There Are No Bad Young Ladies in the World

Value (5)

“Certainly, Miss Denise’s words may have some merit. However, I can also provide enough reasons why I don’t need to leave the Beltus family. After all, reasons are something that can be created if needed.”

The Beltus family, while it can be compared in reputation to the Duplain family that dominates the southwestern continent, cannot hold as much influence as Miss Aislin and Miss Diela.

When it comes to producing heirs, it’s hard to find a place that does it as well as the Duplain family, even if you search the entire continent.

However, Derek continued as if it didn’t matter.

“There are three reasons why I don’t leave the Beltus family.”

“…What are they?”

“First, Miss Denise is a much more valuable person than she thinks.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m not saying this to please you.”

Denise, who thought it was just a customary remark, gave a soulless thank you, but Derek rebutted with a serious face.

She knew that the white-haired mercenary did not make empty words. However, it was not easy for Denise to accept Derek’s words as they were.

“Miss Denise has achieved results and maintained her position even within the cold atmosphere of the Beltus family. It’s hard to compare this to the warm family relationships of the Duplain family.”

“What does that mean?”

“Steel is forged in hot heat, but people only become truly strong in cold chill.”

Derek was a person who grew up from the cold bottom.

His values were different from Aislin or Diela, who grew up in the perfectly equipped environment of the Duplain family, receiving plenty of love.

“A flower that blooms in a greenhouse may look beautiful, but it has inevitable limitations. I believe the real value lies in the weeds that endure harsh environments.”

“…Are you saying I’m like a weed?”

“The phrasing is a bit odd, but… yes, that’s correct. Miss Denise has the qualities of a weed.”

“…Wow. That’s too raw to take as a compliment…”

“I don’t make empty words.”

“I know.”

Probably, what this mercenary was saying was truly sincere. Denise felt a sense of inexplicable trust rising.

This mercenary seriously valued Denise’s qualities. No matter how much Denise pushed him away, he never stopped this training.

A renowned teacher only teaches students they believe are worth teaching.

Derek seemed to have discovered some value in Denise that even she herself didn’t know.

“The second reason is that, no matter what, I need to maintain my connection with the Beltus family a bit longer.”

—

—

“You’re already close enough with the Duplain and Belmiard families. There’s no reason to maintain a connection with the Beltus family as well…”

Denise suddenly found herself at a loss for words.

She stared intently into Derek’s eyes, then swallowed dryly.

“Are you trying to become a noble?”

“If necessary, it would be nice to earn a lower title by making contributions, but I don’t have such ambitions 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 obsessed with their privileges, but Derek didn’t harbor any particularly good or bad feelings towards them.

He just knew that it wouldn’t be beneficial to oppose the nobles when it came to learning magic.

If he wanted to become a higher-level magician in the future, he would eventually need to have as many prestigious families as possible backing him. Considering the life of Drest, it was an element that should never be taken lightly.

“…That’s so like you. In the end, you just want to learn higher-level magic, don’t you?”

“Yes. If I can maintain smooth relations with the three major families, there won’t be any families that can interfere with my magical achievements. Although, this is a story that only applies to the southwestern part of the continent.”

“Are you really thinking of reaching the level of a 3-star magician…?”

“I am already at the 3-star level.”

“──What?”

Derek made the bombshell statement nonchalantly.

He didn’t seem to have any emotional change, but Denise couldn’t help but have her pupils tremble for a moment.

She had thought he was only proficient in 2-star magic.

Even within the 2-star realm, there was a world of difference between someone who had just reached the level and someone who had fully matured.

And the level of 3-star magic was far beyond that gap.

Even among the noble class, it was rare for one or two people per generation to reach the 3-star level around the time of their coming-of-age ceremony. But it was the first time she had seen a commoner reach this level at such a young age.

She seemed to understand why Derek was so determined to maintain smooth relations with the three major noble families.

Denise swallowed dryly once more and recalled the magical prowess Derek had shown so far.

It was indeed at a level that was not strange to consider him a 3-star magician.

“Derek, you are truly obsessed with magic.”

“I’m still lacking.”

“Yes, that makes sense. You certainly have a reason to want to stick with the Beltus family.”

Denise nodded while sitting on the old display stand. At some point, she even let out a hollow laugh.

Anyway, this mercenary had never once deviated from the truth in his words.

No matter how much Denise tried to manipulate this mercenary, he always shattered her cunning schemes with his straightforward words.

He was with the Beltus family for his own safety and advancement. He just said it so confidently.

There was no gentle consideration in Derek’s words.

—

—

They didn’t even consider comforting Denis, whose wings had been clipped. They were just conveying the facts as they were.

‘······.’

However, sometimes, after a roundabout way, it became a form of consideration and comfort. Derek would have known that well too.

A person like Denis wouldn’t be moved by obvious words of comfort or ceremonial rhetoric.

You are not a worthless person. You are a beautiful and precious being.

He wasn’t the type to be energized by such empty comfort.

Rather, he found a strange comfort in someone like Derek saying with a nonchalant expression, “No?”

