Chapter 10

Chapter 10
## Chapter 10
**”Brother.”**

In a private room of the main house that Lady Diella used to occupy, Valerian sat alone, lost in thought. It was a small space that had not been visited for a long time, yet the servants continued to clean it regularly.

He remained there, organizing his thoughts, long after Dereck had departed. As he did so, Aiselin crossed the hallway of the main house, guiding the servants inside.

“The butler reported that Lord Dereck took Diella out of the pavilion…”

“…At this hour?”

‘Yes. Let’s try.’

Dereck left the room with a determined expression. He seemed to have found something important. At such a late hour, when most of the servants were asleep, Valerian felt a strange unease.

“I should instruct the butler to investigate it.”

“But, uh… Lord Dereck firmly warned us not to follow him… so the report reached my hands.”

“What could he be plotting?”

Lady Aiselin also wore a worried expression. It was Dereck whom she had sought out and brought back. No one opposed her decision because the Duke of Duplain had granted him full authority, but still, there was something unsettling.

Even so, if drastic measures were needed, as the Duke suggested… Aiselin could say no more.

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

“I was simply organizing my thoughts. I also took some time to look at Diella’s paintings after so long.”

The room was filled with canvases. Diella’s last painting. It was an unfinished work, with many empty margins on the canvas, but the painted portions alone showed incredible talent.

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

“I hope that one day Diella finishes this painting. I want to frame it and hang it elegantly in the foyer…”

“Indeed.”

Both, with sad voices, could only lament in the middle of the night.

***

**Bang!**

Even the darkness of the night had abandoned Diella.

Dereck’s magic arrows, fully detecting the enemy’s position, pursued Diella, tearing through the branches with fury.

**Crack! Bang!**

The torturous and lightning-fast torrent of magic seemed ready to shatter Diella’s bones at any moment. A single hit would be fatal to her fragile body. Knowing this, Diella covered her head and ran uphill along the steep forest path.

“Ah!”

**Bang!**

While Dereck advanced, Diella ran in the opposite direction. She climbed over a large trunk, slid across the ground, and scaled a slope. She pushed her way through the trees, ducked under a hanging zelkova, and leaped over a ditch.

Despite it being midnight, she ran through the forest path without hesitation. Diella already knew the geography of the place well. She had memorized the layout of the forest, the vines that hindered progress, the position of fallen logs, and the sharp rocks protruding from the ground.

Dereck was not confused. He already knew that she was very familiar with the forest’s layout.

The landscape paintings that filled her room depicted all the surroundings of the manor. It was not difficult to deduce that the young Diella had been a child who played in nature, coming and going from the estate. Her paintings clearly exceeded the level of an average child.

She captured the world exactly as she saw it, with precision. Moreover, the numerous bluish lines she traced over the landscapes were astonishing.

Lines visible in the forest, the trees, the sunset, and the river, drawn by a child. To the untrained eye, these blue strokes might look like a unique artistic style, perhaps shadows or textures.

But in reality, they were expressions of the magic flow she perceived in nature as a child.

It was the magic energy of the vast forest that every mage of the Wild Faction had experienced at least once. Being able to see it and express it meant that, unconsciously, she had tuned into it.

Diella’s talent leaned more toward the Wild Faction than the Regulated Faction.

Dereck had suspected it upon seeing her paintings. Instead of manifesting magic through rituals governed by rules, she felt the magic inherent in all things and used it freely; that was the essence of the Wild Faction. While it shared some aspects with the Regulated Faction, its philosophy differed greatly.

This girl was born of the noblest bloodline, but, unfortunately, with the nature of a street mage.

Magic ability is highly influenced by lineage. However, ultimately, the mental structure used to materialize magic usually follows personal tendencies. While most nobles followed the Regulated Faction, Diella was different.

She simply loved the world. She enjoyed coming and going from the manor, observing, painting, and playing.

Even when the servants scolded her, she would climb the manor walls to explore the forest, draw rodents in her small notebook, lift her skirt to wade barefoot in the rivers, or lie in the meadow gazing at the blue sky.

She captured all those moments in her art. It was evident she found joy in it.

