Chapter 29

Dialle Wolf was a lovely girl with long, dusty pink hair and deep green eyes.

Her small stature and curvy figure made her look younger than her peers.

She was dressed as an apprentice knight, and while the knight's attire suited her well, her face seemed to fit a long-sleeved civil official's robe even better.

Still, she showed a stubborn side.

Under the midday sun in the garden, her green eyes shone like jade.

Lirika immediately took a liking to Dialle.

“Dialle Wolf, I greet you, Your Highness.”

Dialle greeted Lirika with a bow, and Lirika replied with a bright voice.

“I'm glad to meet you too.”

Dialle tilted her head and straightened her back. She glanced at Raub, who stood behind Lirika, and then asked.

“Your Highness, may I ask one question?”

“What is it?”

“Why did you choose me as your companion?”

“Ah.”

Lirika answered honestly. Most problems can be solved with honesty.

“My mother recommended you.”

“The Empress?”

“Yes.”

“Is that acceptable to you, Your Highness? There are many other children who could serve as companions for the Wolf family’s diplomatic relations.”

Lirika was taken aback by the straightforward question but then asked.

“Do you not want to be my companion, Dialle?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yes.”

At Lirika’s words, Dialle’s mouth tightened. This made her look even more stubborn, and Lirika smiled.

“I’ve never had a companion before. Even though you’re older than me, I was very excited to make a friend in the palace.”

However.

Lirika took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you do have a choice.”

Being invited to be a companion to the royal family was an honor, but it was also a task that could not be refused.

Yet, Princess Lirika was saying it was okay to refuse.

“Why?”

A purely innocent question. It had been a series of scenes that would make others cry out ‘impolite’ if they heard.

Lirika smiled.

“Because I don’t want to force a friendship.”

It was a simple reason.

Lirika continued.

“I’m a princess, so being around me might be beneficial, or you might be curious about what happens around a young princess, or maybe you just like me. Any reason is fine. But I don’t want to start something with someone who doesn’t want to start.”

It was a reasonable explanation. Dialle stared blankly at the princess, who was much smaller than her, and then said.

“Do you think of yourself as a Takaar, Your Highness?”

Bryn, who couldn’t hold back any longer, shouted.

“That’s disrespectful. Watch your words.”

“Bryn, it’s fine now.”

Lirika said this while pulling on Bryn’s skirt and smiled. She then spoke to Dialle.

“It’s because His Majesty made me a Takaar.”

Dialle frowned and then sighed.

“Then, Your Highness, do you like me? Are you just choosing me because the Empress told you to?”

Lirika looked at Dialle carefully and said.

“No, I really like you, Dialle.”

At this, Dialle’s cheeks turned red. She looked angry.

“I know I’ve been rude.”

“Yes, but you were just being honest, right?”

Her method was very clumsy, but the last question could be seen as a concern.

Even though anyone would say it was fine to be a companion, she still wanted to be a companion with someone she really wanted to be friends with.

Dialle’s question was justified.

Why did she choose her? Why give her a choice? And was she also forced into this role?

Lirika’s words made Dialle’s shoulders relax.

“You’re very mature, Your Highness.”

Lirika looked troubled.

“Is that why you don’t like me?”

“Pardon?”

Surprised, Lirika asked, and Lirika sighed lightly.

“Some people don’t like mature people. It’s not very childlike, you know.”

Not childlike.

Annoying.

Acting too grown-up. Being too cunning for her age.

Children should act like children.

Lirika had heard countless such comments. She pouted.

“But I don’t like acting like a child either.”

Don’t think you’ll be loved just because you’re a child.

You have to take care of your own affairs.

No one will treat you like a child.

Why can’t you understand simple things?

She had lived with a constant smile among such people, always accommodating to adults. So she didn’t know how to deal with peers.

Suddenly, someone popped out and said.

“You don’t need to pay attention to people who say such things, Your Highness.”

“Rath?”

Lirika was surprised by the unexpected appearance. Rath was holding a large scroll in his arms.

He smiled and greeted her.

“I greet you, Your Highness.”

Lirika returned the greeting. She hadn’t expected to meet Rath in the garden.

“Eavesdropping is a bad habit.”

At that moment, Dialle said to Rath. She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, standing defiantly despite her small size. It was rude to speak to the Imperial Chancellor this way.

Rath smiled and said.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was resting, and you two came this way.”

“Were you resting?”

“Yes, His Majesty has been using me so much that I decided to take a break.”

Lirika nodded, though it didn’t seem like he was resting.

Rath continued.

“In any case, you don’t need to pay attention to such people. They just say what they want to the weak.”

Rath smiled again.

“When they can’t win logically, they attack your character. It’s a truly despicable act.”

“Despicable...”

“Exactly. What you said just now, or the conversation, was probably not wrong. You were probably right. They just say things like ‘rebellious’ or ‘not childlike’ because they can’t refute you.”

Rath said this with a tone of annoyance and then laughed.

“Well, we can just wait until we become powerful and then crush them. Like saying, ‘You can’t hear me because you’re bald.’”

Lirika burst out laughing. The person who had called her that was indeed bald.

“You could tell him his hair ran away because his personality is so bad.”

