HTNSA 66

Chapter 66

Peony, flustered and excited, led Darian along.

“Isn’t Eila amazing? She dances so well!”

“Well, I think both of you are quite excellent dancers,” Darian lightly laughed and then asked Peony to introduce him to her friends after the dance ended.

Peony, in a snappy tone, warned Darian.

“I’ll introduce you, but if you ignore Eila just because she’s a commoner, even if you’re my brother, I’ll be mad.”

Darian shook his head with a subtle smile.

“Would I do that? From what I hear, both of them seem like very talented friends.”

Peony reluctantly nodded.

Indeed, Darian was different from the other royals in that he was quite friendly toward commoners.

He valued talent over status.

Moreover, he was polite and only spoke well of people, so Eila was certain he wouldn’t say anything rude to her.

Peony, just finishing her dance, approached her friends with a joyful expression.

“Eila, that was an amazing dance.”

Peony smiled brightly and pointed to Darian standing next to her.

“This is my brother, Darian Celestian.”

Eila and Felix politely bowed and greeted him.

“Your Highness, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“Lift your heads.”

Darian smiled kindly.

“I’ve heard you’re Peony’s friends. You can treat me just as a friend, just like Peony’s brother.”

As he spoke, Darian looked at Felix for a long while.

“Did you say he’s a disciple of Duke Azenta?”

Seeing him, Darian immediately understood why Duke Azenta had taken Felix under his wing.

Darian himself had been trained with a sword from a young age.

He could immediately tell Felix had exceptional presence.

Darian was the type to place great importance on talented individuals.

He received reports day and night about who was standing out in the empire.

Soon, his gaze turned to Eila.

“They both suffered from mana insensitivity and recently recovered, right?”

As far as Darian knew, mana insensitivity was an incurable disease with no treatment.

How did these two overcome it?

Moreover, it was intriguing to see Peony, with her sensitive and particular personality, constantly sticking to Eila without any hesitation.

“Peony doesn’t give her affection easily.”

Peony was naturally a suspicious person.

For her to be this close to Eila, without putting up any barriers, was unusual.

“Peony, like most royals, is naturally gifted at sensing mana. Maybe that’s why.”

Peony was born with stronger dragon-related abilities compared to other royals.

For her to show such fondness meant that Eila probably had extraordinary magical talent.

Darian, though insensitive to mana like the other royals, prided himself on having an excellent eye for talent.

“Strange.”

He had met Eila a few times before.

But back then, she hadn’t stood out.

“Could overcoming mana insensitivity have had an effect? The atmosphere does seem different now.”

In fact, the reason he had asked Peony to introduce her friends was because he was curious about Duke Azenta’s new disciple.

He thought building a relationship would be helpful in many ways.

But after meeting them directly, he found that Eila attracted his attention more than Felix.

“Maybe she has even more outstanding talent than the daughter of the Blanche family.”

If that’s the case, he wouldn’t mind recruiting her directly. Darian smiled contentedly.

“I have no prejudice against status. Whether commoner or noble, talented individuals should be appointed equally. With someone like Eila and Felix, they could do great things in the future.”

“Thank you.”

“I hope to see you more often. I’ll get in touch through Peony.”

Eila stared at Darian. His words clearly carried admiration.

But she couldn’t bring herself to respond positively.

When her eyes met his, she had thought he wasn’t particularly interested in her, but it seemed that was a mistake.

“He’s been watching Felix and me all along.”

Given Darian’s tendency to collect talented individuals, it made sense that he would take an interest in her.

“People don’t change.”

He must have seen her extraordinary magical talent, which is why he was showing her affection.

“Just like in the original story.”

Eila wasn’t sure how to treat Darian.

He was the one she had once fallen in love with in the original story.

In the original, Eila was driven out of the Blanche family by Rosia.

Through Rosia’s schemes, Eila was cast out by her family.

Wasn’t it said that misfortunes come all at once?

After being driven out by Rosia, Eila was also expelled from the academy and wandered the streets.

But the original Eila did her best to survive.

She managed to make a living by selling magical potions made from herbs she had collected.

It was during that time that she met Darian.

“Did you make this magical potion?”

The First Prince, Darian, discovered Eila’s potion and tracked her down.

“You have truly exceptional talent. Would you consider working for me?”

Darian, even back then, was someone who sought out talented individuals.

He needed to recruit supporters to become emperor.

Eila had no choice but to help him. She was grateful that the prince recognized her abilities.

“That’s when I started helping him.”

Since then, she made many potions for Darian because it was the only way she could prove her worth.

And Darian had kept his word, saying he didn’t care about status.

“He truly loved me.”

Eila also naturally fell in love with Darian.

She still vividly remembered the scene in the original where Darian desperately confessed his love to her.

“Eila, I truly love you. If everything succeeds, I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”

Eila believed him.

Darian wasn’t someone who cared about status. He truly looked at a person’s potential and character.

But perhaps because of the sad future awaiting her, Eila could never be happy with Darian.

Darian abandoned her.

One night, Darian came to her with shocking words.

“If you love me, you’ll understand, won’t you? To become emperor and fulfill my ambitions, I need a strong ally. So, I can’t be with someone like you, a commoner. I’m sad too, but it’s a choice I have to make for the greater good.”

“Even without that, nobles would never accept a commoner as the empress. You wouldn’t want to be an obstacle for me, would you?”

If she had been a Blanche princess, would the situation have been different?

If marrying her had allowed Darian to use the power of the Blanche family, he might have chosen Eila.

“Poor original me.”

In the original, Eila was abandoned by Darian and devastated. She fell ill and eventually died.

Knowing all of that, it should have been natural for her to resent Darian.

But since it hadn’t happened directly to her in this life, she didn’t feel intense anger.

She simply felt burdened by the way Darian was looking at her with those sparkling eyes.

“Just like in the original, he loved my potions and ended up falling for me.”

Eila sighed.

“I won’t get involved with Darian again. That’s enough. He’s someone I have nothing to do with anymore.”

Since she had no feelings for him now, it was an easy decision.