Rosabella, the fourteenth of the name, Matriarch of the family, the Flamestorm. The title meant she could destroy a whole town as easily as a flick of her finger, but she was nothing but a great shame to herself. Thousands of gold coins had been spent on her but still, she failed.

Time and time again, she had failed miserably.

She had humbled herself in front of many men and women of lower status for nothing but disappointments. She even had pushed through the veiled mockery. Talentless, unlucky, untuned, or whatever else were the excuses told to her whenever she failed to grasp something that should be easy for someone in her place.

A person who had three affinity stacks one after another creating a deadly circle. [Fire], [Air], and [Stone]. She could call a [Meteor] down their stupid heads, but what she wanted the most was still out of reach.

She had traveled far and wide and tried anything and everything. Even things that would have brought great shame to her if anyone learned about it, just to try and reach it.

The magnificent purifying blue flame. It was so close but yet so far.

Her only saving grace was the rarity of blue flame mage. Only one out of fifty mages with [Fire] affinity was able to wield it. Only about twenty-three of them existed in the whole kingdom, and almost half of them were old men and women.

These century-old men and women would take apprentices to inherit their blue flame but only a few emerged after thousands of exhausting tutelage. Many others had spent their vast fortune to uncover its secret, but most of them had ended up indebted and enslaved while others simply gave up.

A wise person would’ve learned from others' failure and so, she had only used her own money from her adventures to find little clues about it. She refused to drag the family down for her obsession, even if she didn’t really want this Matriarch title. Bella would have ignored the elders’ request if her dead sister hadn’t asked in her dying wish.

A whisper had come days ago about an awakened commoner, well before he got here. The informer believed that the spirit was noble-born for whatever reason.

A commoner with a noble spirit was one in a thousand occurrences.

The kind of miracle she needed. This was only a slither of chance, but she still grabbed it with an iron fist. She must have it, the blue flame, no matter what.

“Report,” she demanded to the kneeling man.

He looked up and his eyes lingered on her magnificent chest and down to her tiny waist before he shook himself out of it. The man just couldn’t help himself. They were beasts, each and every one of them. Over the decades, she still couldn’t find an exception among them.

“As you said, Matriarch, the boy shows no sign of shock facing such luxury. His awakened spirit indeed is no commoner. This adds up with his high affinity to the crystals. That affinity alone can make him as rich as any aspiring merchant.”

“What is he doing, has he touched her yet?”

“He had spent the whole night in the library, studying, believe it or not,” the kneeling man scoffed. “The girl remained untouched. The boy is an odd one for sure as other hot-blooded young men will already be in bed with three of them if they can get away with it. The two and many others had shown significant interest in him. But I have to ask, ma’am, are you willing to sacrifice Lily for the boy? He might be talented, but he isn’t worth that much in my eyes.”

“Yes, in your eyes,” Bella scoffed. “I intended to teach Lily a lesson about men and their unpleasant ravenous nature. A single man shouldn’t break her will, and don’t ever question my decision again if you value your life.”

The man cowered to the floor. Even threatened with their life, their eyes still lingered on her, lusting for her body. What a shameless fool these animals were.

“Go and let him inside,” she ordered. “We’ll see if he is useful or not.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the man stood up and escaped her office.

Soon a young man entered the room. He looked around a little before his eyes zeroed on her like they always did. The young man’s eyes traced her body but something was different.

In a blink of an eye, it was gone and a facade smile rose on his face as they made eye contact.

What was that, disgust? It couldn’t be, right? Did he dislike an older woman? But Florence had said he wasn't repulsed by her.

What a peculiar spirit he had. A hermit perhaps?

“Do you need me for something, Matriarch?” Adrin stood straight with his hands behind his back like a soldier waiting for orders.

But she knew it was a sham. A false front.

“The question is, do you need something from me?” Bella said as she casually walked and took a seat on the sofa.

Adrin chuckled, “I appreciate the resources the family has graciously provided, but you are the one who called me here, ma’am.”

“What, you don’t need anything from me? I’m glad to provide it to you,” she shrugged and reached for the wine, “wine?” She offered it to the young man.

“No, thank you,” he said with a fake smile, but he didn’t even look as she folded her leg over the other. “I’m sure it is just a small change for you, but no thank you. What the academy provided should be more than enough.”

“Fine, if you want to play hard to get,” she chuckled. “Why don’t you take a seat,” she patted right beside her.

“I’m fine, thank you,” he said.

