Still, is he truly my father? Diana could not hide the bitterness in her heart. In any case, her father had decided to abandon Mirva. At twelve, Diana had regained her rightful place.

“This filthy servant!”

No one wanted to serve Mirva in prison, so naturally, Giskar, the servant, became responsible. Locked in a cell, Mirva spat and raged.

Giskar placed a bowl of water before her. She gulped it down greedily. Meals were only provided once a day. As Giskar went to place the stew bowl, she shouted.

“Eat!”

“Diana, fetch her!”

Giskar froze, then overturned the bowl on the floor. The liquid spilled, and chunks of food dropped with a thud.

“Hey!”

Mirva screamed.

“You! You’re trying to starve me?!”

Standing over her, Giskar crushed the largest chunk of meat under his foot, showing pure disgust as if watching a wriggling insect.

“How strange.”

“What?!”

“Even though she’s a criminal, we give her such luxurious food, yet why did that lady starve so?”

“Bring her a proper meal quickly! Want to get scolded again?!”

“Like last time?”

Giskar looked at Mirva, eyes red from shouting, and said,

“People like you are surprisingly fair. You and the lady both get punished.”

He continued crushing the food. Clearly, he would not allow Mirva to eat any of it. Mirva screamed in rage.

It had been about five days since Diana had been denied food. Family mealtimes differed. Initially, she politely asked for food, but was ignored. Meanwhile, Giskar was deliberately given meals. Even he could see it was intentional.

The duke was away, Emil didn’t care whether his sister ate, and Alexa was the same. Her concerns focused on her own pain and lack of attention rather than why her sister ignored her or why she felt weak.

“How strange. How could she have been so haughty?”

The maids said Diana’s smile at Mirva meant “she’s finally broken.” Perhaps. From the next day, Diana did not go down to the dining room. She simply starved herself. That was all.

“You’re the strange one! A servant who cares so deeply for her mistress!”

Mirva sneered sharply. Giskar, abandoning thoughts of the emaciated Diana, focused on the woman before him.

“If it were Herya, you wouldn’t dare act like that!”

At this, Giskar’s face hardened. A murderous intent bubbled in his gray eyes. Should he twist her neck and kill her? Mirva laughed in response.

“Do you know why she became that way?”

“….”

“Because our duke is trash.”

“….”

“Our duke becomes trash if he isn’t obedient. He’s perversely cunning, even cute in a way. Look at you—you’re just like that now.”

“….”

“Then his child wouldn’t act the same? I know that kid. He sees everyone as beneath him. Showing you mercy is charity to a subordinate.”

“….”

“Better if you kill her yourself. You have no idea how she looks down on people. She made me suffer because I was a fallen noble, daring to surpass my place.”

Mirva chuckled. She couldn’t imagine Giskar couldn’t kill her because of the collar around his neck. She only wanted Diana to be ruined.

It was obvious. Predictably, Giskar turned his back and left. Mirva laughed, then shouted in cold anger.

“You wretched beast! Bring it back!”

She cursed as she tried to eat, but Giskar had crushed the food. Only the smell of the meal teased her empty stomach. She ground her teeth and pounded the bars.

Then came the sound of footsteps. White skirts reflected the torchlight. Mirva’s eyes glinted with venom.

“You wretched thing! You demon!”

As expected, she cursed at Diana.

“Giskar, Giskar, kill this woman!”

Mirva shouted, but Giskar didn’t respond. Naturally—Diana and Giskar had entered from separate entrances and never crossed paths.

Diana overheard their conversation purely by chance. Most of it was mumbled, but she clearly heard “Herya.”

A familiar name. A nagging name. But she couldn’t remember clearly. Diana decided to ask directly.

“Who’s Herya?”

Mirva spat. Spittle flew onto Diana’s skirt, making her bite her lip. Conversation was impossible under such conditions.

“It was all your fault, all your doing! You cunning, devilish woman!”

Diana looked down coldly at Mirva.

“Calling someone devilish must be meant for someone like you.”

“….”

“You knew my sick mother, yet still met with my father.”

“….”

“And dared to covet my mother’s place.”

“….”

“Why is it fine for a merchant’s daughter to become a noble, but I cannot be your mother?! I have every right!”

Mirva yelled.

“You ruined everything! Did as you pleased…”

Diana looked down at her tear-streaked, pitiful face. It reminded her of her true end in her past life.

Meeting Mirva, who had been cast out of the mansion, was shortly after Diana became Queen of Lordbrock. Giskar knew of the history between Mirva and Diana. Why bring her here? Surely to torment her.

Yet even Giskar could not have predicted the complex emotions of the fallen kingdom’s people. Diana trusted Mirva more than the other maids, and Mirva could be slightly more humane alongside Diana. Three years after Diana had been made Queen, events unfolded.

“Your Majesty, please! Miss Diana, please!”

In Lordbrock, Mirva’s crime was simple: colluding with remnants of Fanborough. She had planned to abduct Diana, the prince’s fiancée, to save her from this hell.

“Let’s run away, Miss.”

Why? Because Diana wanted desperately to leave Lordbrock? Because she always longed for her life in Fanborough? Even though Diana refused, Mirva went ahead with her plan.

The plan was quickly discovered, and Diana’s position became even more precarious. Mirva was caught by the knights.

“Look carefully.”

“Please!”

Diana had no choice but to witness Mirva’s end at the hands of Giskar. The blade was dull, so Mirva did not die easily. Her death was horrific. Seeing her limbs severed, Diana cried tears of blood.

It was because of me. I caused her death. I should have refused more decisively. Diana still remembered their futile struggles, the cold, or perhaps amused, gazes, like watching livestock being slaughtered.

That was why she had always been weak toward Mirva.

“I’ll tell your father: let only your body go free.”

“…!”

“Do not appear in our house, or before me, ever again.”

“….”

“And not before Emil either.”

“What?”

“Emil is your son.”