While Ian ascended rapidly, earning people’s respect, Celia was leading a considerably challenging life.
It would be more accurate to say that she was troubled by the current situation.
The declining grades and reputation were issues, but the biggest problem was that, despite Ian becoming the linchpin of the family, she felt as useless as a greenhouse plant.
‘I’m powerless….’
It was shameful to acknowledge the burnout despite achieving nothing, and she desperately needed a space to soothe her heart.
But the biggest problem was that Celia had no place where she could feel at ease.
Celia remembered the dinner at her family home after a long time.
Participating in the Day of Divine Slaughter event, returning home in the evening to her father, and spending time with her siblings accordingly.
It was her mother who spoke in the desolate atmosphere.
“You’ve been through a lot on your journey, haven’t you?”
“Not particularly, there were many new events, and seeing the lively territory unlike before was refreshing.”
“Oh, I see. Considering the critical condition of Lord Volkanov, I thought you might not focus on the event, but fortunately, it seems to have ended well?”
“It did. More than well, actually. It was quite impressive. The food and the event management were all satisfactory.”
Her father’s lavish praise for the event hosted by Volkanov.
It felt awkward for Celia.
‘I never expected Father to say such things.’
What kind of person was her father? He always spoke kindly to his children but was ruthlessly objective in his assessments of others.
Although Killain was a close friend, Ian was currently leading the family.
Even if he was a friend’s son, there was no reason to give a good evaluation in a first encounter without knowing his beliefs or thoughts.
However, her father praised Ian. It seemed like honey dripping from his mouth.
‘He seemed genuinely impressed.’
Although she couldn’t remember exactly what she said amidst the excessive praise, one thing stuck in her mind.
‘The one-on-one combat event you prepared was truly remarkable. It was astonishing. As soon as I saw it, I instructed the steward to invest 20 billion Valus. If the competition were held in our territory, it would boost the morale of the residents who are bored here in Wignoron.’
’20 billion Valus? Did I hear that right?’
Her father’s willingness to invest an enormous amount without hesitation was shocking.
It was unlike him, always cautious about money matters and contemplating investments for days.
Such a sudden investment decision left her speechless.
If it ended there, there would be no problem.
Ian was leading the family while she was idle. If she worked hard, she could raise the Wignoron name.
But unfortunately, Ian’s success had a ripple effect on Celia.
Her second sister, Ertelinda, who was listening to their father’s words, commented while looking at her.
“It seems like a good decision, Father. If that happens, we can attract many tourists to our territory. The only issue is whether they will host that competition for our family there… Oh right! Celia? Weren’t you close with Ian when you were young? Why don’t you try making an effort?”
“Me?”
Her annoying second sister giggled and said that.
Celia instantly knew that her sister brought this up to tease her, but unfortunately, she didn’t know how to handle the situation.
‘We’re not close anymore…. How do I even bring that up?’
How can she bring up such a story when they were on the verge of becoming lovers and have become almost like strangers?
‘I can’t. I can’t!’
Eventually, Celia remained silent and had no choice but to focus on eating the food in front of her.
She hoped her silence would shift the conversation, but it didn’t go as she wanted.
But the conversation did not go as Celia wanted.
“Celia, isn’t your sister speaking?”
“Um, well….”
Under her father’s gaze, Celia finally had to confess.
They were close in childhood, but not anymore; they weren’t close enough to have intimate conversations.
She told everything.
Everything felt like exposing her flaws whenever she spoke.
Knowing that if her father got angry, it would be unbearable, she had no choice.
Thinking back on that time, Celia sighed deeply.
“Ugh, really.”
Recalling the bitter remarks from her father and siblings felt like her heart was about to burst.
Every conversation at that time felt like a personal attack. But what hurt the most was the subdued remark her father made.
“He told me to wake up and surround myself with people who can be of help….”
Find helpful people and make friends? Did that mean the people around her now weren’t helpful?
It felt unfair to Celia.
