Chapter 522

These words were spoken lightly, but like needles, they pierced the King’s heart.

He looked at Diana’s pale face and the faint scars on her hands. His heart was filled with guilt, and his voice trembled slightly, “Diana, it is I who has let you down. Over the years, you have suffered.”

Listening to the King’s concerned words, Diana felt no emotion. She only sneered. The Grand Luminary Empire’s army was powerful, but no one remembered the Princess far away in a foreign land.

To stand by and allow her to be bullied, to live a life worse than that of a beast–it was unconscionable. Sometimes, she wondered why she, a woman, had to sacrifice her life for the peace of the people. Just because she was a princess?

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am not suffering.” Her heart was filled with resentment, but the many years of suffering in the Kingdom of Veyra taught Diana a truth. Tears and accusations were the most useless. Back then, when she had just married into the family, she still thought she was the princess of the Grand Luminary Empire and had someone to back her up. But when the slap landed on her face, when the stale bread was handed to her, when the cold wind in the abandoned palace swept through her clothes, she realized that her so-called princess status was just a joke.

Although Diana was smiling, the smile did not reach her eyes.

Looking at Princess Diana’s straight back, the King suddenly realized a fact. The sister in front of him was no longer the little girl who would pester him for candied hawthorns. Ten years of hardship had made her sharp and forbearing, like a weed struggling to grow in a crack in the rock, seemingly weak but with thorns.

Feeling guilty, the King let the matter drop and never mentioned it again. At that moment, he put on a smiling face and said to her, “Now that you’re back, just live in peace. Your former residence is still vacant. If you don’t want to live in the duke’s residence, you can also live in the palace.”

“The palace is nothing but a cage to me. Please allow me to return to my residence,” Diana said.

“Okay, whatever you say.”

To compensate Diana, the King rewarded her with a great deal of gold, silver, and jewelry. He also assigned a hundred or so palace servants to attend to her before allowing her to leave the palace.

Turning and walking out of the Heaven Hall, she saw the palace servants already waiting at the palace gate, holding the bestowed silks and jewelry. A hundred or so palace servants lined up in two rows, bowing and paying their respects as she emerged, making for a grand spectacle. Diana merely glanced at them before taking her personal maid’s hand to board the carriage, as if all this glory had nothing to do with her.

The carriage had just left the palace gates when it suddenly stopped. The maid lifted the curtain to check and returned to whisper, “Princess, Mrs. Cavendish’s carriage is blocking the way.”

Diana’s heart stirred, and she slowly lifted a corner of the carriage curtain. She saw, not far away, a green carriage parked by the side of the road. Athena stepped out of the car, her face radiant, enhanced by a lotus–root pink dress. A red–gold filigree hairpin was placed diagonally in her hair, swaying gently with her movements. She exuded a bright and lively aura. It was the composure nurtured in stability and honor, a demeanor that Princess Diana had never possessed.

Looking at the woman who was now as radiant as the sun, a pang of envy suddenly rose in her heart. The little girl who once barely reached her waist had now become the Princess Consort of the Grand Luminary Empire.

Athena also noticed Diana’s carriage and walked forward with a smile, gently saying through the curtain, “Did Princess Diana just come from the palace? Was the journey smooth?”

Diana looked at the sincere smile, her fingers unconsciously clenching the curtain. She remembered that Athena had not only arranged for secret guards to escort her back but also specially renovated the villa, which made her feel somewhat complicated. But thinking of her own ten years of hardship and then looking at Athena’s current glory, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of bitterness. “Thank you, Princess Consort, for your concern. Everything went smoothly.”

She lifted the curtain and stepped down from the carriage. Her plain dress contrasted sharply with Athena’s bright beauty. Although there were no tear stains on her face, she could not hide the weariness in her eyes.

Seeing this, Athena knew at once that something within the palace walls had stirred the woman’s emotions deeply. She did not mention it, but smiled and said, “I just came back from outside and was planning to see you. Since you are also leaving the palace, why don’t we go together?”

Looking at Athena’s gentle appearance, Diana swallowed back the words of refusal that came to her lips. She nodded and re–entered the carriage.

Watching Athena’s carriage drive side by side with her own, her heart was churning.

They were both women, but Athena could marry Xander and gain the honor of the Xander Manor. She could also participate in politics and contribute to the Grand Luminary Empire. But she, Princess Diana, could only be used as a tool for a marriage alliance, suffering humiliation in a foreign land.

As the carriage moved, Diana couldn’t help but lift the curtain again, looking at Athena in the carriage next to her. Athena was looking down and talking to Trina, with a smile on her lips. The sunlight fell on her, coating her with a soft halo.

Diana suddenly remembered what she had heard from the palace servants when she was in the Kingdom of Veyra. Athena had fought alongside Xander on the battlefield and was rewarded for her contribution to his rise to power, not just a delicate woman who relied on her family background.

“Rewarded for her contribution to his rise to power, ha…” Diana chuckled, her voice carrying a coolness that even she didn’t notice. “She only got to where she is today by relying on Xander."

“What a lucky life she has,” Diana sighed.

In the days since she returned, she had also heard about Athena’s past deeds. After being punished and sent to the military camp for three years, she should have been a woman trampled in the dust. However, because of Xander’s favor, she was able to rise again. But in Diana’s heart, she felt disdain.

The carriage arrived at the Princess Manor, and Diana stepped down from the carriage. Athena approached her and said, “His Highness said that you have just returned, and the manor is probably not yet fully tidied up, so His Highness asked me to come and help you with some matters.”

As the King’s brother, Xander held a position of royal kinship. By tradition, Diana should rightly address Athena as “Aunt by Royal Blood“. However, she was proud and arrogant, and also older than Athena, so she never addressed her as such.

She saw that Athena had brought many servants and large boxes. Inside, there were many things packed. It seemed that she had prepared all this to help her settle down.

It was clearly a good intention, but Diana felt that Athena was acting like a senior in every way. Before she married Xander, Athena would bow when she saw her. Now it was the other way around, it was really laughable.

Diana’s disgust was undisguised. “No need, Princess Consort, please take these things back. I’m someone who came out of the Cold Palace. I can’t use such good things.”

“Then, please accept these medicines to take care of your body.” Athena didn’t expect Diana to be so awkward. But thinking of her pitiful background, she endured it.

Diana smiled coldly. “Is Princess Consort disgusted that my body is dirty?”

Athena was completely speechless. Diana ignored her, raised her chin high, and turned to enter the mansion.

Athena was stunned in place. Was she offering a warm face to a cold backside?

Trina was also speechless. “Princess Consort is doing it out of good intentions. Why is the Princess so unreasonable? To save her, Princess Consort and the Prince put in a lot of effort, yet she treats Princess Consort like this; it’s really infuriating.”

Athena blinked, but didn’t feel too angry. Instead, a sense of pity arose. Diana’s situation was so similar to her time in the military camp.

“I’m afraid her heart is already full of holes. It’s good enough that people don’t go crazy. How can they have half a degree of warmth?

“Okay, stop talking, let them all go back,” Athena said.

Trina responded in a low voice. She didn’t dare to be too presumptuous in front of the Princess’s Manor. At the moment, she let all the followers go back.