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“Isn’t our Ayla amazing? She’s a great dancer too.”
“Well, it seems like both of you are excellent dancers?”
Darian chuckled lightly, then asked Peony to introduce him to her friends now that the dance was over.
At that, Peony warned Darian with a prickly tone.
“I’ll introduce you, but if you ignore Ayla just because she’s become a commoner, I’ll be angry even if you’re my brother.”
Darian gave a gentle smile and shook his head.
“There’s no way I would, from what you’ve said, both of them seem like very talented friends.”
At his words, Peony reluctantly nodded.
Certainly, Darian was quite friendly to commoners, unlike other members of the Imperial Family.
That was because he was the type of person who valued talent more than status.
Besides, he was such a polite person who only said nice things, so she was sure he wouldn’t say anything rude to Ayla.
Peony approached her friends, who had just finished dancing and returned, with a happy face.
“Ayla, that was a truly fantastic dance.”
Peony smiled brightly and pointed to Darian beside her.
“This is my brother, Darian Celestia.”
Ayla and Felix bowed politely.
“We greet the Prince.”
“You may raise your heads.”
Darian said with a kind smile.
“I heard you’re Peony’s friends. You can treat me comfortably, as you would a friend’s brother.”
With those words, Darian stared at Felix for a long time.
‘He’s Duke Argenta’s disciple, was it?’
As soon as he saw him, he could understand why Duke Argenta had taken Felix as his disciple.
Darian had also learned swordsmanship since he was young.
He immediately noticed that Felix’s aura was extraordinary.
And Darian was the type who valued talented individuals above all else.
To the point where he received reports day and night about which figures were emerging in the Empire.
Soon, his gaze turned to Ayla.
‘Both of them suffered from Mana insensitivity and recently recovered, right.’
As far as he knew, Mana insensitivity was an incurable disease with no known treatment.
But how exactly did these two overcome it?
Moreover, it was also strange to see Peony, with her sensitive and picky personality, sticking to Ayla and not leaving her side for a moment.
‘It’s not common for Peony to give her heart to someone.’
Peony was basically a very wary person.
Yet she was attached to Ayla without any hint of hostility.
‘Peony, being a member of the Imperial Family, has an innate ability to sense Mana. Maybe that’s why.’
Peony was born with a stronger Dragon’s power than other members of the Imperial Family.
If she showed such great favor, Ayla was likely to become a Mage with outstanding talent.
Darian, although he had been insensitive to Mana since childhood unlike other members of the Imperial Family, prided himself on his good eye for people.
‘Still, it’s fascinating.’
He had encountered Ayla a few times before.
But even then, she hadn’t shown any particular presence.
‘Did overcoming Mana insensitivity have an effect? Come to think of it, her aura seems a bit different.’
In fact, the reason he had asked Peony to introduce him to her friends was because he was curious about who Duke Argenta’s new disciple was.
He thought it would be helpful in many ways to build a relationship with him.
But after meeting them in person, Ayla unexpectedly caught his eye more than Felix.
‘They said she might have even more outstanding talent than the Blanche Duchess.’
If so, she was an asset worth recruiting. Darian said with a satisfied smile.
“I have no prejudice against status. I believe that talented individuals, whether commoner or noble, should be employed equally. With the likes of Ayla and Felix, I think you’ll be able to do great things in the future.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope we can see each other often in the future. I’ll contact you through Peony.”
Ayla stared intently at Darian. His words clearly contained favor.
But she couldn’t bring herself to give him a positive answer.
When she met Darian’s eyes, she thought he wouldn’t be interested in her, but it seemed she was mistaken.
‘From the start, he was keeping an eye on Felix and me.’
Given Darian’s penchant for gathering talent, there was no way he wouldn’t be interested in her.
‘People don’t change, do they.’
He must have seen outstanding magical talent in Ayla. That’s why he’s showing her favor.
‘Just like in the original story.’
Ayla didn’t know how to treat Darian.
He was once the person she had fallen in love with in the original story.
In the original story, Ayla was expelled from the Blanche Noble house by Rosia.
Due to Rosia’s machinations, her family kicked Ayla out of the Noble house.
Misfortunes never come singly, as they say.
Ayla was also kicked out of the Academy due to Rosia’s scheme and wandered the streets.
But the original Ayla lived her life to the fullest.
She made a living by selling Magical potions with the herbs she had barely collected. It was then that she met Darian.
“Did you make this Magical potion?”
First Prince Darian discovered Ayla’s Magical potion and searched for her.
“You have truly outstanding talent. Would you like to work for me?”
Darian was someone who was targeting talented individuals even back then.
He needed to recruit people to his side in order to become Emperor.
Ayla had no choice. She felt grateful to the Prince who had recognized her abilities.
‘So I started helping him.’
After that, she made so many Magical potions for Darian. That was the only way she could prove her usefulness.
And Darian was a person who kept his word that he didn’t care about status.
‘He truly loved me.’
Ayla naturally fell in love with Darian as well.
The scene where Darian confessed his love to Ayla in the original story was still vividly remembered.
“Ayla, I sincerely love you. If everything ends successfully, I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”
Ayla believed in such Darian.
Darian is not someone who values status. He truly only looks at a person’s potential and character.
But perhaps because a sad future was destined, Ayla couldn’t be happy with Darian in the end.
Because Darian abandoned Ayla.
One night, Darian came to her and made shocking remarks.
“If you love me, can you understand? If I am to become Emperor and achieve my goals, I need a strong supporter. That’s why I can’t be with you, a commoner. I too am very sad, but it’s a choice I had to make for the sake of the greater good.”
“Even if that weren’t the case, the nobles would not tolerate a commoner Empress. You don’t want to be a hindrance to me either, do you?”
If she had been the Blanche Duchess, would the situation have been a little different?
If he could have borrowed the power of the Blanche Duke's Noble house through his marriage to her, Darian might have chosen Ayla.
‘Gosh, the original me is pitiful too.’
The original Ayla is abandoned by him and receives a great shock. And she wastes away and dies.
Knowing all that, she should naturally resent Darian in front of her.
But perhaps because it wasn’t something she had directly experienced, she didn’t feel much anger.
She was just burdened by Darian’s gaze, which was looking at her with sparkling eyes.
‘In the original story, he liked my Magical potions and then even came to love me.’
Ayla sighed.
‘Let’s not get involved with Darian again. That’s all. He’s a completely irrelevant person now.’
It was a decision she could make because she had no feelings for him now.
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