Chapter 11: 10

Chapter 10

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Diana is….

‘Brother….I must prevent this marriage.’

Her reason…..

‘I can’t repeat things. I love you and Philadelphia too much to do that, brother.’

That couldn’t be…..

Guinness’ grip around the butler’s collar loosened as his hand fell.

“Is Diana okay?”

“Yes. Fortunately there is no risk to her life. But the scars may remain…….”

“That’s fine. As long as she’s alive. What of everyone else?”

“They’ve all gathered in the next room.”

“Distribute the payouts and have them sign a pledge of secrecy.”

“Yes, young master.”

After wandering around the room for a while, Guinness slumped down on the bed.

Why did he pretend to be ignorant of Diana’s desperation? His mind was so complicated now, wondering if he should let their parents know about this. Neither the Grand Duke nor the Grand Duchess seemed to think deeply about Diana’s plight.

And now he was thinking there was a possibility she was speaking the truth when she said she came from the future.

Their parents were too old fashioned to accept such a strange and unusual explanation. If they found out that Diana hurt herself, they might even send her to an asylum. That was all the more reason he needed to help Diana.

Asylum. Even Guinness knew how horrible such a place was. He couldn’t allow Diana to be sent somewhere she’d be more likely to get worse than better.

“This is something our parents shouldn’t know.”

“Yes, young master!”

“Tell them Diana fell down the stairs.”

The butler bowed his head deeply and left the room. Guinness paced around the room, clearing out his head and rubbing his face with his hands.

No matter what you tell me, Diana, I will protect you.

And as he left the room, his face was entirely straight as if nothing had happened.

“Whether you want me to or not, I will help you.”

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“Something happened, Your Highness.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Guinness’ expression darkened.

He was planning on telling Iandrus about this without any lies. Today, Iandrus was the one to bring up Diana at the brunch meeting. That meant he was also aware of Diana’s recent change. He knew she was acting differently, but luckily he didn’t seem to think Diana was crazy.

He told Guinness he wanted to talk to Diana and accompanied him back to the mansion.

“Please don’t forget the conversation we’re about to have right here and now.”

“If you want me to, I can make a blood oath.”

A blood oath was a promise made in the name of God. If it were to be broken, one could possibly die. Guinness nodded. That was what he and Diana needed right now. A promise that Iandrus would keep this secret and continue to do so in the future.

“Diana’s been saying some strange things these days.”

“. . .”

“I didn’t believe her until eventually….this happened. Now I’m looking back on Diana’s words….” Guinness smiled bitterly. “Do you believe what Diana says?”

“……Diana isn’t the kind of person to say something like that for no reason.”

“You would know better than me.” Considering his own distrust of Diana was what caused this current situation. Guinness let out a long sigh, then said, “Diana cut her wrist.”

“What……?”

“The doctor’s suturing the wound now, and he says she’s going to be okay. But she’ll have a scar on her wrist.”

In order to marry into the royal family, she couldn’t have any scars or defects on her body. Iandrus’ hand, sitting on the table, trembled. It was because of their engagement. Diana did such a terrible thing because she didn’t want to marry him.

No one would listen to Diana, so she felt cornered enough to risk something so dangerous. In that instant, he felt his breath hitch.

“I can’t ignore what Diana says anymore, Your Highness. The engagement with the royal family…….”

“Wait, wait. Count.” Iandrus quickly stopped him from talking.

Even today, Iandrus was wearing a black uniform, and against such a dark color, his face looked especially pale. Guinness decided to give the young prince a moment to compose himself. If he kept speaking any further, Iandrus looked like he was going to be sick.

“I will change Diana’s heart. I will make her change her mind,” Iandrus said, reaching out and grabbing Guinness’ hand. “Give me a chance to talk to her, Count.”

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Even if Guinness were to refuse, it wasn’t something he could stubbornly decide on his own. But if he were to step up, then it was clear his older brother, Lionel would follow suit. And if both heirs to the family were to oppose it, the engagement with Philadelphia would fall through and he would lose Diana.

“…..I don’t know if anything will change if you did, Your Highness. She’s afraid of the future. You and I don’t know what will happen, so we can’t make any changes to avoid it. Knowing everything, Diana is making what she thinks is the best choice.”

“……….She said I killed her,” Iandrus muttered. “Diana said I killed both her and our child. I’m the one who destroyed Philadelphia. It’s all my fault.”

“Then all the more reason that this engagement should be…….”

“I’ll change. I’ll make everything right.” Iandrus nodded his head with an earnest look in his eyes. “I beg of you, Count. I……I never imagined a life without Diana.”

