Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Translator: XZY
Chapter 51: Value (5)
***
“Certainly, there may be some truth in what you have said, Lady Denise. However, I can also provide ample reasons why I have no need to leave the Beltus family. After all, reasons are things that are created when you make them.”
Although the Beltus family was in a position to rival the fame of the Duplein family, which commanded the southwestern part of the continent, no matter what, Lady Denise could not possess as much influence as Lady Aiseline and Lady Diella.
When it came to the matter of raising successors, it was difficult to find a place that had done as well as the Duplein family, even if one searched the entire continent.
However, Derek continued to speak as if that didn't matter.
“There are as many as three reasons why I am not leaving the Beltus family.”
“...What are they?”
“The first is that you, Lady Denise, are a much more valuable person than you think you are.”
“Thank you.”
“I am not saying it to be pleasant.”
Denise, who thought it was probably a perfunctory remark, offered a soulless thanks, but Derek refuted it with a serious face.
She knew that this white-haired mercenary did not speak empty words. However, from Denise's perspective, it was not easy to accept Derek’s words at face value.
“You, Lady Denise, are producing results in your own way and continue to maintain your position even within the cold family culture of the Beltus family. It is a difficult thing to compare with the Duplein family, where the family relationships are gentle.”
“What meaning does that have?”
“Steel is tempered in hot flames, but a person only becomes truly hard in the cold.”
Derek was a person who had grown up from the cold bottom.
His values were different from the start compared to Aiseline or Diella, who had grown up receiving plenty of love in the environment of the Duplein family, where everything was perfectly provided.
“A flower that has bloomed in a greenhouse looks beautiful at a glance, but it has an unavoidable limit. I believe the real value lies in the weeds that have endured harsh environments.”
“...Are you saying I’m like a weed?”
“The nuance is a bit strange, but... yes, that’s right. You have a weed-like temperament, Lady Denise.”
“...Wow. The expression is too raw to accept as a compliment...”
“I do not speak empty words.”
“I know.”
Perhaps what this mercenary was saying was truly sincere. Denise felt a kind of unknowable trust blooming.
This mercenary was seriously feeling a great value in that temperament of Denise’s. It was the reason why he would never end this training, no matter how much Denise pushed him away, saying she didn't want it.
A renowned teacher only teaches a disciple they believe is worth teaching.
It felt as if Derek had discovered some value in Denise that even she herself did not know.
“The second is that, no matter what, I must continue my connection with the Beltus family a little longer.”
“You’re close enough with the Duplein and Belmeade families. There’s no reason to maintain a point of contact with the Beltus family as well...”
Denise was suddenly at a loss for words.
She quietly stared into Derek’s eyes for a moment, then swallowed a dry gulp of saliva.
“Are you trying to become a noble or something?”
“If necessary, it would be good to receive a lower title by achieving some merit, but in truth, I have no such ambition for social advancement. My goal is simply to maintain connections with many prestigious families so that there are no major obstacles to my magical achievements.”
Commoners often detested nobles who were captivated by a sense of privilege, but Derek held neither good nor bad feelings.
He just knew that there was nothing to be gained by setting up a confrontation with the nobility in learning magic.
In the future, if he wanted to become a mage of a higher realm, he would eventually need to have as many prestigious families as possible as his backing. Thinking of Drest’s life story, it was an element that should never be taken lightly.
“...That’s like you. In the end, you just want to learn a higher level of magic, don’t you?”
“Yes. If I can maintain a smooth relationship with the three great families, at least there will be no family that can find fault with my magical achievements. Though that’s a story that only applies in the southwestern part of the continent.”
“Are you really thinking of reaching the 3-Star realm or something...”
“I am already 3-Star.”
“──What?”
Derek dropped a bombshell as if it were nothing.
He himself showed no emotional change, but Denise couldn't help but let her pupils tremble once.
She had thought he was at the level of being proficient in 2-Star magic at best.
Even within the 2-Star realm, the difference between a person who had just entered the realm and a person who was fully mature was like heaven and earth.
And the realm that was far more distant than that gap was the 3-Star realm.
Even among the noble class, a person who reached the 3-Star realm around their coming-of-age ceremony would appear once or twice in a generation. However, it was the very first time she had seen a commoner reach such a realm at this age.
