"You are going to be my sword."
She conveyed her appreciation when the king said that. She was a disgrace to her family, so she reasoned that becoming the king's sword would remove that shame. When the King announced that she would become his sword, she expected to become the King's magnificent knight, but she was mistaken.
"Now you will be transformed into a magical sword for the kingdom."
Several wizards, mages, and the king were laughing as they told her that. She should have run away right then, but her desire to be loved by her family overwrote the warning her brain was sending. Nobody could believe what they said wasn't figurative. She literally would become a sword.
How could a human be a sword? Nobody could change the nature of life. The creation of life belonged only to the gods. Considering that a flower cannot be a river and a rabbit cannot be a fox, it was unrealistic for a human to be a sword. But it was possible. It was proved.
Those wizards were surprised that she endured all the cruel torture. It was a time that she did not want to be reminded of. Boys and girls who shared her circumstances were crying and dying in prison.
"She's the only one who survived so far."
"She has endured the severe torture...She actually has a strong spirit for the magic sword."
They talked about her as if she wasn't even there and treated her however they wanted. The torture continued more...the pain continued endlessly. Then one day, she opened her eyes and saw that her right arm had become a hard lump of metal. Unfortunately, no one recognized her as a human.
"It worked!"
"This is the miracle we made..."
"Everyone, come over! Look at this. Finally, we achieved a complete result!"
As they surrounded her, they expressed excitement and cried out at their success. The shock she experienced at that time had remained in her mind vividly.
What is this? Why do I have to endure this pain? She was in distress all the time.
"You will sacrifice your life for the kingdom's eternal glory. Be proud of yourself."
"There is nothing stronger than the sword with the inner self to protect the kingdom."
The almighty power of the gods that creates life. The piece of Ehirate had this kind of power. This was the blue stone that you can find when you dig for the carcass of mysterious things. She was forced to eat Ehirate every day.
"Make sure to sacrifice and dedicate your life for the noble and great kingdom."
The wizards who were researching for the origin of the mysterious things broke her nature as they wanted, regardless of her own will. She was no longer the daughter of her family. She wasn't even human.
If you say someone is a human, it means they have bones, blood, and skin. The only thing that she felt was the inner self. When her whole body became metal, wizards called in a blacksmith.
"Please, make this to be the perfect sword for the safety of the kingdom."
"Of course, I will."
The blacksmith was happy, seeing the mountain of gold coins. Eventually, she was put in a fire pit to be refined by the wizards. She had to be in the brazier where the temperature was over two thousand degrees, and she had to endure the hitting of hammering by the muscular man. She was broken, cut, and ground to become a sharp blade.
"This is truly the masterpiece of my life."
The blacksmith did not hear her crying from the severe pain. Her inner self was awake at every moment. She felt all the pains vividly. When she saw herself in the mirror, she was desperate.
"What a beautiful sword..."
It was a silver sword with a subtle yellow color. The blacksmith was so satisfied and continued to pat the sword.
"Your name is Keria."
The blacksmith, who loved the sword, carved his name and Keria's on the sword. He treated her as an object, not a human.
Maybe this is not reality? But it was real.
"If you resist, your family will die because of you. Oh, but given your situation, it is unlikely that you love them. Then how about your boyfriend who was going to marry you? If you don't obey me, I will cut him piece by piece."
The king threatened her. She was not able to resist anymore. He acquired Keria. The wizards were happy for their success, but it didn't last long. The king killed them all to destroy all the evidence.
"The sword strong enough to protect the kingdom must be the only one."
The blood on the sword was really hot. She was the sword. She saw what people's faces looked like when they died. She felt death very closely. The king killed so many people; thus, she had to participate in all those murders.
She had to live in the blood. If she resisted the king, her family would be hurt the next day. First, her older brother was tortured and killed, and then her father. When the king harassed her family, he used Keria. She had a bad relationship with them, but the family meant something to her in a sense. This was not what she wanted at all.
She felt guilty and painful all the time. But Keria was not able to sleep, eat, or die. It was a real hell. She felt every emotion. Happiness, sadness, joy, anger.
Dear gods, if you find me to be pitiful in your divine spirits and if there is an afterlife, then please, don't ever involve me with people in power ever again.
She prayed for almost eight hundred years... However, gods are very cruel beings.
You're the one who will receive my blessing. The noble one who pioneers your destiny. Be wise and choose. The way you go shall be your destiny. You are the pure and noble pioneer, Lillian Adeline de Islar.
It is said that a sleeping child is a growing child and good things come to those who wait, but no one knows to what extent they would still be true.
Lillian Islar is a young girl who likes to take a nap outside while listening to the sound of rain. According to her mother, when she was still a baby, she never cried at night whenever it was raining, only swinging her body happily.
If she were only going to be napping inside the house, it would not be much of a problem. However, once she was old enough to understand things around her, she realized that it is most comforting when she sleeps outside where there is nothing to block the sound of the rain.
