Chapter 1:
Baptism
MY NAME IS DAISY VON PRESLARIA. I AM THE second daughter of a viscount in the kingdom of Saltenburg. I’m almost five years old. My hair’s the color of green apples, and I have aquamarine eyes. Grown-ups say I’m a little “precocious.”
I live in the Preslaria estate in the royal capital, and in my free time I like to read plant and herb encyclopedias and sometimes take walks with the family gardener. I’ll tell anyone who asks that I love plants. That’s also why I love to help take care of the roses.
My dad is the head of the family, and then there’s my mom, my older brother, and my older sister. We also have a lot of servants at our house who take care of us. They live in an attached dormitory on the first floor of our estate. There’s also a place to practice magic, and at the edge of our property we have a small shed where we store things. Plus, there’s a small forest behind our house full of berries and chestnuts for our family to enjoy.
Oh, but the best thing about my house is the roses! They grow around the middle of our garden, and in the parlor and guest room terraces too! They’re so pretty. There are red, pink, white, and yellow roses of all different types. When they’re in season, they fill the estate with their beauty and wonderful fragrance.
“There are so many roses this year, and the colors are so beautiful. It’s lovely.” Mother sat next to me on the parlor terrace, admiring the flowers as our family enjoyed tea together.
“I daresay it’s due to the young mistress’s new interest. She took such good care of them, I think the roses responded in kind,” our butler Sebastian replied.
Mother smiled and patted my head. She was just as beautiful as any rose, and I loved her so much. It made me happy and a little shy when she praised me, and my cheeks went as pink as the rose petals.
Speaking of roses, I had acquired a skill called “Appraisal,” probably because I spent so much time looking at the plants around the estate. It let me take one look at a plant and know how to most effectively care for it. For example, this plant:
Rose
Type: Plant
Status: Not healthy. Small caterpillars are eating its young leaves.
Once I discovered what was causing a problem—in this case, a bug—I could take the right steps to treat it.
If I used Appraisal on a person, it looked like this:
Daisy von Preslaria
Second daughter of a viscount
Health: 10/10
Mana: 150/150
Occupation: None
Skills:
Appraisal: (3/10)
However, I very rarely looked at other people’s statuses, including those of my own family. I figured most wouldn’t care to have their abilities snooped on like that. I even kept it a secret from Father and Mother.
I was going to be five years old soon. Five is an important age because that’s when you get to participate in a very special event called a Baptism. In my kingdom, every citizen attends a Baptism when they turn five, which is when the gods bestow their Occupation upon them, no matter if they’re a commoner or a noble. You receive a Certificate of Occupation at the ceremony once you find out your job, so that it can’t even be altered using magical tools. The results of the Baptism are especially important to us nobles because not only does it determine your future Occupation, but it can also influence your marriage prospects.
The most desirable Occupations are ones that give authority to protect the kingdom, such as Knight or Mage, along with elite civil service jobs. Parents are thrilled when their children are selected for such Occupations. And if you’re assigned a job like those, you not only have a career advantage, but you can gain better marriage prospects since Occupations often run in families.
One also gains a higher rate of progression for skills related to the Occupation received from the gods. As a result, in our kingdom, people believe that Occupations are both the will of the gods and a blessing. So rejecting your Occupation is the same as rejecting a divine gift—in other words, you’d be defying the gods—and the church will condemn you for it.
You are required to present your Certificate of Occupation when applying for a job, and it’s extremely hard to find employment without a certificate to match. My family has produced very talented mages through this kingdom’s Occupation system. Father serves as the Deputy Mage Commander in the Order of Mages, and I’ve heard Mother also has a lot of magical talent. My older brother and sister were born one year apart, and both had received the Occupation of Mage at their Baptisms and were expected to have bright futures. They often practiced magic at home to live up to those expectations.
Since I grew up in that environment, I expected I would become a Mage too, so I would often insert myself into my brother and sister’s magic practice and imitate everything they did.
“Brother, how do you shoot Air Cutter like that?”
My brother proudly demonstrated the spell again. “Because I have two years of practice on you, Daisy.”
I puffed my cheeks out in response and raised my hand. “Air Cutter!”
I felt the subtle sensation of wind in my hand, but the spell wouldn’t activate.
“I can do it too, Daisy! Look! Air Cutter!”
My sister came up next to my brother and me and showed off the spell she’d just learned.
“It’s not fair that both of you can do it and I can’t! I want to help Father too, you know!” I shouted.
After that, I attended classes with my siblings over and over again and tried my best to imitate their magic. But in the end, I was still unable to cast any spells.