Chapter 8 Translator: XZY Chapter 8: Diella (1) ***
'What exactly does it mean to teach someone, Master?'
Around the time he was in the middle of learning magic. Derek asked Katia.
It was inside a carriage returning from completing a magical beast tribe subjugation request in the borderlands.
Derek had been slightly injured, and Katia was in the middle of treating that wound.
'Why do you suddenly ask something like that?'
'...Just because.'
As he drifted through the mercenary world at a young age, he had seen quite a few warriors who served their masters, calling themselves master and disciple.
There were many times when he was dumbfounded to see even those with tough and cruel personalities acting politely to their masters.
And so, a not-so-significant curiosity had suddenly sprung up.
'I've seen guys who backstab others without a second thought and yell at people they've just met, kill their personalities in front of their masters. Hmm... actually, Master Katia is rather merciful, but are they all like that?'
'It would be troublesome to think of everything based on the tough mercenary world. The relationship between master and disciple is not all like that.'
Katia spoke in a gentle voice as she wrapped a bandage around Derek's arm.
'And you, Derek, are a relatively easy person to teach. Not only is your aptitude for magic excellent, so you absorb things quickly, and you're always cooperative, aren't you?'
'If you're trying to learn something, isn't it natural to be cooperative?'
'That would be the sound argument. But the world doesn't always go according to sound arguments, does it? Sometimes, there are people who look down on their master and come at them, grinding their teeth and trying to start a battle of wills.'
Derek stroked his chin and was lost in thought.
If a disciple were to bare their sharp teeth against their master, could such a person even be called a disciple? In the first place, was there any need to teach such people anything?
However, as Katia had said, the world did not always go according to sound arguments.
'If you had to teach such a tough and ungrateful disciple, what would you do, Master?'
'I would try to understand that child until the end, and try to embrace and cherish them.'
'...That seems a bit too idealistic.'
'...Yes. You're right. Still, in the end, the essence of teaching lies in guiding and embracing the disciple, leading them in a better direction.'
A tone as if it were a matter of course followed.
'If you can't communicate through understanding and embrace, you must seek another starting point, but you must never forget that essence.'
'Another starting point? What is that?'
Katia quietly wrapped the bandage and lowered her gaze.
'It's to imprint fear.'
Derek quietly closed his mouth.
'Sometimes, you have to start from there.'
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"Treat others with consideration and respect."
Derek's cold voice settled in the quiet room.
In Diella's room, its floor dirtied with filthy water, Derek once again said what he had to say amidst the silence.
"Stand up."
Diella stared at Derek with trembling eyes, and then, as Derek had said, she got to her feet.
And then she slowly approached Derek and, just like that, slapped Derek across the face.
SLAP!
Derek's head turned to one side.
Diella gasped for breath and said in a voice that seemed to be blazing.
"Who... who do you think you are...? You..."
SLAP!
Before Diella's words could even finish, Derek's hand flew out once again.
This time, Diella's head turned to the side. The girl's pupils once again widened to their limit.
When she looked up at Derek, there was still not even a flicker of change in his expression. Those blood-red eyes were just quietly glaring at Diella.
The girl had grown up as a hothouse flower, and the boy had grown up as a weed on the roadside.
The moment she realized that gap, a feeling as if she were encountering it for the first time assailed her.
The framework of that feeling was fear, the fear of the unknown.
"As I said, you must treat others with consideration and respect."
"Shut up!"
Diella somehow managed to grab Derek's collar with her small hands.
Even if she tried to do something like that, it was meaningless. No matter how many insulting words the small girl repeated, Derek did not even snort.
"Wh, what is all this! What are you all doing, not stopping him!"
Delon, the head butler, who had heard the news, quickly pushed his way through the servants and ran out.
The old head butler yelled at the servants who were dumbfounded with astonishment, and then quickly stepped between Derek and Diella.
He and Derek had met before. He was the person who had roamed the mercenary corps with Lady Aiseline, searching for a master.
"That's enough. Any more than this is truly dangerous."
Dangerous.
That expression was closer to a word directed at Derek than at Diella.
For a mere commoner to lay a hand on a duke's daughter was a grave crime for which it would not be strange for his arms and legs to be cut off immediately.
If he stopped here, he might live the rest of his life as a cripple, but he could at least keep his life. That was what the head butler Delon's words meant.
However, Derek took out a certificate from his bosom, stamped with the Duke's seal, and tossed it onto the tea table.
The content was not that complicated.
"His Grace the Duke of Duplein has entrusted me with full authority over all of Lady Diella's education. Please bear in mind that whatever method I take, it is something the Duke has permitted."
"What... did you say?"
It was a document that even the head butler did not know about. He could not help but be surprised.
It meant that it was not officially delivered through the head butler, but a document that the Duke had written on the spot.
The head butler Delon had no choice but to doubt the authenticity of that document. A commoner laying a hand on a noble was not simply a moral issue of judging the rightness or wrongness of violence. It was a challenge to the authority of the nobility.