Merely hearing it made her feel like she was playing with street ruffians.
‘Of course, Ariel’s party members don’t have good backgrounds. But it doesn’t mean it has to be put that way…’
From commoners to fallen nobles. It was a truly amazing line-up that was surprising for those who had a deep relationship with the daughter of a duke of the Empire.
But Celia valued their inner character and skills more than their backgrounds.
‘And Ariel is a hero. She’s loved in the Volkanov family as their cherished daughter… I thought maybe if I accompanied her, Father would praise me too.’
She believed that if she traveled with Ariel, who was practically a treasure of the Empire, her father would praise her as well.
She had thought it possible to earn her long-awaited father’s approval. However, her father didn’t see it that way.
Each time she proudly spoke of her acquaintance with the Hero. Because her father always disapproved of her.
‘He’s always been like that. It’s always ‘Ian! Ian!”
Even when Ian didn’t receive recognition from the Volkanovs or made a big mistake in the Hero party, her father always protected and defended him.
“He’s not the kind of child to hear that kind of evaluation. He must have had his reasons for doing what he did.”, her father would say.
Was that even a valid argument? Why did her father rate Ian higher than Ariel, the hero? Celia couldn’t understand it at all.
But what truly drove her mad was that her father was probably right.
Compared to Ariel, who was stagnant, Ian was continually rising in esteem.
So given this situation, Celia had no choice but to swallow her pride.
Having not gained favor with those who had passed due to her sickly body as a child, further rebellion was out of the question.
To survive with the family’s support in the future, she needed to make a good impression on her father now.
That was the reason.
“Hah. It must be here.”
The reason she had been running around was to find Ian.
Wiping away the beads of sweat on her forehead with a handkerchief, Celia took a deep breath.
“If he’s not here, I don’t know where else to go…”
Having searched high and low to find Ian, she finally arrived at the last place: the training ground.
Knowing how dedicated Ian was to his training, Celia was confident he would be here.
Opening the door to the training ground, she bypassed the usual fitness and sparring rooms and ventured further inside.
‘Ian usually used the self-training room, right?’
There were places with scarecrows and various training systems, but for some reason, Ian insisted on the empty training room.
She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t use the state-of-the-art magic engineering training systems, but she decided not to meddle.
That wasn’t the important thing, after all.
Thump, thump!
Her footsteps echoed through the empty hallway. At the end of the corridor was the well-lit first self-training room. Ian must surely be in there.
‘What should I say…’
As she contemplated such trivial concerns, she found herself right in front of the entrance to the training ground.
Having made up her mind, Celia peeked inside through a small crack.
‘Yes. First, I need to see if Ian is here.’
Wouldn’t she be embarrassed if she opened the door and walked in and saw a complete stranger? As she was thinking that, she gently raised her head.
‘Gasp!’
What she saw was Ian embracing a blonde woman from behind.
‘W-what? Why is Ian hugging another woman?’
She couldn’t believe it. Ian, who was always indifferent to romance, was embracing someone…
Though they weren’t on good terms right now, Celia, who had been with Ian since childhood, believed she knew him well.
That’s why the current situation was even more perplexing to her.
In her memory, Ian was definitely not someone who would embrace anyone.
Of course, embracing someone of the opposite s*x wasn’t inherently wrong.
Ark did not place any restrictions on romantic relationships between students, and dating was an individual’s freedom.
In other words, whoever Ian was dating or embracing shouldn’t be an issue. However, Celia had her reasons for reacting strongly.
‘Why does seeing that hurt so much?’
She clenched her chest. Even if her uniform got wrinkled, she couldn’t bear the pain without doing this.
‘Ian… Why are you embracing her like that?’
Ian had always been by her side since childhood.
Both lacking friends, they shared the commonality of loneliness and filled each other’s voids.
They were always together in sadness and joy.
The first time they held hands was with Ian, and he was also the first to confess his feelings from the heart.