Whenever it rained, she would be sleeping on a bench with a roof in the park or napping at a bus stop. If the weather forecast marked the day with a rain sign, she would spend her time thinking of a nice place to sleep since early in the morning.
At present, her lifestyle has not changed even though she is a seventeen-year-old noble lady.
Even today, when Lillian was taking a nap by the bay window, she awoke to a soft sensation against her cheek. She's fallen asleep while drinking tea after finishing her work. She sluggishly raised her gaze to find herself staring into the golden eyes of a black cat.
The cat had been pushing on her cheek with his paw, and once he realized she'd woken up, his eyes narrowed into a satisfied, human-like grin.
"Hey, Lillian. It's time. Can't sleep forever. What? Are you not going to wake up unless a prince kisses you? Princess?"
Unfazed by the talking cat, Lillian rubbed her eyes and sat upright. The black cat is her familiar. Not only could he understand human speech, but he could even read. In fact, he is a much more avid reader than she is, taking any free moment he has to do so, nimbly flipping through the pages with his front paw. In particular, he enjoyed adventure novels, and he'd likely gotten the idea of a prince's kiss from one of those.
"…Ugh, Nero. Is it time already? I'm going to go wash my face."
Lillian downed the rest of the cold coffee in her mug, then stood up. She turned away from the black cat, Nero, and opened the window. A cool breeze tickled her cheeks, signalling the arrival of winter.
It started raining today around noon, making a drip-drip sound as it continued to pour down without anything to disturb the quietness. As Lillian thought of it as bliss, she finished her work early and took a nap before her next appointment. Because they were aware of Lillian's tendency to sleep while listening to the sound of the rain, the manor's servants were much quieter than usual during rainy seasons so as not to disturb their master's sleep.
"I'm sorry to disturb you all of a sudden. Were you busy?"
"Not really."
Dark hair like the feathers of a crow and skin as white as snow. He is a man whose fine lines were thin, and the silver-rimmed glasses he wore only during work matched perfectly. Gerald Islar, her adoptive father and the Duke of Turin.
"What's this about, Papa?" Lillian asked, confused, as it is unusual for Gerald to hesitate to speak what's on his mind.
"...Lily, how old are you?"
"I'm seventeen. I'll turn eighteen this winter."
"...And you were born as the eldest daughter of Count Devilla?"
Lillian frowned. She couldn't understand why Gerald would bring up the name of the family who abandoned her. Lillian came to Turin when she was three years old. At the time, her mind was hazy from fever, so she didn't know exactly what happened, but from what was documented on the records, she was suffering not just from the epidemic but also her mana was running wild when Count Devilla decided to send her to the frontier, Turin.
While any other person would be furious, Lillian was glad she came to Turin. The duchy of Turin is located in the eastern part of the empire, stretching from the north to the south, bordering the Great Forest of Jura, which is also known as the Forest of Death, as many monsters inhabit the area. That is the main reason why everyone here learns combat from a young age.
"Moreover, you want to get a degree in economics for your career, correct?"
"...What exactly are you indicating, Papa?" Lillian asked, tired of beating around the bush.
"I want you to attend Karelia Academy and get your degree instead of just taking the exam and getting one."
"I refuse."
"You don't have a right to," Gerald stated. "As my successor, you have to learn about social interaction..."
Lillian had spend every waking moment she has to further polish herself. Even though she normally shuts herself off in her room, she has received elite education that would even outsine any academy graduate and has been performing her duties as a noble that even the Emperor recognized her talent. The only fault she has as a noble lady, is that she has very little interactions outside of her adoptive family.
"...Didn't I fulfil that when I attended Minerva's? Surely you haven't forgotten how I came to be known as the Silent Witch, of the Seven Sages."
Magecraft refers to the usage of magical power, or mana, to cause miracles. Magecraft specifically is a type of magic wherein one chants in order to weave a magical formula and channel one's mana.
Races that excel at using mana, such as spirits, don't need magical formulas or incantations. Humans, however, are unable to control mana without the aid of a chant. They can use a technique called quick-chanting to shorten it, but it will still take several seconds. However, one genius girl had made the impossible possible. Her name is Lillian A de Islar and despite her introverted nature and current status as a social hermit, she stood at the pinnacle of Castina's mage hierarchy. She is one of the Seven Sages--the Silent Witch.
Lillian couldn't use all the magical formulas currently in existence without chanting, but she could manage it for about eighty percent.
A mage's greatest weakness was being defenseless while chanting. Obviously, on a battlefield, that time could mean the difference between life and death. While some high mages could double the speed of their incantations with quick-chanting, Lillian is the only one in the world who required no time at all. And that was why she'd been chosen as one of the Seven Sages at the young age of fourteen.
"Lily, I'm asking this of your, not just as the duke, but also your father. Even if it's just for a year, I want you to attend the academy, make friends and enjoy like like any other teenager should."
How sly...she thought. Lillian feels very grateful towards Gerald for adopting her...so when he says things like this, she can't refuse him. Even if she argues, she knows just how much Gerald loves her and this is one of the ways he expresses it.