Elena’s Point of View
I despise royalty and the aristocracy.
They only think of themselves.
They never consider the lives of the people beneath them. They just enjoy their privilege as if it’s a given.
The first time I met Princess Karina of Nigren, I couldn’t hide my shock over the fact that people like her existed.
Flame-red hair. Large emerald green eyes. Perfect skin. In her pink dress with the frills. I’d never seen anybody so glamorous. She was shockingly beautiful. But the first time she looked at me, her eyes sparkled.
She gave me a sweet smile. A smile utterly devoid of any ill-will. And she walked right up to me.
“Hello! I’m Karina Niqvist. What’s your name?”
“……”
I couldn’t answer. A woman whispered to Karina. She seemed to be an attendant of some kind. “She won’t speak to anyone or tell us her name,” the woman said.
“Oh, really?”
Karina looked taken aback.
“I see. Well, how about if we give you the name ‘Elena’ to use here instead?”
Karina looked me in the eyes, smiling so kindly as she spoke.
✦ ✦ ✦
KARINA was the perfect princess.
Always helping those in trouble. Sharing her innocent smile with everyone. Always doing the right thing at the right time. And she was beautiful.
The kindest, prettiest, most caring princess you could ever imagine.
Dragged to this palace against my will and completely downhearted as I was, she kept trying over and over again to talk to me.
“Why are you bothering yourself with me?”
One time, I was so annoyed by her persistence that I turned on her. Karina looked shocked for a second, then smiled happily.
“Because I want to be your friend, Elena! Hey, do you want to share this? It’s really yummy!”
Karina was holding out a basket of sweet treats. I’d never seen anything like these sweets in my village. They smelled tantalizing.
“I’ve loved these since I was little! What kind of sweets do you like, Elena? If you let me know, I’ll bring some with me next time! I hope it will lift your homesickness just a little.”
As I stared at Karina, smiling at me, I felt rage bubble up inside me.
I hated her!
But a kind princess like Karina could never have imagined what darkness lurked in the depths of my heart. She was pampered by everyone and just assumed that was normal. She never dreamed there was anyone out there who hated her. Hated her family.
Oh, what a kind princess she was! To concern herself with the less fortunate…
Well, if she was so nice, why didn’t she bother to lend a hand to the people starving in the poor villages in her own country?
That dress you’ve got on…it could feed me for a month! You’ve no idea what it’s like to go hungry! While you sit here in your palace eating sweets, we’ve nothing to survive on except rainwater!!!
✦ ✦ ✦
THE village I was born into was extremely poor, located deep in the countryside.
The land was all scrub ground, where nothing much could grow. We were always worrying about whether or not we’d get anything to eat the next day. Sometimes all we had to survive off of was water.
I was known in the village as “Hily.” It means “inhuman.”
Ever since I can remember, strange things have been happening around me. When I get emotional, strong winds blow. When I get mad at someone, bad things tend to happen to them. Later, I looked back and wondered whether those things were caused by me, casting magic without realizing I was doing it. The village people knew nothing of the world and gossiped that I was some sort of demon.
Instead of casting me out, though, my family kept me locked in the house.
If I kept my head down, I could survive somehow. I learned to hide my expressions, to hold my tongue, and keep my thoughts to myself.
Then one day, everything changed.
A government official came to visit the village.
I was in charge of cooking dinner that night. Like always, I lit the fire under the pot using my mind. The official happened to walk by and see what I was doing. The man’s face lit up with a strange look.
“The country could make use of her…”
Not long after that, more government men came, and they wanted…me. Around that time, the village folk started being nicer to me. My bedroom was switched from the box room to a sunny corner room.
I was happy. I was so happy.
I figured the first government man must’ve had something to do with it all, but I didn’t really care about that so much. I was just happy that the village folk seemed to have accepted me at last. I didn’t really need any special treatment, though.
Those happy days didn’t last.
One day, the men came again and took away the village chief and my parents.
“Treason is a crime.”
That’s what they said. Then they took my family away. And they half-dragged me here to their palace. And that’s when I met Karina.
✦ ✦ ✦
MY powers were far stronger than the people could’ve ever expected.
All I had to do was witness somebody casting a spell one time. Then I could cast it perfectly myself. I thought everyone was like that. But it appeared that I had some sort of rare gift.
As a result of my ability, I soon rose to become Nigren’s most prominent magician. And everyone started being really respectful to me.
It felt good to look down upon those who’d been snobbish toward me. I was annoyed at first when Karina insisted I come along on her trip to Najir, but in the end, I was glad I went.
I had two reasons for this.
The first was that I was able to learn tons of new magic. Especially when I went to see their research lab. They were working on stuff I’d never even heard of before.
I used the magic I learned to sneak into their library and steal their books. But they figured it out straight away and started investigating. I hadn’t anticipated that.
The other reason was that I met Prince Daniel of the Sunruta Kingdom.
Prince Daniel was wonderful. The first time we met, I was alone in the gardens. There were beautiful daisies there, and I wanted to get another good look at them.
“Are you all right?”
Prince Daniel came by and noticed me sitting on the lawn. I expected him to walk by, but he stopped. I looked up at him, not understanding his question. Then he said, “Are you feeling unwell?”
“I’m just…looking at the flowers.”
I know my answer was clumsy and a little rude, but Daniel just nodded. “I see. Yes, they are pretty, aren’t they? It’s getting dark. It’s too dangerous to be outside alone. I think you’d better head back inside.”
I blinked in confusion as Daniel held his hand out to me. Then I realized that he meant for me to take it.
He was so cool. So kind. So wonderful in every way.
“Prince Daniel is meant for Princess Karina. They’ll be married one day.”
I overheard one of the servant girls who’d come along on the trip to Najir saying that. I felt like I’d received a blow to the head.
Then the dark feelings came bubbling up inside again.
She can’t even use the simplest of spells! Why does Karina get to have everything?!
Money, status, beauty, the love of everyone around her. She had everything. And now she got to marry a wonderful man like Daniel, too?
Jealousy soon gave way to pure, crystallized hatred.
And then I realized what I needed to do.
Karina has everything. I should take it all for myself.
What a splendid plan…
And I’d more than enough power to pull it off, too.
And yet…
And yet…
I failed, right at the end of it all.
That woman… Princess Annabel of Najir and her magician. If only they hadn’t come along, I could’ve had everything I wanted!
Princess Annabel was just the same as Princess Karina. Taking everyone’s love for granted, always relying on someone to swoop in and save her.
How wonderful it would feel to rub her nose in the dirt!
Well, I won’t fail next time.
Next time, I’m going to get everything I want!
Focusing all of my energy into that one thought, I infused the Magic Sigil with the last of my magical power. The Magic Sigil I’d been working on in secret, long suspecting that I would need it someday…