"Babe…," a man's gentle voice sweetly whispered.

Rania grunted. "Just 5 more minutes, please," her eyes shut close.

​​

"Babe, wake up or you'll be late for work!" losing his patience in a cute way, he stood up, crossed his arms, and sighed, "I already prepared breakfast, your favorite, bacon and eggs."

Rania smiled and said, "You're the best, babe!"

"Come on, get up!"

"Yeah, coming…" Getting up, she rubbed her eyes gently.

"Finally, Snorlax got up!"

"No, I'm not Snorlax," she pouted.

"Hahaha! Yes you are!. Ooooh~ whatever will you do without me, huh?"

Rania grinned. "Of course I can't live without you. That's why…."

That's why…."

And finally opening her eyes, she barely finished her words.

"...that's...why...you should never leave me."

A moment of silence once more.

It took awhile for everything to sink back into her. Waking up in a beautiful and elegant, victorian-looking style, yet unfamiliar room, she began to realize everything that happened was not a dream.

the Magi….

bloodbath in the hotel...

the death of Zeid….

Everything ...was not a dream.

Before she knew it, large droplets of tears fell from her already swollen eyes once more. As if a whole night's tears was not enough to get rid of the pain, her heart writhed in agony, her mind went blank as a paper, her soul vanquished in misery.

She cried and cried and cried.

After awhile, she stood up. Captivated by the sight of the large window leading to a balcony, she got closer. Once close, she opened it to welcome a magnificent scenery of the morning dawn. Since her room was set very high above the ground, she could see the treetops from there with the birds singing, "Tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet." She stepped closer to the railings and again, stared to nothingness.

Then, as if lightning struck her, she thought of an idea.

Since she couldn't live without Zeid, and she didn't want to be an instrument of pleasure for this sinful race of Magi who killed her beloved, why not….

"Why not kill myself?

Yeah, what else is there to do? It's not like I can escape from this place.

And it's not like Zeid will come back whatever I do.

It's not like I'm gonna be happy in this place.

There is no hope. There is nothing to be achieved. There is nothing to want and to think.

There is nothing for me here.

Yeah, this place is pretty high. If I jump from here, I'll surely...yes, I will be with Zeid again. We promised not to leave each other. And even death will not keep us apart."

Looking below she climbed up the railings and prepared herself to jump.

"It was a heck of a journey but…. Goodbye world. I'm not gonna play your games."

1…

2…

3…

Rania closed her eyes and…

THUD!

A loud dropping sound could be heard.

She opened her eyes and thought to herself. "Is this the other side? The afterlife?"

A visage of a crying girl could be seen on top of her, hugging her tightly. She was saying something but she couldn't hear her.

"No...no ...no! No!" Azalea cried desperately, "What in the world were you thinking?!"

Rania looked around. She saw herself lying on the floor of the room's balcony. It seemed like her suicide attempt was stopped by Azalea. After observing her surroundings, she looked back to Azalea.

"Why?" with resentment in her voice, she asked, "Why did you stop me?"

Azalea frowned and answered her furiously. "If you think that this is the best solution then you are very wrong! very-!"

"If you didn't stop me, I may as well be with Zeid now."

"Oh, so you lost a loved one, huh? Well, welcome to the club! You're not the only one!," she continued with anger funneling in her heart. She breathed heavily. Inhale, exhale, her breath went on and on. "But this…..this is not the solution! Tell me… how? How did he die?"

Rania was angered even more, "He - !!!!...."

"He died protecting you right?"

Staring blankly at her, she nodded.

"Then why?," Azalea continued. "Why are you throwing your life away?

Why are you throwing the life he sacrificed himself for you?

The life that caused his very own life! Why?!"

And there was silence….. Too silent that only their heavy breathing could be heard.

Rivers of tears started swelling up on the corner of Rania's eyes once more.

She cried, and wailed, and shouted in agony.

The poor young woman was very broken, very frail, very weak. Her spirit was crushed so much to the point that it seemed impossible to be fixed.

Azalea stayed with her during this tough, tough time. She comforted her the best she could.

But who could really comfort someone who's lost a dearly beloved? I believe no human could satisfy. We could only leave it to time... and for the heart to heal itself, for the mind to recover, and for the soul to be replenished.

A few weeks have passed since then.

The invasion of Magi on our planet had succeeded with an overwhelming victory.

For who could even fight these monsters? No weapon, no soldiers, no tricks or strategies worked on them. Humanity tried very, very hard. Alliances between nations were formed but to no avail did they lose the war. In desperation, every nation had given out their most dire secret of weapons and machinery in order to survive this tragedy and in the hope of somehow defeating them...but all was naught.

Magi…

They could set up an impenetrable barrier to protect themselves. In a flick of a finger, they could cast out fire, water, lightning or start a storm. In a wave of a hand they could swipe a whole army of hundreds of thousands into disarray. In a stomp of their feet, they could cause the grounds to tremor, shake the earth, break the very grounds we walk in, and bury people alive. They could fly freely in the air with just their bodies and target people from above.

It was like trying to fight Superman ~ a bunch of them. Or if Superman was not enough, then the whole gang of Justice League, only this time, they didn't fight for justice but for chaos instead ~ Chaos League. Or it may as well be Thanos from Marvel, after he collected all the infinity stones. Or worse, someone stronger than them. They were all really powerful. Even the word "powerful" was an understatement.

The green-haired girl didn't threaten for nothing. It was all as she said.

"Even the weakest of them is no match for a thousand, or even millions of us."

Then, what more of their king? What more of their most supreme ruler? What kind of terrible power did he have? Certainly, something way stronger and maybe even our fickle minds would never be able to fathom.

Ooohh, how doomed we are! Was this the end of the world? Of our planet? Was there really no hope for us?

