In the beginning, the world was not gentle.
It was crowned by five thrones that stood above all creation. They were not called gods, they were remembered as Monarchs.
Sora Valkyros, Monarch of Sky, Celestial Emperor – one who watches.
Gravon Valkyros, Monarch of Lands, Terrestrial Emperor – one who saves.
Ignovar Valkyros, Monarch of Fire, Crimson Emperor – one who destructs.
Therion Valkyros, Monarch of Water, Storm Emperor – one who heals.
Aureth Valkyros, Monarch of Air, Boundless Emperor – one who flows limitless.
Every honoured king, every crowned head of the eighteen kingdoms, bowed to these five.
But they did not rule cities, or sit in mortal palaces.
Far in the middle-east of the earth, where the sun's gaze fell shiny and constant, there is a kingdom named the Solaris Empire - a land bright like the sun itself, with heat-scorched winds and stretches of barren ground that seemed to shimmer.
Farmlands unfurled like golden oceans – corn, wheat, and paddy fields rippling in threads of light. Children laughed in the dusty streets, their joy brighter than the noon sky.
In the heart of Solaris, ancient forests guarded the empire like a living wall. Leopards with ember eyes stalked through the undergrowth, their movements like sparks in the dark. Lions, ruthless and proud, moved in golden shadows. Tigers walked as silent flames in the night, while stags thundered across meadows as if trying to shake the sky.
Mammoth-like elephants trampled the earth, and eagles carved long, invisible paths in the air, whispering to the winds. These beasts did not bow to men or crowns. They existed as they were fierce, untamed, and alive.
Trees older than memory stood tall, bark marked like scarred warriors. Above that strength, in the golden halls of Solaris, ruled a man whose presence did not bend.
King Raezon Solaris.
He was a king of sharp lines and harder choices, a master swordsman whose name alone was enough to silence an entire court. To him, power was not a gift, but a discipline - love was not a weakness, but a distraction.
He demanded it from his generals, his nobles, his servants and from his only daughter.
Princess Seyana Solaris grew up in corridors where her own footsteps dared not echo too loudly. To the world, she was the fragrant bloom of Solaris – a girl with soft eyes and a gentle smile. To her father, she was a symbol, the crown princess, the future of a kingdom that could not afford to bend.
Beside him, in quieter shadow, sat Queen Velayana Solaris – gentle, old-fashioned, soft-spoken. She shared her husband's belief in love, but not in the way he wielded it. Where Raezon saw love as something that must be controlled, Velayana saw it as something to be cherished. Her heart ached for their daughter, but her voice rarely rose above a murmur.
In that tension, Seyana learned how to smile without showing too much of her heart. When whispers of love would one day reach Seyana's heart, they would not simply be forbidden. They would be dangerous.
The Solaris royal line was a tree of many branches.
Raezon's elder brother, Aemon Solaris, lived in the palace as well a man whose calm eyes hid storms. To the court, he was the king's shadow, he was a man who had always stood one step behind his younger brother, caught between loyalty and a quiet hunger for a different future.
His wife, Triyana Solaris, was the true pillar of their household. Graceful, strategic, her serene smile hid a mind sharper than most blades in the armory. When others raised their voices, she only needed to raise an eyebrow.
Their two sons were often seen in the training grounds.
Ignis Solaris, the elder, was a flame in human form – impatient, brilliant, dangerous when provoked. His swordplay carried the same heat as his temper.
Teravauros Solaris, the younger, was the opposite. Quiet, built like a mountain, the elemental power of earth integrated in his body. He was the shield of those he loved, but his eyes sometimes drifted toward the horizon, searching for a purpose greater than strength.
Raezon's two sisters bore Solaris blood into other kingdoms.
Ciara Solaris, now Ciara Sylphyros, had married Damsel Sylphyros, younger brother of King Vritria of Sylphyros. She walked a delicate path with half her heart remained in Solaris, the other sworn to her new home. Their children, Brandon and Lara, carried both empires in their veins.
