CH 14

(Past) The Prince Became a Foolish King

There were a few people that Gray Diresias was afraid of.

One was Tia Diresias, Gray’s wife and Queen.

They met more than twenty years ago.

The girl was first introduced by Count Danzes as Gray’s maid. She was a beautiful young girl with dainty, softly swaying red hair and a youthful appearance.

The soft body gently brushing past Gray was both bewitching and childlike, and he was instantly attracted to her.

He was so absorbed with Tia that he wanted to be with her somehow, even though he was in the position of having a predetermined fiancée.

Rosemary, his fiancée, was a nag to Gray.

Instead of saying sweet nothings to him, she was always reprimanding him.

The one who is to be king should not behave in such a manner.

Now is the time to work on your studies.

His fiancée, who was like a governess, bothered Gray.

It would have been different if she had looked at Gray with those jade green eyes on that beautiful face and whispered intimately to him, but whenever he recalled about Rosemary, she would always frown and reprimand him in his memory.

Other than outwardly appearing as her fiancé, Gray never paid any attention to Rosemary.

This did not change even when she began living at the palace. Rather, he spent more time with Tia, who always served by his side as his maid.

Rumors about their relationship gradually spread.

Someone suddenly told him that Rosemary was upset and threatened Tia.

When he advised her to leave Tia alone, those jade eyes would look at Gray with contempt, and his displeasure would increase.

Rosemary’s father was also dissatisfied with him.

In the first place, it was also infuriating to Gray that his fiancée had been decided at such an early age.

Gray wanted to choose whom he would marry according to his own will.

He was even scolded by his father, the King, but the more he was refused, the more Gray’s attachment to Tia grew.

At that time, Tia told Gray.

“Lady Rosemary tried to kill me.”

With tears in her eyes and a trembling body, Tia’s words made Gray furious.

Tia’s father, Count Danzes, who was by his side, advised him to gather evidence and break off his engagement with Rosemary, and Gray nodded obediently.

The rest was entrusted to Count Danzes.

He was very helpful.

He said that he had obtained the poisoned tea leaves that Rosemary had used to try to kill Tia and the dress with the poisoned needle stuck in it.

Count Danzes also advised him to condemn all the scandals of Rosemary’s father, Marquis Hubert.

Gray couldn’t stop his face from grinning.

With this, he could finally get rid of the nagging Marquis and his pretentious fiancée.

He could proceed with his engagement to the lovely Tia.

Gray had the butler write a letter to summon Rosemary.

Following that, the situation ended with more consequences than Gray could have imagined.

Rosemary, whom he had intended to evict, was executed.

He didn’t think her crime was that heavy.

That was the only impression that came to mind.

It was somewhat heartbreaking to see his fiancée, who had been by his side for so long, hanged, but his priority was to hold Tia in his arms as she cried out in horror at the execution.

The Hubert family and Marquis Hubert’s faction, which cried out for Rosemary’s innocence, were punished by Count Danzes without his knowledge.

What a reliable father-in-law.

Gray was proud to be Tia’s husband and at the same time to have a vassal with whom he could feel secure as King.

Not long after Rosemary’s execution, they held a spectacular wedding.

He had the glorious day written down as a picture story to be preserved for posterity.

Looking back, for Gray, the most enjoyable period of his life may have ended there.

After becoming the Crown Princess, Tia began to show off her extravagance, which she had never shown when she was a lady-in-waiting.

Her room was constantly being filled with new dresses and jewelry.

His faction, led by Count Danzes, who took over after Marquis Hubert, became prominent in the royal court.

They took control of various positions, and the neutral and opposing factions disappeared all at once.

His father, the King, advised him against it.

“It was a commotion that was bound to happen when Tia was appointed as the Crown Princess. Do you understand the seriousness of the situation?”

Gray didn’t understand why he was being reprimanded.

Even if the person who holds the position changes, there will be no significant changes in the country.

What’s wrong with Danzes taking Hubert’s place?

The King, unable to hide his disappointment towards Gray, who didn’t understand, said, “It would have been better if Rosemary had been there at least.”

This made him even more uncomfortable.

Why did he need a woman who tried to kill Tia?

Speaking of which​, the King was paying attention to his surroundings when Rosemary was condemned.

Was Gray not rushing too much to pursue the deliberation of the matter?

The King was concerned that the truth was being covered up.

Again and again, he advised Gray to look at the truth of the matter from the standpoint of a neutral party.

In the end, Rosemary was executed.

His father had a soft spot for Rosemary.

Remembering that he was more affectionate to her than his own son, Gray only felt displeasure.

Life goes downhill fast.

After Tia gave birth to their first child, they had no time to be together.

Gray himself didn’t want to go to Tia either.

It all started with a letter.

An envelope left by an unknown person was found in Gray’s room.

In it, there was a message saying that he could learn the truth about Tia, and a time and place were also specified.

Although the information was suspicious, Gray, who was inevitably curious, went to the designated place with a few escorts.

It was a pleasure district in the royal capital frequented by nobles.

Gray bided his time in an inn room in a place he rarely visited.

Then, he saw a familiar woman in the window of the room across from his inn.

It was Tia, Gray’s wife.

Tia and the stranger talked, and then their lips were pressed together.

Gray was shocked at the familiarity.

Did she not understand that she was the Crown Princess and had a relationship with a man other than Gray?

Or did she have a relationship with the opposite sex even before she married Gray?

If so, then.

Whose child is Risel, the prince who was just born?

The doubts that had once sprouted never dissolved, and continued to exist within Gray.

The child he used to think was cute no longer felt cute, and he always left him to the nanny.

As if out of spite, Gray himself went to the pleasure district and had relations with women.

He took a concubine so that he could at least be sure that the child would be his, but there was no sign of the birth of a child from the concubine.

Gray suspected Tia.

In fact, he had been told by his guards that his concubine had been drugged with something.

Gray doesn’t recognize his wife.

He couldn’t even remember why he loved her, or even where he loved her.

That’s why, even though Gray feared and hated Tia, he couldn’t let go of her.

Another person Gray feared was Reynaldo Rose.

The country had now begun to collapse and was ridiculed as a dictatorship ruled by Count Danzes.

The previous King had already retired, and ever since Gray became King, he was derided as a puppet king.

Leave the meeting with foreign countries to us, on behalf of the King who does not know foreign languages.

If you don’t know anything about the tax system, leave it to me.

He was sweet-talked into abandoning his job, and as a result, he became a puppet king.

The look of reproach stung Gray.

The brother of his ex-fiancée, whom he has recently seen in the royal palace, looks at him with a deadly stare.

With the same eye color as Rosemary’s.

It was as if Rosemary was glaring at him. Gray was frightened and wanted to get Reynaldo away from the royal palace somehow.

But in contradiction, he had contributed to the country, even influencing Count Danzes, who was supposed to be at odds with his family, and stretching the power of the neutral factions.

Now the threat to the Kingdom of Diresias was not its neighbor, but Duke Reynaldo Rose.

So, it was frightening.

Gray could be killed by Reynaldo at any moment.

Gray was always terrified.

Every time he felt that way, he remembered Rosemary, who had been nagging him since he was a child.

If he had listened to her words at that time, would anything have changed?

If he didn’t pay attention to Tia and worked hard at his studies with her, would that terrifying little brother of hers lend his strength to him?

Gray doesn’t know.

That’s why he deserved to be called the Foolish King.