Meanwhile, as our world was fighting its war, the women in the inner courts of the Magi's palaces were also fighting theirs. Our poor women who have been captured by the enemy to be a slave for their king and an instrument for his own pleasure.

On the very next day after their capture, they were taught of the knowledge, culture and etiquettes of the magi, training them to act their way, to think their way, and to live their way.

Due to this, some of the captured maidens got swayed by their teachings, forgetting they were "humans" instead of Magi. Some followed due to fear and some were simply going with the flow. But most of them started to be comfortable living in their little castles since they were not particularly treated badly. Yes, you'd be surprised they were actually treated very well, except for the brain-washing part.

After they were reduced to a hundred, five "Elite" Magi, as what they addressed themselves, had been assigned to lead them into becoming the most suited wife of the king. Each of the Elite Magi was given twenty, beautiful women to manage, and a palace where they would live with the maidens they'll mentor. Each palace was huge and contained around thirty to forty rooms, varying from bedrooms, to social rooms, dancing rooms, kitchen, study, library, and many others. Maids have been assigned to each palace as well to maintain the place and serve the ladies.

Thus, as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the division and competition amongst them also rose up. Each Elite Magi was dead set to receive the favor of the king. If the king's chosen queen was to be one amongst their group, surely, they will be rewarded lavishly and promoted on top of that.

According to their teachings, the Magi race had their own hierarchy.

The king, who was of the royal bloodline and most powerful of all, ruled on top, overseeing everyone below him. Only the royal bloodline could be king due to the fact that their blood was the strongest amongst all magi and the fact that they, and only they, have the blessings and ability to control "Guardians".

There were 12 guardians in the magi history and beliefs. They were Sacred Beasts as powerful as the king that existed since the beginning of time. Due to unknown reasons, they have formed an alliance and contracted with the king's bloodline. And thus, only the king and his immediate family could control them.

Next in line of power were the royal magistrates also known as the "Judges". There were four judges that served directly to the king. Though tasked with almost everything, most of the time, they don't meddle with political affairs. Their main duty was to protect the king ~ as if he was not powerful enough to wipe out anyone who would dare go against him. Aside from that, they also serve as an adviser to the king in case he was too lazy to make decisions.

After them were the 12 "Generals", the magi in charge of war. Each of them inhibits the Guardian's "spirit essence" which practically made them more powerful than the rest below them. Even though they were holding the Guardian's spirit essence, it didn't necessarily mean that they could personally control the Guardians. It only meant that the Guardians were lending their powers to these magi according to the orders of the king.

The rest of the hierarchy didn't concern themselves in politics but were also noteworthy themselves for they mostly consisted of the best and strongest of magi. They were ranked by how powerful they were.

"Mythics" being the highest rank, followed by "Legends", "Epics", "Grandmasters", "Masters", "Elites", and "Warriors", respectively. Those governing the women chosen by the king belong to the Elite class. In order to advance to the next rank, they could either train themselves to be stronger or to gain the favor of the king and be promoted. So, even if they shouldn't be concerning themselves in politics, the competition was great amongst them.

Another noteworthy magi were those who belonged to the noble families. There were many noble families and all of them did their own fair share in politics and power. Competing, plotting, killing each other to gain a higher position. Why do they do this? It's for power of course, and ranks, and pride and greed and many other things we may never know.

Going back to our poor, captured women, they had been divided into groups named as follows.

"Próta", led by the Elite magus who favored beauty and therefore chose the most beautiful among the hundred women.

"Défteros", led by the magus who preferred wisdom instead.

"Trítos", for those who possess great talent useful enough to entertain the king.

"Tétartos", which dwelled those with kindest of heart and also the group that Azalea belonged to.

Lastly was "Pémptos", the opposite of the prior. Gathered in this group were those harboring a very wicked and evil heart since their leader enjoyed malice, competition, hatred, and all evilness. He enjoyed watching the events unfold before his eyes. For what better entertainment was there than one's wickedness could bring? And this was the group that Rania belonged to.

How were they chosen in their specific groups? Aside from beauty, how did their leaders identify which one was kind and evil?, talented and not?, knowledgeable and a fool?

It was simple. All they needed was a "dress".

Though not just any dress but a dress that held spiritual energy capable of distinguishing the deepest and darkest secrets of the mind. It judged the being wearing them and showed its answers by changing its color and design. Each color symbolizes the greatest trait the person had.

And this dress was called "Pandora's Dress".

Upon Azalea wearing the dress, it turned into a baby pink color and the design went from a plain cream wrap dress to a beautiful baby pink princess dress. The same happened to her other group mates though the only difference was the shade of its pink and a little difference in design but all showed to be a princess dress type.

For the intelligent women, the dress became blue in color and a pouf dress design. The talented ones had yellow color in a halter dress, the beautiful ones, purple in a mini dress, and the wicked ones inhibited a green-toned tea-length dress, mostly in dark green or moss green.

Everyone seemed at home to their group as you watched their colors lurking each other.

All save one - Rania.

For amidst the colorful rainbow, she alone was tainted in "pitch black".

A black yet elegant trumpet dress.

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Hi Beloved Readers!

I won Nomination Awards on last year's Webnovel Spirity Awards Spring 2020!

It's all thanks to all of your love and support! T_T I couldn't have done it without you all. Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart! T_T

I'll be joining again this year and hopefully, I win again. I'm so shy but I'm gonna be shameless and ask all of your support once more. XD Please check out my new story by searching for it in the app.

Title: "A Beautiful Catastrophe"

Please VOTE me with POWERSTONES on that story and leave reviews and comments. More PS, more chapter updates! And once again, thank you all so much!

Lots of Love,

Macy_Bae

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