Lirika asked.

“Did you do that, Rath?”

“Yes, of course.”

Rath smiled elegantly.

Seeing that smile, Lirika thought Rath resembled Pai, but also seemed to share something with Dialle.

Then he sighed softly and said.

“A troublesome person is coming. I’ll take my leave. I hope you have a pleasant day.”

After greeting, Rath disappeared with quick steps.

‘A troublesome person?’

Lirika only knew one person Rath would call troublesome.

Sure enough, Tan appeared a moment later. He greeted Lirika lightly.

“Did you see Rath? I’m sure he went this way.”

“Yes, he just passed by.”

Tan clicked his tongue. Then he reached out to Dialle, but she immediately frowned and dodged.

“Don’t touch my head.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Tan pulled back his hand and looked at Raub. Raub said seriously, “I don’t like it.”

Lirika laughed.

“I don’t mind.”

At her words, Tan smiled and said.

“I don’t want to get scolded by His Majesty or His Highness in front of everyone. Please take good care of Dialle.”

Dialle frowned at this, and Tan quickly moved away.

“Ouch.”

After he left, Lirika asked.

“Do you not like Tan’s care?”

“I want to earn my place with my own strength, not with the help of the head of the family.”

“That’s admirable.”

“Is it?”

Dialle asked, surprised, and Lirika nodded.

“Yes. Standing on your own is a difficult thing.”

Dialle smiled slightly and then said seriously.

“Your Highness, I’m not a full Wolf.”

Lirika tilted her head.

“What do you mean?”

“My father is a Sandar. My parents didn’t marry officially, and my mother gave me the Wolf name after I was born. So I’m half Sandar and a bastard. Is that still acceptable to you?”

Is that important?

Lirika was curious, but this was clearly an important issue for Dialle.

Lirika said seriously.

“I don’t care.”

Dialle smiled.

“Then I want to be your companion, Your Highness.”

“Wow!”

Lirika exclaimed and tightly held her hand. Dialle smiled and added shyly.

“And I have a nickname.”

“What is it?”

If they were friends, they would probably call each other by their nicknames, right?

Lirika waited with a pounding heart for Dialle’s next words.

“My nickname is ‘Dialle doesn’t tolerate.’”

* * *

The Wolf family’s townhouse was always bustling.

“You’re going to be the princess’s companion?”

“Bean? Oh, our Bean is rising in the ranks.”

“Don’t call me Bean, or I’ll kill you!”

“Then don’t call you Bean, ouch.”

The tall and big Wolf family children dodged Dialle’s kicks and ran away. Dialle huffed and went upstairs.

The room was simple.

A desk, a wardrobe, a bed.

That was all, but it was her space. She pulled out the chair and sat down.

‘Why am I so small.’

She puffed out her cheeks.

The children didn’t particularly bully her, but they treated her as if she were easy to handle. She was tired of everyone patting her head and calling her cute.

Just because she’s small, she’s cute and weak, go eat a bug.

To get what she wanted, she had to be more aggressive and shout louder than others.

Every time she did, she heard, ‘No wonder, with Sandar blood in you.’

But on the other hand, when the Sandars saw her, they said, ‘No wonder, with Wolf blood in you.’

Though she was small and had the Wolf name, she sometimes wondered if she should have gone to the Sandars. But she knew for sure there was no place for her there.

When she got angry, people didn’t find her scary; they just thought she was cute, which annoyed her.

So she had no choice but to speak and act more roughly than others.

Eventually, she became known as ‘Dialle who doesn’t tolerate.’

‘A dishonorable nickname.’

Even though she thought it, she couldn’t help but not tolerate things. She always felt a rage inside her.

She knew it was a funny nickname, but she wanted to confide in the princess, her companion. She was curious about what the princess would say.

But the princess just listened to her story, made a “hmm” sound, and then said briefly, “I see.”

The princess didn’t say anything more about it.

‘The princess...’

Dialle lightly rested her cheek on the desk.

Her brown hair was lush and voluminous. Her eyes sparkled with a mysterious turquoise color, like the enigmatic Lake Rudin.

‘She looked like a tree fairy.’

The Wolf family’s estate has a deep, dense coniferous forest.

Walking between the old trees in the forest, known as the Black Forest, gives a sense of reverence.

The trees stand like pillars, supporting the sky.

The tree fairies in fairy tales are wise, beautiful, and smile mysteriously.

Dialle thought the princess resembled the tree fairy she had imagined.

‘No, just a little more growth.’

When she grows taller, her brown hair will flow down to her knees, and her eyes will become even deeper.

She will look like a tree fairy from an illustration.

She had to submit a report once a day, but she couldn’t write such content.

All Dialle could write was that she had become the princess’s companion.

‘The princess isn’t really a Takaar either.’

How could she be so confident?

Dialle jumped up from her seat. Such indecisive thoughts didn’t suit her. She preferred swinging a sword.

‘Swing a real sword a thousand times.’

Swinging a sword until she collapsed in exhaustion made her worries and thoughts fly away.

Dialle liked that.

Suddenly, she thought of Raub, who stood like a shadow behind the princess.

‘I need to become much stronger.’

Setting a close goal, she clenched her fist.