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Chapter 12
“Ugh…”
“Ggh…”
Daphne hummed a cheerful tune as she watched the knights groaning on the ground. Ah, what a refreshing sight — it felt like ten years’ worth of frustration had just melted away.
“Lady Daphne.”
Lloyd approached her then, speaking in a low whisper, almost like a secret.
“Well done, my lady. That was perfect.”
He gave her a discreet thumbs-up before walking away, and Daphne couldn’t help but chuckle again. Of course — she had noticed earlier that he too had been holding back his irritation. He must feel much better now.
“Humans… honestly.”
What was it about social rank that made them discriminate so easily? To her, they were all just insignificant beings anyway.
She glanced up at the clock tower. It had been about thirty minutes since she ordered the knights to stay bowing, their heads pressed to the floor. Their trembling forms were rather amusing to watch. But she had no intention of letting them stop. Not yet — not until they truly thought they were going to die from exhaustion.
“Whoever bullies the weak in front of me will not be spared.”
Her eyes gleamed coldly.
Then—
“Daphne!”
Arius came running toward her — the same Arius who had disappeared right after the knights started their punishment. But in his arms was…
“Flowers?”
A whole bundle of them.
“Unbelievable. This idiot…”
Daphne lazily picked her ear and looked up at the boy standing before her, panting and holding a huge bouquet.
After catching his breath, Arius flashed a bright smile and extended the flowers toward her.
“Here. Take it.”
They were lilies — a whole armful of them, their stems already drooping pitifully.
What on earth… is this?
Was this some kind of new assassination attempt?
“Uh, well… I heard you woke up, so I picked some for you. It’s not because you stood up for me or anything like that. You get what I mean, right? Anyway, I didn’t know what kind of flowers you liked, so I just brought the kind I like. Here. Take them.”
Ah.
So his head’s full of flowers too — he didn’t even realize what lilies symbolized.
“Well, flowers are flowers, I suppose.”
Daphne let out a small laugh and accepted the bouquet.
“Heh.”
As soon as she did, Arius grinned from ear to ear and plopped down beside her.
Then, as he watched the knights still kneeling in the distance, he leaned a little closer.
“Daphne.”
His hands fidgeted in his lap. It looked like he had something to say. Daphne stayed quiet and waited patiently.
“Um… so…”
He inhaled sharply and bowed his head.
“Thanks.”
He wasn’t ashamed of being an adopted son.
After all, his mother had once told him that he was her son too.
That was why he proudly carried the name Arius Archion in his heart.
But still—
When people dismissed him, sneered at him for being adopted, and even claimed he’d be cast aside one day — when those cruel words led others to bully and ostracize him — his heart wavered.
Am I really Arius Archion? Or just… Arius? Or worse, just some nameless commoner brat?
What if even his father secretly thought the same thing?
That was why he never dared to speak up when the knights mocked him.
He was afraid that if he made trouble, his father would start to hate him.
But then—
Arius is Arius Archion.
That’s what Daphne had said.
As if it were the most obvious truth in the world.
As if no one could ever deny it.
And that simple acknowledgment had filled him with warmth and gratitude.
“I’ve done nothing but treat her terribly…”
He’d mocked her for nearly dying, told her she might as well stay dead, and even challenged her to a spar when she was unwell — which made her collapse.
Yet, despite all that, she had recognized him as part of the Archion family. As her brother.
A lump rose in his throat. Shame burned deep in his chest.
“Also, um…”
He took another deep breath.
“S-sorry—”
“Hm? Sorry for what?”
“…For acting like an idiot all the time.”
“…”
What nonsense was this?
Daphne stared at him blankly. His face turned crimson.
How was he supposed to explain it? He couldn’t bring himself to say I’m sorry for making you faint — that was just too embarrassing. But still, he did feel responsible.
“Uh, forget it! Just— just thanks, okay?!”
“Hm.”
Daphne crossed her arms and flicked her finger in the air.
She could read this foolish human’s thoughts like an open book.
He had come to apologize, feeling guilty about her collapse — but his tiny, fragile pride stopped him from saying it outright.
If Daphne had thought Arius was hopeless, she might’ve let it go.
But she sensed potential in him. Maybe, just maybe, he could grow into a proper human — the kind she once respected.
So she decided to give him a rare piece of advice.
“If you’ve done something wrong, apologize immediately — no matter who the other person is. Only then can you feel true pride.”
“Huh?”
“That pride comes from admitting your mistakes, from being brave enough to bow your head despite the shame — and from the resolve never to repeat those mistakes again. All of that combined… is what real pride is.”
“…”
“And pride is the foundation of who you are.”
Daphne rose slightly on her toes and tapped his forehead with her fingertip.
“Will you really throw away your foundation just for a scrap of false pride?”
“Uh… well…”
Arius opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, unable to speak. Was he embarrassed to be lectured by someone younger than him? No — that wasn’t it.
“It’s weird… You’re right, but hearing it from you just makes me really mad for some reason.”
He clenched his fists. For some reason, his whole body tingled with irritation.
Daphne narrowed her eyes at him.
In her past life as Selus, the Calamity, she had always provoked hostility in others. It was instinct — a natural aversion all living beings felt toward a creature of pure destruction.
Even when she spoke the truth, she was condemned. Even when she acted righteously, she was punished.
“So even in this body, that curse remains.”
She clicked her tongue at the irony of fate.
“That just means you’ve got the temperament of a small-minded fool.”
“Oh, so I’m small-minded— Wait, that’s not the point!”
Arius shouted, then stopped himself, exhaling hard as his shoulders drooped.
No matter how irritated he felt, the truth didn’t change: he had wronged her.
“I’m sorry.”
He spoke slowly, deliberately.
“I shouldn’t have pushed you like that. Next time, I’ll… I’ll think before I act.”
Daphne’s eyes widened slightly.
“That’s new.”
He had never apologized before — not once. Normally, she was lucky to escape without a sword to the face.
“Perhaps… things really are changing.”
Well, time would tell.
She smirked faintly.
“At least you didn’t say you’d stop asking me to spar. That’s something.”
“Hey! I said I’ll be careful!”
“Then let’s see you put that caution to use for once, hmm?”
“Agh, seriously!”
Arius stomped his feet in frustration, but when Daphne sat down cross-legged and straightened her posture, he immediately hurried over.
“What are we doing today?”
“Mana training.”
“I’ll train with you.”
He sat beside her — then quickly cleared his throat and turned away.
“Ahem. Not because I like hanging out with you or anything.”
He emphasized it again, flustered.
“Definitely not. Got it?”
The stronger the denial, the truer the meaning.
Daphne snorted softly.
“Fine, fine. Shut up and sit still. I’m starting.”
“Okay.”
They sat side by side, both focusing on their mana.
From afar, the servants and knights who happened to pass by were startled — the two children actually seemed… to get along.
After that day, a rumor began to spread quietly through the mansion:
“Lady Daphne has changed.”
And for once, it wasn’t a bad thing.