He felt a peculiar comfort in Derek affirming Denis’s worth with truly convincing reasons, and in the fact that it was a logic hard to refute.

‘I have become quite a cheap woman. To feel relieved by such offhand remarks.’

Denis thought with a self-deprecating smile.

This boy named Derek judged people as individuals, beyond their status and family.

To Denis, who had been oppressed by the prestige of the Beltus family all her life, he was an unfamiliar type of person.

Come to think of it, throughout teaching Denis, he never once imposed the typical noble mindset of shining the Beltus family or striving for greater honor and authority.

He genuinely wanted to teach Denis magic.

There wasn’t a single grain of the Beltus family’s glory mixed in that intention.

Thinking that far, Denis began to see this magic teacher Derek differently.

A teacher teaches people. And a mentor leads people.

It was understandable why Aislin praised him as a good teacher and a good mentor.

‘What a peculiar human being.’

In this noble society where everything revolves around authority and discipline, Derek was probably the only one who taught people purely without being bound by such status consciousness.

In terms of rarity, to Denis, who had lived her life oppressed by the family’s prestige, he was as precious as gold.

Now she began to understand why so many noble ladies tried to bring this magic teacher into their families.

“Derek.”

Watching Derek quietly, Denis closed her eyes gently, then opened them and smiled as she spoke.

“So, what’s the third reason?”

She suddenly became curious.

Derek had said there were three reasons why he stayed with the Beltus family instead of going to the Duplain family. She had only heard two so far.

What was so important about being affirmed by this boy, who was neither a famous noble’s son nor anything, just a mercenary from the slums… It was something she could just let go, thinking it didn’t matter.

But Denis suddenly became unbearably curious about the remaining reason.

She had somewhat understood with the first two reasons, but she felt embarrassed at herself for pushing further as if she were a child seeking praise. She thought to herself, mocking her own behavior, that she was like a puppy wagging its tail while pretending to be aloof.

—

—

“Ah, the third one, you say?”

Derek casually tossed out the words as if it were nothing.

“I was just curious about the rest of the story.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

For a moment, I had to ask what Derek was talking about.

“If it goes to another family, I won’t be able to see the rest of it. It’s hard to bear because it cuts off at such an important part.”

“…Could it be…”

“Yes. I’m talking about ＜The Arrogant Lord Robain＞.”

“What kind of absurd nonsense is that!!!”

Denise stood up abruptly and almost screamed.

Realizing that she had just thrown away her dignity, she blushed awkwardly and sat back down.

She seemed to be panting as if it were difficult to breathe.

“You were waiting for the rest of the story?”

“Yes. Haven’t you been writing it every night?”

“How could I possibly wield a quill so shamelessly after causing such a fuss?!”

“Shameless? I don’t really think so…”

This man is sincere.

Denise was looking at Derek with a bewildered expression. He had no intention of digging up her dark past and poking around.

That made it even scarier.

At times like this, purity is the most lethal poison.

“That, that will be discarded! I only wrote it as a brief pastime…! Did you really think I was seriously writing such a childish and ridiculous story?”

“…Is that so? I thought the detailed descriptions and the characters’ changes in values were impressive, and that a lot of effort had gone into it…”

“Ugh…”

“As I said, it’s too harsh to completely deny it just because it’s embarrassing. Didn’t you stay up all night writing it, Miss Denise?”

Even as her face turned as red as a beet, Denise somehow managed to speak.

“You’re treating me like a fool.”

“Me?”

“Don’t pretend otherwise.”

“I’m really not.”

Derek was still serious.

—

—

He diligently brushed off the dust from the hem of his pants and spoke without changing his tone.

“Miss Denise, you mentioned that you are like an empty shell, manipulated like a chess piece by the Beltus family, but if we look at the facts, that’s not entirely true, is it?”

“What?”

“Even though no one told you to, you wrote those things, read and studied the works of other great writers. Why do you think the servants quietly pretended not to notice you working late into the night with your quill pen?”

Denise’s pupils widened for a moment.

It seemed she understood why Derek was particularly serious about teaching her.

Even in the midst of exhaustion every night, he remembered the image of the girl sitting at her desk under the moonlight.

She lived swept away by the overwhelming power of her family, like a huge wave. Yet, at night, she would sit by the window and gaze at the stars, imagining the love of fictional characters.

She wrote down the lives of characters who did not lose their value even in the face of harsh reality.

The characters in her writing, who lived and breathed, never had their spirits broken by countless waves.

Even Lord Robain, who was swept away by the family’s crisis, and Tracy, who faced the limits of her status, reached out to the heights to seize their happiness.

She described scenes where sunlight always seeped through the clouds after the stormy waves passed.

The foam breaking between the half-destroyed docks.

At first glance, it seemed like a bleak scene, but the girl never forgot to describe the hope that always existed within it. Because that was the one thing she wanted to convey.

That was why she worked late into the night with her quill pen.

That was why an old mercenary, reading the content with his chin resting on his hand, couldn’t bring himself to mock the lines, even though they were somewhat embarrassing and made his back flush with heat.

