Chapter 3

“Father, I have something to talk to you about.”

“What is it, Diana?”

The day after the party, Diana visited her father’s study.

Although he was in the middle of work, the Duke of Gazard, who was doting on his daughter, immediately put down the documents he was holding onto his desk.

“Regarding the northern magical beast subjugation, I have come to submit a proposal that our House of the Duke of Gazard should also dispatch troops.”

The forest stretching across the northern part of the Rutledge Kingdom.

Commonly known as the Forest of Demons, it was a region where numerous magical beasts frequented.

If left unchecked, the magical beasts would multiply and potentially bring harm to the kingdom.

Therefore, troops were regularly led to the north to subjugate the magical beasts.

“Why is there a need for our House of Gazard to send troops to this particular magical beast subjugation?”

With a calm demeanor, the Duke of Gazard questioned his daughter.

To the anticipated question, Diana answered in a composed tone.

“This time, I, the future Duchess of Gazard, have come of age. I thought it would be best to demonstrate our unwavering loyalty from the ducal house to the royal family through action.”

“Hmm…”

“In recent years, the number of magical beasts has been on the rise, and reports of damage are increasing. If the Duke of Gazard’s house takes the initiative to take countermeasures on this occasion, we can further solidify the trust from the royal family.”

What Diana was saying in itself was not wrong.

It was the duty of nobility to demonstrate unyielding loyalty to the kingdom.

However, it was also true that he could not simply accept his daughter’s words at face value.

“That offer—surely it’s not because Alan is setting out, is it?”

“That is… I cannot say for certain it isn’t.”

At her father’s words, Diana inwardly concealed her cold sweat and continued.

“Actually… I saw it in a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yes. It was a dream where this magical beast subjugation caused immense damage, and many of the kingdom’s knights, beginning with Lord Alan, became men who never returned.”

As someone who had navigated aristocratic society for years as the Duke of Gazard, even Diana knew better than to think she could win against her battle-hardened father through mere political posturing.

If that was the case, she judged that the best strategy was to convey some degree of truth and enlist his cooperation.

“If it were just a dream, it would be fine… but it was so realistic that the terror still lingers in my chest. I cannot overlook it.”

Even if she told the truth, she didn’t know how far it would be accepted.

Still, to this extent—surely a father who doted on his daughter would listen.

Such a thought was also in her mind.

“I won’t object to sending troops from our house. But…”

“Please, leave the command of those troops to me!”

At his beloved daughter’s preemptive offer, the Duke of Gazard let out a sigh.

From his perspective, it only looked like his daughter was saying this out of her affection for Alan.

Precisely because he had watched the two of them from the closest vantage point, he had been aware since her childhood that Diana held extraordinary feelings for Alan.

“Do you understand? Before being the future head of the house, you are a ducal young lady.”

“Yes, I understand. Father knows the grades I achieved at the academy, right?”

One half of the twins of the Duke of Gazard’s house, Diana the Moon.

Unlike her sister, a dark image clung to that moniker.

Despite being a woman, she chose swordsmanship and magic classes, earning an A rating in swordsmanship and the highest rank of S in magic.

In comprehensive subjects, including swordsmanship and magic, she secured the top spot for the first time as a female student.

Compared to Cordelia, the harsh winds blowing against Diana could arguably be attributed to her academic results and her attitude of striving in silence.

Lacking charm, always standing up to men, being audacious, not being womanly, and so on—in aristocratic society, which demanded femininity, Diana was an anomaly.

Perhaps driven by her innate aversion to losing, no matter who the opponent was or what the field, she gave everything to win.

Diana had left behind results at the academy to match that dedication.

“I am confident I will be more useful than an average knight. Please, I ask for your permission.”

“Hmm…”

The Duke of Gazard crossed his arms and groaned.

He had no worries about sending his daughter to the front lines.

Diana was that exceptional, both as a swordsman and as a magician.

However, as a father, it was a different story.

(That fellow Alan, charming Diana away like that…)

As a friend, he wished for Alan’s happiness, but when that partner turned out to be his own daughter, it was an entirely different matter.

Alan was thirty-five years old this year.

With Diana at eighteen, the age gap was far too wide.

In this aristocratic society, age-gap marriages were common enough.

Marriage wasn’t always about romance; most of the time, it was about ties between noble houses.

As long as they weren’t children before coming of age, it was rare for age differences to even be taken into consideration.

Yet, when it came to his precious daughter, the matter was entirely different.

His prized twins did not know their mother.

His sickly wife’s body had been unable to endure the childbirth, and she had quietly passed away the day after giving birth.

Unwilling to take a second wife, the father, Wesley, had raised his twin daughters with his own hands.

Naturally, given his busy life, there must have been times when he made them feel lonely, but he had continually striven to ensure they never felt the emptiness of lacking a mother.

The daughter he had raised with such great care was infatuated with a friend not all that different in age from himself.

He still hadn’t found an answer as a father: should he rejoice that Diana’s judgment in people was sound, or should he push her away to find someone her own age?

“Regarding the dispatch of troops, I will submit a request to His Majesty on your behalf.”

“Thank you, Father!”

At the desired response, Diana’s expression lit up instantly.

It was quite the dilemma, given that even that radiance somehow made him feel troubled.

Should he support his beloved daughter’s fleeting romance—a difficult problem for which no answer could be found no matter how much he thought about it.

(If only you were here at a time like this…)

In the study after Diana had departed, looking down upon the garden his late wife had loved, he quietly asked into the emptiness.

(If it were you, you surely would have said something like, ‘It’s their life after all, let’s support them’… Nadia…)

Gently, a refreshing spring breeze felt as though it brushed against his cheek.

From the moment the expedition was decided until departure, there were only about ten days.

During that time, Diana was busy every day.

She drew up a list of those accompanying her to the Forest of Demons and established the chain of command.

For Diana, this was her first battle.

Diana herself, as well as the knights, wanted to approach it with absolute thoroughness.

──And yet.

“To visit so suddenly, just what do you mean by this?”

Her time taken up by an unexpected guest, Diana puckered her well-formed lips.

Her amethyst eyes glared at the unwelcome visitor—Miles Odonoghue.

“Hearing that you are heading off to a dangerous place, there’s no way I could just leave you be.”

Chilly anger seeped into the eyes Miles fixed upon Diana.