Book One

Mikaela

“The Light Mage and the human got married in a beautiful ceremony and lived happily ever after.”

I close my book while grinning from ear to ear, picturing the characters’ wedding and their delight.

“I wish I could have a happy ending just like they did,” I sigh, accepting that my life isn’t a book and is far from blessed.

“Mikaela, it’s time for dinner,” my mom, Julienne Jinks, yells from the kitchen.

“I’m coming,” I reply before hiding my book under my bed, rushing out of my private chamber , and heading to the common chamber .

My brother, Gabriel Jinks, who is already comfortable in one of the wooden chairs, smiles warmly at me as soon as I enter . He greets me with a “Hey, Mika!” while gesturing for me to sit next to him, which I do without hesitation.

“Hi, Gabe. How was the match ?” I ask, curious.

“We won, of course,” he exclaims, high-fiving me as a smug smile graces his lips. “I was born to play Blood Ball, Mika. It’s in my blood.”

“Congratulations, brother,” I say, feeling super proud.

“Mikaela, your academy sent me a letter today to let me know you’re failing your tests.” My dad, Ernest Jinks, flops down in his chair, glaring at me. “Why are you failing? Aren’t you studying hard enough?”

“I really am trying, Dad, but I loathe studying,” I pout, averting my eyes from the scary man.

“You need to try harder. I hope you’re not wasting your time reading those books about disgusting magical creatures,” Dad continues, causing me to slump my shoulders in defeat.

I tentatively shoot him a small smile. “I love to read books about them. Their stories interest me, and I love learning more about their lives before they were killed.”

He scowls at me in return. “You know that light mages, dark mages, gnomes, shapeshifters , and all the other magical races are evil creatures, don’t you? That’s why humans went through the Big War against them and killed them all nineteen years ago.” He seems to be incredibly proud of the fact as he continues, “Our empire is the best one in the world, thanks to all the magnificent human kingdoms.”

“But how can anyone be so sure that someone really eradicated all the magical creatures during the Big War? How can anyone be sure that they aren’t still alive somewhere, hiding from people like you?” I stare at him defiantly.

“Mikaela, behave, please. You can’t talk to your father like that,” Mom scolds me while claiming her seat.

“Your daughter is impossible, Julienne. I wish her personality resembled Gabriel’s.” Dad smiles proudly at my brother.

I roll my eyes and ignore his remark, silently eating my pottage. Meanwhile, I can hear my parents talking to my brother about Blood Ball, and I purposely tune myself out of their conversation because I find it boring.

Every single day it’s the same thing—this tiring routine and useless life that I hate.

I don’t feel like I belong in my family because my parents are cold and distant from me, whereas they’re sweet and loyal to my brother. No matter how hard I try, I’m never good enough in their eyes, and they always remind me of how blessed I am that they even bother keeping me under their roof and feeding me.

Honestly, although I’m a commoner in the Kingdom of Wreigh, I don’t know much about it. Well, I know that the king, Richard Wreigh, the queen, Caroline Wreigh, the crown prince, Theodore Wreigh, and the princess, Sophie Wreigh, are members of the highest hierarchy in the human race. Moreover, rumors say that the king and the queen were among the ones responsible for instigating the Big War—the war that eradicated all the magical races of the world.

“Mikaela?” Dad’s angry voice brings me back to reality.

“Yes?” I recoil from his murderous glare.

Why does he hate me so much?

“Since you’re not paying attention to our family’s dinner, you should study in your chamber ,” he orders.

“But I’m still eating,” I retort, furrowing my eyebrows.

“I don’t care. Go to your chamber . That’s an order,” Dad demands without looking at me again.

I glance at Mom, silently asking for help. However, much to my disappointment, she stares at me with a flat face, incapable of protecting me, as usual.

I let out a deep breath and do as I’m told, stomping to my private chamber , which looks more like a cramped pantry . Once inside, my two talking cats greet me, puzzled.

“Hi, Mika. Have you brought us food?” Sun rubs himself against my right leg.

“Why are you back from dinner so soon, and why are you so sad?” asks Moon, following Sun’s suit and rubbing herself against my left leg.

“My dad didn’t let me finish my dinner,” I tell her, before giving Sun an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t get you leftovers.”

“Why did your father send you back here before you could finish supper, Mika?” Moon looks worried.

“He started chatting with Gabe about Blood Ball, and I got distracted because I found the topic boring. As a result, he got angry with me because I wasn’t praising his favorite son.” I shrug, sitting on my bed.

“You know that’s nonsense, right? Gabe is not your parents’ favorite son, and they love you two equally.” Moon tries to comfort me.

“That’s not true, Moon. Mika’s parents don’t care about her; they only care about Gabe and their herb shop,” scoffs Sun.

“Sun, stop it,” hisses Moon.

“Well, either way, I don’t care. I’m relieved because I don’t have to keep listening to them talk about Blood Ball. Besides, I need to study anyway. I have a history test tomorrow, and I’m definitely going to fail.” I frown, grabbing my history book and opening it.

“I still don’t get why you keep insisting on attending the academy if you hate it so much.” Sun jumps onto the bed, making himself comfortable next to me.

“It’s not Mika’s choice, Sun. It’s her father’s.” Moon lies on my lap.

“But Gabe doesn’t go to the academy,” Sun points out.

As I try to focus on the history book and its tiresome explanations, I observe absentmindedly, “But he’s the captain of the kingdom’s Royal Blood Ball team.”

“That’s not fair, Mika. I hate your parents,” Sun declares.

“Stop it, Sun. Mika’s parents may not be the best, but they allowed her to keep us when she brought us here and gave us a home,” Moon reminds him.