Iandrus broke the fragile silence that surrounded them, gripping Guinness’ sleeve tightly.

While they said Iandrus was the second son of the royal family, he was truthfully the king’s illegitimate son. Philadelphia was aware of this secret, and agreed to the engagement regardless.

It was a check and balance in order to reduce the king’s younger brother, Friedan’s claim to the throne as much as possible. The royal family raised Iandrus in order to fill that gap, and that’s how he grew up. It was only with Diana that Iandrus could feel completely at peace. (1)

The queen hated Iandrus while the king was entirely indifferent towards him.

The only person who treated him warmly in the royal family was his older brother, Jaymus, but he wasn’t someone Iandrus could meet easily. He was raised as a noble prince, his head raised high, so he couldn’t be seen with someone like him.

But Diana was someone who unconditionally liked him.

So he couldn’t lose her. That’s why he hid her strange behaviors from the royal family. The queen thought of Iandrus as a disgrace to royalty—a speck of dust attached to their name. She was doing what she could bolster their honor while making sure the mote of dust continued to go unnoticed. It was clear she would dissolve their engagement immediately if she knew Diana was acting strangely.

Seeing his burning desperation, Guinness sighed. Touching his forehead, he carefully spoke.

“……If you can’t change Diana’s mind, you won’t be able to change mine, either—even if our parents’ will for this engagement is strong. The Philadelphia family is big, and we have a lot of cousins. If they choose one of them and recommend them to the royal family for the position of princess, they will also accept it.”

“…….I’ll do my best. I have to……”

Guinness turned his head. There was no reason for his heart to falter right now, but he could still remember the Diana that sincerely liked Iandrus. The image of his little sister, who would smile happily because of Prince Iandrus, seemed to take a hold of his head.

In the end, Guinness gave a brief nod.

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One eye twitched open.

Fortunately, her wound wasn’t deep. She thought crippling herself would be unavoidable, but luckily, she could still move her fingers. Carefully, Diana pulled herself up.

“My lady! Are you awake?” Jesse cried out, holding onto Diana.

“I need to drink some water, Jesse.”

“Why would you do this?!” Still crying, Jesse listened to Diana’s request. She carefully poured some room temperature water into Diana’s mouth, checking her condition—busily going over what had happened while she was unconscious.

Nobody told my parents?

That was something Guinness was supposed to do. She was prepared to be institutionalized by her parents after this, but thanks to Guinness, it seemed like she managed to avoid that.

Though I don’t know what’s going on yet.

What Diana wanted was to mar her body to escape the engagement. Wasn’t the scar on her wrist clearly noticeable now? Guinness should see this right about now.

“Where is Guinness?”

“The young master…..said that you should meet with Prince Iandrus first and foremost after you regained consciousness.”

“What?”

He’s in the mansion? Diana thought with a frown on her face. Reading the air, Jesse quickly added another thought.

“Just listen to what he has to say. If your mind still hasn’t changed, young master Guinness will certainly help you.”

“…..Hah.” Diana bit her lip.

She didn’t know what Guinness was trying to say by doing this, but it wasn’t something she could simply reject. As the next heir of their house, she could do nothing without Guinness’ support. Having his help would produce significantly different results.

“Okay.” Her decision came quickly. Still, when did Guinness ever take her opinion seriously? That was but another unexpected effect. “I’ll see him now.”

“Yes. I will bring His Highness to you.”

Jesse smoothed out Diana’s outfit as she got out of bed.

Once Iandrus arrived, Diana greeted him without hiding her sickly face. Though in contrast, Iandrus looked even sicker than she did.

“Diana!”

Sitting on the sofa, waiting for Iandrus, Diana looked at him coldly. “What else do you want to hear from me, Iandrus? I thought I made my intentions clear with this.”

Diana pointed at her wrist. Her arm was a little limp, probably from the blood loss. Looking at her wrist with a pale face, Iandrus approached her, falling to his knees in front of the sofa. Then, he muttered something.

“Give……Give me a chance.”

“. . .”

“If I was the one who messed up the future, then maybe I can fix it. So, Diana……”

“You don’t know anything, so how do you expect to do that? What could you possibly do?” Diana asked in a weak voice. Iandrus hung onto her as he pushed himself closer.

“You can teach me. If there’s something I don’t know or don’t understand, you can show me!”

Diana blinked slowly.

“It’s all my fault, Diana. I, I’ll change.”

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T/N: (1) They’re saying if Iandrus was raised as a “second heir” (even if they didn’t intend to make him king), it would reduce Friedan’s claim.

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