Brandon Sylphyros was bold, idealistic, a swordsman who wanted honour and unity more than war. Lara Sylphyros was gentler, but she watched everything; the winds themselves seemed to favour her.
Melissa Solaris, now Melissa Sylphyros, had married Daemon Sylphyros, the second younger brother of King Vritria. She carried fire in her spirit, elegance in her movements, and a fierce protectiveness under her calm exterior. Daemon, her husband, was a man of iron will and unshakable honour, but his pride had cracked bridges between families.
Their son, Drake Sylphyros, once heir to affection from both Solaris and Sylphyros, had married a woman from a humble village in Solaris – Sara Sylphyros. Beautiful, cunning, distant from his family, she had pulled Drake away from the warmth he once knew. Misunderstandings had grown like thorns, and what was close had become painfully distant.
The youngest, Sylvie Sylphyros, walked with the kind of innocence the world seldom deserved. She had a strange connection to nature like her eyes always seemed to notice the wounds people tried to hide.
In such a web of names and hearts, Seyana Solaris took her first real step away from home.
She turned nineteen and then everything changed.
The Royal Dominion Magic Academy of Zephyros did not look like a school when Seyana first saw it. It looked like a building built on storms.
Long towers touches the sky, each topped with runes that glittered faintly in daylight. Training grounds lay open around the academy, filled with students testing spells against practice targets, bursts of elemental light cutting through the air.
Zephyros winds were different from Solaris winds - cooler, and filled with whispers instead of heat.
For the first time in her life, Seyana walked alone. Her guards stayed behind. She walked into the academy not as Princess Seyana Solaris, crown of the sun, but as a first-year student.
Still, the weight of her father's expectations followed like a shadow that refused to fall behind her.
She found her way to Class Hall A.
Second row, third seat.
That felt… safe.
She sat, hands resting on her lap, eyes watching over new faces. Nobles with arrogant gazes. Commoners trying to mask anxiety with seriousness. A few looked at her longer than necessary some recognized her, others only saw a quiet girl in a clean uniform.
A girl with a bright, nervous smile approached and sat beside her.
"Hi, this is Raksha. May I know your name?" she asked, voice gentle but trembling at the edges.
Seyana turned toward her and smiled, the kind of soft smile that calmed horses and children.
"Hi. I'm Seyana."
The handshake was tentative at first, then steadier.
"Where are you from?" Raksha asked.
"I'm from Solaris," Seyana answered. Then, because there was no point in hiding it, she said softly, "From the royal palace. I am King Raezon's daughter."
Raksha's fingers froze. Her eyes widened.
"I.. I'm so sorry, your highness, I didn't.."
Seyana gently pressed her hand.
"Please don't do that," she said quietly. "We're classmates. Talk to me as a friend."
The words were simple. Not to Raksha.
Her shoulders relaxed. She exhaled.
"I'm… Raksha. From Reyanere. It's a remote village in this kingdom. I never thought I would sit beside a princess."
"Then don't sit beside a princess," Seyana replied with playful laugh. "Sit beside Seyana."
Raksha laughed softly.
That was how their friendship began.
Not with drama. Not with magic. With a name and genuine handshake.
Its noon. Classes fade one by one into a theory, sessions, magical safety guidelines, and strict introductions from professors who had seen thousands of students pass through their halls.
Seyana kept up easily, she had studied most of this under strict tutors. Freedom carries its own kind of noise.
When the final bell rang for the afternoon break, students went into the academy grounds like scattered birds.
Seyana stepped into the courtyard. Zephyros sun was gentler than Solaris, but it still glowed with determination. Birds danced between branches.
Then she saw him.
He was standing near the academy gate, talking to another student, laughing at something she could not hear.
A boy in a baby-pink shirt and pitch-black trousers.
Silky, wavy hair fell around his face in a way that looked almost careless, but not messy. His eyes even at a distance are seemed… kind too kind. Not weak. Just… kind.
Seyana realized she was staring when Raksha pushed her.
