Two years ago, when I was only eight years old, my life changed forever.
It was an ordinary morning. The warm sunlight shone through the windows, and the smell of freshly baked bread filled our small home. My mother hummed softly while preparing breakfast, and my father smiled as he helped her. Everything felt peaceful.
I never imagined it would be the last morning we would spend together.
I was playing outside with a small wooden toy when a loud crash echoed from inside the house. It was so sudden that I froze for a moment before dropping my toy and running toward the door.
"Mother? Father?" I called.
No one answered.
As I stepped inside, my heart stopped.
My parents were lying on the floor, completely still. Their hands were reaching for each other, but they would never hold each other's hands again.
I rushed to them and knelt beside them, shaking their shoulders with trembling hands.
"Please... wake up."
There was no response.
I called their names over and over, hoping they would open their eyes.
They never did.
I screamed for help until my throat hurt, but by the time the neighbors arrived, it was already too late.
The people responsible had disappeared without leaving a single clue.
That day, I learned how quickly everything could be taken away.
I was only a child, yet I had already lost the people I loved most.
For days, I couldn't eat or sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I remembered their smiles and their gentle voices. I wished I could hear them one more time, even if it was only for a second.
But wishes could never bring back the dead.
From that day forward, I carried the pain with me.
One Year Later
When I turned nine, something inside me began to change.
It happened during one of my evening sword training sessions in the garden.
I wasn't trying to do anything special. I was only copying the movements I had seen the kingdom's knights perform.
As I swung my wooden sword, the air around me suddenly trembled.
I stopped.
There was no wind.
The trees were still.
Yet I could feel something surrounding me.
A strange warmth spread from my fingertips through my arms and across my entire body. My heartbeat became faster with every breath.
I raised my sword again.
The moment I swung it, a powerful gust of wind burst around me.
Leaves flew into the air as black ash-like shadows danced within the wind. The force snapped a nearby tree branch before everything suddenly became quiet again.
My knees gave out.
I collapsed onto the grass, struggling to breathe.
My entire body felt heavy, as if every bit of strength had been drained from me.
Even so...
I couldn't deny what had happened.
It was magic.
"...Magic?"
I stared at my shaking hands.
I didn't know where this power came from or why it had chosen me.
But deep inside, I felt that it had always been there, waiting to awaken.
At that moment, I made a silent promise.
If this power could protect the people I loved...
Then I would learn to control it.
No matter how long it took.
That night, I lay awake in bed.
The strange energy still flowed through my body like a quiet heartbeat.
It wanted to be used.
It called to me.
But I refused.
I wasn't ready.
No one could know about this power.
Not yet.
The Price of Power
Over the following months, I trained in secret.
Every day, my magic became stronger.
Every day, it became harder to control.
Using even the smallest spell drained nearly all of my mana. My muscles became weak, and my vision blurred until I could barely remain standing.
Sometimes I collapsed before I could even return home.
The magic felt alive.
It moved on its own, refusing to obey my commands.
One afternoon, I practiced fire magic deep inside the forest where no one would see me.
I created only a tiny flame.
At least...
That was my intention.
Without warning, the fire exploded into a sea of flames.
The trees caught fire one after another, and the heat surrounded me from every direction.
I ran as fast as I could, barely escaping before the flames swallowed the entire clearing.
When I finally stopped, I fell against a tree, breathing heavily.
My hands were burned.
My ribs ached from the fall.
"...I almost died."
Fear filled my heart.
Not because of my enemies.
But because of my own magic.
Every time I used it, I felt as though it took a piece of me away.
Even so...
I couldn't stop.
Whenever I remembered my parents, the pain inside my chest became stronger than my fear.
I wanted answers.
I wanted justice.
And if this power was the only thing that could help me find the people who destroyed my family...
Then I would keep fighting.
No matter the cost.
The Flowell Family
Not long afterward, I was adopted by the Duke and Duchess of Flowell.
They welcomed me into their home without asking for anything in return.
They gave me warm meals, clean clothes, and a place where I no longer had to worry about surviving each day.
But my heart remained closed.
I kept my distance from everyone.
Whenever the servants knocked on my bedroom door, I stayed silent and pretended to be asleep.
I didn't want to grow close to anyone again.
I was afraid.
Afraid that if I loved another family...
They would disappear too.
As time passed, things slowly began to change.
Duke Aizen often found me practicing swordsmanship in the garden.
He rarely interrupted.
He simply stood nearby and watched.
One afternoon, after I finished training, he finally spoke.
The Flowell Family
Not long after the tragedy, I was adopted by the Duke and Duchess of Flowell. At first, I believed they had simply taken pity on an orphaned child.
