Chapter 12: Victoria the Villainess [1]

My name is Victoria Rothfield Rosenberg. Born of the King and Queen. The titled second princess of the Kingdom of Carmandy. And I have a secret. A mysterious dream. A recurring dream unbeknownst to all the surrounding people who knew me.

It was a hidden mystery hiding in the castle of my sleep. Let me share this fallen princess's secret. This story of mine.

Where should I start?

When I was five, I remembered the warmth of my parents and my only sister. Their caring gaze always watching as if I was a great treasure. The entire kingdom showered me with new gifts, enough to make a small mountain. They loved me, treating me as a treasure worth more than castles and gold. I was the apple of their eye.

My father, the king, was a powerful earth mage. My mother was a princess of a neighboring kingdom. A prominent mage who bore brilliant talent in water magic.

My only sibling, my eldest sister, was also a unique existence. She was among the few gifted by the gods with the talent for moon magic. She was the gem of our kingdom. Beauty, brains, elegance, and magic - the gods had favored her so much. I once wished to be like her too.

After all, I learned that each direct descendant had their special brand of magic.

I thought nothing would change. But I was wrong. I never knew that nothing was constant. When I reached the age of eight, my family had made a decision.

I had to undergo the royal family's test. Rather than a test, it was more of an awakening instrument exclusive for the ruling royals.

The rest of the royal family believed that I would also be a magus worthy of the name Rosenberg. Thus, I had to undergo the secret baptism of the royal family. The magus passage, the chalice of the royals - a secret known only to the royal family.

I walked towards the hidden pathway, deep under the castle. Alone, I entered the trial. All to awaken the magic sleeping within me. The end of the secret passage boasted a shimmering pool. It was a sight to behold. The pool shone akin to a sun, spreading vibrant hues to light up the small room.

I took out the scroll given to me by my father and ripped it, sending sparks falling. It was part of the long list of ceremonies taught to me by my mother. Then I strode forward towards the glistening pond. I dipped and dived under the deep pool of scintillating light.

Entranced, I laid myself in the embrace of the still waters, submerging deep as instructed. I shut my eyes and grasped through the inanimate straws of mana.

And they were right, I was indeed a magus. As the glimmering water dripped to my head from the chalice of the royals, I felt a bubbling power filling me, rising from the depths of my soul. Rather than a burst of strength, it was better to describe it as a unique calling.

Thus, the tradition ended after I dipped and rose from the pool.

Even so, unlike my direct kin, I did not immediately exhibit any magic. They even thought that I was a failure. This was the time I came to know that everyone's care for me was fake. Counterfeit, a mere facade.

Realizing that I did not materialize any kind of magic, my parents refused to see me. The distance grew further until their hands became out of reach. And each time I met them in the royal corridor, they would only throw a piercing frosty gaze. Yes, even my sister.

As an eight-year-old, it was painful. Being treated as if I didn’t exist filled me with emptiness. I felt like drowning in pity every day for failing, but time taught me to bear.

A few more weeks passed, and I had discovered my magic. How did I discover it? It started with a dream. A never-ending dream. Thus, I called it Dream Magic. And I, a dream magus.

I was happy.

The first dream mage in the royal family's history.

I went to my royal father for an audience. My plea had been granted, and I reported my ability with zeal and excitement. I thought they would give me their attention again. I had this hope, but I was wrong again.

They had asked me if it's prophecy magic - turned out to be not. I was asked if I can look into the past. No, I cannot. The icy gaze of my father shifted into a scowl of fury. Under the gazes of hundreds of his retainers, I was scolded and shooed. Ah, I wasted his time, it seemed. The dream magic, according to them, was nothing more than a sham of magic.

"A useless magic, perfect for a useless child. Begone!" Trembling fury erupted from the king's mouth, face flushing between black and crimson. Though they treated me like air, this was the first time I heard such hurtful words from my father. It was so painful that I ended up crying the entire night until the day after.

I also heard hurtful words from almost all parts of the castle pricking my back. I lost my status, treated like a princess only in name. The works of the elitist culture ingrained in the kingdom’s aristocracy. A bunch of supremacists. I was treated like a ghost, ignored, and forgotten with each passing day. I didn’t understand why at that time.

From that day onward, I continued to dwell on my magic. Hoping that I could prove it wasn’t useless. I dreamt, dreamt, and dreamt. I even ended up getting called the lazy princess. What can I do if I needed to sleep to activate my magic? But I do not care. Most of the things I dreamt of were blurry white spaces. Or all darkness. A few rare times of rabbits and some docile horned beasts.

"It was useless."

