<Sunday Evening, Arcadia Dominion, Frostborne Mansion>
In the office without many ornaments, a lone figure sat in front of the desk. Any type of silk did not cover her slender pale arms, yet her clothes resembled a young lady’s from slightly retro times.
As Mistress Miriam delicately moved her slender fingers across the desk, tiny sprinkles of frost formed and danced around her fingertips, reflecting the dim light filtering through the room. Her expression was a mixture of gloom and serenity; her thoughts were weighed down by a burden unseen to others.
“It is getting worse,” she murmured to herself, her voice barely audible above the soft rustle of frost.
Just then, the door swung open, breaking the quiet of the room. A young maid, dressed in the customary attire of the household, entered with a sense of urgency.
“Mistress Miriam,” the maid announced, her voice carrying a note of ‘concern,’ “a special envelope with your signature has arrived at the mansion.”
Miriam raised an eyebrow at the unexpected interruption, her curiosity piqued by the mention of the envelope.
‘I guess my daughter is working hard.’
With a graceful gesture, she motioned for the maid to bring it to her.
The maid approached, carrying the envelope with care, before placing it delicately on the desk in front of Miriam. With a nod of acknowledgment, Miriam dismissed the maid, who quickly exited the room, leaving her alone once more with the mysterious envelope.
Though the maid or the other people didn’t know much about it, this envelope itself is, in fact, an artifact.
An artifact that could only be opened by the mana signature of the person that was meant to send. Thanks to her unique condition and her standing in the mansion, she needed to resort to such methods to even be able to contact her daughter.
With a sense of anticipation mingled with trepidation, Miriam reached out and picked up the envelope, her fingers tracing the elegant curves of her signature, and the frost-attributed mana covered the signature; the seal was removed.
Miriam’s heart skipped a beat as she saw the familiar handwriting adorning the parchment within the envelope. It was unmistakably her daughter, Seraphina. With a mixture of relief and longing, she eagerly unfolded the letter, her eyes scanning the words penned by her beloved child.
“My Dearest Mother,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. As for myself, I am doing well despite the challenges that come with attending the Academy. I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue my studies, even though ‘that woman’ clearly attempted to hinder my aspirations.”
Miriam’s brows furrowed slightly at the mention of ‘that woman,’ a pang of resentment stirring within her.
She knew all too well the obstacles her daughter had faced, but she admired Seraphina’s resilience and determination to overcome them.
“However, none of those matters as I am in the academy. I am not sure if the news has reached you, but now I am the second-ranking student in the academy, one place away from reaching my deserved spot.”
Hearing this, a smile bloomed on her face. A smile contrasting to the demeanor of gloominess inside the room.
“My dear, you really deserve it.”
She mumbled.
“But, mother. These are not important to me. Reaching the first rank is just the way to trample on ‘that woman’ and ‘that man’ who abandoned you looking for ‘that woman.’ I will never forget the moments of that time when your dresses were trampled, your pride, and, most importantly, your core were damaged intentionally. I will prove to everyone who did all those despicable things to you. Once I return to the family, it will be the day I get control of it, and the day I will make every day hell for them.
I am working hard to achieve it, and there are many potential candidates for me here. Many hidden talents had yet to bloom, but with my special eyes, I can see.
However, the mother. I still need you here. I wish for you to use your eyes to see. Though I know it may be painful, I can’t afford to waste my resources right now, as ‘that woman’ is still constantly keeping tabs on me.
Behind this letter, you will see another small paper, which contains the list of the people I deemed as potential. Please check if they would be helpful to me or not.
And for those who you deem to be useful, I will leave the decision to you, as I know you have the necessary channels to reach me and them.
I miss you dearly, Mother; please stay safe.
Your daughter
Seraphina.”
As Miriam read through the heartfelt words of her daughter, a mixture of emotions washed over her. Pride swelled within her at Seraphina’s achievements and determination, yet sadness tugged at her heartstrings as she sensed the growing distance between them.
“She is getting farther and farther away, becoming like them…” Miriam whispered to herself, her voice heavy with melancholy. She couldn’t help but reminisce about the innocent smiles of Seraphina’s childhood, contrasting sharply with the calculated determination evident in her daughter’s words.
With a heavy sigh, Miriam acknowledged the path that Seraphina had chosen, understanding the weight of her daughter’s ambitions and the sacrifices she was willing to make to achieve them.
“My daughter, if that is what you wish for, then I can only support your will,” Miriam murmured softly to herself, her gaze lingering on the letter in her hand. Though she longed for Seraphina’s happiness and peace, she knew that her daughter’s journey was her own to walk, filled with challenges and choices that only she could make.
With a sense of resolve, Miriam turned her attention to the small paper enclosed with the letter, her thoughts already drifting towards the task ahead. As she scanned the list of names, her silver eyes turned pitch white and filled with complete brightness.
