At the break of the day, my smartphone started to ring from underneath my white, fluffy pillow. I reached my hand around the pillow and brought the phone closer to my face, the time is 8:00 am.

“What?!” I accidentally shouted.

Startled by how late it was, I stood up from my bed and ran towards the window to see how the weather was looking outside. It was a clear day, with few clouds up in the sky, the sun shone through my window, lighting up the entire room.

I held the curtains and squeezed them in my hands, I was glad that the weather was looking good, but looking at the peaceful lives of all the students going to school, kids playing outside and people commuting to work, made me feel oddly uneasy.

Fortunately for me, a phone message sent to my phone distracted me from this feeling. I tapped to view the full message, it read:

“Good morning, Illyanna. I heard something coming from upstairs, are you alright?”

It was a message from my mother, Anne Celestine. She is such a worrywart sometimes, although if I had a child and it did the same thing, I would probably worry myself. I thought about replying to her question, but I woke up later than usual today, and I cannot afford to be late to school.

I belong to a rather rich family, well, this is what we call it nowadays, during the medieval times we would probably be known as a noble family. We are leaders in the technology field, our family mostly crafts and assembles weapons for the military and the government though. Due to this fact, I am very well-known at school, and I am expected to be a role model for many of the younger students attending.

Being completely honest though, it is a pain to have people think so highly of me. At least I am not forced to go through this alone, there are a few cases like mine, but I would prefer not to talk about them.

I heard footsteps from outside my room along with a gentle knock on the door.

“Are you alright? You didn’t answer my message, so I started to worry,” said my mother.

“Yes, I’m fine. Some minor things happened, that’s all,” I unconvincingly replied

I had to hurry and get dressed for school, it starts at 9 am but I often find myself sleeping through my alarms and waking up later than I was supposed to. While I do think this is a strange thing to happen, I could not bother anyone with my problems, so I let it slide.

It would be good to remember my dreams though, lately, I could not recall anything that happened inside them, It’s a strange feeling; I know that I had a dream, but at the same time I can’t remember, no matter how hard I tried.

Another knock on the door brought me back into reality.

“Don’t take too long, school starts very soon. Honestly, what were you doing staying up all night? you must get your schedule fixed,” she said to me.

I went inside my bathroom and turned on the sink, I couldn’t help but think of everything I still had to do for the day, there was a tournament coming up soon, although I wasn’t thinking on joining, I was surely going to be asked to help with the opening ceremony again.

I tried to wash away all my concerns by soaking my face with cold water and rubbing my skin but it is not enough to distract me from my worries. Nowadays they put a lot of pressure on people who came from prestigious families, they think we must always stay put, enforce the rules of society, and serve as role-models for the younger generation.

We are not their guardians, I thought to myself.

Another message is sent to my phone, I picked it up to read it but glanced at the time instead, I spent so long aimlessly thinking to myself, that I was not going to make it in time.

Quickly I put on the school’s uniform, grabbed my bag, books and other belongings then headed downstairs as fast as I could, the sounds my feet made while stomping on the wooden floor could be heard throughout the entire house, I just hoped that I wouldn’t be yelled at.

I went into the kitchen and there was a bento-box on top of the table ready for me to take. My mother always cooks my lunch, and I am very grateful for that.

I noticed her peeking from behind the fridge, looking at the living room.

“Good morning, mother. Is there something wrong?” I curiously asked her.

She looked over at me and put on a fake smile to make it seem like everything was alright, this worried me a little, but no matter the situation I was sure that the previous heiress of the Celestine family would take care of it.

“We have an important guest today, the heir of the Agate family is here to discuss business with us,” she explained to me.

I walked over to the door and saw my father sitting opposite from a man wearing the white uniform of the national military, his hair was short and black, there was a white suitcase next to his chair, everything about him screamed business.

“Please don’t forget to address yourself properly, my dear,” said my mother while biting her nails.

The tone of the conversation suddenly changed as I entered the room, I didn’t understand what they were talking about but it must have been a serious matter, both my father and the man ceased their talking and looked over at me while I slowly walked towards the table.

“Ah! Illyanna, good morning!” said my father.

The man stood up from the chair and walked over to me, he then kneeled before me and said:

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, future heiress of the Celestine family. My name is Isao Agate, I am the current heir of the Agate family, we are allies of yours under the cease-fire agreement proposed by the Starry Alliance,” Isao explained to me.

I knew the Agate family quite well, our families had been engaged in a feud for as long as I could remember because we fought them over control of the military during the third world war. I also have my fair share of issues with them.

“The pleasure is all mine, it is a small house, but please do feel at home here in the Celestine household,” I said to Isao.

Although our family is very wealthy, we live in a humble two-story home. Trying to blend in with society as much as we can, most people from old generations still do not understand our powers, this, unfortunately, leads to many of us being shamed, attacked, and even killed by them.

“I presume you are leaving for school. Be careful out there, the number of attempted attacks on young Stars has been increasing by a lot lately, there’s also the news that another terrorist is roaming the streets, we call him Yaru,” Isao warned me.

My father quickly interrupted him:

“I wouldn’t worry about her, Isao. She is not the next heiress of the Celestine family for nothing! Just imagining Yaru’s reaction if he ever goes against Illyanna… poor soul.”

His words flattered me, but I would not want to go face to face against a terrorist, no matter how strong-minded people make me out to be, the thought of possible death still scares me.

“Hahaha, You’re probably right, Maxwell. I’m sorry for bringing up the subject,” he apologized.

It was time for me to leave though, the school was about to start and I could not afford to be late to morning classes, “I’ll be on my way now,” I excused myself from the room, gave my mother a goodbye kiss, then headed straight for the door.

See you later, Okaasan, Otoosan, I thought to myself.