A month has already passed since the funeral.
In the meantime, the relatives often visited with a lawyer because of proxy problems. They have a very strong will to make a living out of the Pesteros Dukedom by any means.
As soon as they all came, they all looked for Dalia. Since they know that they can't convince Hikan.
But Dalia was also desperate. When she grabs Hikan's ankle, there is a dark cloud right in her future. (*t/n: Idiom – To be tightly tied to a certain task and unable to escape from it.)
So every time, she repeated the same thing like a parrot.
"I don't want anybody else except for my brother."
"I like it when my brother becomes the head. I absolutely hate it if others do it."
As a result, there have been widespread rumors in society that the Duke of Pesteros' sister cannot live without her brother.
It was a bit unfair, but considering the original purpose of lowering Hikan's vigilance, it was rather good.
Eventually, due to Dalia's active opposition, they failed to get a proxy. Dalia could now be relieved of this problem.
Thanks to this, she was able to play and have some tea at the residence of a madam that she's close to after a long time.
"Goodness, Dalia. So that's what happened while I was away."
The Duchess of Blueport said warmly.
Dalia watched her pour tea into a teacup with a very graceful movement.
She's now in her early 40s and has very beautiful brown hair. In addition, she is also a transcendent, as one of the four duke families.
I hear her ability is the power to create a huge barrier that blocks everything.
However, before she was able to use her abilities, she suffered burns and lost her husband in a fire accident.
Perhaps because of the trauma, Duchess Blueport always wears gloves and a mask with only her mouth and chin exposed.
She's also very reluctant to touch people.
Not to mention that she stayed out of the society, and even though Dalia had known her for a long time, she never held her hand.
"Aren't you sad because your father died?"
"Honestly, I don't feel anything strange."
"It can happen. It's okay."
The duchess smiled softly and pushed Dalia the freshly poured tea and sweet chocolate chip cookies.
Unlike the nanny, Duchess Blueport used to put sweets into her mouth whenever Dalia looked sad.
'She's a really nice person.'
Dalia took a bite of the chocolate chip cookies and smiled.
Even though they were the same transcendent, Hikan and Duchess Blueport were very different. Dalia had never seen the duchess become nervous or angry.
Besides, to Dalia who has no mother, her relationship with the duchess is very precious.
When the Duke of Pesteros almost abandoned the infant Dalia in grief for losing his wife, the duchess began to take care of her.
The relationship continued until Dalia was 13 years old.
Besides, there was one more reason why she was so precious. Duchess Blueport is a character who never appeared in the original work like Dalia.
Thanks to this, Dalia was able to build up an inner intimacy with the duchess alone.
Of course, she's not a completely new character that was not in the original like Dalia. Because her first son, Lewayne Blueport, is one of the most important male characters in the original game.
I wanted to meet him because I was curious about him, but the duchess said that he's now in the Blueport Dukedom territory and had no plans to come to the capital in four years.
When Lewayne appeared in the original, it was as the Duke of Blueport, and it means that the current duchess in front of Dalia now will step down before that.
"How do you feel seeing your brother after 13 years?"
The duchess asked with a smile.
Dalia brooded over it a little and secretly whispered to her ears.
"It's very scary. Really."
Then she made a shape with her fingers on both sides of her head. (*t/n: she did the devil's horn)
The duchess burst into laughter as Dalia's funny actions.
"To begin with, ordinary people are a bit afraid of the transcendents. There were actually a couple of accidents."
Dalia nodded.
The general public feared the transcendents because they had strong powers and were always at risk of being "out-of-control."
In general, it was concluded with the imperial intervention (mostly the emperor), the strongest transcendent, and the four major families were also actively trying to prevent the transcendents from losing control in order to preserve their social image.
But there were times when it wasn't. A typical example was the terrible accident when Duke Artus went crazy 30 years ago and wiped out all the royal magicians.
The people who are originally already feared the transcendents became infuriated after the incident got covered up. Naturally, there was also public opinion that the transcendents should be driven out of the empire.