Odd, other young men would have jumped on the opportunity while this man wasn’t even tempted to get close. He also wasn't shaking on his feet to take the chance.

“Cute,” she replied and placed down the wine and Bella braced herself.

“I brought you here, for one thing, have your awakened spirit ever heard of blue flame?”

Adrin was surprised for a moment. It was the first time anything genuine came out from him.

“Yes, we do have knowledge in it,” he said. “I’m still working on the glyphs, but I’ve seen plenty of blue flames. Are you interested in this research as well? I’m working with the [Candle] spell glyph, but if I have a few more examples, it might just work.”

‘Interesting, that turned him talkative,’ she mused inside. A think-head, those white-bearded old men would love him, but what he had said had made her heart race until it was hard to keep her excitement inside. Bella was barely able to keep herself seated.

“What might work, Adrin?”

“I’m just trying to recreate blue flame using the spell glyph,” he shrugged like it was nothing. “It will make Lily’s job easier, the fire will be hotter with a blue flame and it won’t take her as long to cook something tasty.”

Bella was astounded. He did it because of food? Should she have him over dinner instead?

“Your awakened spirit had used the blue flame to cook?” Bella asked and it sounded preposterous even as it came out of her mouth.

It was easily the most ridiculous question she had ever asked. She would be called blasphemy if she had asked the same to one of her many mentors. The pure, purging blue flame used to cook meals was just insane.

“Yes,” the boy replied before she saw it, his eyes widened for a moment when he realized something. “Wait, don’t- never mind.”

Adrin had just realized it, as it was clear on his face. The young man had just figured out how truly valuable the blue flame was.

It made sense as he was just a commoner, a village boy who knew nothing about magic and its niches. His awakened spirit might have merged with him, but it would take years to learn the nuances from his past.

“How far are you from completing it, the blue flame?”

“The rune book in the library only teaches the basics,” Adrin cleared his throat. “But I’m very close, at least.”

Bella chuckled and folded her arms, “you sound too confident, boy. Don’t flatter yourself, as even an Archmagi still couldn’t figure it out.”

“Is that so, then I might be wrong,” he sighed dramatically. “Might as well just give up,” he lied through his teeth.

“Are you mocking me?” Bella's anger began to boil. “Can you figure it out or not!?”

Adrin stood straighter. “Yes, I know I can, but I won’t give it away just like that.”

“You will,” she hissed, “I’m your Matriarch. Just name your price.”

Adrin sighed, “look lady, I’m sure you can turn me into ash in a flick of a finger, but I think you misunderstand something. It is not about the money, the price, or whatever.”

“Then what is it about?” Bella calmed down, just a little. ‘Did he have just called me, the Matriarch, lady?’ she continued inside, quite amused by his brazen disrespect.

It reminded her of someone she was very fond of. She hated him at first too.

“I know it will be impossible to ask for trust, but may I have your word that you won’t reveal me as the one who had figured it out? You can use Brian for all I care.”

“But why? You’ll be famous!” She stood up and marched towards him. “The whole kingdom will learn about the young genius who's found the secret to the blue flame. Even the royal family might throw their precious platinum-haired princesses at you. Are you telling me you don’t want any of that?” She pointed a finger at his chest.

“Let’s just say, I’m but a simple man,” Adrin chuckled. “But if this doesn't explode in my face, I’ll try to figure out the green flame next, especially for you, Matriarch.”

“What did you just say!?”

“You are too close, ma’am,” the boy said as he looked aside.

His back was on the wall and she was almost squishing him to a corner. For some odd reason, when she was this close, Bella wanted to kiss the unbelievably stubborn young man.

She cleared her throat as she backed and walked away. Bella turned around, trying not to stare at the young man like a hungry whore. She refused to fall that low, the man wasn't even half as handsome as her last boy-toy.

“If you give me the blue flame, I’ll make an oath to keep its origin a secret. If I break this oath, I’ll be forever enslaved to you. Will that be enough?”

“Ah, do we need the enslaved part?”

“Of course, we do, only death is next, and I still value my life more than my freedom.”

Especially if she could play around with the blue flame. No necromancer would look down on her ever again.

“Oh, okay then, it’s a deal,” Adrin finally agreed.

Bella breathed in relief. She shooed him away before she lost it. The boy bowed and left.

She fell onto her chair when the door closed behind him. She still couldn’t believe it.

‘Is this true?’ she asked herself. ‘Is this real?’

After decades of struggle, the blue flame was finally within her reach.

‘Just a little more,’ she said to herself.