After asking her question, Diancie's eyes never left Elias's face.
She was waiting for his answer.
But…
She quickly noticed—when Elias heard her question, a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes, and he seemed to drift into thought.
Clearly, he himself wasn't quite sure of the answer either.
Yet the moment she realized this, Diancie didn't feel disappointed; instead, she felt faintly excited.
This meant Elias was like a blank sheet of paper, one that hadn't been colored by anything else yet.
I really shouldn't have such strange thoughts. Yet whenever this occurred to her, a warm satisfaction rose inside her.
If Her Highness knew I thought this way, I'd definitely get scolded…
Even as Diancie thought this, she didn't feel the slightest intention to repent.
"It's time to leave the stage," Elias reminded her, gently letting go of her hand.
He had decided to dodge her earlier question.
After all, his consciousness was born from a diamond in the mines.
Everything before that was completely unknown to him.
Hearing his words, Diancie quickly cleared away her scattered thoughts and nodded slowly.
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, she carefully picked up the diamond she'd made and left the stage the way she'd come.
Passing by the Carbink who'd hosted earlier, she could clearly see the shock and embarrassment in its eyes.
It seemed to be silently repenting its earlier private judgments about her.
"Diancie."
As soon as she reached the backstage area, Diancie heard a familiar voice.
"Your Highness."
She tightened her grip on the diamond, bouncing up to her elder with quick steps.
While moving, she couldn't help sneaking a glance at Elias beside her.
He gave her a reassuring look, which fully eased her heart, letting her feel certain that the queen couldn't see him.
"You did well today, Diancie."
Sure enough, the queen merely nodded lightly, giving her praise.
But as she spoke, the queen's eyes flashed briefly with uncertainty and curiosity.
She'd noticed earlier—Diancie seemed to glance off to the side for a moment.
Yet when she followed that gaze, there had been nothing there.
This made her feel as though a tiny cat were gently clawing at her heart, leaving a restless itch she couldn't soothe.
"Your Highness, it was all thanks to Elias today," Diancie suddenly announced cheerfully, raising the cracked diamond slightly.
She'd never felt so excited before.
Especially because, for the very first time, she saw a hint of confusion in the queen's eyes.
Hearing Diancie's words, the queen narrowed her eyes slightly.
Again, that broken… diamond.
Yet for some reason, she corrected herself subconsciously.
Perhaps Diancie's unusual performance today had subconsciously made her take everything around her more seriously.
"Diancie, would you mind letting me see that diamond?" she asked softly after a moment, extending a hand.
She still thought it highly unlikely, but just to be safe, she decided it was best to examine the diamond Diancie treasured so deeply.
Yet unexpectedly…
The soft-hearted Diancie hugged the diamond tighter and shook her head lightly.
"No."
Subconsciously, she didn't want anyone or any Pokémon to touch it.
Not even her Highness.
Seeing this, the queen froze momentarily, opening her mouth as if about to speak.
But after struggling for a long moment, she ultimately chose silence.
Yet this reaction only increased her interest in that diamond even more.
---
[Some time had passed since the festival ended.]
[Thanks to Diancie's performance, her reputation within the clan rapidly rose.]
[At the same time, your power greatly accelerated her strength.]
"Elias, can you improve the strength of any Pokémon that shares my type?"
Diancie puffed her small cheeks slightly as she asked.
After seeing Elias nod, she suddenly felt strangely uncomfortable.
She'd thought his ability was only effective for her.
Yet it turned out… any Pokémon of the same type could benefit as well.
This made her feel even more justified about refusing her Highness's request yesterday.
Yet at the same time, she felt she was being overly petty.
Her Highness has always helped me. Letting Elias enhance her strength… it's only fair, isn't it?
Diancie felt quite guilty thinking this.
But when she imagined such scenes in her mind, she felt an odd sensation she couldn't quite describe.
---
[Though you didn't know exactly what Diancie was conflicted about, you could roughly guess it had something to do with you.]
[Fortunately, you didn't particularly care.]
[After carefully assessing Diancie's current strength, you found she was still far from meeting the standard required of a queen.]
[And it wasn't that Diancie lacked effort; rather, her body seemed to have inherent deficiencies.]
[You'd discovered related information in the human books placed in her room.]
"Elias, can you understand these books?" Diancie asked curiously, poking her head closer when she saw Elias intently reading the book she owned.
Elias nodded in response.
Just as he'd guessed, he learned human writing surprisingly quickly.
Whether it was due to his innate ability or a natural sense of familiarity, he couldn't be sure.
But now, he could easily read the book's contents.
Diancie swallowed slightly, cheeks warming.
She'd studied for ages yet could still only recognize scattered, isolated words.
Compared to Elias… the gap between them suddenly felt enormous.
"Do you have any more books like this?" Elias asked suddenly, waving the book slightly.
He'd discovered that the current book, while mentioning the problem, was hopelessly superficial.
It couldn't even provide basic reference, let alone real solutions.
Diancie shook her head blankly.
She hadn't even understood one book yet; she hadn't dared ask for another.
Seeing Diancie shake her head, Elias frowned slightly.
Although he was just a spirit temporarily by Diancie's side—not her trainer or anything like that—he still wanted to help her resolve this difficult issue.
Noticing Elias's worried expression, Diancie's heart warmed.
She'd heard that humans had recently begun a new profession called "trainer."
Their main task was raising Pokémon, nurturing them, and teaching them how to battle.
Previously, she'd always maintained a wary distance from this idea.
Yet for some reason, watching Elias diligently studying human writing, earnestly seeking solutions for her sake…
She suddenly felt—
Finding a trainer… might not be bad after all?
---
T/N:
"GrrrRAAAAH… gkhhh—rrnnnh."
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say thank you to Girantina for that thoughtful message