I smile at my two loving cats, reminiscing about when I first met them more than a year ago. They were wandering in front of my academy, starving and freezing, as it was winter and the weather was nasty. After realizing they were too frightened to even meow at me, I ended up bringing them home. My parents didn’t mind letting them stay, which was a surprise, to say the least.

When I found Sun and Moon, they were wearing golden collars with diamonds around their necks. I was convinced they had had owners at some point who must have been filthy rich, but nothing in the world could make the two cats interact with me. One week later, I decided to adopt them for good and named them Sun and Moon—Sun was the big male black and white cat, and Moon was a female white and brown cat. Both of them were majestically beautiful and posers, especially when they were walking around the house.

Two weeks later, they finally started speaking—literally—to me, which startled me. Talking cats and dogs, which were the results of human mages’ experiments during the Big War, have been taken in by the kingdoms’ nobles and royals as companions, but their existence is rare. This further proved Sun and Moon’s noble background. However, they vehemently refused to tell me about their previous owners, so I dropped the subject.

Nowadays, they are my best and only friends, and I can’t imagine my life without Sun’s mischief and Moon’s delicate and affectionate mood.

“Will your dad punish you again if you fail tomorrow’s test?” Moon, whose green eyes are filled with concern, asks me.

“Probably,” I reply, my voice low.

“Don’t tell me he’ll force you to clean the entire house twice again,” Sun grumbles.

I stare into his yellow eyes. “Maybe, I don’t know. My dad manages to be amazingly creative regarding my punishments.”

“You should focus on the bright side, Mika. Your house only has three private chambers , one common chamber , one kitchen, and a small shed with a privy .” Moon tries to cheer me up, but fails miserably.

“You forgot to mention the huge—not—garden, Moon,” sneers Sun, laughing. “You should have eaten the fish I brought you earlier today because your head needs more vital substances.”

“Meow, no. You stole it from the market.” Moon grimaces, disgusted.

“Did you steal a fish again? How many times do I have to tell you that stealing is wrong?” I scold Sun, doing my best to keep a straight face.

Sun is a hell of a little thief.

Sun apologizes, but I know he doesn’t mean it. He will steal food again, and I can do nothing to prevent him from doing it.

“I’m going to study.” I smile softly at my two cats and try to pay attention to the dull words in the tiresome book.

Despite my efforts to study, I find myself lost in my thoughts a mere moment later.

I wish I had a way to venture to the other kingdoms. It’s not fair that only Gabe is allowed to do whatever he wants. Why do my parents despise me so much? Why can’t I be free to do what I wish and what pleases me? Why must I follow all of those nonsensical rules?

The Kingdom of Wreigh is renowned among the human kingdoms for its exceptional innovations in human magic. Although it still harbors prejudice against and hatred for the magical beings, it has no qualms about using magic to improve the kingdom and make the nobles’ lives more comfortable.

My family isn’t among the poorest, but it certainly isn’t among the richest either. My parents and my brother have the luxury of renting carriages when they must travel to the farthest places, but I? Well, I must walk wherever I go, as I’m not allowed to use the family’s funds for anything personal. My parents keep telling me I don’t deserve to because I don’t study hard enough and don’t help them at the herb shop.

I’m an atypical nineteen-year-old commoner girl who doesn’t care about keeping up with the girls’ trends whatsoever, so much so that my wardrobe is full of Gabe’s old clothes. Even though I attend Wreigh Academy, I couldn’t care less about boys and have no friends besides my brother and my cats.

My red hair and dark brown eyes contrast with my family members’ brown hair and green eyes, which is why I have this suspicion that I’m adopted. However, my parents brush off the possibility whenever I question them.

To my luck, I’m entirely invisible among people my age. Even though Gabe is pretty popular and I’m his sibling, no one knows who I am or cares about me. I’m nothing but the mad, quiet girl—the girl who goes to the library to read about magical creatures and spaces out often.

The popular girls in my academy enjoy making fun of me at every opportunity, and the boys simply ignore my existence. I don’t care about any of them because they’re nothing but poor souls to me. They’re nobodies who desire to marry the crown prince and princess someday and become royalty. It’s ironic, isn’t it? They keep calling me the mad girl while they’re the ones who are completely delusional.

The crown prince and the princess are impossible to approach, as they’re royalty and gorgeous—they’re both ridiculously attractive with light brown hair and dark brown hair, respectively, deep blue eyes, and elegant figures. I’ve seen their portraits in newspapers, but to be honest, I don’t care about them at all.

Every commoner’s goal at my age is to become one of their closest friends or aides, and possibly a future marriage candidate. Being a member of their small circle of friends means being relevant and unique in our kingdom, and one step closer to becoming royalty someday. Marrying one of the siblings with their heavenly, beautiful features is a plus, considering that the prince is so handsome and charming that any girl would die or kill to be with him. He also happens to be a notorious rake, romancing the most beautiful noblewomen. Besides, he’s a prince who doesn’t mind spending the kingdom’s money on frivolous luxuries.

The princess is a real fusspot, always preoccupied with her appearance and clothing. She is in every newspaper and isn’t shy about showing off her beauty. She is stunning, and every girl wants to be her—what with her perfect life, her looks, and her position in the royal family. Boys are all over her, my brother included. The fool is in love with her, and his biggest dream is just to get a word in with her one day.

Even though Gabe is the captain of the Blood Ball team, he isn’t allowed to address the crown prince or the princess, even when they attend the same events. He may be an important figure to many girls and boys, but to the royal family? He is a nobody, just like every single commoner.

While the crown prince is twenty-one and the princess is my age, Gabe is twenty-three. I guess my point is that the three of them are valuable to the kingdom in one way or another, whereas I’m nothing but a girl full of dreams and illusions.