Chapter 67

Thank you for reading today as well.

"It's so unfair! You and Il keep excluding me from everything! You're always together!!!"

As soon as she entered the dining room for breakfast, Diana pointed at Cain and shouted. Even with her cheeks puffed up and her mouth in a pout, she looked adorable, and Cain immediately hugged her, nuzzled her cheek, and sniffed the top of her head.

Diana, still in his embrace, pounded Cain's side with her palms and protested in a ladylike manner, "I'm angry, you know!"

It seems that recently, Mr. Silas has been gradually correcting her language.

"Cain would never exclude Diana. Can you tell me what you're so angry about?"

"Before breakfast, you and Il were playing outside, weren't you? I saw you both go out!"

Diana had seen them setting out for their morning run and mistakenly thought they were playing together. It was unclear why Diana, who usually slept until breakfast, had woken up early this morning, but Cain saw it as an opportunity.

"Then, why don't you join us from tomorrow morning?"

Cain deliberately didn't specify what they were doing, neither confirming nor denying Diana's assumption that they were playing. If she found out they were just running, she might say, "I don't want to do it anymore." Cain thought it would be good for Diana to get stronger, so he decided to get her involved in the morning run. Getting up early would also be beneficial for her future, and if she really wanted to join the knight training, she would need the stamina.

"I'll do it! I'll play with you too!"

"Father."

After Diana's response, Cain turned to his father, Dismay, and called out to him.

"Sure, sure. Parepantle, prepare Diana's sports clothes."

"Understood."

In response to Cain's voice, Dismay passed the instruction directly to the butler. The butler bowed respectfully and gave the order to a nearby maid. The maid left the dining room. Things were moving smoothly. Dismay seemed to think that while sword practice might be too much, running would be fine. Cain walked the short distance to the dining table, holding Diana's hand. After lifting her and seating her in a chair, he sat in the adjacent chair and had breakfast.

That day, Dismay had taken a day off, so Cain and Salyssia went to the castle on horseback.

"Bye-bye, Cain!"

"Bye-bye, big brother!"

Waving to his father with a resentful look and to his sister with a wistful one, Cain rode away.

"Come, Diana. Let's go out today! I took the day off just to spend time with you!"

"Go out with Father!?"

Once Cain was out of sight, Dismay smiled at Diana and invited her to play. Diana's face lit up at the invitation but quickly turned to a troubled expression.

"But, today is Mr. Ianius's study day."

She wanted to play, but she also needed to study. Studying hard earned her praise from Cain. Although she had periods when she disliked studying, she had never skipped it, so she didn't know how Cain would react if she did. However, she could imagine that he wouldn't be pleased, as he had put effort into making her like studying after she had expressed her dislike.

"It's okay. Ilvaren is studying too, right? So, it won't be a waste for Mr. Ianius. I've heard that Diana is excellent, so it's fine to take a day off!"

"Really?"

"Really, really."

If her father said it was okay, it must be fine. Thinking this, Diana smiled again and declared, "I'll go out to play!"

A carriage was brought to the front gate, and Dismay lifted Diana into it, then climbed in after her. After the butler closed the carriage door, Dismay asked Diana,

"Where do you want to go, Diana?"

"To the riverbank!"

"Riverbank...?"

Dismay was taken aback, expecting her to say something like a candy store, toy store, or clothing store. He was confused by the word "riverbank."

"There are strong stones there! I want to find strong stones!"

Dismay didn't understand, but if she was looking for stones, "riverbank" must be correct. He instructed the driver to take them to the riverbank outside the capital, and the carriage slowly started moving.

"Selenosta gave me the strongest stone, but I wanted to find one myself."

"Uh-huh."

"Strong stones should be as hard as possible, but they shouldn't be too heavy or too big to throw."

"Is that so?"

"Stones alone aren't enough to win. You need to combine your skills, strength, and concentration to win."

"Wow, that's quite deep."

Diana explained the secrets of "stone throwing," but Dismay didn't understand at all. He had many questions, like who Selenosta was and what the strongest stone was, but he enjoyed listening to Diana's explanation and decided not to worry about it.

After picking up some stones that Diana considered the strongest and loading them into the carriage, they headed to a clothing store to change her mud-covered dress.

"Could you bring a few dresses that would suit this child? And if you have any clothes that are easy to move in, I'd like to see those too."

"Understood."

Dismay thought he would buy some clothes for Diana since they were already at the store. He wasn't sure how long the running would last, but he thought she would need multiple sets for laundry. Naturally, the butler had already thought of this, and Diana ended up with a double-digit number of sports outfits.

After changing into a new dress and loading the extra dresses and sports outfits into the carriage, they arrived at a café known for its delicious sweets.

"Go ahead, Diana. You can eat anything you like!"

Dismay handed the menu to Diana and spread it out for her.

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