She felt like she understood why Derek was so adamant about maintaining a smooth relationship with the three great noble houses.
Denise swallowed a dry gulp of saliva once and replayed the magical skills Derek had shown her so far in her mind.
Indeed, they were powers of a level that would not be strange at all to be seen as a 3-Star mage.
“Derek. You’re truly crazy about magic.”
“I am still lacking.”
“Right. That makes sense too. You certainly have reason to want to stick with the Beltus family.”
Denise, perched on the old display stand, couldn't help but nod her head. At some point, a dejected laugh was also flowing out.
In any case, the words this mercenary spoke had never once deviated from sound reason.
No matter how much Denise racked her brain to try to control this mercenary, he would always completely break through the snake-like conduct of Denise with his upright words.
His staying with the Beltus family was for his own safety and advancement. He just said so proudly.
There was no such thing as gentle consideration in Derek’s words.
He wasn't even considering something like comforting the wing-broken Denise. He was just conveying the facts as they were.
‘……’
However, in a roundabout way, there were times when that became consideration and comfort. Derek would have known that fact well.
A person like Denise was not someone whose heart would be moved by obvious words of comfort or perfunctory rhetoric.
You are not a worthless person. You are a beautiful and precious being.
She was not an emotional person to the point of being cheered up by such comfort that was like punching at the air.
Rather, she found a strange comfort in a person like Derek saying "No, you're not," with an indifferent expression.
She found a strange comfort in him giving a truly convincing reason, affirming the value of Denise’s existence, and in the fact that it was a logic that was difficult to refute.
‘I’ve become quite a loose woman too. To feel a sense of relief at such casually thrown words.’
Denise thought, letting out a self-deprecating smile.
This boy named Derek was a person who judged someone simply as a person, before status and family.
For Denise, who had been pressed down by the might of the Beltus family her entire life, he was bound to be an unfamiliar type of person.
Come to think of it, throughout his time teaching Denise, not once had he pushed the stereotypical mindset of nobles, saying things like she had to strive for the glory of the Beltus family or for greater honor and authority.
He truly, purely wanted to teach Denise magic.
Not a single speck of things like the glory of the Beltus family was mixed in his heart.
After thinking that far, Denise began to see that magic teacher named Derek in a different light.
One who teaches a person is an instructor. And one who leads a person is a master.
She could understand why Aiseline had described him as a good instructor and a good master.
‘What a truly peculiar human being.’
In this noble world where everything revolved around authority and rules, a person who taught people purely without being bound by such consciousness of status was probably only Derek.
In terms of that rarity, for Denise, who had lived her whole life suppressed by the prestige of her family, it must be as precious as a thousand pieces of gold.
She felt like the reason why so many noble young ladies had tried to snatch this magic teacher for their own family was slowly becoming clear.
“Derek.”
Looking at Derek quietly, Denise slowly closed and opened her eyes and said with a smile.
“So, what’s the third reason?”
She had suddenly become curious.
Derek had said there were three reasons why he would not go to the Duplein family and stick with the Beltus family. She had only heard two so far.
It wasn't like he was some famous young master of a noble house, just a mercenary from the slums, so why was being affirmed by him such an important matter... it was something she could just think whatever and move on from.
Denise suddenly became unbearably curious about the remaining reason.
She was already convinced to some extent by the first two reasons, but she was quite embarrassed by her own appearance, pressing him for more as if she were a young child seeking praise. She was acting coy, but she inwardly mocked herself for being like a puppy wagging its tail furiously.
“Ah, the third one?”
Derek himself spoke as if it were nothing, as if tossing it out lightly.
“I was just curious about the rest of the story.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
For a moment, she had to ask what Derek had said.
“If I move to another family, I won’t be able to see the rest of the story. It’s hard to bear when it’s cut off at such an important part.”
“...Could it be...”
“Yes. I’m talking about .”
“What in the world is that outrageous nonsense!!!”
Denise shot up from her seat and shouted, almost screaming.
Before long, realizing that she had uttered words that had thrown away all dignity, she blushed awkwardly and quickly sat back down.
She was panting, as if it were difficult to breathe.
“Y-You were waiting for the rest of the story?”
