Chapter 112: Him [1]

The Veltran Empire was one of the strongest among the major powerhouses in the world.

Though it was an empire of humans—A race that was considered the weakest among all the races in Jutan… That did not reduce the influence or the strength of the empire in any way.

Humans may have been inherently weaker than the other races from birth, but that was on an individual scale.

Humans were best known for their vast armies… An advantage of having a huge population.

And humans, despite being born weak, had the determination to grow stronger than anyone else on the planet.

They were the ones who knew the true despair of being weak and hopeless. That was the major drive behind their relentless pursuit of power.

In today’s era, many of the strongest individuals living on the planet were humans.

So being one of the major empires that was dominantly human in nature gave the Veltrans a huge sense of pride in their roots.

Such pride was also carried through the royal blood.

Every child born in House Veltra always had huge expectations put upon their shoulders from the moment they could understand the world around them.

But none of them had ever been crushed under such expectations.

The royals were called royal for a reason. These individuals had that firm will that was consistent throughout their bloodline.

Diana was the same.

As the first princess of House Veltra, she was always at the forefront of the royal family.

Her every action had always been looked after by her admirers and supporters while scrutinised by some who weren’t exactly said to be on good terms with the royal family.

At first, Diana had stayed strong, trying to meet all the expectations that were put upon her.

But time had soon taken its toll on her little shoulders.

As she grew in age, the level of things that she had to engage in increased too, not giving her a moment’s rest.

Still, Diana had always been close to her family, especially her mother.

Whenever she felt depressed, she talked with her mother to reduce the anxiety and concerns that plagued her mind.

But as time passed, her mother had become engrossed in her duties as the Veltran Empress.

That had left Diana all alone, with no one she could talk to.

Though her siblings were there to support her… Some things were such that they couldn’t be shared with them.

She didn’t want to burden anyone with her grief.

The next option that Diana had was to share it with people that she considered friends. But her status as the first princess prevented her from getting too close to anyone without being used for political reasons.

So Diana had been left alone until she turned eight years old.

The empire had the strongest noble houses serving under it. These were called the dukedoms, as they were just below the Veltran House in power and influence.

But there was one such house that, despite being relatively on par with the royal family in power and status, hadn’t made any claims on the Royal Throne—

The House Frost.

Duke Castor Frost was a close friend of Diana’s father, Mair Veltra. That had led to frequent visits from delegations of the Frosts.

On one such day, Diana had come into contact with Alicia, who was the youngest among the Frosts.

Alicia had accompanied her father to the Royal Palace, and that had led them to become friends.

At first, Diana was hesitant about becoming close to anyone, but as her father had very good relations with the Frosts, she had no need to care for any political consequences of befriending Alicia.

Since then, Diana had begun to visit the Frost mansion actively, playing with Alicia every now and then.

Still, she didn’t discuss any of her worries with Alicia, as the latter was a year younger than her.

Over time, Diana had become close friends with Kevin and Victoria, as all of them played together.

That was also when she had met him.

A boy who shared the signature dark black hair and equally dark eyes of the Frosts—

Kael Frost.

He was the same age as her, and being the heir to the Frost dukedom, Diana had begun to get a lot closer to him.

From her perspective, he was the same as her, as he had to bear the responsibilities of his house from a young age.

Diana and Kael had quickly grown to become best friends, with both of them sharing more time with each other than with their respective families.

And Kael’s soft nature was a bonus on top.

He would always listen to what Diana had to say without interrupting her or making her feel wronged in any way.

But soon Diana had noticed that, unlike her, Kael didn’t take his duties much seriously.

As the princess, she had begun her training from a young age, when she was barely six years old.

Though the training was basic in general, it was harsh for children of her age.

But Kael… Diana had not seen him train even once. He would always indulge himself in different activities, enjoying his life to the fullest.

Over time, she had begun to feel jealous of him for being so free-willed.

Kael, on his part, would always console Diana whenever she felt like crying. He was always there to support her, no matter the circumstances or his ability to solve her problems.

That time was the best time of her life…

But as fate had always been—nothing lasted for long.

When Diana had turned ten years old, her visits to the Frost mansion had begun to decrease.

It was not because she was getting into fights with any of the Frost youngsters, but because the usual joyous atmosphere in the mansion had begun to turn darker.

There wasn’t a time when Diana hadn’t seen Duke Castor scolding Kael for his negligence.

And the matter never seemed to stop.

Kael too never listened to his father and always argued back, leading to more arguments between the father-son duo.

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