Chapter 5
Diana's face was pale as she thought about Ashlan's words. Again, that fear haunted her. Suddenly, she felt as if she had lost her strength. Her knees trembled, making it difficult to stand.
"Thank you so much!! Thank you!!" said the boy's mother, kneeling before Diana, who was still sitting pensively on the ground.
The guard who had swung his sword had already run after Ashlan, who suddenly spurred his horse on quickly. Meanwhile, only Knight Bennett, the coachman driving the horse-drawn carriage, and two other Knights who were no less dashing than Knight Bennett remained, guarding Diana.
"Is your child alright?" Diana asked awkwardly, trying to pull her hand away from the mother who was repeatedly kissing it.
"Thanks to you, my son is fine. Really! Thank you so much!!" said the mother sincerely, with tears streaming down her face.
"Don't carelessly touch Her Majesty the Queen like that!" rebuked Knight Bennett, who got off his horse. The other two Knights did the same, then walked together towards Diana before kneeling before their Queen.
"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" asked Knight Bennett.
The mother and the townspeople who were still gathered looked stunned to hear the words of the handsome Knight with blue eyes. They never expected that their Queen would look so perfect. Moreover, their first impression was that the Queen was kind-hearted.
"I-I'm fine," Diana replied, forcing a smile.
"Come, Your Majesty!" Knight Bennett extended his hand to help Diana stand up. Hesitantly, the girl accepted help from the Emperor's trusted aide. Her legs felt like jelly. If she had to stand alone, Diana knew it would be a little troublesome.
"Is she our Queen?"
"Look at the color of her eyes. So beautiful!"
"Isn't she just a prisoner of war?"
"Poor thing! After this, she will definitely be bullied by the nobles. Even though the Queen seems like a good person."
Whispers began to be heard behind Diana. Some of the bad things that her sense of hearing picked up added to the blacklist of her life's story while living in the Western Kingdom. Of course, she already knew this from the novel. However, experiencing it herself was still a bit scary and hesitant.
In the novel, Diana Emerald lived in the palace of the Western Kingdom without any support. She only had one friend who doubled as a loyal servant named Mulanie. No nobles intended to associate with her. Even though her position was Queen, it was only a symbol. In the end, she remained isolated and was even ridiculed by the nobles of the Eastern Kingdom.
"Do you all want to be punished for not paying your respects to your Queen?" shouted Knight Bennett, breaking the noise of the townspeople who were busy talking about Diana.
Instantly, the crowd fell silent. No one dared to speak when Knight Bennett's mouth began to issue threats.
"Never speak ill of the royal family. Because if you still dare, I will not hesitate to behead you one by one!"
Diana swallowed hard. Hearing the word 'behead' again aroused Diana's deepest fears. She almost collapsed again if Knight Bennett had not quickly held her body.
"Are you alright?"
Diana tried to smile even though her hands had been trembling all along. Knight Bennett was not unaware that Diana was currently very frightened. However, he preferred to pretend not to know for Diana's sake.
"Why are you still standing? Where is your respect for your Queen?" Knight Bennett shouted again.
"Accept our respects, Your Majesty Queen!" All the townspeople knelt in unison and placed their right hands crossed in front of their chests.
Diana nodded while smiling. However, after waiting for a while, there were no signs that the townspeople would rise from their positions. The green-eyed girl began to look confused. Meanwhile, Knight Bennett had thrown a code through a nod of his head, but Diana seemed not to understand.
"Huh? What?" Diana whispered, completely confused by the code thrown by Knight Bennett.
"You don't want to accept their respects?" Knight Bennett replied, also whispering.
"E-eh?" Diana was confused. She scratched the back of her neck, which was not itchy at all, while grinning awkwardly at Knight Bennett. "What should I do?"
If Knight Bennett had not been trained in hiding his surprise, perhaps his mouth would have been wide open now hearing Diana's question. How could a Queen from a noble royal family not know how to receive respects?
"Knight Bennett?" Diana called.
The 30-year-old man with wavy blonde hair cleared his throat for a moment. He then whispered something in Diana's ear, which the woman seemed to listen to carefully.
"Ehemmm," Diana cleared her throat while adjusting her standing position. She slightly raised her chin, clasped her hands gracefully over her stomach, and made her facial expression as classy as possible. "I accept your respects!" she said loudly, which was immediately responded to by the townspeople by standing up again.
"Good!" said Knight Bennett to all the residents.
After the townspeople were allowed to disperse, Knight Bennett again asked Diana to get into the horse-drawn carriage. However, the girl seemed reluctant. More precisely, she tried to stall for time so she wouldn't arrive at the palace quickly.
"Can't we take a walk first to see the atmosphere of the market?" asked Diana, naturally concealing her nervousness.
"Later, Your Majesty. You should rest at the palace first," Knight Bennett refused.
"But, I really want to see the city. Can't I?" she asked again with a pretend sad expression.
Knight Bennett sighed deeply. He opened the carriage door and said, "Don't make excuses to delay the trip, Your Majesty! His Majesty the Emperor will be very angry if he knows you are late."
Diana clicked her tongue in annoyance. She stared at Knight Bennett with a hateful look. Stomping her feet, she was forced to get back into the horse-drawn carriage.
"Is there no one in this Kingdom who can be kind? Why are there only cruel and arbitrary people like them?" Diana pouted annoyedly, which of course could be heard by Knight Bennett who was about to close the carriage door again.
The 30-year-old man with wavy blonde hair only shook his head seeing the Queen's behavior in his Kingdom. Frankly, there was a feeling of amazement and admiration that Knight Bennett felt when he saw Diana's figure. For him, the Diana who was told by the spies they had sent with the Diana who was now in front of him seemed like different people. Or, it could be that his spies had made a mistake in giving reports. Maybe? What is clear is that there is something different about Diana's personality.
Meanwhile, Emperor Ashlan, who had arrived earlier at the Knights' training ground, quickly got off his horse. He created a magic ball the size of a tennis ball on his palm and immediately directed it at the guard who had almost harmed Diana.
BUGH!!!
The guard was thrown backwards and hit the spear storage area until everything scattered. The other guards and Knights did not dare to help. They knew that their leader was currently in a state of great anger.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty!" the guard pleaded to Ashlan as the silver-haired man walked towards him.
"Remember! Never dare to point your sword at the Queen again! Do you understand?" Ashlan warned in a cold tone.
"I-I understand, Your Majesty!"
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