“Yes. Weren’t you writing it every night?”
“After you made such a fuss, do you think I could play with a quill pen without feeling ashamed?!”
“Is it shameful? I don’t really think so...”
This man was serious.
Denise was looking at Derek with a dumbfounded expression. There was not the slightest intention of digging up Denise’s dark past and poking at her here and there.
That’s what made it scarier.
At times like this, purity is the most fatal poison.
“I-I’m going to dispose of something like that! In the first place, I just wrote it for a bit of fun...! Did you think I was seriously writing such a childish story?”
“...Is that so? I thought the detailed descriptions and the changes in the characters’ values were impressive, and that a lot of effort had gone into it...”
“Ugh...”
“As I said, it is too harsh to deny it completely just because you are embarrassed. Didn’t you write it while staying up all night, Lady Denise?”
Denise, even while her face was turning as red as a carrot, somehow managed to speak.
“As if you’re not making a fool of me.”
“Am I?”
“Don’t pretend you’re not.”
“I’m really not.”
Derek was still serious.
He diligently brushed off the dust on the ends of his trousers and spoke without changing his tone.
“You spoke as if you were a person who had been emptied out, swayed like a chess piece by the Beltus family, Lady Denise, but looking at the facts, that’s not really the case, is it?”
“Whaat?”
“You wrote something like that without anyone telling you to, and you even researched by reading the writings of other masters, didn’t you? Why do you think the servants quietly pretended not to know when they saw you playing with a quill pen, even cutting back on your sleep at night?”
Denise’s pupils widened once.
She felt like she knew why Derek had been so serious about teaching Denise.
The image of the girl, sitting in a proper posture at her desk where the moonlight fell, even in her exhaustion every night, swept through her memory.
In the long passage of time, she had lived swept away by the might of her family, which rushed in like a huge wave. Nevertheless, when night came, the girl would sit by the window, look up at the stars, and fantasize about the love of fictional characters.
She wrote down the life stories of characters who did not let go of their own values even in the face of reality.
The characters who breathed and lived in the girl’s handwriting never had their spirits broken, no matter how many waves they faced.
Lord Rovein, who was swept up in the family’s crisis, and Tracy, who had reached the limits of her status, both reached out their hands to that high place to seize their own happiness.
She described a scene where, after the billowing waves and the typhoon passed, the sunlight would always seep through the rain clouds.
The sea foam breaking between the half-destroyed pier.
A scene that looked desolate at a glance, but the girl did not forget to describe that there was always hope within it. Because that was something she absolutely wanted to say.
That was the reason the girl played with her quill pen, even cutting back on her sleep at night.
It was the reason why a certain white-haired mercenary, who had read the contents with his chin propped on his hand, could not laugh at those lines in the end, even though the content was somewhat embarrassing and made his spine tingle.
“Those lines you wrote while agonizing all night are proof that you are not an empty person at all, Lady Denise. Do I look like such an ice-cold person to make a fool of even something like that?”
“...”
“It seems you think it’s an empty word, but to keep saying it, I liked it.”
Derek was always speaking with a consistent attitude. It was the same from the first time they met at the Raspa Cave until now.
Could it be that she had come to understand the value of that uprightness?
Denise, looking at Derek quietly, finally let out a chuckle with a ‘pik’.
It was a laugh that flowed out with a pop, like a flower bud blooming.
“Derek, you... I really don’t know what to make of you.”
In the dark basement warehouse, with no one watching, Denise unnecessarily swept back her hair.
Whether it was shyness, embarrassment, or some other kind of emotion, there was no way of knowing... but in any case, it was quite difficult to meet Derek’s eyes.
Nevertheless, it did not seem to be an uncomfortable feeling.
<><><>
“Lady Denise is in the annex.”
“Already? She came early.”
“Will you go down as soon as you finish grooming?”
“Never mind. Tell her to wait a bit.”
Four or five maids were clinging to Diella to tighten the collar of her dress.
Diella, who was well-dressed in a pretty, frilly dress in the dressing room, was dawdling instead of going out right away. Making a guest wait was a kind of power play.
Quite some time had passed since the war of nerves at the meeting. It was now the day of the duel that Diella and Denise had promised.
