Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Translator: XZY
Chapter 45: Wild Horse (2)
***
A unique sense of pressure, which made it difficult to speak to her carelessly, emanated from Diella Catherine Duplein.
That was the reason why the numerous noble young ladies gathered in the tea party hall were only watching her furtively, unable to approach her rashly.
The reason she could exude such pressure with her small frame was partly due to her background as the youngest of the Duplein family, and partly because Diella herself radiated a cold, icy aura.
Of course, a person of Denise’s caliber was not someone who would be intimidated by a family name.
She liked the calm atmosphere of this tea party hall, where she could take a sweet rest amidst her training, so she was slightly relaxed.
As such, Denise was sitting there with the most carefree expression in the world, but when she saw the approaching Diella, she had no choice but to straighten her posture.
‘The youngest daughter of the Duplein family, who has her debutante coming up soon.’
When everything was a bother, Denise would act as if she were melting away, but when she assumed the posture of a noble young lady, her appearance became quite respectable.
In the first place, whenever she came to the Rosea Salon meetings, the servants would pounce on her and adorn her with all sorts of refined decorations, so her appearance alone was that of a figure befitting the trio of the Rosea Salon.
“You are Lady Denise of the Beltus family, correct?”
Diella’s tone of voice was a strange mix of bluntness and politeness.
Despite being a person who had just set foot in the Rosea Salon for the first time, she showed no signs of being intimidated.
With a sharp gaze, Denise instantly grasped the disposition of the person named Diella.
The ability to be so confident in an environment like this, filled with nobles she was meeting for the first time, was due to her outstanding self-esteem. She seemed closer to an audacious person than a polite one.
She had cultivated social skills after meeting a good teacher, but that wild-horse-like disposition of a creature that gallops across the plains still remained.
At a glance, she saw most of the nobles gathered in this Rosea Salon as being a class below her. Therefore, there was no way she would be intimidated in a situation like this where no one could speak to her. In the first place, she did not even consider them equals.
The only person she might consider an equal was Lady Denise, which was why she spoke to her with a minimum of courtesy.
However, it was correct to say that she had only shown the bare minimum of courtesy and was fundamentally impolite.
If it had been Lady Elente, she might have immediately frowned, but Lady Denise was the type to handle these things smoothly.
“You are Lady Diella of the Duplein family, correct? I heard beforehand that you would be coming to the meeting today. You are as beautiful as I have heard, and you exude grace. It is an honor to meet you.”
“Thank you.”
The pleasantries exchanged between noble young ladies were fundamentally supposed to be laced with compliments and respect for the other party.
If the other person praised you once, it was basic etiquette for it to be your turn to praise them back. The correct order would have been to compliment Lady Denise’s angelic appearance or grace, but Diella knew this and deliberately did not do so.
‘How arrogant.’
Denise summed up the disposition of the person named Diella in a single sentence.
Among the nobles who were setting foot in the Ebelstein social circle for the first time, there were many cases of being either overly passive or overly bold. Lady Diella seemed to be closer to the latter.
Not being able to gauge the appropriate distance was not a great sin. As one was hit and swept away by the storms of the social circle, they would learn the appropriate way to conduct themselves on their own. This much could be considered a one-time mistake.
However, Denise had to change her mind at the words that followed.
“I am not particularly fond of exchanging useless pleasantries, so I will get straight to the point.”
“...”
“I heard that Derek is at the Beltus estate.”
In short, Lady Diella was not a person who was ignorant of etiquette and impolite in all matters. She was being particularly hostile to Lady Denise.
As for the reason why, it was ultimately because of the existence of a certain magic teacher that the Beltus family was holding onto so preciously.
“Derek... yes. He is teaching me magic.”
Denise felt sick to her stomach as Derek’s name suddenly popped up. As soon as this meeting ended and she returned to the mansion, physical training was waiting for her.
Recently, Derek had started to buy various foods from the market district, saying they were good for training, and had even begun to cook himself. It seemed he had blended into the mansion to the extent that the servants had even allowed him to come and go in the kitchen.
At this point, it was terrifying.
Still, since she could not show such an expression at a gathering of nobles, Denise managed a smile.
“He is a good magic teacher. As I receive his teachings while striving forward every day, it has been a great help to me. He was a teacher worth the great trouble we went through to bring him here.”
Lady Diella was Derek’s first disciple.
She couldn't understand why she liked that madman who was crazy about magic, but since she was fundamentally a person who was favorable towards Derek, speaking well of him was the appropriate way to conduct herself.
However, upon hearing Denise’s words, Diella clenched her teeth.
“You seem to be doing well.”
‘...In what way?’
It seemed that Denise, who was speaking with satisfaction about Derek’s teachings as if it were the best thing in the world, looked displeasing to Diella.
At this point, Denise could also notice it. Diella was jealous of her.