My boring days continued. My aimless life continued. Another two years came and passed. They sent me away to one of the royal family's old castles. I know that I'm a useless one. I cannot be married to other kingdom royals because of my magic being useless. No one wants to take me in and dilute their bloodline with useless magic like mine. Maybe a small noble family, but the royal family refused any ties with any of them.

All of this information I discovered from my uncle. The brother of my father, another magicless. He was once a prince, but not for a long time. Hah, what a crazy bloodline we have! He was just like me. Even so, I could sense a deep-seated hatred burning in those seemingly respectful eyes. Not that I care. I may have magic, but I'm as good as a magicless. He aimed his hate at my father, and little towards me. Does he envy me? Oh, they also assigned him to take care of me. Poor man. If so, no wonder he was salty.

My dreams continued as usual. Useless as usual.

The clock flipped, tick and tock, the minute and hour hands struck and it was twelve. Then, I was ten. It was then that something changed. There were no parties like my sister or my parents.

No one had remembered me aside from the far cousin of my mother, who took time off to visit for a day, Saria. She was a weird lady - long baggy robe, with a large wooden staff. She claimed to be an archmage, which I didn't believe.

She said she was my relative. No one else visited me except for her. Yes, not even my mother.

On the same night of my tenth birthday, after Saria had left, the whispers of the night came along with a gift. The gift I wished and prayed for to the goddesses of fate. I was all alone, laying on my bed in a lonely castle. Though I'm not that sad anymore. I learned to find solace in silence. My eyelashes flickered as I closed my eyes. But this time, my dreams shifted, the blurs of white and black gone. My magic threw me into the world of the unknown.

It was a magical place.

I dreamt of a massive and unique place. This time it was as vivid as it could get. No more blurry white or scary darkness. I saw incredible glass towers piercing through the sky. Weirdly dressed humans, hastily living the life of the ants. Fast-moving rectangular boxes of different sizes and shapes. There are even massive flying metal dragons. It seems like they're not rare, as my history books have claimed. They also don't breathe fire. Even so, they did roar loudly and had conquered the blue sky, their growls shattering the surrounding clouds.

I wanted to discover more of this great unknown world. All to stave off the burgeoning curiosity of mine. But for some reason, they couldn’t see me at all.

For the first time, I found joy in using my magic. For curiosity's sake, I dived deeper into my magic. The dream magic. I tried learning through picture books in some large diverse libraries within my dream world. I don't know how to read the crazy and headache-inducing letters, but the pictures helped. I even sneaked and attended a type of learning with the little kids of this world. They couldn't see me at all. Little by little, I learned their language. It seemed like they called their language 'Ergish.'

The people and pictures of this world called their world 'Ertho.' I don't know if I am right, but that's how it sounded when they said it as I tried to learn by ear. Time flew by, I woke up and felt that I was the happiest princess in the entire kingdom. I thought of telling what I discovered to my family. Then I shook my head. "It's still not useful.”

I don't know how long I had been there. Days? Months? Or perhaps a year? My dream was extremely unique. I felt like I was one of the sleeping spirits of the old. It was a long dream.

Days, months, and years passed. I was now fourteen years old. They transferred me again to another castle, a more dilapidated one on the southern border. It was nothing new. I, Victoria, might even roam all the royal family's castles before I turn eighteen.

On one of my daily walks around the garden of my new castle, I met a unique visitor. I heard the maids talking about him as the guest of the castle. He was also the only heir of a count. He was a magicless. His name was Edmund. I felt a sense of camaraderie with him, so I started a chat.

At first, he was so sulky, shouting every time I bothered him. Even so, it seemed like he didn't hate me. I won't lie. I felt happy to have some company aside from those spiteful servants. Curiosity drove me to know more about my new magicless friend. At first, he was a weird, funny noble. Not pompous, despite being noble. He was a simple man with a heart of steel. We chatted, little by little...

Edmund was quite a shy man. I knew he was not used to having a girl as a company. His mom, the countess, died early. He had no other siblings, and his father was always busy. I asked him why he ended up here. I found out that his father had sent him here to protect him from a few malicious relatives.

If he was in this castle, he'd be under the protection of the trusty guards. Come to think of it, I suffered no harm aside from mocking gazes from time to time. A lot of guards had even followed me as I transferred from one castle to another. Even my spiteful uncle could only follow my orders if one of them was in sight.

"Why is that?" I asked Edmund.

He had told me that there were many hidden guards within the compound. He pointed at the flower gardener, shivering, and told me that the peaceful man was a grandmaster of the sword. He could crush a hundred men alone with a stick in his hand. The rest of the old roaming guards were also fierce warriors of the last generation.

As for the maids, well, they were maids.

His revelation left me dumbfounded. After all, it was Saria who put them here. A glint of realization filled my thoughts. I'm not a gullible child anymore.

Was Saria protecting me? But why would she?