If the fact that he had permitted such an act were to be leaked anywhere, it would be a great disgrace to the entire ducal family. A noble was a being that must always be lofty.
How could the Duke of Duplein, who existed at the pinnacle of that authority, have permitted such a thing?
As the head butler Delon looked at Derek with such a question, Derek answered as if he knew his thoughts.
"I heard that Lord Reigh asked you to look into something, Head Butler-nim."
"...!"
Reigh, the second son of the ducal family, had already completely given up on reforming Diella.
He had changed his direction and was planning to confine her to a monastery in the borderlands. As part of that plan, he had instructed the head butler to look into a monastery.
The Duke of Duplein had dismissed that proposal, but that did not mean he did not feel the pressure. The very fact that such a plan was being boldly raised before the Duke meant that the situation had gone as far as it could go.
Not only the servants of the annex, but also the vassals of the main building were growing weary of her tyranny.
As the leader of the pack, he could not turn his head away forever.
Therefore, this decision was the final drastic remedy made by a father who loved his daughter, after steeling his heart.
If even the drastic remedy did not work, he would have no choice but to diagnose it as an incurable disease.
"Lady Diella does not have many chances left."
As he spoke so concisely, Delon's expression hardened.
Above all, Derek's actions themselves were hard to believe.
A boy who was a mercenary-born mage. He had grown up raw in an environment like the wild, but even so, it was not the kind of courage a normal human could possess.
No matter how much he had the Duke's certificate to back him up, a human who could slap the daughter of a noble house was by no means common.
The Duke of Duplein had a sharp ability to gauge a person's worth.
Whether he had anticipated this far or not, Delon could not know at this point.
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"Hyung-nim! Hyung-nim! Please, just calm down for a moment, Hyung-nim!"
CRASH!
That night, it was around the time Derek was organizing his equipment in the guest room the butler had guided him to after settling the situation for the time being.
A man full of anger kicked open the door of the room where Derek was staying.
"Are you the mercenary that Aiseline brought? Right, you're the one I saw in front of the reception room during the day."
"Hyung-nim! No, let's just calm down first! Hyung-nim!"
The first son of the House of Duplein, Valerian Leonard Duplein.
The handsome man with a tall build and long blond hair grabbed Derek by the collar, his face contorted with anger.
He was the person designated as the next head of the House of Duplein, and was known as a man who exuded a gentle and benevolent atmosphere.
However, there was no such benevolent appearance on the face that was glaring at Derek while holding his collar.
In front of the insolent commoner who had beaten his precious youngest sister, he could not maintain his reason and his voice trembled.
"You dare... dare..."
"Hyung-nim!"
Reigh, who was trying to pull him off from the side, looked pitiful.
Derek listened to his words while being held by the collar, and then eventually answered in a quiet voice.
"It is something His Grace the Duke has permitted."
He stated the plain fact with the utmost courtesy.
Upon hearing those words, Valerian held his breath for a moment, then gently closed and opened his eyes and let go of the collar.
"...Huu."
Eventually, Valerian let out a deep sigh, and then, as if washing his face dryly, he wiped his face and spoke.
"Follow me. Reigh, you go and train or something."
"No, if I hadn't followed you, who knows what would have happened..."
"I won't say it again."
Valerian said so, and after sending a look to Derek as if to tell him to follow, he went out through the open door again.
Reigh looked at Valerian quietly, then let out a deep sigh and patted Derek's shoulder.
"Yeah. I heard what happened during the day. I'm on your side. That kid Diella is someone who needs a good beating to come to her senses. Does she think just because she's a noble, fists will avoid her?"
"...That is not so."
"Anyway, you're going through a lot, holding on to a kid who can't even be reformed. Well, we'll be sending her to a monastery soon, so just bear with it a little longer. Valerian Hyung-nim, well... he's a bit like that because he's very affectionate, but he's a good person. He won't do anything to harm you, so don't be nervous... Anyway, since the situation has become like this, I have to go."
Reigh, who looked sturdy all over with his strong build, square jaw, and firm muscles, let out a deep sigh and followed him out the open door.
"Aigoo... What's the point of holding on to something hopeless... Hyung-nim, really."
The expression of Reigh, who was leaving while lamenting like that, did not look very good either.
It seemed he had already given up all hope for Diella.
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The place Valerian took Derek to was a room in a secluded corner of the first floor of the main building of the mansion.
It was a place where, at a glance, there had been no human traffic for a long time. Nevertheless, perhaps because it was always cleaned neatly, not a speck of dust could be found.
Fwoosh
As Valerian created mana, the candlesticks in various parts of the room lit up, and the interior came into view at a glance.
It was a pretty and dainty room.
On one side was a bed with lots of cute lace and ribbons, and on the other side was a bookshelf where pretty and dainty dolls were well-displayed.