I was wrong.
Duke Aizen Flowell possessed a rare ability known as Mana Sight, a gift that had been passed down through generations of the Flowell family. With a single glance, he could see the mana flowing within every living being.
The first time he saw me, he noticed something impossible.
My mana wasn't simply large—it was enormous. It flowed through my body like an endless ocean, powerful yet strangely unstable, as though it had not fully awakened. Even someone as experienced as Duke Aizen had never seen a child with such an overwhelming amount of mana.
He later told Duchess Cassia that if someone with that much power was left unprotected, sooner or later, others would come looking for me.
So they adopted me.
Not because they wanted to use my power.
Not because they expected anything in return.
They simply wanted to protect a lonely child.
"I don't want her to grow up carrying everything alone," Duchess Cassia had said.
From that day on, they became my family.
Even then, I couldn't bring myself to trust them. I spent most of my time alone in my room, pretending to be asleep whenever someone knocked on my door. I kept everyone at a distance because I couldn't bear the thought of losing another family.
There was something else that always made me feel different.
Sometimes, I felt as though I wasn't really a child.
There were moments when my thoughts became calm and unusually mature. I found myself observing people carefully, thinking several steps ahead, and making decisions that didn't feel like they belonged to a nine-year-old. It was almost as if an older version of myself was quietly guiding me from somewhere deep inside.
But those moments never lasted.
Whenever Duchess Cassia spoiled me with sweets or one of the young knights challenged me to a race, that strange feeling disappeared. I would laugh, complain, get excited over little things, or pout whenever I lost.
It was confusing.
Some days, I felt like an adult trapped inside a child's body.
Other days, I was simply... a child.
Maybe both were part of who I was.
As the months passed, Duke Aizen often found me practicing swordsmanship alone in the garden. He rarely interrupted, choosing instead to watch my movements in silence. One afternoon, after I finished training, he finally spoke.
"You've improved."
I looked at him in surprise. No one had ever praised me before.
"You have talent," he continued. "But talent alone isn't enough. Power without control can destroy everything around you. If you're willing, I'll teach you how to become truly strong."
At first, I wanted to refuse. I didn't need anyone's help—or at least, that's what I kept telling myself.
Yet somehow, I accepted.
From that day forward, Duke Aizen became more than my guardian. He became my teacher. Every morning, he trained me in swordsmanship, teaching me that patience was just as important as strength. He never pushed me beyond my limits, never forced me to smile, and never asked me to forget my past.
He simply stayed beside me.
Duchess Cassia showed her love differently. She invited me to afternoon tea, read books with me in the library, and gently brushed my hair whenever I accidentally fell asleep while reading. She never treated me like an orphan or a guest.
To her, I was simply her daughter.
One evening, she found me staring at the large family portrait hanging above the fireplace. She walked over and sat beside me before smiling warmly.
"You know," she said, "that portrait is missing someone."
I looked at her in confusion.
"Who?"
She gently rested her hand on my head.
"You."
I couldn't find the words to respond.
"You've been our daughter since the day you came into this house," she continued softly. "No matter what happened before, you'll always have a place here."
Part of me wanted to believe her.
Another part was terrified.
Everyone I had ever loved had disappeared from my life.
What if they disappeared too?
Still, for the first time in years, I allowed myself to hope.
The Day Everything Changed
Four years passed.
The Flowells became the family I thought I had lost forever. Duke Aizen taught me strength, while Duchess Cassia taught me kindness. Little by little, the emptiness inside my heart began to heal, and for the first time since losing my parents, I truly believed I had found a place where I belonged.
Then everything changed.
That afternoon, I was sitting quietly in the study, reading one of Duke Aizen's favorite history books, when hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway. Moments later, the door burst open.
The head maid stood there, breathing heavily. Her face was pale, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Lady Selentia..."
Her voice trembled.
"There has been an accident."
A strange feeling settled deep inside my chest.
"The Duke and Duchess..." She lowered her head. "...Their carriage was attacked."
My fingers loosened around the book.
"...They didn't survive."
The book slipped from my hands and hit the floor.
"No..."
The word escaped my lips before I could stop it.
I ran through the mansion without thinking. Every servant I passed looked away, their eyes swollen from crying. When I reached the front entrance, the broken carriage had already been brought back to the estate.
The royal knights stood in complete silence.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The silence was enough to tell me everything.
My legs gave out beneath me.
Once again, the people I loved had been taken away.
Why?
Why did everyone I cared about always leave?
I had finally allowed myself to love another family.
And once again...
I was left completely alone.