My name is Seraphina Vox Winters.
The world knows me by a very harsh nickname: "The Duke of North's Illegitimate Daughter." A child born of a mistake, a stain on the Winters family lineage.
I remember that day. The day my father found me in a dilapidated shack on the outskirts of the village when I was seven years old. His cold, stiff face slowly melted, his eyes sparkling as if he had just found a rare gem in a pile of trash.
"You have those eyes," he whispered at the time. "Forgive me. If only I had found you sooner. That damn servant—luckily, no, better not to talk about it. Today, everything that should have been yours will be returned to you."
From that moment on, my life changed. From a beggar child to a princess.
At first, I was naive. I thought the magnificent castle was heaven. Until one day, Father had to go to the border to slay monsters, leaving me alone in a snake pit.
The Duchess—Father's wife and his biological daughter—began to show their fangs.
At first, it was just cynical stares. Then whispers of "illegitimate child" in the hallways. Then it escalated to physical terror. Soup deliberately left to go bad, mud mixed into my bath water, my expensive dresses torn to shreds.
I stayed silent. I endured. I thought that if I was a good child, they would accept me.
How foolish I was.
The climax came when I was ten years old. At a tea party, my stepsister spilled hot tea on my lap while laughing.
"Oops, my hands were slippery," she said.
That was when something inside me broke.
I don't remember the details. All I remember is the cold air that burst from my body. Something dark.
When I came to, the tea party garden was destroyed. Tables were overturned. My stepsister was crying in fear in the corner.
And Father... Father, who had just returned from the border, was standing there. Not with anger, but with a broad smile that made anyone who saw it afraid.
He didn't scold me. Instead, he lifted me high.
"My child," he said proudly. "You inherited it. You are indeed my child..."
That night, in his dimly lit study, Father told me a secret. That the Winters family was blessed—or cursed—with the gift of Dark Magic. And mine was far darker than his.
"But listen, Seraphina," Father said seriously. "The world fears the darkness. If you show your power now, they will kill you before you come of age. So... hide."
"Wear your mask. Be a weak girl. Let them insult you. And when they let their guard down, destroy them without mercy."
I obeyed Father's words. I became the best actress in the kingdom. I let myself be bullied. I let them call me trash.
Until I was twelve years old. Father felt I no longer needed protection from his guards. That's why Father began teaching me the family's secret technique. Magic that could devour existence.
"Void".
One morning, the personal servant who often spat in my food came carrying a bucket of dirty water.
"Wash your face," she said as she splashed me.
Usually, I would cry. But that day, I had just mastered a new technique.
I smiled sweetly at her. "Thank you, Auntie."
I pointed my index finger. A small black ball appeared in the air.
The servant didn't have time to scream. The black ball grew larger, swallowing her head, then her body, without a sound. In a matter of seconds, she vanished. No blood. No corpse. It was as if she had been erased from this world.
"How beautiful," I whispered, feeling an intoxicating sense of euphoria.
From that moment on, I enjoyed my role. I liked seeing those foolish people feel powerful oppressing me, unaware that their lives were at my fingertips.
Until today. On the airship heading to the Academy.
Three lowly noble girls—insects not even worthy of my killing—tried to humiliate me. The red-haired girl was about to spill juice on my shoes.
I was ready. Behind the folds of my skirt, my fingers were already chanting a small Void spell. I planned to remove the girl's leg. A minor accident, I thought.
But suddenly...
A strange gust of wind blew. The red-haired girl slipped. The juice spilled onto her friend's dress. Chaos ensued.
I froze. My spell was canceled.
My eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for the source of the wind. And I found it.
A young man with black hair hiding in the distance.
He was staring at me.
That gaze, that gaze was very different.
Usually, people looked at me in two ways: with disgust because I was an illegitimate child, or with lust because of my beautiful face and body.
But this man looked at me with confusion and sympathy.
His eyebrows furrowed, as if he were thinking: "Why does the lion remain silent when disturbed by a mouse?"
He knows. My instincts tell me he knows I'm hiding something. He knows I'm strong.
But even though he knows. Strangely, he still protects me. He dirties his hands using cheap wind magic just so I don't have to kill those insects.
My father's blood runs hot. My heart races, faster than when I killed that servant.
"What's your name?" I whisper to the wind, even though he's already gone.
For the first time in my life, besides my father, there was someone standing by my side. Someone who didn't see me as trash, or as a monster. But as a girl who needed to be protected.
I touched my burning cheeks. The corners of my lips lifted into a smile I couldn't hold back.
Ah... what is this feeling? I feel like I want to cut open his chest and see if his heart is also beating for me.
I have to find him. I have to know his name. I have to have him.
In the midst of this unfamiliar Academy, my goal is no longer to learn magic or seek power.
My goal is him.
*****
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