Chapter 56 - Breaking Free

Chapter 56 – Breaking Free

“Don’t be too surprised.”

Charlotte affectionately laid her hand on Diana’s shoulder. Mainly, Diana felt no sympathy for Trisha. What surprised her was the unanticipated twist of events, deviating from the original story. Well, it’s reincarnation, if there was no change, there would be no reason to be reborn.

“Charlotte, I’d like to think alone for a moment.”

“Yes, you should have lunch later.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Charlotte left the room, relieved to hear Diana’s answer.

“Maybe… it was not an accident.” Diana muttered, her voice without a hint of sympathy.

If it was an accident, it should have happened in the past. But it occurred after Diana’s reincarnation, so she suspected that it was intentional.

“No way…”

Baron Blanc had many enemies. The debtors on gambling boards have always been vocal about it. But they had no reason to kill the Baron. You can’t owe money to the dead.

“But she is only seventeen.” Though Trisha was young, Diana thought she acted and spoke more like an adult already.

Yet Trisha did not have to do such thing. She previously worked as an imperial maid and met Lucas, so she had everything she wanted. However, Diana had already decided to remove Trisha’s existence from her life.

“Yes, it’s time to focus on my life instead of that.”

Diana recalled the sight she had seen at the ball. Everyone was dressed elegantly, showcasing their aristocratic appearance, but each was distinguished. A closer look showed that people of similar status gathered together to chat, but their differences were evident even in subtle gestures.

“Is that a happy life?”

Because she was once an Empress, she was the most well-known aristocrat. No matter how much she was shunned, the Empress was always an Empress. Those envious of Diana were the people who struggled for attention anyway. None of them could see Diana as a friend.

Diana longed for Edwin’s warm eyes and gentle touch. The people around looked at them as they danced the Waltz, oblivious.

Diana wanted to break free from the suffocating values ​​of the upper class. At least she thought it would be bearable if Edwin was there.

“I have to find my freedom first.”

Diana’s misfortune in her previous life was due to her powerlessness, rendering her incapable of anything. She was the noblest woman in the imperial court, but she was incompetent even in deciding which color to wear.

She came back into the book and knew that she was the Empress, but it didn’t change. The sense of helplessness and loneliness had already been engraved in her identity.

“If this incident gets into Lucas’ ear, they’ll certainly get closer.”

For the naive Lucas, this tragedy would be a reason to feel more sympathy for Trisha. Well, it wasn’t exactly unfortunate for Diana.

“The seventeen-year-old spirit under the rule of the empire.”

It was who I am now. Age will continue to brow, but the fact of being a woman will not change. Accepting the inevitable, she knew she needed to be sharp in order to survive.

***

Charlotte was surprised at Diana’s too casual of a reaction. Diana was inherently insensitive to emotional ups and downs but sometimes, she can also be too emotional. Charlotte indeed hated Trisha as usual, but it was Diana who had recently shown her strong feelings more.

“Is the lady already grown up like this?”

Perhaps Diana was troubled. Charlotte was hurting because Diana silently hid it and deliberately asked for a moment alone.

“However, history books in this situation…” Charlotte scoured the library diligently as Diana asked.

“So maybe it’s better to divert attention for a while.”

Charlotte’s reasoning was always ambiguous. It was right that Diana didn’t want to think about what happened to Trisha’s family now, but asking her for a history book was quite random and strange.

“My Lady, I hope this is what you’ve been looking for.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Diana felt the fresh breeze of autumn through an open window. Charlotte left the room, along with the tea she prepared for Diana.

“The history of the Empire.”

The sight of the thick book suffocated her mind.

“At least one line of this book would be a benefit to me.”

Fortunately, Diana naturally liked reading. Her only hobby was reading. Before becoming Diana of the book, she was under the care of a health facility as an abandoned disabled child with no money. Her life was comparable to a blank canvass. Maybe that’s why she could adapt to the Empress Diana more quickly.

Endless solitude and powerlessness were the commonalities between the two characters in different realities. The only way Diana could access the world was through books.

Books do not give Diana a look of contempt or disregard. They tell their own stories in a print of letters. Reading was only Diana’s choice.

“It’s a pity that I don’t know the ending of the book.”

Regret came late. It mystified Diana the inexplicable mystery of the book and the reincarnation. But from now on, Diana had to carve her way out from the bondage of curse. Otherwise, misfortune would swallow her again.

“This is my life now,” Diana spoke calmly as if she were comforting herself.

“From now on, every choice, every responsibility… it’s mine.”

She was no longer the reader. Her life’s destination MN was in her own grasp. Realizing that, her role became more clearer. First, she had to find a similar case to hers in the bulky book. It was necessary that a noblewoman could stand firmly on her feet within the laws of the empire.

“It’s not impossible… At that time, Trisha was both a woman and a single marquis.” Soon, the tea had completely cooled down. Diana pressed her finger on the book, gliding it across a specific sentence.