There Are No Bad Young Ladies in the World

Diela (3)

“Brother.”

In the secluded room of the main house that Miss Diela used to occupy,

Valerian sat alone, lost in thought, in that small space that no one had visited for a long time, but which the maids continued to clean regularly.

He had been sitting there, organizing his thoughts, long after Derek had left.

As he did so, Aiselin crossed the main house’s corridor, leading the maids in.

“The butler has reported that Mr. Derek has taken Diela out from the annex…”

“…At this hour?”

– ‘Yes. Let’s give it a try.’

Derek left the room with a determined expression. He seemed to have discovered something significant.

At this late hour, when most of the servants were asleep,

Valerian felt an odd sense of unease.

“I’ll have to instruct the butler to check on them.”

“But, that’s… Mr. Derek sternly warned not to follow him… so the report came to me.”

“…What on earth is he planning?”

“Yes, what indeed…”

Miss Aiselin also wore an anxious expression.

Derek was the person he had sought and brought back.

No one objected to his policies because the Duke of Duplain had given him full authority, but there were still parts that couldn’t help but feel unsettling.

However, if a drastic measure was necessary, as the Duke suggested… Aiselin had nothing more to say.

“What were you doing in Diella’s room?”

“Just organizing my thoughts. I also took a moment to look at Diella’s paintings after a long time.”

The room was filled with canvases. The last painting Diella had drawn.

It was an unfinished painting with plenty of margins still blank on the canvas, but the painted part alone revealed her exceptional talent.

Aiselin closed her eyes tightly as she looked at the painting and said,

“I hope someday Diella will finish this painting. I’d love to frame it and hang it beautifully in the hall…”

“Indeed.”

The two of them, with sorrowful voices, could only lament in the deepening midnight.

*

– Kwang!

Even the darkness of the night had left Diella’s side.

Derek’s magic arrows, having fully detected the enemy’s position, chased after Diella, shattering the branches wildly.

– Papabak! Pabak!

The bending and breaking flow of magic seemed poised to crush Diella’s bones at any moment.

A single hit would be fatal to Diella’s frail body. Knowing this, Diella wrapped her head and ran along the rugged forest path.

“aaah!”

– Whish! Kwang!

As Derek strode forward, Diella ran in the opposite direction.

She climbed over large tree trunks, slid down the dirt ground, and ascended the slope.

She crossed between the forests, ducked under the hanging Zelkova trees, and leaped over the ditch.

Despite being the middle of the night, she ran through the forest path without hesitation. Diella already knew the geography of this place.

The location of the forest, the vines that hindered pursuit, the position of the large tree trunks fallen on the ground, and the jagged rocks that jutted out – she had memorized them all to some extent.

Derek was not flustered. He already knew that she was intimately familiar with the geography of this forest.

The landscape paintings that filled her room were all of the mansion’s surroundings.

It was not difficult to deduce that the young Diella was a girl who frolicked in nature, running inside and outside the mansion.

The paintings drawn by the young Diella were clearly beyond the level of a young child.

She captured the world as she saw it with her eyes, without omission.

Not only that, but the numerous bluish lines drawn in the landscape painting were extraordinary.

Lines seen in the forests, trees, sunsets, and streams drawn by a young girl. To the uninitiated, these bluish lines, seemingly expressing shadows or textures, might have appeared as her unique style of painting.

However, they were the flow of magic she witnessed in nature during her childhood.

It’s the magical energy within the vast wilderness that any mage of the Wild Faction would experience at least once. Being able to visualize and express it meant she was subconsciously attuned to that energy.

──Diella’s aptitude leans more towards the Wild Faction than the Rule Faction.

Derek had an inkling of this the moment he saw her painting.

Not manifesting magic through rituals within rules and regulations, but feeling the magic inherent in all things and using it in a free form—that’s the magic school known as the Wild Faction. While sharing many aspects with the Rule Faction, it also differs significantly.

This girl was gifted with the most noble lineage, yet, unfortunately, she was born with the qualities of a street magician.

The ability to handle magic is greatly influenced by lineage. However, ultimately, the school of thought used to manifest magic often follows personal inclinations. Although most nobles adhere to the noble Rule Faction, Diella was different.

She simply loved the world. She enjoyed roaming inside and outside the mansion, observing the world, drawing, and frolicking.

Even if scolded by the servants, she would climb over the mansion walls to explore the forests and sketch passing rodents in her little sketchbook.

She lifted her skirt and waded barefoot across streams, lay in the meadows of the grasslands, and gazed up at the blue sky.

And she remembered all these things by capturing them in her drawings. It was clear that she simply loved doing so.

It all starts in that gap.

Unfortunately, in a world where the noble Rule Faction is mainstream, she is nothing but a dropout.

– Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

As Derek pressured Diella by firing magic arrows at strategic positions, Diella once again leaped through the trees, desperately trying to escape.

Even amidst the mounting terror, she strategized on how to survive.

Her blood flow quickened. Her breathing hastened. Her heart pounded.

The stark reality that merely running away would accomplish nothing tormented her mind.

If she wanted to live, she had to resist.

She must resist with everything she has, and if she has nothing, then she must fight with her bare hands until they burst.

“Haah… Haah…”

Gasping for breath to her limit, she tumbled through the bushes. The pace of Derek’s steady pursuit on foot, and Diella’s frantic escape, were not much different.

Derek was originally a wandering mercenary, always compelled to fight in unfamiliar environments.

Knowing the geography of the forest inside out was no guarantee of shaking off Derek.

– Kwang!

“aaah!”

Another magic arrow whizzed past Diella’s back and exploded nearby.

Reeling from the shock, Diella tumbled down the gentle slope of the grassy knoll. Her already dirt-entangled and leaf-littered golden locks became even more disheveled.

– Crunch!

Somehow, the girl managed to get up.

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Her once neatly arranged hair now hung limp and lifeless over her shoulders. Her lace pajamas were reduced to rags, and her once fair skin was marred with scratches.

Yet, she clenched her teeth and rose to her feet.

Falling down the long ridge would lead her deeper into the forest.

In the midst of the woods, a vast clearing of grassland, a proud zelkova tree stood alone.

Leaning on the trunk of the zelkova, Diella struggled to her feet. Gasping for breath, she tried to take one step after another.

But her strength was utterly depleted. The breath that filled her to the brim made even breathing difficult.

“Do you not have the strength to run anymore?”

“…!”

The sound of a sword being sheathed was heard.

In the dead of night, illuminated by the intense moonlight, a boy approached the girl leaning against the zelkova tree.

Derek, wearing a satisfied smile, closed the distance, but Diella, drained of all strength, slowly lost power in her legs and slumped to the ground.

And so, Derek came right up to her and looked down at Diella.

“Gasping… Gasping…”

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“Gasping… Why do you ask…? Huff… Huff…”

Diella, sitting on the ground, lifted her head and glared straight at Derek.

Her eyes still sparkled with life. Her small frame had no strength left to flee, but her steadfast spirit remained alive.

“Why? You think I’ll apologize? Beg for forgiveness? Say I’m sorry, I won’t do it again… that I’ll be a good child, rubbing my hands together, pleading?”

“…”

“Better to kill me. I will never stoop to actions unbecoming of my lineage.”

Even knowing she was now mere prey, Diella held her head high and looked Derek in the eye.

Derek just watched her quietly.

“Why are you so hung up on lineage and authority?”

“…What else do I have?”

Diella, with trembling fingers clutching the grass, gritted her teeth and spoke. The voice was tinged more with sorrow than anger.

“Magic, studies, painting… all left behind… After falling behind… what’s left for me besides the authority that comes from my lineage? If I can’t even protect that… then what am I…?”

“…”

And so, Diela spoke through her tears.

Derek quietly observed Diela, and after a moment, he softly said,

“I saw the sunset painting.”

“…”

“It was well completed.”

“…”

The watercolor of the sunset Diela had seen in her room. The painting, where a girl, carried on a maid’s back, gazes up at the crimson sky, was the last piece Diela had drawn.

It was a delicately and beautifully depicted painting, yet almost entirely filled with blank space around the edges.

Most of Diela’s paintings were like that. The strokes were neat, and the colors soft, beautiful in themselves, but parts or most of the canvas remained empty.

Valerian had criticized them all as unfinished. Even Valerian, who adored Diela, had said so, and likely, the rest of the family felt the same.

But through Derek’s modern eyes, it was different. He felt that the encroachment of some strokes into the blank space seemed aesthetically intentional, preserving the sense of space.

In short, it was the ‘beauty of blank space.’ A technique often found in Eastern rather than Western painting, where the trail of the brush faintly continues into the blank space, enhancing its spatial feel.

It’s a style rarely seen in Western painting, which relies on rules and formality. Instead, filling the canvas and layering vibrant colors is the most common method of this aristocratic era.

Diela had established her own style in such an era. Unrecognized by anyone, she was a girl born with an aesthetic sense. In short, she was not just a girl with lineage.

“What meaning does it have now…”

Diela started to say something but stopped.

In the wide-eyed view of the world, she saw the flow of magic, filling the world to the brink of bursting.

Within the constantly provoked survival instinct, she felt as if the landscape of the forest, where she had played countless times since childhood, merged with her vision.

