I Was Told to Drink Poison, So I Drank It - 7 - The Wicked Queen Stella
When David entered the reception room, he found Stella sitting on the sofa, waiting for him.
The moment she noticed David, her face lit up.
“Father…!!”
“Stella, you’ve come. Wasn’t it difficult to get here?”
David glanced outside the window.
He couldn’t hear their voices from here, but the people were still gathered outside the mansion.
[Passionate and patriotic]
That was the nature of Victroire’s people. But the temple had used that against them.
It pained David as a citizen of Victoire to see this.
Stella’s expression tensed at David’s words.
Then, suddenly, she stood up and clung to him.
“Father, help me!! At this rate, the people will kill me…!!”
When Stella’s extravagant spending was exposed, the public turned against her.
The newspapers painted her as a wicked queen, saying that despite being a former commoner, she lived in luxury the moment she became queen.
David looked at Stella, who was crying, with a pained expression—but then he spoke.
“…This is the result of your own actions. You must take responsibility.”
“W-what…!!”
Stella’s head shot up.
With her tear-streaked face, she looked at David as if she couldn’t believe what he was saying.
David sighed and gently pulled her away.
“You probably came to ask for money, didn’t you? …Stella, listen. I do care for you. Even though we aren’t related by bl00d, you are my daughter.”
“Then…!!”
“But you killed Chalize.”
“…!!”
Stella gasped.
David glared at his daughter sharply.
“You never even tried to understand what Chalize was trying to do. You only wanted the position of queen.”
“T-that’s not what I meant…”
“Then what did you mean? I told you many times to stay away from Crown Prince—no, from His Majesty Henry. …This was never just a simple matter.”
The conflict between Stella, Chalize, and Henry wasn’t just a lover’s quarrel.
Behind Chalize stood the noble faction that valued bloodline above all, while Stella—though she probably never realized it—was being used as a symbol by the reformists.
The rivalry between Chalize and Stella was directly tied to the battle between the conservatives and the reformists.
David had explained this to Stella over and over again.
But she refused to listen. She cried, screamed, and ran away.
And in the end, she was used by the reformists.
Now, she was the enemy of the people.
Even though she and Chalize were not related by bl00d, she was now meeting the same fate as her sister.
In fact, the people’s hatred for Stella seemed even worse than it had been for Chalize.
David believed it was because they had placed high hopes in her.
‘If only we remove Chalize and let Stella become queen—’
They had truly believed that would make the country better.
To the people, Stella was, quite literally, their shining star of hope.
And then, she betrayed them.
To them, it felt like they had the rug pulled out from under them.
That was why they were now loudly demanding her execution with their own hands.
Stella wailed loudly.
She knew she had no escape.
She clung to David, cried, and desperately pleaded.
“Why!! Why won’t you save me!! Do you hate me, Father!? Is that why, is that why!!”
“I wonder how many nobles in this country could easily give up seven million pounds for the sake of their daughter.”
It wasn’t just commoners who were struggling with poverty.
Even the noble families were suffering from the sudden increase in holy taxes.
The Zenefelder family’s wealth had been decreasing year after year.
The temple had imposed extra taxes only on the conservatives.
Even when they protested, the temple always gave excuses and refused to lower the tax burden.
In such a situation, even nobles couldn’t easily afford to pay a huge sum.
And even if they bailed out Stella now, there was a high chance she would repeat the same mistake in the near future.
Stella lacked education.
David didn’t believe that ignorance itself was shameful.
But in this world, there were countless people who would take advantage of it.
And for a queen, that was even more dangerous.
Stella needed to learn.
Knowledge and education could serve as both a shield and a sword.
Yet, she had thrown that away herself.
As a result, she was used and manipulated by the schemers who lurked in the royal court.
The only reason she had survived until now was because Chalize had protected her.
Why couldn’t she understand that?
Now that Chalize was gone, there was nothing left to protect Stella.
Henry was an earnest man, but he was too young.
And too naive.
He didn’t know how to doubt others, and he believed only what was convenient for him.
If he were a commoner, people might have laughed and said, ‘Young men are reckless.’
But he was the king.
If he made reckless decisions, it was the people who would suffer.
He lacked the awareness of someone who carried the lives of an entire nation on his shoulders.
“No, please. Father, help me…”
Seeing his daughter, now reduced to quiet sobs, David spoke to a servant.
“Escort Stella to the back gate.”
It was a clear message—she was being sent away.
“Father…!!”
“Stella, I wanted to see you one last time. I wanted to confirm whether you had changed your heart and were truly thinking of this country. If you had, then perhaps… But no. I was too naive. You haven’t changed.”
“That’s not true…!! That’s not true! I have always cared about this country!”
“For the country? Then tell me—what have you done? What have you accomplished?”