The condition Diella had set was bound to feel exceptional even from the Beltus family’s perspective.
There was no reason to shake their heads when she offered to purchase a non-existent painting, take on that risk, and even provide cash.
It was an absurdly exceptional condition to set for acquiring a single commoner mercenary, but in the first place, the reason the Grand Duke of Beltus had been so desperate to bring Derek in was to gain such an advantage.
“Lady Diella.... I am cautious to say this, but...”
“My ears are going to fall off. It’s better to show respect to Lady Denise, is that it?”
“...”
When Head Butler Delon spoke with conviction, even the tyrant-like Diella only responded with a deep sigh.
No matter how much she was a young lady of the Duplein family, she could not carelessly harm even the head butler who was responsible for the entire main house.
Still, whether she listened well was another matter.
“I can tell. She’s putting on a pretense with an angel-like, benevolent appearance, but she’s a human who will flip her palm whenever she pleases.”
“Lady Denise of the Beltus family is a person with a good reputation, to the point where many follow her even at the Rosea Salon. By any chance, if she is truly a person as she is, wouldn’t it be a great burden to you as well, Lady Diella?”
Head Butler Delon dared to offer his counsel.
Of course, there was a basis for being able to say such a thing.
“As that mercenary said, if you are at odds with Lady Denise, your relationship with the Rosea Salon may not be smooth either.”
“Ugh... Butler, you bring up Derek whenever you’re at a disadvantage...”
Diella, while saying so, groaned with a ‘kkeung’.
In any case, when Derek was involved, her heart weakened, so Diella had no choice but to ponder further.
By any chance, what if the person named Denise really did not harbor any hostility towards Diella?
By a real off chance, what if the letter Denise had sent had not a single speck of falsehood and was just her expressing her feelings as they were?
By a real off chance, what if Denise was just a good-natured noble young lady? What if she had not the slightest intention of deceiving her?
It wasn't that such possibilities did not constantly trouble her mind.
Diella, having finished her preparations, was continuously lost in thought even as she went down to the annex.
In any case, it was all just conjecture. That was not what was important right now.
Today’s magic duel was scheduled to be held in the private dueling grounds provided in the annex of Diella’s mansion.
Since it was a newly built building, she wanted to check its facilities, and she also didn't want to show off her skills while being conscious of others’ eyes in a public place.
Lady Denise had readily accepted the proposal and was visiting Diella’s mansion as a distinguished guest from early in the morning.
It was reasonable for the mistress of the mansion to go out and greet such a distinguished guest herself, but Diella had left Denise waiting alone in the reception room for a long time.
Her intention was to scratch at her disposition by engaging in such a petty war of nerves.
After a long time had passed, when she entered the reception room with a leisurely appearance, Lady Denise was already sitting alone at the guest table.
She, humming a tune while leafing through a book, looked as leisurely as ever.
She was even more at ease than at the Rosea Salon meeting, giving the impression that she had finished various preparations in her own way.
Diella furrowed her brow deeply, strode over to the opposite side of the guest table, and sat down. At that, Lady Denise closed the book she was leafing through, placed it beside her, and offered a dignified greeting. Her smile was as radiant as the sun.
“Have you been well, Lady Diella?”
“Yes. Well.”
Diella answered bluntly, but Denise didn't even show any sign of caring.
She just lifted the cold teacup, took a sip, and smiled elegantly as always.
“The new mansion is truly beautiful. I think it’s a mansion befitting the prestige of the Duplein family.”
At the sight of Lady Denise smiling while offering such perfunctory pleasantries, Diella had to feel a kind of strange, unknowable pressure. Despite the numerous rudenesses, the opponent showed not even a hint of being offended.
From her silver-gray hair and brilliant eyes, her gentle impression, to a dignity that exuded an endless benevolence... she was the very image of a person who would come to mind if one were to think of a noble young lady.
Such a person did not get angry, nor did she raise her voice, but... she exuded a strangely pressuring atmosphere.
Even most high-ranking noble young ladies would often lose their nerve in front of Diella, but it seemed Denise was by no means a person who could be easily pushed down.
That being said, there was no need to be nervous. Diella let out a hollow breath once and then smirked.
A beautiful rose always has thorns.
It was the same for people.