Only when pushed to the limit did the girl’s magical instinct stir. At the edge of her sharpened senses, the flow of all the magic infused in the world became visible at a glance.

At that moment, Diela couldn’t close her mouth.

– Swoosh!

“Ah!”

Without giving a moment’s pause, Derek’s sword flew towards her.

Diela, startled, fell backward and took a defensive stance with her arms. It was a reflexive movement. Of course, her slender arms could not possibly stop Derek’s well-forged sword.

But Derek’s sword never reached Diela.

– Swish!

– Clang!

The moisture in the air around the girl froze, blocking Derek’s sword.

The girl, fallen backward, opened her eyes wide in surprise. An icy pillar, exuding cold air, had formed around her, as if to protect her. It was her doing.

Still too raw to reach the level of hasty magic, but it was at least basic elemental magic.

– Swish, thud!

Derek nonchalantly sheathed his sword back into its place.

And then he whispered quietly,

“Well done.”

Looking up at Derek, who had fallen to the ground, the madness that had been on his face moments ago was gone.

As always, he looked like the impassive yet seemingly kind magician Derek had seen in the mansion.

Diella swallowed her breath at the sight of such a change in Derek. The reason she had been driven into a corner was to push her senses to the limit in an extreme survival situation.

Diella, who had always lived like a flower in a greenhouse, learning magic at a desk, had never experienced this.

It was the feeling of all her senses stirring for the sole purpose of survival.

Diella looked around with trembling pupils. The ice pillars, frozen by magical energy, gradually lost their power and melted back into water, seeping into the surrounding ground.

She then spread her trembling arms and looked at them.

What was fully present there was indeed the essence of magical energy. Diella’s newly manifested magic was specialized in coldness.

The bluish magic, enveloped in coldness and floating above her hand, was like an ideal she could never reach in her childhood no matter how hard she tried.

She stayed up all night reading books, repeating the process over and over, and working to the bone, but it never worked. After countless attempts, there was only failure, pitiful glances, and subtle humiliations.

Thus, only memories of frustration and disappointment accumulated, eating away at the girl, and before she knew it, she was confined in a detached house entwined with rose vines. Her soul gradually wore away, buried in authority and lineage.

Such a beautiful and radiant magical power made the years of repetition seem insignificant.

Sometimes flowing like water, sometimes churning like the earth… the source of power that moved according to Diella’s senses. That image was etched into Diella’s blue retinas.

“…”

The young Diella, still retaining her innocence, imagined every night before sleep. She would be overjoyed if she could learn magic well enough to cast spells. She would run to her family with a full-faced smile, boasting and jumping for joy. So she must study magic diligently.

But contrary to those expectations, Diella, witnessing the emerging magic, did not stir at all.

For a long while, she just looked and looked, and then, eventually, she began to tremble slightly.

“Ugh, sob… ugh… ugh…”

It seemed that the emotions welling up were closer to sorrow than joy.

As Diella hugged her arms and wept for a long time, Derek silently gazed at the starry night sky.

The moonlit stars were still bright.

*

“Did you really have to do it in such a heart-dropping way?”

“As I said, it was a necessary strong medicine.”

“Don’t treat me like a patient.”

“…”Dielra was tired, of course, and so was Derek, having cast spells several times over.

They rested under the large zelkova tree, keeping a fair distance apart, each leaning back for a break.

Dielra hugged her knees, looking at her palms. She closed her eyes tightly, watching the flickering magic within.

“You may thank me.”

“I’m not thankful.”

“I know you’re thankful.”

“Knowing that, why do you ask?”

Her tone was still brusque, but Dielra’s attitude had softened. Yet, her honesty remained unchanged.

“I haven’t reached the realm of one-star magic yet, so I need more practice. There’s a lot of lost time, so there’s much progress to be made.”

“…”

“Your magic is unstable right now. Starting tomorrow, you must learn to manifest it fully. That will be the foundation of all graded magic.”

“How do you do that?”

“I’ll teach you tomorrow.”

Dielra looked down.

She was a mess. Her lush blonde hair was full of leaves and dust, and her body was covered in mud, looking like a beggar.

Yet, magic flowed through her body.

That single fact overflowed softly in her heart. It felt like hot lava flowing down her esophagus.

“Derek.”

The girl called out Derek’s name. When Derek responded lightly, she gazed blankly into the forest at night and eventually spoke softly. Though only the back of his head was visible, that calm word came through clearly.

“Thank you.”

“…”

Derek leaned his head against the tree trunk, quietly watching the starry sky, and thought.

It was ambiguous whether he deserved thanks. In truth, the basic magical qualities were almost self-taught by Dielra. Derek had only provided the catalyst.