That’s why Celia always thought of herself as first in Ian’s eyes. Now that they were estranged, it didn’t matter anymore. However, she still thought he missed her.
Didn’t he save her just a while ago? If she had truly washed away her feelings, she would have let it go and moved on.
Surely, Ian had saved her.
‘But… Why is he…’
Was it all just a misunderstanding?
Was she now nothing to Ian?
A sharp pain pierced her chest, dominating her body and mind.
Of course, she knew she was being hypocritical.
After all, she was the one who had abandoned him.
How foolish she must be to come and be disappointed in Ian.
‘I know, I know! It’s shameless and immature!’
But seeing that scene made her heart ache uncontrollably.
Even though their relationship had crumbled, Celia believed it wasn’t too late. The spark hadn’t extinguished yet; with effort, she thought they could reignite the flames.
She still believed there was a chance. If she could mend her heart now and approach him, she considered reconstructing their relationship not impossible…
‘Wasn’t it like that? Did you really erase me?’
Seeing him embrace the blonde woman shattered her thoughts.
In that moment, an unbelievable scene unfolded before Celia’s eyes.
“S-Squad Commander?”
“Don’t think strangely of this. It’s just the way the technique works.”
“D-Don’t worry… You’re not someone who would do strange things. I was just a little surprised.”
“A-Ah…”
She couldn’t believe it. She wished the scene unfolding before her was a dream.
To wake up from this nightmare, she even bit her tongue as hard as she could.
But all that remained was the emptiness and pain of feeling like nothing to Ian.
Simultaneously, jealousy began to bloom in Celia’s heart.
Simultaneously, Celia’s eyes flashed.
“I can’t stay like this…. I have to… I have to!”
She had to approach him. How painful it had been to see him petted by the princess during her convalescence.
Even though she, as a duke’s daughter, had no means to touch a princess-level woman herself, she thought she could easily resolve the problem with the woman currently in Ian’s arms.
‘Surely, that was Eri Everhart… a self-made noble lady.’
Compared to that, wasn’t she the daughter of a duke and a Spearmaster?
Compared to her, wasn’t she from the Wignoron family, a noble family?
That meant she wasn’t someone a self-made noble Lady like Eri Everhart could overlook.
If she actively approached Ian, she was sure to have a chance.
‘Yes. I can make sure that woman isn’t even worth looking at.’
In the end, Celia made a resolution. She would take Ian away from that woman and restore their relationship.
She believed in herself. After all, she knew Ian well.
The problem now was how to approach him…
‘Hmm… What should I do?’
There were many methods, but the best one would probably be to offer assistance and create an opportunity to sincerely apologize.
In the past, she would have approached him by acknowledging the difficult situation of their family and offering help.
‘No, that’s impossible.’
With the potato business, the Volkanovs had risen again, and wasn’t Ian the one who had completely raised their stock?
Now, approaching them with capital, when money wasn’t a concern for them, would be foolish.
‘Then… should I aim for that?’
Celia recalled a memory of eavesdropping on a discussion among the family elders.
She remembered sneaking into the council chamber to personally apologize for the disturbance at mealtime.
Luckily, she overheard her father discussing with others.
‘Surely, the momentum of the barbarians is concerning. Because of this, the royal family instructed our house to support Volkanov.’
If they were to subdue them, they would require many resources.
While individually, the barbarians weren’t powerful, their numbers were difficult for Volkanov to handle.
‘That’s right! Moreover, I heard the lord is in grave danger.’
Killain, the Empire’s Master, was fighting an illness. Of course, Ian and Ariel were still around, but they alone couldn’t fill Killain’s void.
‘What if I help out?’
Given the shortage of troops, if she were to lend support, couldn’t they achieve a favorable outcome?
If she were to play a significant role in subduing the barbarians, it wouldn’t be difficult to mend their strained relationship…
‘Yes, let’s give it a try! Ian must be struggling too!’
With that thought, Celia gripped her spear.
To be of assistance to Ian, she needed to improve her skills.