From that moment on, everything began to crumble. Unfortunately, in a world where the noble Regulated Faction was the mainstream, she was simply a misfit.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

As Dereck pressured Diella by firing magic arrows at strategic points, Diella leaped again among the trees, desperately trying to escape.

Even in the midst of growing terror, she devised a survival strategy. Her blood boiled. Her breathing quickened. Her heart pounded. The harsh reality that fleeing would change nothing tormented her. If she wanted to live, she had to resist. She had to fight with all her might, and if she had nothing, she would fight with her bare fists until she broke.

“Ha… ha…”

Gasping to her limit, she broke through a thicket. The steady rhythm of Dereck’s pursuit and Diella’s frantic flight did not distance themselves much. Dereck, a wandering mercenary by trade, was always forced to fight in unfamiliar terrain. Knowing the forest like the back of her hand did not guarantee an escape from Dereck.

**Bang!**

“Aah!”

Another magic arrow grazed Diella’s back and exploded nearby. Startled, Diella rolled down a gentle grassy slope. Her golden hair, already tangled and full of leaves, became even more disheveled.

**Crack!**

Somehow, the girl stood up. Her hair, once carefully styled, now fell lank over her shoulders. Her lace pajamas were torn, and her skin, once radiant, was scratched and dirty.

However, she gritted her teeth and stood up again. Descending the side of the long hill, she ventured even deeper into the forest. In the middle of the woods, in a wide meadow, stood a majestic zelkova tree.

Leaning against the trunk, Diella tried to stand. Gasping, she struggled to take one step at a time. But her strength was completely exhausted. She breathed with difficulty and felt her chest tighten.

“Have you run out of energy to keep running?”

“…!!”

The sound of a sword being sheathed was heard. Under the moonlight, a boy approached the girl leaning against the zelkova. Dereck, smiling with satisfaction, closed the distance, but the exhausted Diella gradually lost strength in her legs and collapsed to the ground.

Then, Dereck approached and looked at Diella.

“Pant… Pant…”

“Anything else you want to say?”

“Ugh… why ask…? Ha… Ha…”

Diella, sitting on the ground, raised her head and met Dereck’s gaze. Her eyes still burned with life. Although her small body no longer had the strength to flee, her will to resist remained intact.

“Why? Do you think I’m going to apologize? Beg? Ask for forgiveness, promise not to do it again… behave myself, humiliate myself?”

“…”

“Better to kill me. I will never act below my lineage.”

Even as simple prey, Diella raised her head with pride and looked Dereck in the eye. Dereck observed her calmly.

“Why are you so obsessed with lineage and status?”

“What else do I have?”

Diella, with trembling fingers clutching the grass, gritted her teeth and replied. Her voice betrayed more sadness than anger.

“Magic, studies, painting… I’ve fallen behind in everything… After being so far behind… what do I have left besides the authority of my lineage? If I can’t even protect that… then who am I…?”

“…”

Then Diella spoke through tears. Dereck listened in silence and, after a while, said in a low voice:

“I saw your painting of the sunset.”

“…”

“It was very well done.”

“…”

The watercolor of the sunset that Dereck had seen in her room. A painting of a young girl riding on the back of a maid, gazing at the red sky—that was Diella’s last work. Beautifully and delicately executed, yet most of it remained unfinished, with the edges of the canvas blank.

Most of Diella’s paintings were like that. Her brushwork was clean, her colors elegant, but she left large empty spaces.

Valerian had criticized them for being incomplete. Even he, who adored her, said it. Probably the rest of the family felt the same. But from Dereck’s modern perspective, it was different. He felt that the delicate touch reaching into the empty space conveyed an aesthetic intention: to preserve the spatial impression.

In short, it was the “beauty of the void.” A technique frequent in Oriental art, contrasting with the Western style of filling the canvas and layering bright colors common among the aristocracy.

Diella had developed a style of her own back then. Without anyone recognizing it, she was a girl with a genuine aesthetic sense. In short, she was not just a girl of noble blood.

“What does that mean now…?”

Diella began to say something but stopped. In her stunned vision, she saw the flow of magic, so intense she felt the world was going to explode.

Her survival instincts awakened something deep within her. The familiar forest where she had played since childhood merged with her vision. Only when she was pushed to the limit did the girl’s magic instincts awaken. At the edge of her sharpened senses, the flow of all the world’s magic became visible in an instant.