From a young age, wandering the forest, painting landscapes, observing the world, she had been raising her instinctive senses unique to the wild school.

Life was like an incomplete painting, and magic was like the basics she couldn’t grasp. And without any other outstanding talents, her life felt like a meaningless blank space in the canvas of her youth.

But Derek, who came from the streets, knew. Not every moment in life can be filled.

Whether sitting idly in the slums, starving, or alone in a room, poring over magic books all day. That empty space in life was always with Derek.

It’s just a matter of how soon or late it comes, but the blank spaces of life inevitably arrive.

Whether you lose your goals, dreams, family, or comrades. A period marked by long emptiness and frustration will surely come.

As experience accumulates and maturity sets in, one learns to overcome such voids with finesse. Even within that emptiness, meaning and purpose can be found. This too, is accepted as a part of life.

Yet, the void that comes too early, before such maturity has developed, can sometimes shatter a person’s heart. It’s because it feels like it’s all there is to life. For a young girl like Diella, it goes without saying.

Still, wasn’t it already known during those days spent wandering in front of the canvas with a brush in hand?

Only when those voids are included, does it finally become a complete painting.

“That sunset painting.”

That’s why, Derek gently asked.

“Was it your own work?”

“…Why would you ask that? It’s been a long time since I’ve held a brush.”

“I just wanted to ask.”

Diella snorted as if to question why such a thing was being asked.

The painting that the whole family looked upon with the warmest eyes, urging her to finish it quickly, wanting to see Diella’s painting in its entirety. Regrettably, it was already complete.

Maintaining the silence, Diella eventually rests her head on her knees and murmurs in response.

“It was my magnum opus.”

Such is the way of life.

Derek, beside such a Diella, simply joined her in gazing up at the moon.

*

The next morning, the first thing Diella did upon waking up in bed was to spread her palm and let her magic flow.

The faintly visible stream of magic finally indicated that the girl had entered the threshold of becoming a sorceress.

However, it still seemed a bit too early for a full manifestation.

She wanted to use magic properly soon, but the girl’s level was still weak.

– ‘Starting tomorrow, you must learn to manifest your magic fully. That will be the foundation of all urgent magic.’

– ‘How do you do that?’

– ‘I’ll teach you tomorrow.’

“…”

Diella, chin in hand, fell deep in thought. Her disheveled hair fell over her eyes, so she blew it away with a puff, making a face like a sulky cat.

Last night, Diella returned to the annex looking utterly destitute, startling the servants. She had barely slept five hours after being bathed and tended to by the maids.

At the window, the newly risen sun was driving away the darkness. That man named Derek was probably sound asleep in the guest room of the main house.

So what? He was the one who said he would teach her tomorrow.

From Diella’s point of view, when she wakes up, it’s already tomorrow. If it bothered him, he should have set a precise time. The itch to learn how to harness magic was starting to grow.

Diella got out of bed, still in her pajamas.

It was the moment she swung open the door to head out into the hallway.

– Thud

“Ah!”

Last night, the maid who had been fetching cold water for cooking from the well, after Derek had emptied it, stumbled and fell.

Not expecting Diela’s room door to suddenly open, she lost her grip on the water jug.

– Crash!

– Splash!

The jug rolled over, soaking the hem of Diela’s slippers and pajamas.

“….”

“Di, Di, Diela miss! Eek!”

Diela’s icy gaze fell upon the fallen maid.

The head butler Delron, who had been giving instructions in the hallway, came running, startled.

“Di, Diela miss. Are you alright?”

“Oh, miss! I’m so, so sorry! Truly sorry! Please forgive me just this once! Please, just once…”

The fallen maid scrambled to sit up, begging for forgiveness. Head butler Delron also swallowed hard, his nerves on edge.

It was clear that the maid was about to be thrashed, and Delron’s mind raced with how to intervene. If the number of servants in the annex decreased any further, managing the workload would become truly difficult.

However, Diela simply looked down at the maid with her eyes cold as ice and said only this:

“Be more careful.”

With those oppressive words, Diela quickly walked down the hallway with brisk steps. She intended to call the maid supervisor to change her clothes and go to the main house.

Somehow, her stride seemed almost excited, like a young girl looking forward to an outing.

“…”

“…Huh?”

Head butler Delron and the maid exchanged glances, their eyes wide with surprise.

It was Diela, of all people. In a situation where it wouldn’t have been strange for her to trample and beat someone to death, she left with just a brief word.

To those seeing her for the first time, they might say she was just as brusque as anyone else, but to the servants who had worked by Diela’s side for half their lives, it was an unbelievable sight.

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Unable to fathom what had happened, the two could only stare down the empty hallway Diela had left behind.

It had been only a day since Derek had taken her hand and led her out of the mansion.