Normally, when a child was born into the Pendrave family, there was a chance that they would awaken the unique ability called Golden Blood, capable of strengthening their subordinates. In general, only one child from each generation was born with this ability. In the previous generation, for example, it belonged to King Alaric Pendrave IV.
Elowyn, however, was different from any other member of the family.
The first daughter was born with two unique abilities: Golden Blood and Essence Vision. There was no doubt that she was a prodigy, even if her potential to advance through the magic circles was lower than her father's.
Essence Vision allowed Elowyn to see the essence of people's souls through colors. She could tell when someone was lying, nervous, or hiding something. To her, practically nothing could escape her eyes.
However, that was also a constant nuisance.
Even the darkest colors could bother her, especially when they mixed with the red of anger or the blue of sadness. Elowyn was always surrounded by colors, no matter where she looked.
She could also perceive a person's nature. She could identify someone good, someone evil, or someone who fell somewhere between the two, although this distinction was not always simple, since most people had a greater tendency toward one side. Her own father was one of the few cases Elowyn considered different. His essence had a gray coloration.
She, however, was completely different.
When she was five years old, Elowyn was standing in front of a mirror. The small girl with bright blonde hair stared at her own reflection and saw an extremely dense dark shadow surrounding her body.
From the moment she was born, she had understood the meaning of that color.
That essence meant only one thing. She was destined for evil, But Elowyn was not afraid.
On the contrary.
The girl touched the mirror while observing the dark energy surrounding herself. Her eyes shone with curiosity, and shortly afterward, a smile appeared on her face.
She liked it.
The scene changed to when Elowyn was ten years old.
In a more secluded area of the city, several children of the same age, all apparently poor, were dirty and fighting each other over two bronze coins placed on the ground. Boys and girls pushed, punched, and kicked each other in an attempt to grab the money.
That had amused Elowyn at first. Now, however, it was becoming boring.
She had only not left earlier because her father always controlled her, trying to suppress his daughter's cruel behavior. Elowyn knew, however, that those efforts would not change her nature.
"How boring."
When she was about to leave, Elowyn saw a pink-haired girl approaching the group. The girl stepped into the middle of the confusion and tried to stop the other children.
"This is wrong. You shouldn't do this."
The moment Elowyn looked at her, her eyes hurt. The girl's essence was extremely bright.
That light bothered her eyes, but at the same time, it awakened her interest, and a smile slowly appeared on her face.
'I found a new toy.'
Elowyn raised five fingers toward the children.
"Five bronze coins for each of you if you beat her up."
The children remained still for a few seconds. Then they looked at the pink-haired girl.
The color completely drained from her face.
From that day onward, Elowyn constantly tormented her. The girl was harassed whenever she left home, and whenever she tried to seek help, Elowyn threatened to kill her entire family if she told her parents anything.
The days passed.
Then came the weeks.
Two months passed.
The light that had once been so strong began to fade before Elowyn's eyes. The girl was becoming increasingly exhausted, and for a moment, Elowyn even thought she might take her own life.
That was when the girl's father discovered what was happening.
He acted immediately and took his daughter out of the city. He knew he could do nothing against the royal family and that any attempt at confrontation would put everyone in danger.
When Elowyn saw the two of them leave, the pink-haired girl was crying.
But this time, it was not out of fear.
It was out of relief.
She thanked her father while holding his hand, and the man simply smiled, apologizing for not discovering what was happening sooner.
Elowyn continued growing and, over the years, found other people who possessed that same white light that caught her attention so much. Most of the time, however, she was prevented from approaching them by order of her father. This limited how much she could bother them, but Elowyn still found other ways to have fun. To her, it was enough to destroy those people's dreams by showing them the difference in potential between themselves and someone like her.
She also encountered some people whose essence was similar to hers, surrounded by a dark aura. But she did not fool herself. Elowyn did not approach them because she believed they would be natural companions. On the contrary, she knew that people like that could become problems in the future.
Therefore, she preferred to control and manipulate them while carefully observing their essences. Some possessed colors even darker than hers, and Elowyn even wrote down their names, planning to eliminate them in the future before they had the opportunity to betray her.
As she grew, she also accumulated more and more subordinates. Elowyn considered herself a true prodigy and believed that her talent should place her above everyone else. Therefore, when she arrived at Astrong Academy and discovered that she had only reached fifteenth place in Class S, she became deeply irritated.
To her, that was a humiliation.
Even so, she managed to calm herself. Her position at that moment did not matter. She was certain that she would surpass everyone above her in the future.
Instead of wasting time fighting the students who occupied higher positions, Elowyn turned her attention to Class A. There, she began defeating the students one by one and chose a boy named Lan to command the class. Under her orders, he was supposed to prevent the students from growing while she remained behind the scenes, shaping Class A according to her own interests without attracting the teachers' attention.
Everything was working as planned. Elowyn had also gathered some companions within Class S itself, mainly choosing three students who, despite being below her in the ranking, possessed enough potential to be useful.
She was about to begin her ascent through the rankings when she received unexpected news.
Lan had been defeated by someone from Class C.
Elowyn immediately wanted to go to Class A to put everything under her control again, but she was preparing to face the student ranked fourteenth in Class S. She decided to leave that matter aside for the moment. First, she would defeat her next opponent and then she could return to recruit the person responsible for Lan's defeat.
After securing her victory, she finally decided to act.
That day, Elowyn was walking through Astrong Academy when she encountered two Class A students. She wasted no time and cornered them alongside some of her subordinates.
"You two haven't forgotten what I did to your class before, have you? I came to meet the new students and make them swear loyalty to me. So, where are they?"
The Orc and the Elf were surrounded and visibly nervous.
"They aren't here for now, miss. I think they must have already gone to their rooms. Maybe it would be better to come back tomorrow?"
The Elf quickly glanced at the Orc. He knew that was a lie, and Elowyn noticed it as well.
Her Essence Vision caught the change in color around the Elf. The essence had fragmented slightly, exactly as happened when someone lied.
She did not even need to ask again.
"I don't like being lied to."
Elowyn made a small gesture, preparing to order the four of them to start beating the two students. It would be extremely easy for her subordinates.
Before they could continue the beating, a white light appeared before her. A black-haired boy appeared in front of the two students.
Elowyn immediately brought her hands to her eyes.
"Agh..."
She began rubbing them, bothered by the intense brightness. It had been some time since she had last encountered someone with such a clear essence, and it continued to irritate her eyes.
Shortly afterward, two other people arrived. One of them also possessed a clear essence, although it was slightly more corrupted than the first.
Serenya.
"...Could you tell me, Princess Elowyn Pendrave?"
Serenya spoke calmly while looking at the princess.
Elowyn continued rubbing her eyes for a few seconds before looking at her.
"You must be the new students."
She paused, analyzing the three.
"I came to talk to you about what you will have to do in Class A. So tell me: which one of you is Rank 31?"
Serenya made an unpleasant expression.
"He isn't here. He had to deal with some family problems."
Elowyn narrowed her eyes.
She did not like the way Serenya answered, but decided to let it go.
"And when is he coming back?"
"If you're asking when he'll be back, you'll have to wait three days."
This time, it was Kai who answered. He had already stood up and kept his eyes fixed on the boy who had kicked him earlier, who continued smiling arrogantly.
Elowyn rubbed her eyes again.
Those clear essences really were irritating.
"Well..."
She lowered her hands and looked at the three again.
"Then I suppose I'll start with you."