At that moment, Diella couldn’t even close her mouth.

“Ah!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Dereck’s sword lunged at her. Startled, Diella recoiled and raised her hands in self-defense. It was an instinctive act. Of course, her thin arms could not stop Dereck’s forged blade.

But the sword never reached her.

**Whish!**
**Clang!**

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

The fallen girl opened her eyes wide, shocked. Pillars of ice, radiating cold, had formed around her, as if protecting her. It was her own doing. It was still too rudimentary to be considered advanced magic, but at least it was basic elemental magic.

**Slash, thud!**

Dereck sheathed his sword calmly. Then he whispered in a low voice.

“Well done.”

Seeing Dereck kneeling before her, the madness of a moment ago vanished. As always, he looked like the calm and handsome mage she had seen at the manor.

Diella swallowed hard at his sudden change. The reason he had pressured her so much was to activate her survival instincts. Until now, Diella had lived like a flower in a greenhouse, learning magic at a desk, never experiencing this. The feeling of all one’s senses sharpening just to survive.

Diella looked around with trembling pupils. The ice pillars, frozen by magic energy, were gradually melting, turning back into water that soaked the ground.

Then she extended her trembling hands and looked at them. What she saw was, truly, the essence of magic energy. Diella’s newly awakened magic specialized in cold.

A bluish magic, shrouded in cold, floated over her hands, like the ideals she had never been able to reach no matter how hard she tried. She had spent sleepless nights reading, practiced incessantly, and worked tirelessly, but had never achieved it. Only countless failures, pitying looks, and silent contempt followed.

Memories of frustration and disappointment accumulated, consuming her, until she found herself isolated in a separate house, surrounded by rose bushes. Her spirit faded, buried under authority and status.

The magic power—so beautiful and radiant—made those long, repetitive years seem insignificant. Sometimes it flowed like water, other times it swirled like earth… the source of power moving through her instincts. That image was seared into Diella’s blue eyes.

“…”

Little Diella, still full of innocence, imagined every night before bed how happy she would be if she learned magic and could cast spells. She would run to her family with a ear-to-ear smile, overflowing with joy. That’s why she studied magic so hard.

But, contrary to those hopes, Diella remained motionless as she witnessed the manifestation of magic. For a long while, she just stared fixedly and, finally, began to tremble slightly.

“Ugh, sniff… ugh… ugh…”

Her overflowing emotions were more of sadness than joy.

While Diella hugged herself and cried silently, Dereck looked quietly toward the starry night sky. The stars, illuminated by the moonlight, continued to shine.

***

“Did you really have to do it in such a miserable way?”

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

“Don’t treat me like a patient.”

“…”

Diella was exhausted, as was Dereck, who had cast spells several times. They rested under the large zelkova tree, maintaining a considerable distance, each leaning back to rest.

Diella hugged her knees while looking at her palms. She closed her eyes tightly, observing the magic flickering inside her.

“You can thank me.”

“I’m not thankful.”

“I know you are.”

“If you know, why ask?”

Her tone was still harsh, but Diella’s attitude had softened. However, her frankness remained intact.

“I haven’t reached the level of one-star magic yet, so I need to practice more. I’ve lost a lot of time, so I still have much to improve.”

“…”

“Your magic is unstable right now. Starting tomorrow, you need to learn to materialize it completely. It will be the foundation of magic at all levels.”

“How do I do that?”

“I’ll teach you tomorrow.”

Diella lowered her head. She was a mess. Her abundant blonde hair was full of leaves and dust, her body covered in mud; she looked like a beggar. However, magic flowed through her entire being.

That simple fact surfaced gently in her heart. It was as if hot lava were running down her throat.

“Dereck.”

The girl called to Dereck. Seeing his indifference, she contemplated the night forest and finally spoke in a low voice. Although only the back of her head was visible, her serene words were heard clearly.

“Thank you.”

“…”

Dereck leaned his head against the tree trunk, silently observing the starry sky, and thought.

It wasn’t clear if he deserved thanks. In reality, Diella had almost learned basic magic on her own. Dereck had only been the catalyst. Since she was little, wandering through the forest, painting landscapes, and observing the world, she had been perfecting her unique instincts in the Wild School.

