CH 68

Chapter 68 - What is the ideal image of a bride?

In the early morning in front of the main gates of the Elgrandark Mansion, three children dressed in sportswear were exercising side by side. 

“Put your hands in front of you, raise them, and stretch.” 

“One two, three four, fiiiive six, seven eight.” 

“Spread your legs apart then bend and stretch!” 

“One two, three four, fiiiive six, seven eight.” 

“Dianna, are you all warmed up?”

“Yes!” 

Dianna was dressed in green sports clothes and a scarf was wrapped around her neck. It was the scarf that Cain had made her with the pom poms on the end. 

If she didn’t remove the scarf, was her body as warmed up as she said? 

“Then, shall we run.” 

“Run?” 

“Let’s run.” 

It was an endurance run so they started running slowly. 

Dianna, thinking there would be something fun and interesting at the end of the run, ran happily at first to the back gate, but became out of breath. When she returned to the front gate, she realized that there were not playing and sat down. 

“We aren’t playing! Big brother lied to me!” 

“I didn’t lie. I didn’t say I was playing with Ivalino in the morning.” 

“You’re mean!” 

Dianna who should have been out of breath and sitting exhausted on the ground began stamping her feet vigorously. 

Cain and Ilvalino were still in high spirits and said “Well, we are going to do another lap” as they ran off. 

Since it was early in the morning the knight guarding the gate was Vivilladia not Arnoldia and Sarasinia. 

Vivilladia was the knight who guarded the gate late at night into the early morning, so Dianna had never met him before. 

He thought he would be fine until the two boys came back but he didn’t know how to talk to a young girl like Dianna. 

He became a knight when he became an adult, as was customary he came to guard the duke’s family and was still young. He didn’t have any children and he was the first son. He also didn’t have any nieces and nephews. 

He had no idea how to treat a young child. He was thinking of becoming a companion but if he said the wrong thing and made her cry, he wouldn’t know what to do. 

But if they sat in silence until the boys returned it would be unbearable. What could he do? 

Dianna sat in front of raising and lowering her arms while Vivilladia tried to find the right words to say. Suddenly Dianna stood up and turned toward Vivilladia and greeted him. 

“How do you do. My name is Dianna. Since it is our first time meeting would you tell me your name?” 

The small girl in sports clothing greeted him firmly and it caught Vivilladia by surprise. 

He took his left hand and grabbed his right wrist and put his fist on his chest and straightened his back. The first thing they were taught as knights was the pose of a well-mannered knight. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“My name is Vivilladia Landruth. Missus Dianna, it is an honor to make your acquaintance.” 

He returned the greeting properly; Dianna gave a sigh of relief and smiled at him. It seemed that she had greeted him properly since he had replied without treating her like a child. While they were talking about frivolous things the boys turned around the corner. 

Vivilladia turned towards the direction of the approaching boys and raise his open palm. Cain and Ilvalino gave him a high five as they passed. 

Dianna’s eyes widened as she saw them pass each other and hit palms with a slapping sound. 

“What is that?! What is that?! Di wants to do it too! Di wants to slap too!” 

“No. That is only for people who have gone around the whole way.” 

Vivilladia was about to give in and give Dianna a high-five, but Cain intervened. 

Vivilladia who was bent over in a half-completed high-five managed to correct his posture and looked in the direction of Dianna who had raised her palm. 

“Then Di will also run!” 

“Aren’t you tired? Can you run?” 

“Of course I can run!” 

Cain and Ilvalino who were jogging in place began to run again with Dianna in the middle. 

In the end, Dianna ran three laps with a break, and Cain and Ilvalino ran ten laps with no breaks.

Perhaps she liked the secret of the high fives, and from the next day on (with a few missed days) Dianna participated in the morning runs with them.

***

One day at breakfast, Dismiya made an inquisitive face and asked Cain a question. 

“Cain. Who is your favorite girl?” 

“Dianna.” 

“Di also likes big brother!” 

When Dianna said that she liked Cain he gazed at her with affection and put down his fork so he could stroke her head. Dianna also had an endearing look on her face as her head was stroked, and she nudged his hand with her head to encourage him to continue. 

“Ahem. Please eat your food. That is not what I meant. I meant to ask if there was someone you wanted to marry Cain.” 

“Well…the only ladies I come in contact with are a part of the embroidery society, so I don’t really interact with girls my age.” 

“O-oh. I see.”

Cain’s focus was to block Dianna’s engagement to the crown prince, but after hearing his father’s words, he remembered that he was the son of a duke. 

In the game of De Magic, there wasn’t talk of breaking off an engagement in the Cain route, so Cain thought there would be no engagement until at least three years later after he entered school. 

But it was hard to imagine that there wasn’t any talk about it all. It was possible the Cain in the game was opposed to the marriage that was recommended because he did not have a relationship with his parents. 

“This is just an example. There is no rush to do anything right now. But what kind of Princess do you want as a bride Cain?” 

“I want someone who will love Dianna and will not be jealous by me putting Dianna first.” 

Dismiya crushed his egg and had a dark look in his eyes after hearing Cain’s answer and he wondered if he should be relieved or not. 

“In other words, he’s willing to marry someone other than Dianna…” 

***