The Kingdom of Rosalia was a nation situated on the island of Great Rosalia. This island stretched a long distance from the north to the south, and the climate was so different on its opposite ends that one would have thought it wasn’t even the same kingdom anymore.
The earldom of Flozeth, the place of Estelle’s residence, was nestled in a valley in the northern part of the island, and it was well-known as one of the few snowy regions in the kingdom.
In July, these lands were as green as they ever got. A green carpet covered the mountains, and the pigs and sheep grazing in the pastures made for a peaceful countryside scene. Dragons lived nearby and would occasionally cause major damage to the crops, but climate-wise the summers in Flozeth were nice and cool.
Estelle was the younger sister of Earl Flozeth, the ruler of this domain. The two were expecting guests on this day. She was standing at the window in her room in the earl’s mansion, gazing at the courtyard with nervous anticipation when at last she saw the coach arrive. It stopped in front of the entrance, and out stepped her fiancé, Lyle, and his father, Earl Wyntia. For a moment, Estelle looked overjoyed at their arrival—but her expression swiftly turned to a frown.
Her purplish-red eyes were gifted with a special power—the power to visually perceive the mana of living creatures.
Mana was biological energy found in nearly all living creatures. Some humans, who’d been born with vast supplies of mana, discovered that said mana granted them powers. People referred to them as the Awoken. Estelle was a type of Awoken; she could perceive a living creature’s mana—which was ordinarily invisible—as a mass of silver light swirling around its heart.
How an individual discovered they had powers varied greatly. For some, it was through training; for others, through having a brush with death.
In Estelle’s case it had been the latter. Six years ago, Flozeth had experienced a devastating scarlet fever epidemic, and Estelle had discovered her powers after she’d almost died of the disease.
Incidentally, there was a high number of the Awoken among nobles, who tended to be born with vast supplies of mana. There was a correlation between powers and mana; both were inherited at the same time. In order to maintain absolute power, the royal family brought all kinds of Awoken into its bloodline through marriage. As a result, the pedigree of royals far surpassed that of everyone else, since their family line could be traced back over five hundred years.
Estelle had become aware of her powers when she’d touched a mana stone after her fever let up. Mana stones were a special kind of mineral that absorbed mana and converted it into energy. They had a wide variety of applications, such as plumbing and mana-based furnaces.
As soon as she had touched the mana stone, she’d begun to see silver light flow to it, and she’d realized her sight was different from how it had been before her illness.
Her power wasn’t limited to simply the visual perception of mana in living things. After some experimentation, she’d discovered she was able to read the emotions of other people. For example, if someone in front of her felt delighted or happy, their mana would grow radiant; but if that person felt negative emotions—like sadness, anger, or hatred—it would darken instead.
Being able to see people’s emotions wasn’t always a good thing. Estelle could see the entirety of the other person’s mana like a halo around the sun. The amount of mana you could expect a person to possess highly depended on their social class; commoners typically had very little, and nobles had more and more the higher their social status. And given how much importance nobles placed on the amount of mana they possessed, being able to actually see it put extra pressure on Estelle, making her thoroughly averse to high society.
Still worse, this power was active at all times; it could not be “turned on and off” at will. It made you see even the things you didn’t want to see. In addition, even were you to close your eyes, you would still perceive the presence and emotions of the living things around you as light—though the range of such perception would be shorter than if your eyes were open.
Perhaps that meant the power did not originate with the eyes. Either way, it was a source of trouble.
The reason Estelle had frowned upon seeing Earl Wyntia and Lyle was the fact that their mana was utterly dark. Did something bad happen? wondered Estelle. She had a terrible premonition.
✦ ✦ ✦
Earl Sirius Flozeth, the head of the Flozeth household, greeted the guests at the front door.
“We’ve been expecting you, Lord Cedric, Lyle.”
“It’s been a while, Lyle,” added his younger sister Estelle.
“It has indeed, Estelle,” replied her betrothed.
A month had passed since they had last seen each other. Lyle’s expression was stiff, quite unlike the happier one Estelle had grown used to. And his mana was indeed terribly dark. Estelle stared at Lyle’s face.
It quickly became clear that her premonition was on point. Once the guests had entered the parlor and settled in their seats, Earl Wyntia brought up the reason for their visit.
“Sirius, I hate to ask this of you...but perhaps it would be best if you pretended the engagement between Lyle and Lady Estelle never happened.”
Estelle’s vision went dark. All the sounds around her rapidly grew distant and muffled.
“This is quite sudden, I must say. What brought this on?” replied Sirius, quite bewildered.
Earl Wyntia began to explain the situation, albeit with frequent pauses and sighs.
“The damage caused by last year’s never-ending rain has exceeded all expectations, you see... And I am deeply ashamed to admit that we are in dire financial straits at the moment, given this event and my investment into a textile factory a year prior to it...”
The two earldoms of Flozeth and Wyntia were adjacent to each other. They had much in common, from their climates to their industries. Unfortunately, they also shared infertile land, on which few crops could be grown even in summer due to the cold nights. The people of these domains relied heavily on cattle and potatoes for their livelihoods, as well as those grains—like barley and rye—that could be cultivated even in cold environments.
The previous year’s constant rain had affected the earldom of Flozeth more than enough. It had gone on from spring to early summer, damaging the crops not only with cold weather but with flooding as well. Wyntia had not been the only region to suffer tremendous damages. A big part of what had allowed Flozeth to persevere was the vein of mana stones the earldom had been blessed with.
“I had to take out a significant loan from Pautrier’s to make up for the losses. At first I planned to gradually repay it over time, without any drastic measures...”
Pautrier’s was one of the prominent trading companies in the kingdom. It had amassed enormous wealth through trade with the eastern states, such as the Yang Empire and Gandia. The previous head of the family had earned the rank of baron, securing them a place among the nobility.
“But apparently the owner’s daughter fell in love with Lyle at first sight—and because of my debt, I have no choice but to arrange a marriage between them...”
Estelle heard Lyle clench his teeth as he sat in front of her. He was a handsome man with jet-black hair, mysterious purple eyes, and a strong, virile face; he gave off the impression of a man in control of his desires. It was no wonder Pautrier’s daughter had fallen in love with him at first sight.
“Why didn’t you come speak to us before things had progressed this far?” asked Sirius with a grim expression.
“You had your own share of problems, did you not? Besides, you inherited your rank at a young age, so I imagined this was your first time dealing with natural disasters on this scale... Forgive me. I did not wish to burden you.”
Sirius found himself at a loss for words. It was true that he was still inexperienced in this.
“Forgive me, Estelle,” continued Earl Wyntia. “I feel utterly guilty for asking to end your engagement this way...”
Seeing the two Wyntias’ grave expressions, Estelle knew she had no say in the matter—to them, it was already a done deal.
On this day, in July of the year 533 of the Rosalian calendar, Estelle lost her fiancé in exchange for a large financial compensation.
Lyle had been her childhood friend—a man three years older than her, with whom she had played countless times as they visited each other’s domains. He had been kinder to her than her own brother, and she loved him dearly. I’ve always dreamt about our wedding, and this is how things should end, she lamented. Estelle just barely managed to hold her tears in until she saw the two off, and then, at last, she let them burst out.
“Estelle...”
“Brother... It’s money that I’ve lost him to, isn’t it?”
The damages from the rain had been so extensive that the Flozeths couldn’t afford to financially support their neighbors. But I didn’t lose to Pautrier’s daughter as a woman, Estelle reminded herself inside her heart.
Seeing her like this, Sirius looked like he had something to say.