Life was like an unfinished painting, and magic like the fundamentals she couldn’t grasp. And without any other exceptional talent, her life felt like a meaningless blank space on the canvas of her youth.

But Dereck, who came from the streets, knew it. Not all moments in life can be filled. Whether sitting idly in the slums, hungry, or alone in her room reading magic books all day, the gaps in life always accompanied Dereck.

It’s only a matter of time, but the voids in life will undoubtedly come. Whether you lose your purpose, your dreams, your family, or your friends, a period marked by prolonged emptiness and frustration will inevitably arrive.

When experiences accumulate and maturity begins to surface, one learns to manage those voids with skill. Even within that void, meaning and purpose can be found. This too is accepted as part of life.

However, a void that arrives too soon, before maturity is reached, can sometimes shatter the heart. Because it seems that is all life has to offer. For a girl like Diella, that was evident.

But wasn’t it already known during those days she spent wandering in front of the canvas with a brush in hand? Only when the blank space is filled does the work finally become a complete painting.

“The sunset painting.”

That was why Dereck asked in a low voice.

“Was it your work?”

“…Why do you ask that? I haven’t touched a brush in ages.”

“I just wanted to ask.”

Diella snorted as if wondering why he was asking something like that. The painting that the whole family cherished so much, whom they encouraged to finish soon, hoping to see Diella’s complete work. But, unfortunately, it was already finished.

Still keeping silent, Diella finally rested her head on her knees and murmured in response.

“It was my masterpiece.”

That is life.

Dereck, alongside Diella, joined her in contemplating the moon.

***

The next morning, the first thing Diella did upon waking up in bed was extend her palms and let her magic flow. The barely visible trace of magic finally proved that the girl had crossed the threshold to becoming an enchantress.

However, it still seemed too early for its complete materialization. She wanted to use magic correctly immediately, but her level was still weak.

*«Starting tomorrow, you must learn to materialize your magic completely. It will be the basis for all emergency magic.»*

*How do I do that?*

*’I’ll teach you tomorrow.’*

“…”

Diella, resting her chin on her hand, sank into thought. Her messy hair covered her eyes, so she blew it away with a huff, looking like a grumpy cat.

Last night, Diella returned to the annex looking completely disheveled, which surprised the servants. She only slept five hours after being bathed and attended to.

At the window, the newly risen sun dissipated the darkness. The man named Dereck was probably sleeping soundly in the guest room of the main house.

So what? He was the one who said he would teach her tomorrow. From Diella’s perspective, if she was awake, it was already tomorrow. If that bothered him, he should have specified a time. Her hunger to learn how to master magic was growing.

Diella got out of bed, still in her pajamas. That was when she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

**-Thud!**

“Ah!”

The servant who was going to fetch cold water from the well for cooking—after Dereck emptied it—tripped and fell. Not expecting Diella’s door to open suddenly, he lost control of the water jar.

**-Thud!**
**-Splash!**

The jar rolled, soaking the tips of Diella’s sandals and her pajamas.

“…”

“Lady Diella! Oh!”

Diella’s cold gaze fell on the fallen servant. The butler Delron, who had been giving instructions in the hallway, rushed over in alarm.

“Lady Diella, are you all right?”

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

The fallen servant scrambled to stand, begging for forgiveness. Delron also swallowed nervously, uneasy.

It was obvious the servant would be beaten, and Delron was hurriedly looking for ways to intervene. If more servants left the annex, managing the workload would become extremely difficult.

However, Diella only looked at the servant with icy eyes and said:

“Be more careful.”

With those dry words, Diella walked quickly down the hall. Her intention was to call the head maid to change her clothes and head to the main house. Somehow, her steps seemed almost excited, like those of a young child looking forward to an outing.

“…”

“…Eh?”

Delron and the servant looked at each other, eyes wide with surprise.

It was Diella, precisely. In a situation where it wouldn’t be unusual for her to trample or hit someone nearly to death, she walked away with just a few words. For those seeing her for the first time, she might still seem rude, but for the servants who had worked alongside Diella for half a lifetime, it was a scene hard to believe.

Unable to comprehend what had just happened, they could only stare fixedly at the now-empty hallway Diella had left behind.

Only one day had passed since Dereck took her hand and led her out of that house.