|| Black Clover || Valiant [OC INSERT]

[2] *Edited*

Julius had crossed his arms and now had a rather scary look. He was not pleased with what he had just heard, but that was no reason to ignore the issue. The issue had been developing over the years and only seemed to be growing. "There's no reason to look down upon someone for such foolish reasons. To think I had started to believe there was a slight improvement."

Iris had been sitting on her mother's lap, hearing their conversation. She had a slightly confused look on her face as she kept hearing their exchange. "Mommy, what's going on?" she asked, trying her best to grasp what had been said.

Constanza turned to look at Iris, "Well, you see how there are some people who don't have as many things as we do?" Iris nodded, following along with what her mother was saying. "There are also people who make fun of them because they have more."

Iris looked as if she couldn't believe that there were people like this. "But mommy, why would they do that? Why is that so important to them? Does it matter if someone has more? If they don't have a lot, they're only trying to live with what they do have, right? Aren't we all the same?"

The three adults were a bit surprised by Iris' sudden maturity. They had not been expecting the eight-year-old to say those words with such conviction. Julius' previous expression had now softened at his niece's words. His hope for change had once again been regained.

"Where did you learn such things?" Joules had asked his child who simply sat there innocently. Constanza still had a look of bewilderment plastered on her face.

"What do you mean, Papa? You and Mommy always say to treat everyone nicely no matter what," Iris looked at both her parents confused as to why she was being interrogated.

Despite being smarter than others her age, Iris still had the tendencies of a little kid. She hadn't matured much behavior-wise. As soon as she had gotten bored with the discussion at hand, she decided that she would go and find something else to entertain her. "Mommy, I'm going to go play with Selvester. You, Papa, and Uncle are so boring!" With that, Iris left to go find her furry feline.

The three adults deadpanned at the child's bluntness. She could seem mature one second but then the next she would be back to her usual antics.

"You both should go and rest now. I will see what I shall do about the circumstances." Julius motioned for the two adults to be on their way as well.

Once they had left, Julius was left to think about the pressing issues that were increasing in the Kingdom. 'Is there anything that I could do to try and subdue the discrimination of others?'

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Later that day

Joules had looked all over the castle for his daughter. He had been looking for over an hour, and he had been close to giving up his search when he suddenly heard a shriek followed by a loud 'thud'. He rushed over to where he heard the noise and saw Iris on the ground crying while holding her left knee close.

Seeing his daughter in pain, Joules ran to her side trying to comfort her. "Iris, what happened?" he asked, concern laced into his voice.

After calming down a bit, Iris managed to speak up, "I *sniff* tripped *sniff*" The knee that Iris had clutched onto had a scuff mark with traces of blood trickling down the rest of her leg.

Joules took out a handkerchief to wipe off the wound. As he did so, he thought about telling his daughter that she would have to now begin to train her magic. 'Would it be the best time for this?' he thought.

"Iris, you remember how earlier we were discussing the unfair treatment that has been going on within the kingdom?" Iris wiped away her tears and looked up to her father nodding. "Would you like to do something about the suffering that others are put through?"

Iris thought for a moment before responding with a small 'yeah'. Joules was pleased by her answer and continued to question her. "It's sad to say but no one will listen to those who they deem as weak," he began. "Therefore, you must train to get stronger. If you want to make a better world for people; if you want to bring peace and justice; if you want to bring happiness and security to everyone, then you must become a strong person for them to follow."

"But Papa, what if no one listens to me?"

Joules looked at his child and answered. "You must show them the error of their ways and become the driving force for that change."

"Papa I don't get it..." Iris had forgotten the pain that she had previously felt on her scraped knee.

'It appears that my words aren't getting through like what I had hoped,' Joules thought. For a brief moment, he felt like he should drop the topic and save it for another day. Quickly changing his mind, he gave it another attempt. "What I mean is that you need to be strong and set an example to everyone. As you get older, you will be burdened with greater responsibility."

"But, Papa, I don't want to be in charge of that. I just wanna play with Selvester." The tears that had once left her came back once again. Iris wasn't too keen on having people depend on her. She was a carefree kid who just wanted to keep on doing just that.

'I see she isn't ready to hear about this yet.' Joules wiped away Iris' tears, lifting her head to face him. "It'll be okay. You don't have to do anything right now. All I'm asking of you is to train your magic as well as your abilities to assess battles. If you do this, I'll take you on little trips around the country." At the thought of being able to go explore other places, Iris was visibly thrilled. 'It looks like I found something to incentivize her with,' Joules thought.

"Will you really take me everywhere, Papa?" Iris' eyes sparkled at the mere thought of the adventures that awaited her. Joules nodded in response to his daughter's enthusiasm. "Then, in that case, I'll train hard every day! I'll be so awesome in no time!"

Joules placed his hand on her head and smiled at her, proud of what she had said. He did not doubt that Iris would show outstanding abilities. "Iris, do you still wear that bracelet that your mother and I got you?" Iris pushed up her long-sleeve to reveal the said jewelry. "When you train, I would like you to remove it."

Little Iris was once again left dumbfounded, "But why should I do that, Papa?" Iris' wound had now stopped bleeding whilst they had conversed. They were both still on the floor; Joules was kneeling in front of her, while Iris was still holding onto her knee.

"Well, that bracelet acts as a magic suppressor. Your mother and I gave it to you so you wouldn't hurt yourself or others. Since you'll be training, your control should grow tremendously." Iris nodded at her father's instructions.

Iris had shown promising results when she was younger. Three years ago, Iris' magic had been growing at a rapid rate. She was examined by a few doctors, who in the end, concluded that there was nothing wrong. Because Iris preferred to play rather than study, her parents decided that it would be best for them to suppress her magic power instead.

In the upcoming years, it seemed that her magic would leak through the bracelet. Iris never seemed to take interest in actually practicing it, so it would always go unnoticed or ignored by her. Those around her would either awe at her or show some form of curiosity. Her magic was a big mystery to everyone, except for her parents and uncle.

"Let's go see what mom is up to," Joules gave Iris a kind smile which she returned.

Both mages made their way to the castle. Joules held concern for his daughter regardless of the talk they had. 'Her future seems promising. I hope she eventually finds something to fill her longing for adventure.'

From a young age, Constanza and Joules knew that their daughter's sense of adventure seemed to stem from something else: loneliness. Trial after trial, nothing seemed to be enough for the young Iris. 'Will anything ever satisfy you, Iris?'