In order to calm the public opinion, the previous emperor set up a special force for the transcendents. He also added dozens of mandatory clauses to the law, including reporting on the status of the transcendent's emotions regularly.
Thanks to this, there have been no transcendents that lose control since then. So far.
However, according to the
It is not well-described what happened or exactly when it was, but it is only known that a transcendent loses control at a certain party.
Starting with him, the mana rush of the transcendents is accelerated to the point where even the imperial family cannot stop it.
'So watch out for your transcendent son, duchess.'
Dalia warned inwardly.
Unaware of what Dalia is thinking, the duchess just smiled softly.
It's lonely to know the future of the original work alone. Dalia pouted her lips.
"But Duchess Blueport is not scary. I'm afraid my brother's going to sell me somewhere."
"Hmm."
"What if I marry a man with a pot belly? Or, I became a tool to bring a son-in-law into the Pesteros family and give birth to a transcendent…"
The duchess put down the cup that she was drinking from.
She seemed to be in a great shock. She looked at Dalia as if she had heard something that she was not supposed to hear.
"Where, where did you hear such words at such a young age? Is it from the maids?"
Of course, it was a thought that came directly from Dalia's brain.
"It's, it's not like that…."
She murmured.
Is my thinking too impure? But given Hikan's misdeeds, it seems possible.
Dalia glanced at the duchess for a moment before she revealed her true feelings.
"So I made a plan. When I become an adult, I will run away on my own."
Duchess Blueport seemed a little bewildered, perhaps not knowing that Dalia was thinking this far.
"No matter how scary your brother is, isn't it too early to think about running away from the mansion? You've only been together for a month."
Dalia sighed.
'As expected. This is the normal reaction.'
When she saw her depressed, the duchess quickly patted Dalia's hand with her gloved hand.
"Well, I'm sorry. I guess since I'm transcendent too, I understand Hikan's position."
"...."
It might be like that. Dalia regretted her carelessness a little.
"But being a transcendent is like being in a very lonely place. I want Dalia to be close to your brother. Instead, if you need my help getting close to your brother, just tell me."
It was a warm word. But can I really get close to Hikan?
Even now, just looking at his eyes, my chest seems to be tight from being nervous.
Dalia didn't give an answer.
* * *
In the meantime, the relationship between Hikan and Dalia runs without much trouble. Maybe because Hikan knows that Dalia is loved by the Duchess of Blueport.
"That's a bit of a surprise."
When he said that in passing, there's shiver ran up my spine. Thanks to this, I have one more reason to use in case of emergency.
Of course, just because there were no problems didn't mean that the relationship got better.
Hikan is incredibly annoyed at her. Because, in the meantime, Dalia has been doing so many things.
It was the wrong move from the beginning.
A pure, foolish sister who likes her brother. To play such a role, I had to keep showing that I liked my brother.
'Really... I'm scared to death.'
Dalia sighed heavily.
The 'Magic Blooming' didn't happen yet, but Hikan doesn't feel like a human already. It seemed like he could get rid of something like Dalia right away with just one finger.
'But I can't think of any other way to lower Hikan's vigilance...'
While Dalia was shedding tears inside, she continued to smile on the outside and shower Hikan with affection.
Even when she learned origami from Madam Mashu, her tutor, she folded a turtle that can grant a wish and brought it to Hikan first.
To show her sincerity.
Wasn't there a saying in my previous life, that if you fold 1000 origami cranes, your wish will be granted?
"What is this?"
"Madam Mashu says, this will grant your wish! Brother's wish….."
"I don't have any wish. Get out."
Of course I was rejected.
Dalia made a wish at the turtle, hoping that Hikan would fall on the road in front of people. Sadly nothing happened.
Next, she learned painting. She did her best to paint Hikan and then excitedly showed him the painting.
"What is this? Did you paint a devil?"
She couldn't say that she painted Hikan, so Dalia returned feeling lonely.