Two years later.

“Marina? Hey, Marina! It’s late!” called a male voice.

The blonde-haired girl woke up with difficulty, illuminated by the light streaming through the windows. The curtains had already been drawn open, a sign that someone had woken up before her. Slowly, she sat up, rubbing her eyes, still unable to focus. The voice belonged to her stepbrother—at least that much she understood.

“What time is it?”

“Nine-thirty, October 23rd, 2021. Weren’t you supposed to teach the newcomers today?“ the boy replied.

“I didn’t need the date too…”

She yawned—maybe she was still dozing off.

Gradually, the scene became clearer, and Marina could take in, with mild annoyance, one of the rooms of Seventh House. The room was rather simple; after all, it was meant to reflect the spirit of a park, so too much sophistication would have stood out. The entire structure was built with wooden beams, designed to create that effect. Many of her step-siblings didn’t pay much attention to it, but Marina, a great architecture enthusiast, dreamed of studying it at university one day and earning a mortal degree to practice that profession.

“Earth to Marina, did you hear me?” her stepbrother asked again.

Her gaze wandered around the room: all the other bunk beds had already been neatly made. The center of the room was occupied by a series of desks arranged in a diamond shape, where Lorenzo Scala was waiting for her with a worried look. The boy was a Blendbreed like her; they shared the same mother, so they usually referred to each other as step-siblings.

Marina spent a moment contemplating the boy’s face. The blond of his hair contrasted with the teenage pimples sprouting on his face like paparazzi at a superstar fashion show. Finally, the boy’s blue eyes met hers.

“Ah, so you’re alive! You had me worried.”

“Sorry, Lore,” she said, stretching, “I got a little distracted.”

The Blendbreed gave her a concerned look. “Did you have a nightmare?”

Marina shook her head with a slight smile before replying, “No, don’t worry.”

“Good.”

The girl’s gaze shifted back to the window outside.

She was blinded by the light.

For her still-sleepy eyes, it didn’t seem like anything unusual, but as soon as her brain started to wake up, Marina realized she was in trouble.

“There’s too much light for it to be dawn…” she murmured absentmindedly.

“It’s not dawn, I told you.”

The Blendbreed’s cerulean eyes widened, and she almost fell as she climbed down from the bed. She dashed to the window, where she could see the landscape of Lilies Park filled with students. Marina froze for a moment and took a deep breath, then looked down to assess her attire.

She was in her pajamas.

Without saying a word, she rushed to the side of her bed and flung open the wardrobe.

Lorenzo watched his stepsister, trying to stifle a laugh. “Marina,” he called, but the Blendbreed ignored him completely and grabbed her clothes in a hurry.

Once she was sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, she dashed into the bathroom to get dressed. The tiny white room, barely the size of a storage closet, was nowhere near suited to accommodate the eight roommates of that dorm. Normally, Marina avoided using it, preferring the bathrooms in the Grand Manor, but the urgency of the situation demanded speed.

She quickly took off her pajamas—an azure top patterned with printed pineapples and simple white pants. Then, she grabbed her clothes: light-wash jeans and a plain white T-shirt, which she paired with a gray zip-up hoodie that had a large seven printed on the back. It was the attire that identified her as a member of the Seventh House, the demigod children of Ien.

She hurriedly pulled on her jeans, then paused for a second, staring at the T-shirt in her hands. Her gaze wandered absentmindedly in front of her, landing on her own reflection in the mirror. A shiver ran down her spine.

She had always been aware of her body. Her roommates often commented on her figure, saying they envied her beauty. Those who met her for the first time frequently assumed she was a daughter of the goddess of beauty, though the truth was quite the opposite. The problem wasn’t her appearance—it was the countless microscopic scars and bruises painted across her rosy skin. She always looked at them with sadness. They were a testament to her years spent in the park and to all the times she had barely survived battles against monsters.

For Blendbreeds like the children of the god of war, they would be a mark of pride. But not for Marina. The only thing she truly wanted was to live a normal life.

There’s no point in wasting more time, she told herself with a sorrowful look.

She quickly put on the T-shirt and stepped out of the bathroom. Lorenzo was still waiting for her, a protein bar between his teeth. When he saw her, he hurriedly took a bite and started chewing.

“I thought you had died,” he teased.

Marina rolled her eyes. “Swallow before you talk. You’re just going to choke,” she said as she made her way toward the door, “and I won’t be saving you again.”

“Got it.”

The Blendbreed smiled before glancing at the clock hanging above the door—then froze. She had only five minutes.

She hurriedly slipped on her sneakers, then, without even saying goodbye to her stepbrother, dashed out of the room.

Lorenzo swallowed quickly and shouted after her.

“Marina! Hey! I brought you breakfast from the cafeteria!”

A few seconds of silence passed before Lorenzo lost hope and slumped into one of the chairs. Just at that moment, Marina rushed back into the room, gulped down some milk, and snatched a few cookies before dashing out again like lightning. The son of Ien chuckled, glancing at the remaining cookies.

“She’ll never change.”

Marina exited the Seventh House and started running south. For Blendbreeds, it was common to see someone sprinting across the park, so no one paid her any mind.

It was that time of the month again—the arrival of new Blendbreeds at Lilies Park. That place was a refuge for those with divine blood in their veins, a sanctuary located in a parallel dimension to the ordinary Mortal World. The same had happened to her. Her mother had made her appear at the doorstep of her family’s home on a freezing day. After a rather difficult childhood, Marina had discovered the truth about herself. Then, after traveling across almost all of Italy, she had left the Mortal World behind and arrived in the Otherworld, ready to train for the future.

The girl swiftly passed the remaining houses and veered onto a trail winding through the forest until she reached the classroom—a simple wooden hut. She burst inside, still running, miraculously managing not to trip. She was out of breath despite the constant training she had undergone.

The hut was packed with new Blendbreeds, all roughly the same age. The group was buzzing with excitement, but their chatter gradually quieted when they saw her enter. Marina steadied her breathing before speaking.

“Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Lilies Park,” she said with a smile. “I’m Marina, and today I’ll be giving you an introduction to this place.”