"Hey," Raksha whispered, "don't tell me the princess is already.."
"Don't," Seyana warned back, cheeks warming with blush red.
The boy turned his head at that exact moment.
For the breath, his eyes met hers across the courtyard.
He simply looked… surprised. Her chest tightened unexpectedly. She dropped her gaze first.
Raksha, of course, saw everything. Later that day, near the academy gate, Seyana walked alone.
Footsteps approached.
"Hey, princess!"
She stopped.
That voice was warm, bright like someone had sound like sunlight.
She turned.
The same boy stood in front of her now, closer than yesterday.
"I'm Kairos," he said, smiling. "A newbie. May I know your good name?"
"Why… princess?" Seyana asked, more curiously.
Kairos scratched his head, half-embarrassing.
"Because," he said honestly, "I didn't know your name. So I called you what my heart suggested."
It made her want to laugh.
"I'm Seyana Solaris," she answered. "Princess of Solaris."
He blinked. Then his smile returned, softer this time.
"I guessed right then," he said. "Princess."
"Don't call me princess again," she replied, but there was a smile threatening the corner of her mouth.
"Can I be your friend, princess?"
Her lips wants to smile, but she was outraged.
"You just…! I said not to call me… leave it. I'm leaving. Goodbye."
She turned away, walking faster than usual so that Kairos can't see the redness on her cheeks.
"Sorry, angel! I'm kidding! See you tomorrow!" he called after her with a laugh.
She didn't look back not immediately.
Only when she reached the curve of the path she turned back with charm.
He was still there, watching her go. For a girl he'd just met.
Day one at the academy ended.
But something had begun with no name.
On his way out of the academy grounds, Kairos hurried toward the main road.
He did not see the two boys in front of him.
He crashed into them and fell flat.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!" he worried.
The boy he'd bumped into was dusky skin, brown eyes, presence calm but offered him a hand instead of anger.
"It's okay, brother," he said, pulling Kairos up. "Nothing happened."
Kairos cleaned of his clothes.
"My name is Kairos. First-year. You?"
"Luna," the boy replied. "Luna Zephyros."
Kairos froze.
"The prince of Zephyros?" he asked.
"Yes," Luna said lightly. "But here I'm just a student. No titles. Promise me we're just friends, okay?"
Kairos's smile widened.
"Deal."
The other boy stepped forward, folding his arms.
"Velanor Banner," he said. "Son of Minister Poseidon Banner. Future greatest earth mage of our generation."
Luna said. "He introduced himself."
Kairos laughed.
"Nice to meet you both. Let's… survive this academy together?"
"Survive it?" Velanor questioned. "We'll rule it."
Luna only smiled.
From that afternoon onward, the three of them did not walk alone.
They shared meals in the common hall, complained about strict instructors, tested each other's limits in the training yards. Luna's calm balanced Velanor's loudness & Kairos's warmth filled the space between them.
And every evening, when the sun set down and the sky bleed into orange, the conversation shifts toward one name.
Seyana.
Kairos spoke of her without even realizing how often he did it. The way she had refused the title "princess." The way her eyes had a softness.
Luna and Velanor teased him. But they also listened.
Because sometimes, in the way Kairos spoke her name, there was a strange weight and anxiety in Kairos eyes.
Night fell over Zephyros, stars punching shiny in the dark night.
In her silent room, Seyana sat by the window, watching the moon.
Solaris moonlight had always felt harsh.
Zephyros moonlight felt gentler, like cool water poured over tired skin.
Her thoughts wandered back to the day. To Raksha's smile. To the way the academy. To the boy who called her princess because his heart told him to.
Kairos.
She whispered the name once to herself. Then she shook her head annoyed with herself.
"This is my first day," she murmured to the empty room. "I can't start… thinking like this."
But heart thuds with anxiety.
Inside, a princess who had never truly been allowed to choose anything… allowed herself to wonder, for the first time.
"What would it feel like to choose someone?"
No answer.
Chapter 1 ends - Light sparks in heart!