After sending Derek off at the Duplein estate, Diella had been looking forward to reuniting with him in Ebelstein.
However, when it was finally time for her to debut in the Ebelstein social circle, Derek had been caught up in the political competition between the families and was teaching the young lady of the Beltus family.
The extent to which Derek’s own will was involved was a mystery.
No matter how strong-willed a person Derek was, the limit of a commoner was that they had no choice but to be swept away when the three great families rushed in and started bickering.
Diella wanted to find that out. Was it really Derek’s own will that he was teaching Denise?
It was hard to accept that the person he was teaching, even going so far as to cast aside the Duplein family and refuse Aiseline’s invitation, was this inscrutable, fox-like figure.
“...”
As she watched Diella, who was staring at her like a growling small dog, Denise felt the need to organize her thoughts for a moment.
Suddenly earning the hostility of a young lady from the Duplein family was a very burdensome thing. As Denise was someone who conducted herself perfectly even in trivial matters, she felt the need to handle this situation carefully.
However, the more Lady Denise organized her thoughts, the more a new perspective began to raise its head.
‘....In short, she wants to take Derek, doesn't she? Oh my goodness...’
On the outside, it looked as if the Beltus family was holding that mad magician tightly, but in reality, it was a situation where that mad magician was holding Denise and shaking her around.
Anyone would do, as long as they could take Derek away. However, it didn't seem likely that the Grand Duke of Beltus would allow it.
The Grand Duke of Beltus would surely hold the talent named Derek, who was being coveted by other families, like a precious chess piece and would never let him go.
To take Derek from his grasp, one would have to offer a worthy reward. The only people who could make such a negotiation were those from Belmeade or Duplein.
And Diella Catherine Duplein.
The young lady of that very Duplein family, and the one who was more desperate to take Derek than anyone else.
A starlight began to pour out of Lady Denise’s eyes.
‘A benefactor. A benefactor has come to me...!’
The atmosphere on the scene was completely frozen.
A child of a prestigious family, who had just come to greet the Rosea Salon, had approached the young lady who was originally recognized as the most authoritative in the Rosea Salon and had openly picked a fight.
In that stuffy and rigid atmosphere, no one could even swallow a dry gulp of saliva comfortably, but to Denise herself, it looked as if a halo was pouring out from behind that girl named Diella.
She was a messenger from the heavens. Seeing her noble figure, it was as if a savior had manifested.
‘She’ll take... Derek...! She’s declaring right now that she’ll take Derek...! Oh, God!’
Of course, she did not vulgarly cheer, but she wanted to hug that cute, doll-like girl tightly right now.
If only she could return to that life of rolling around in bed all day and indulging in third-rate romance novels, she could let go of this much trivial pride.
Still, reason put the brakes on Denise.
Derek was a person for whom the master of the family, the Grand Duke of Beltus, had personally put in a contract to hold tightly in his hands.
The act of her taking the initiative to hand him over to the Duplein family had too high a possibility of negatively affecting her own status and position within the family in the future. It would be a direct contradiction to the family's interests and the head of the family's decision.
To declare that she would hand over Derek in the middle of this Rosea Salon meeting, where there were many watching eyes, was nothing more than tightening a noose around her own neck.
But, when would an opportunity like this come so easily? It wasn't just any family, but a young lady from the Duplein family was personally declaring that she would take Derek. She had to salvage this situation somehow.
“You will have to think carefully, Lady Denise. The might of the Beltus family is great, and even if it is an already established contract, you don't know what decision Derek will make in future negotiations with the Duplein family.”
At those words, all the noble young ladies gathered in the room swallowed a dry gulp of saliva.
To openly declare that you would take a person from their family was a great breach of etiquette.
To make such a declaration of war in front of the young lady of the Beltus family, of all people, no matter how angelic Lady Denise was, she would not just stand by.
Yet Denise herself wore a peaceful expression, as if she were lying in a meadow with warm sunlight streaming down.
‘...She’s so relaxed even after I provoked her so openly?’
Diella felt a great sense of incongruity at Denise’s appearance. The most renowned young lady of the Beltus family was certainly not to be trifled with.
Even though she was being openly insulted in front of so many people, she was observing Diella’s condition with composure, without even changing her expression. In fact, that composure made her grace stand out even more.
Diella felt as if she had come face to face with a great wall.
She was the person who had fought off all the competition between the three great families and taken Derek. It seemed there was a reason for that achievement; the size of her vessel was on a different level.
While all the various nobles gathered in the tea party hall were breaking out in a cold sweat, Denise replied to Diella with a warm smile.
“That is right. No one knows how things will turn out.”
“...”
Diella clenched her teeth.
That relaxed appearance even when she was talking about taking Derek right in front of her face, it seemed clear that she regarded Derek as a political pawn rather than a precious magic teacher.
Derek’s talent was too precious to be wasting his time teaching such a person.