A wardrobe full of cute frilly dresses, and a bookshelf where various books were well-organized; it was a room that was both antique and girlish. Although it was an overly large room for a single girl to use, it was not strange considering her status.
"This is the room Diella used when she was in the main building."
Valerian said in a low, deep voice.
Now she was living in a semi-confined state in her own kingdom called the annex, but it seemed that the Diella of the time she lived here was a little different.
In a corner of the room, there were several canvases and painting tools. As Derek looked that way, Valerian added an explanation.
"Diella used to enjoy painting. She mainly painted landscapes. She started it as part of her high society education, but she took a great interest in it herself and would always paint happily and come to show me."
"..."
"There are still many times when the image of her jumping up and down, asking me to look at her paintings, flickers before my eyes."
As he roamed among the canvases, one canvas covered with a white cloth caught Derek's eye.
Seeing Valerian's expression, he removed the cover. A rather neatly painted picture of a sunset came into view at a glance.
A picture of a young girl on a lady-in-waiting's back, looking at a magnificent sunset.
However, the periphery of the painting was blank.
"This is the last picture she was painting. As you can see, it's unfinished."
"Unfinished?"
"Diella always liked to paint, but she rarely finished them. She would mostly leave a blank space and only paint up to the part she liked."
Looking again, it was indeed only landscapes with blank spaces here and there.
As he was looking at the paintings like that, Valerian sat perched on the corner of a desk in a corner of the room.
And then, he let out a sigh, pressing his forehead, and spoke.
"...I'm sorry for grabbing your collar emotionally earlier. I apologize."
A heavy feeling was present in his expression. It was not an easy thing for a bona fide nobleman to offer an apology to a mere commoner.
"I always resolve to be a rational person, but I end up acting emotionally at important times. Even more so if it's a matter involving family. In that respect, I am still far from being a monarch."
"...May I ask why you showed me this room?"
"...I wanted to convince you. She was not a child who deserved to be treated with such contempt and to be hit."
Valerian spoke calmly in a heavy voice.
"But, from some point on, she started to look down on those below her, obsessing excessively over her own bloodline. I don't know why she became like that... what the trigger was. She started to change little by little, and recently, she's in the state you know of."
"..."
"I just... I just don't know. Why she is so fanatically obsessed with her own bloodline, what on earth is making Diella so vicious. Her magic acquisition was also slow, and not every field was perfect, but... still, she always lived brightly. She drew lots of pictures she liked, and she was a lovely child who always had pleasant conversations with her family."
Valerian got up from the desk he had been perched on, straightened the formal attire worn by noblemen, and bowed his head. Derek could not help but be greatly flustered.
Although his taking power was a distant future because the Duke was still in good health, he was still the next head of the great Ducal House of Duplein.
He was of a status where he was not permitted to carelessly bow his head to a commoner. Leaving aside the issue of pride, it was simply not allowed by the rules of the nobility.
"I heard from Father. If things go on like this, Diella is really headed for the monastery."
"This is troubling."
"If she can somehow learn just one 1-Star magic, I might be able to persuade Father. She could at least begin preparations for her high society debut. So... please... give Diella just one more chance."
Valerian, who had raised his head, had a serious expression.
He understood his desperation, but from Derek's perspective, it was an immediate headache.
Hearing the servants' stories, she would beat people up if she was displeased, break things because she was annoyed, and insult vassals and use her status to crush them.
She was a hooligan, a good-for-nothing, a sociopath to the extent that Valerian's story was hard to believe.
To reform such a child, turn her into a gentle lady, and even teach her magic. It was literally the same as being told to perform magic.
The great record of having gone through 20 teachers in 8 months was understandable.
"..."
Nevertheless, Derek first looked around Diella's room and organized his thoughts.
Canvases full of various landscapes. A neatly arranged bedspread. Dainty lace and ribbons.
Among them, when he quietly looked up at the bookshelf, it was also full of books used during her home education.
Books containing information on things like embroidery, flower arranging, and horse riding.
There were even a few of those supposedly expensive grimoires. It seemed that for a child of a ducal family, they even prepared separate educational grimoires.
"...Hmm."
Derek stroked his chin and slowly examined the bookshelf.
They were all Scholastic school grimoires. Well, that was to be expected. This was the House of Duplein.
He took out one volume and turned it over; the traces of having read it diligently were evident. There were traces of memos here and there, and even impressions from practice.
It was not difficult to tell. Diella had not given up on everything from the beginning. It was that despite her blood-curdling efforts, there had been no results.
The amount of effort was important, but just as important was its direction.
Looking at the Scholastic school theory books piled high on the bookshelf, Derek could not help but think so.
"Alright, let's give it a try."
Derek put the book he had taken out back on the bookshelf and said so to Valerian.
And then, he put on his robe hood again and left the room.
The place his footsteps were headed was not the bedroom, but the mansion's annex, surrounded by numerous rose vines.
The darkness of the late night welcomed him as he quietly crossed the garden.
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