Chapter 1

“It’sh shmaww!” [It’s small!]

 

Sephiel looked at her own hands. She could barely see the white and chubby fingers because of the lack of sunlight.

 

No matter how much she pinched herself, reality didn’t change.

 

“How did ith becwome wike thish….” [How did it become like this….]

 

Sephiel was sitting in the middle of an underground prison.

 

The same place where Sephiel, who had barely been weaned, was confined in until the age of fifteen.

 

‘No matter how long I think about it, there’s only one answer that can explain this.’

 

Sephiel raised her head and looked at the wall.

 

On the damp prison wall, there were five lines that were drawn by a child’s fingernail. It was the markings that Sephiel made so she wouldn’t forget how old she was.

 

“So I came bwack thoo when i was pibe yearsh owd..??” [So I came back to when I was five years old?]

 

How come….

 

Sephiel wanted to cry.

 

Since she knew exactly how her life would play out.

 

 

***

 

 

The Four Monarchs.

 

The Allegro Royal Family of Red, whose ancestors were from the Magic Tower.

 

The Fuller Grand Duchy of Blue, whose ancestors were Margraves.

 

The Sarihan Grand Duchy of Gold, who ruled the Free-City State of Volun.

 

And The Remdragon Grand Duchy of Black, a family whose blood is mixed with dragons.

 

The Union of Kingdoms was ruled by these four monarchs.

 

Among them, Sephiel was born as the fourth princess of the Allegro Royal Family, the first monarch that ruled over the Magic Kingdom.

 

The problem was that within the Allegro Royal Family, a secret prophecy was passed down.

 

 

[When a child with white hair and red eyes is born into the Royal Family, bad luck will befall all those within.

 

That child will be the Royal Family’s ‘Calamity.’

 

If the cursed child laughs, tears of blood will flow through the Kingdom, and even when it becomes a ghost, the child will curse the Kingdom.]

 

 

It was a prophecy born out-of-the-blue.

 

‘And out of all, I was born as a child with white hair and red eyes.’

 

Moreover, Sephiel was an illegitimate child. Sephiel heard from a prison guard that her mother, whose face she couldn’t even remember, died a few days after giving birth to her.

 

With her birth like this, it was like she won the lottery of unluckiness.

 

‘Ah. Somebody save my five-year-old life.’ 

 

Nevertheless there was one fortunate thing.

 

The people of the Allegro Royal Family believed in superstitions to the point of insanity. Although they were now the Royal Family of the Magic Kingdom. They were originally from a very old, ancient family of lowly sorcerers. Thus, they believed in superstitions to a disgusting degree.

 

For example, ‘A ghost who died unjustly when it was young will cling to the family and curse them forever’ these beliefs were the type they followed.

 

The Allegro family, who was reluctant to be cursed, let Sephiel live because of this.

 

‘Instead, as soon as I was born, I was destined to be confined for a lifetime.’

 

Fortunately, the young Sephiel was a very well-behaved child.

 

Sephiel used to spend her day blinking her big pomegranate-like red eyes, and falling asleep after washing the ends of a shabby blanket all alone.

 

‘I didn’t have even one toy. Nobody spoke to me kindly, and nobody gave me delicious food. They made it clear I was a child who was not loved. That was the childhood that I remembered.’

 

The prophecy said that if Sephiel one day smiled, misfortune would come to the kingdom, so it was only natural that she was treated like that.

 

‘Fortunately, they at least let me study.’

 

Maybe, for the rest of her life, she would never be able to visit the outside world, but-

 

She believed in chance.

 

The Kingdom gave Sephiel the minimum amount of education she needed, afraid of what would happen if the world found out they were hiding a princess.

 

‘Anyway, I’m still a princess of the kingdom in name. So they wouldn’t let me be in a state where I can’t even write and speak, like an animal.’

 

 

[Members of the Royal Family will be given minimum education under any circumstances.]

 

 

That was the Allegro Royal Family’s policy.

 

‘In fact, this damn kingdom even gave books to prisoners on death row.’

 

Still, thanks to it, she somehow managed to learn the alphabet.

 

 

[I can’t tolerate such childishness in my class. Don’t even dream of thinking of calling yourself a child of the Royal Family.]

 

 

Although the private tutor always gave Sephiel a scolding.

 

Sephiel’s father, Wittegar the Third (III), would also drop in sometimes. He reluctantly came once in a while to see Sephiel that was confined in prison.

 

 

[Be a good child.]

 

 

Wittegar always used to say that with a kind look on his face.

 \n[They all say that you’re the Calamity of the Kingdom that was mentioned in the prophecy. But, you’re much more normal than I thought.]

 

 

He used to say that often as well.

 

Sephiel always wanted for her father to stroke her head at least once, but every time he was in front of her, she could never say anything.

 

When her father sometimes brought Sephiel’s brothers, the Princes, to visit her, he would always stroke them on their heads and speak tenderly.

 

‘That was the only thing I ever wanted…’

 

Every time her father left like that, Sephiel would grasp the iron bars, and sigh, biting her lips.

 

Somehow Sephiel managed to grow up slowly.

 

‘Isn’t it too much to be a genius when I’m trapped in this kind of life?’ Sephiel sighed.

 

The prison where Sepiel was locked in was a royal prison.

 

It was a dark underground space with iron bars, but…

 

‘There was a decent desk and even an old bed.’

 

Although the overall hygiene was poor.

 

There were ‘Royals’ who had previously been put in this prison, and they left behind a lot of books and writings.

 

After learning the alphabet, one day, Sephiel began to read the materials while muttering the words out loud.

 

It was quite fascinating.

 

Sometimes in her dreams, she would hear someone telling her stories from the book, and after every dream she would remember something new. Sometimes it would be a math formula, and sometimes it would be a difficult concept in the book.

 

‘Because I had nothing to do, I studied, reviewed, and wrote every day.’

 

The only supplies that Sephiel was allowed to have was paper and a pen. That’s how her days without sunlight passed by, and before she knew it…

 

Sephiel was already 15 years old.

 

That year, something happened that changed Sephiel’s entire life.

 

A very huge matter.