“If one wishes to have a good teacher, one must become a good disciple worthy of being taught. Lady Diella, you are also certainly a valuable person who can have a good teacher.”
“...”
“So, please do your best.”
It was a pure encouragement, as it was, without a single grain of hidden meaning. This was the only thing Denise could do at this point.
However, from Diella’s perspective, it looked like nothing more than a provocation.
“If you wish to meet Derek, please send a separate letter. I will make sure you can see him anytime. I can actively help you.”
“No, thank you.”
It was truly a pure act of goodwill without any malice, but Diella ground her teeth and turned away sharply.
A cold chill lingered in her retreating back as she walked away briskly, her fists clenched.
‘Please, do your best...!’
Even in the suffocating atmosphere of the tea party hall, Denise was clenching her fists and sending a wave of support towards that cute and admirable Diella.
All the gathered nobles were trembling at their fingertips, but to Denise, that Diella looked so very lovely.
<> <> <>
The preliminary visit of Lady Diella, who was about to make her social debut, was the hot topic of the Rosea Salon for the rest of the day. Afterwards, at the tea party, she exchanged various pleasantries with Lady Elente of the Belmeade family and her own sister, Aiseline.
Unlike the open hostility she had shown towards Lady Denise, when dealing with the young ladies of other families, she was a person who surprisingly exuded an aristocratic grace.
However, the ladies of the salon had already confirmed it.
Lady Diella had a wild-horse-like disposition that could not be controlled by anyone. If one were to carelessly try to use her, they would be met with sharp teeth in return.
She had succeeded in giving the impression that she was not to be trifled with.
After she successfully completed her debutante and began to mix into the social circle in earnest, the possibility of a different faction forming from the other three great ladies was also seen.
For the lower nobles who swayed like reeds here and there, the most important matter of interest was who would become the most authoritative figure in this Ebelstein social circle in the future.
This was because, in the end, depending on which side they took, not only their own prosperity but also the direction of their family's power could be decided.
In the end, what lay at the foundation of this Ebelstein social circle, which was like walking on thin ice, was nothing but the lust for power and success.
It was a fact that was only obvious in hindsight.
Denise left the tea party hall, stained with that desire, and walked along the central avenue of the noble district. She was walking, accompanied by her servants, to get some fresh air instead of taking a carriage.
If she returned to the mansion like this, that magician would be waiting with fire in his eyes to follow her and recite the next magic training schedule. The desire to take a breather was great.
‘Sigh...’
Aiseline, of course, and even Diella were desperate to take that teacher away.
Elente was also peeking around to see if there might be a chance.
Not only that, as the rumor of him being a decent magic teacher spread, other lower nobles were also making inquiries to snatch him up if the opportunity arose.
‘I know he’s a great magician, but is it really something to make such a fuss about...?’
Just looking at the reactions of those around her, it felt as if Denise was holding some great treasure in her hands. Yet Denise herself felt no sense of superiority whatsoever.
‘In any case... to send that magician named Derek away quickly, I eventually need to create a justification. Right, if that Lady Diella wants Derek so much... let’s give her the room to take him.’
All the way back to the mansion, Denise thought deeply about how to hand Derek over to Diella in a natural, clean, and consequence-free way.
By the time all those various thoughts were organized, the mansion in the corner of the noble district began to come into view.
“...”
Derek was waiting for Denise near the entrance of the mansion, quietly with his arms crossed.
His neatly worn mercenary attire, along with his pure white hair with stray strands here and there, his crimson eyes, and his firm expression were always unchanged.
Even from a distance, he always looked the same.
He had the feel of a sturdy mountain. No matter what happened, no matter how turbulent the situation became, he gave a sense of reassurance that once you made him an ally, he would definitely stay on your side.
That must have been the key secret to how he was able to make a name for himself as a mercenary. Because employers ultimately wanted someone who would stick by them as an ally until the very end.
“You have returned, Lady Denise.”
“Y-You were waiting here?”
“Yes. You don’t usually take a carriage for distances you can walk, do you?”
Derek already remembered all of Denise’s minor dispositions and habits.
“What are we doing today?”
“Nothing too grand. The weather is supposed to be bad from the afternoon, so we will do a little mana proficiency training inside the mansion.”
“Ugh...”
“We will not be using your mana to its limit. For now, we will slowly start with the parts we worked on last time...”
That image of him naturally entering the mansion while discussing the schedule with Denise was already considered a natural scene by the other servants.
When she came to her senses, Denise was also being led around by Derek without any resistance.
Her expression was still like she was about to die, but there was also a part of her that felt at ease, having already accepted her mortal fate. In the end, this situation where she was always bickering with Derek didn't feel so strange anymore.
That is what it means for someone to seep into one's daily life. It is like getting your clothes wet in a light drizzle.
Although she was always complaining as if she were dying, Derek was already becoming a part of Denise’s daily life.