Long ago, the world was said to be ruled by one of God’s most precious creations, dragons. It is said that, before anything, God created dragons who lived a harmonious and free life. But soon, he created humans, who, in his plan, were supposed to help rule dragons.

Their symbiotic relationship had made God proud of the world he had created, but his pride was short-lived when the first human was driven by greed.

 Seeing the dragons was God’s most loved creatures, and he had made their hearts to be a shining jewel that grants whoever lays a hand on whichever dreams they desire. And so, the first greedy human decided to hunt all the dragons and kill them for said jewel.

Aikin Cael Nuttall, the first human to hunt dragons for their hearts, and the cursed lost soul, and the dragon’s most hated humans.

As punishment for killing most of God’s precious creation, his soul was cursed to roam free in the darkness, and though all his descendants were spared from eternal loneliness, they were given a mark on their backs, and it was passed on to anyone who shared the same bloodline as him.

The jewels he had extracted from the dragons were known as cursed jewels and, though they were no longer granted wishes, they were still admired for their astonishing beauty.

As compensation for the gruesome death their kind suffered from the humans, God gave the remaining dragons the power to shift between human and dragon forms, which helps them blend in.

But they were not satisfied. They had made a deal with God not to mindlessly kill humans. They were declared as the total rulers of the kingdom once again.

But the descendants of Aikin were not included in the new utopia known as the Uyilleozia Empire that God had created. After the first emperor was crowned, he made sure to collect every one of the cursed humans and made them slaves to the imperial family.

The abuse continued from generation to generation until the cursed humans no longer had any descendants.

“Azura, where are you going this early in the morning?”

Azura Maeve Neferpitou, 10 years old, with beautiful, silky black hair and jewel-like silver eyes. The only daughter of the Duke of the North, Varon Cael Neferpitou, and the strongest woman in the empire, the Duchess Magnilda Mae Neferpitou. And the only remaining descendants of the cursed blood.

“Uncle Rizontie is going to take me hunting.”

“But my sweet knight, you haven’t had breakfast yet.”

Nothing uncommon in this household, Azura always wakes up early and finds an excuse to train as she desires to be a strong knight like her mother. Magnilda Mae Neferpitou is the protector of the north and one of the strongest knights in the whole empire.

“I will eat when I get back.”

And off she goes, without even listening. To what her mother had to say. Another tactic she uses when she does something as ridiculous as this is to run away, so you will not hear them when they disapprove.

“This seems like enough meat to make a feast for the little prince that will be coming. I should head back.” Azura sighed.

The visits of dragons have always come with a magnitude of anxiety for the Neferpitou family. Dragons were born with the ability to distinguish between creatures at a glance. And the duke’s family felt anxious about whether they were able to identify the curse and wage war. Against them.

“I should be quick before Mom finds I went outside the border without Uncle Rizontie.”

But before Azura could head back, she was attracted by a loud bang just west of her location.

“What is going on here?”

A little boy was being attacked. The sound came from the dismembered carriage that had crashed. His small figure seemed to tremble as he tried to stand his ground. He was a little bit taller than Azura, who, for some reason, inherited her father’s small and timid body instead of the duchess’s tall figure.

“We have a witness,” one of the men exclaimed.

“We need to get rid of her.” Another replied, making his way to where Azura was peeking from.

Having older men attack you would make any little girl tremble with fear, but she was Azura Maeve Neferpitou, and she had been fighting with monsters for the longest.

“Stay back, don’t interfere with matters of the imperial family.” The little boy exclaimed as Azura attempted to help.

‘Is he really not going to accept? help when he was that weak?’ Azura thought.

“Okay,” she replied before turning. Away in the opposite direction, leaving the little boy to fend for himself.

But it did not take long before the boy fell to the ground out of exhaustion to the attacker’s satisfaction.

“I, Azura Maeve Neferpitou, will not help an ungrateful brat,” she muttered to herself before attacking the group of men that were attacking the little boy.

The atmosphere in the duke’s home has never been this calamitous since the duchess’s near-death experience after the war five years ago.

“Call Rizontie now and send a letter to the magical tower to send a wizard of substantial talent to heal the child,” the duke shouts. “Someone should send a letter to the imperial palace. To inform them of the state of his royal highness, the crown prince arrived.”