CH 74

The Girl Knight Nina would not forgive the bullying of the weak. She would say, if boys want to get the attention of the girl they like they should be kind to the girl and not bully her. She would also say, if a big child is bullying a small child, save the small child from being bullied on. 

The Girl Knight Nina always says be the ally of the weak. For her to be an ally to everyone, she must be the strongest version of herself.  The atmosphere Dianna’s mom created was frightening, and Ilvalino had not raised his head since he lowered it. Cain cowered while holding his head in his hands. 

This was the Girl Knight Nina’s time to shine. With that realization, Dianna stood up on the sofa, stood firmly with her feet shoulder-width apart, stood in front of the two of them with her hands outstretched to protect them. 

“Mother! Big brother and Il didn’t mean to do anything wrong! Don’t bully the weak!” 

Dianna said loudly with a tense expression. 

“Weak…” Cain was called weak while being protected, and he began to cry. To hide it he moved his hand from his face to conceal it. 

“Weak…” Ilvalino was called weak while being protected, had a deeply complicated look on his face. 

“…I am not bullying them. Dianna, you can’t stand with your feet wide apart like that. Remember this is your story, Dianna.” 

“Di’s?” 

“That’s it. Dianna. From now on you cannot refer to yourself as Di. You have to say “I”. Your time of being a tomboy is over, you must start learning the actions of a lady.” 

“Lady…”

Cain raised his head while sniffling. 

“Dianna calls herself Di because both mom and dad call her that. Isn’t it a sign of your deep affection for her? Please don’t keep her from saying it like it is a bad word.” 

“…I see. We must stop as well. From now on we will only refer to you as Dianna. Therefore, Dianna must refer to herself with “I”.” 

After Cain’s words, Elysse’s harsh tone softened a little. She looked at Dianna’s face and admonished her kindly. Dianna’s feet wavered in their defensive stance and her arms slowly lowered her hands that were outstretched to protect them.  Her expression became disheartened. Cain lifted himself a little so he could gently put his hands on Dianna’s shoulders and lower her into her seat. 

“It’s not like the habit can be changed overnight. The first thing is to start referring to yourself as “I” in public, right mom?” 

“It would be nice if we could use that method, but Dianna is still young. If she does not do it all the time she may forget if she is in a rush.” 

Cain gently stroked Dianna’s shoulders and brought her head to rest on his shoulder. Feeling the heat from Cain Dianna’s expression began to relax a bit. 

“Above all else, isn’t it adorable when Dianna calls herself Di?” 

“It isn’t adorable, Cain. You understand that don’t you?” 

Elysse sighed, and while she pushed out her skirt she sat back in her seat. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“Aren’t you embarrassed to wear sportswear in front of everyone? A girl should not mix with boys and wield swords. Not to mention be stronger than a boy. What would you do if people started to think you were a violent girl because you beat a boy?” 

“Dianna can greet people like a lady.　She can sit like an adult and embroider; she is at a skill level that rivals the skills of other girls her age.  She diligently studies with Teach Ianus. Isn’t it amazing that at four years old she can sit like an adult and listen to a 1-hour class? She is growing up to be a fine lady.” 

“Cain could sit calmly and study at 3 years old, it is only natural for Dianna to be able to do the same. She can only remember three embroidery stitches and can do them subpar. She can greet well as a lady, but it means nothing if she runs down the hallway after. She may be growing up to be a lady, but she will lead a piece of wood and pretend to be a knight, that is a minus and will be frowned upon. What would our reputation as an aristocratic family come to if others heard about this?” 

Cain had taken on the role of a villain to entice Dianna to train her body and swing her sword while pretending to be Nina. It was a precaution to make sure that Dianna was not kidnapped by the Demon King during the battle that may come.  He didn’t want Arundilano to see so he didn’t want to mix in with the practice of the guard knights. 

Up until now, Elysse had been sweet to Dianna and watched her grow with a protective eye.  But she ended up wearing sportswear in public, wielded a wooden sword, and beat a royal prince in combat. Because it happened in front of her eyes, she may believe she needs to rush Dianna’s training as a lady. 

Cain thought it was all his fault. He thought he was slowly raising Dianna to be a sweet young girl. He didn’t want her to grow up to be self and arrogant, thus being labeled a villain. 

Because of me, Dianna is going to be pushed by her mother to think, “I should be the image of what a noblewoman should be” and she may suppress the things she learned that were below her status, Cain thought. 

“M-…”

Somehow, he still wanted to watch her grow up slowly. He wanted to appeal to his mother. He tried to speak to his mother again, but Dianna interrupted him.

“Dad said it would be good if I become a knight!” 

“What?” 

Elysse let out a shriek that was not suited for a Noble Lady and turned her gaze to Dianna. Cain’s gaze went from Elysse to Dianna sitting right next to him. Dianna stared at Elysse in protest while puffing out her cheeks angrily. 

“You weren’t there, we went out together and that’s when he told me! He said he would buy me whatever I wanted, I said I wanted the Nina book, so doesn’t that mean I like knights. I also said that I wanted to become like Nina! Nina is cool!  He said if it is Di you can! If Di becomes a knight dad said to protect him too. He said it!” 

It was a remark that went off like a bomb. Likely, it was Dianna’s ploy to change the limits on the spot.  Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to say after “Swordsmanship training was bad”. 

It was childish of Dianna, but she understood that their father was the one who made all the decisions in the house. Elysse and Cain always were saying “If your father says it’s okay”. Sometimes Cain would say, “Keep it a secret from dad”. If they had their father’s approval, and he said that she should protect him if she became a knight, their mother couldn’t be mad at Dianna. 

It was still difficult for Dianna to understand the subtle nature between honest flattery and polite flattery. But he understood, as her brother, he complimented her too much. 

“I will disband this at once. You will study in your rooms from the afternoon on.” 

Elysse told the children and dismissed them from the tearoom. They heard Elysse say as they left the team room still holding hands, “Parepantle. When my husband returns to the office, please call me immediately.” 

“Understood, madam.” 

It seemed the origin of her not wanting Dianna to pursue being a knight was because of her father’s judgment.