Chapter 62: Drop of Blood (8)
Diella, who had loved to play since she was little, used to throw a ball around by herself in the central garden of the mansion whenever she had the chance.
When Valerian, working in his private study, saw her playing through the window, he would sometimes come down to the garden to ask how she was doing.
The girl, who would often chase the ball as it rolled outside the garden, sometimes grew uneasy and stepped back when she ran into her older brother in a corner of the garden.
For a child her age, that much older brother was more intimidating or uncomfortable than comforting—especially in a noble environment, where formalities abound.
Valerian wasn’t unaware of this, so he fully understood his younger sister’s distant attitude, never opening her heart to him. To Diella, Valerian was nothing more than a difficult-to-approach older brother.
That’s why, even when Diella locked herself in the annex and behaved violently, he couldn’t bring himself to scold her. It was only recently, as her debut approached, that Diella began to exchange a few words with Valerian.
When they passed each other in the hallway, she would lower her head and ask how he was, or during meals, she’d comment on the taste of the food. Even that was a significant step forward.
The turning point behind all these changes was the visit of Dereck, the magic instructor, to the Duplain mansion.
He changed Diella. Valerian once again felt grateful for that connection.