“The lines you wrote after pondering all night are proof that Miss Denise is not an empty person. Do I look like someone so cold-hearted that I would treat such things as foolish?”

“…”

“I think you consider it an empty compliment, but I still want to say that I liked it.”

Derek spoke with the same consistent demeanor. From the first time they met in the Laspa Cave until now, he had always been the same.

Perhaps she had come to understand the value of his steadfastness.

Denise quietly looked at Derek and then let out a small laugh.

It was a laugh that burst forth like a blooming flower bud.

“Derek, you are… really hard to understand.”

In the dark underground warehouse, with no one watching, Denise brushed her hair back for no reason.

Whether it was shyness, embarrassment, or some other emotion, she couldn’t tell… but it was hard to keep eye contact with Derek.

Even so, it didn’t seem like an entirely uncomfortable feeling.

*

“Miss Denise is at the annex.”

“Already? She came quickly.”

—

—

“Are you ready to go down now?” “No, tell them to wait a bit.”

Several maids were busy tightening the collar of Diela’s dress.

Diela, dressed in a beautiful dress adorned with pretty frills in the dressing room, was dawdling and not going out immediately. Making the guests wait was a kind of power play.

It had been quite some time since the psychological warfare at the meeting. It was now the day of the duel that Diela and Drinis had agreed upon.

The conditions Diela had set were shockingly generous even from the perspective of the Beltus family.

There was no reason to refuse, as she offered to buy a non-existent painting and take on the risk, and even provide cash.

The conditions were absurdly generous for acquiring a mercenary of commoner origin, but the reason the Duke of Beltus was so eager to bring Derek was to gain such advantages.

“Miss Diela… I hesitate to say this, but…”

“I’m tired of hearing it. You want me to show respect to Lady Drinis, right?”

“…”

When the head butler Delon spoke with conviction, even the tyrannical Diela could only respond with a deep sigh.

No matter how much she was the lady of the Duplain family, she couldn’t recklessly harm the head butler who was responsible for the entire household.

However, whether she would listen was another matter.

“I can tell. She pretends to be angelic and compassionate, but she’s the type who can flip her hand at any moment.”

“Lady Drinis of the Beltus family is well-regarded even in the Rosea Salon. If she is truly as she appears, wouldn’t it be a great burden for you, Miss Diela?”

The head butler Delon courageously advised.

Of course, he had his reasons for saying so.

“As the mercenary said, if you make an enemy of Lady Drinis, your relationship with the Rosea Salon may not be smooth.”

“Ugh… the butler always brings up Derek when it’s unfavorable…”

Diela groaned, even as she spoke.

Whenever Derek was involved, her heart softened, and Diela couldn’t help but ponder more deeply.

What if, by any chance, Drinis didn’t harbor any hostility towards Diela?

What if, by any chance, the letters Drinis sent were completely sincere, with no lies at all?

What if, by any chance, Drinis was just a kind noble lady with no intention of deceiving anyone?

These possibilities continued to torment her mind.

Even as she made her way down to the annex, Diela was lost in thought.

In any case, they were all just thoughts. What mattered now was something else.

Today’s magical duel was to be held in the private duel arena equipped in the annex of Diela’s mansion.

Since it was a newly built facility, she wanted to check it out, and she didn’t want to display her skills in a public place where others could see.

Lady Drinis had readily accepted the proposal and had been visiting Diela’s mansion as a guest since early morning.

—

—

It would have been proper for the lady of the house to personally greet such an esteemed guest, but Diela left Denise waiting alone in the reception room for quite some time.

She intended to provoke her by engaging in such petty mind games.

After a long while, when she finally entered the reception room with a leisurely demeanor, Lady Denise was already seated alone at the guest table.

Humming a tune while casually flipping through a book, she appeared as relaxed as ever.

She seemed even more at ease than during the gatherings at the Rosea Salon, as if she had made several preparations of her own.

Diela furrowed her brows deeply and strode over to sit on the opposite side of the guest table. Lady Denise then closed the book she had been perusing, placed it beside her, and greeted her with an elegant bow. Her smile was as radiant as the sun.

“Have you been well, Lady Diela?”

“Yes. Well.”

Diela replied curtly, but Denise didn’t seem to mind at all.

She simply lifted the now-cold teacup, took a sip, and smiled gracefully as always.

“The new mansion is truly beautiful. It seems fitting for the grandeur of the Duplain family.”

As Lady Denise made such polite small talk with a smile, Diela couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable sense of pressure. Despite numerous rudenesses, her opponent showed no sign of being offended.

With her silver-gray hair, sparkling eyes, gentle demeanor, and boundless grace… she embodied the very image of a noble lady.

Though she neither raised her voice nor showed anger, she exuded an oddly oppressive atmosphere.

While many high-ranking noble ladies often felt intimidated in front of Diela, Denise seemed to be someone who couldn’t be easily subdued.

However, there was no need to be tense. Diela let out a sigh and chuckled.

Beautiful roses always have thorns.

So do people.

—