As each name passed her lips, a profound energy surged forth, causing the ink on the paper to shimmer and fade away.
In its place, the same names began to emerge, but this time written not in ordinary ink but in symbols of power and destiny.
Some names appeared as if etched in the holy light of yellow, excluding the feeling of being helpful.
Others manifested as if forged from flames, their fiery script dancing with an intensity that spoke of being hard to control.
Miriam’s hands moved with a grace that seemed guided by unseen forces, her fingers tracing the contours of each newly inscribed name with reverence and purpose.
–PAT!
However, what she did wasn’t without a price, as blood dripped from her nose and eyes, the corners of her fingers getting more and more frosty with each second.
She felt the pain all across her body, yet she knew this was the necessary price.
As Miriam’s fingers passed through the last name on the list, her voice faltered slightly as she read it.
“Astron Natusalune!”
At that moment, a sudden surge of power emanated from the paper, causing it to burst into flames. The fiery inferno consumed the parchment, engulfing Astron Natusalune’s name in a swirling vortex of pitch-obsidian and purple hues.
Miriam staggered back in shock as the intense heat washed over her, her body trembling with the strain of channeling such potent energies.
Blood dripped from her nose and eyes, staining the pristine surface of the desk below. The frost on her fingertips spread, creeping up her arms with each passing second, a chilling reminder of the toll her actions had taken on her body.
THUD!
With a strangled gasp, Miriam collapsed to the ground, coughing up mouthfuls of blood that splattered onto the floor below. The room spun around her, the air thick with the scent of burning paper and the acrid tang of her own blood.
Just as the room seemed to be fading into silence, the envelope containing the letter and the now-destroyed list of names began to close on its own accord.
Miriam lay on the ground unconscious as the envelope transformed into particles of light, shimmering and dancing in the air before disappearing into nothingness, leaving her alone in the silence of the room.
********
<Monday Morning, Arcadia Hunter Academy.>
The past two weeks had been rather uneventful for Irina in terms of the academy. She had been training, studying, and playing games, but the academy had been rather quiet with the assignments. But that didn’t mean those days were easy.
In fact, it was the opposite. Though the academy was quiet, there were many reporters whom she needed to entertain after the announcement of Phantom’s Land. Many news channels thought it was rather untruthful to explain the situation.
Thus, they were trying really hard to get something from her, but in the end, they couldn’t, as Irina had preserved it well.
But that made her psychologically exhausted, resulting in her playing video games all night. The VR game was somehow addicting, and she couldn’t help but grind it rank. The sense of feeling I achieved something by ranking up was just too alluring.
Yet, now she was feeling the repercussions of it.
“Yaaawn…..I am so sleepy…”
As Irina stirred from her slumber, she couldn’t shake off the lingering heaviness of sleep that weighed on her eyelids. With a tired yawn, she staggered to wakefulness, rubbing her eyes as she tried to adjust to the morning light filtering through her window.
“Noooo…..”
Glancing at the hour on her smartwatch, she groaned inwardly. It was still early in the morning, much earlier than she would have preferred to wake up. Two hours of sleep just wasn’t enough to replenish her energy reserves.
“Haaaah… Only two hours…” she muttered to herself, resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to catch any more rest. With another weary yawn, she dragged herself out of bed, her feet shuffling across the floor as she made her way to the kitchen.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air as Irina prepared herself a strong cup to help shake off the grogginess. As she sipped on the hot beverage, she scrolled through the latest trends on social media, catching up on the news and gossip circulating around the academy.
‘Interesting….There are this many seniors dating with the freshmen….I don’t understand; what do they even find in those seniors anyway?’
The sky outside was beginning to lighten with the promise of a new day, and Irina felt a sudden urge to embrace the fresh morning air.
‘Should just run a little bit? I don’t think my head is clear enough.’
Setting down her empty mug, she slipped on her running shoes and headed out the door, determined to clear her mind with a brisk run around the campus grounds.
Today, there will be another assignment according to the schedule posted by the academy. Therefore, she needed to be clearheaded but not tired at the same time. Thus, she went with a light jogging session that wouldn’t tire her that much.
As Irina jogged along the campus grounds, she couldn’t help but notice a group of girls up ahead, also engaged in a morning run. They jogged together in a tight-knit formation, their laughter and lively chatter filling the air around them.
‘Campus Ladies, huh?’
Irina thought to herself, recognizing the group as one of the newer clubs that had recently formed on campus.
She had been invited to join them, but the thought of spending time with those girls didn’t quite appeal to her.
They seemed more interested in gossip and frivolous activities than in anything of substance. Though this type of act to get rid of stress made sense, she had the pride of a lion, thinking she didn’t need to resort to such tactics. There was no way the academy could stress her after all!
Just as Irina was about to speed up to pass them, her curiosity was piqued by one of the girls’ voices.
“Guys, did you see the new boys ranking?”