That night, I had dreams of silver eyes. Perhaps it was because I had been so focused on the fact Castiel had never been mentioned in the novel, that my mind began to unconsciously think of him to the point of even dreaming about him.

Although I was still a child, my adult senses were tingling. Just how well did he know Kael? He had even referred to him by his first name without any honourifics.

Considering that Kael was a duke, to refer to him by his first name so casually could only mean that they were more than just mere acquaintances. It was a shame the novel never touched on Kael's private life. I had no foundation whatsoever to base any assumptions. Still, referring to him by his first name meant he had to have been of equal rank or higher than Kael—which was impossible unless he was the emperor.

A duke was one of the highest of the five degrees of nobility. Other noble titles which indicated one was a member of the hereditary peerage, were: marquess, earl/count, viscount and baron. Although a baronet was not included among the peerage, the title could still be inherited. Then below a baronet, was a knight, which was a title of honour rather than aristocracy.

While the hereditary rights of Clove Kingdom aristocracy sometimes blurred due to another form of "nobility" which involved titles of prestige.

Prestige was a result of obtaining an official ranking in any roles that practised magic derived from supernatural, occult or arcane sources.

Yet, access to magic in the world was more or less monopolised by elite groups, who used combinations of magic, social, political and religious processes to ensure they retained control. A vast variety of users inherited their ability to wield mana through bloodlines. Although, there were always rare anomalies (such as Eleanor—a commoner) in which someone with no magical lineage gained the ability to wield mana. Of course, there were also those that were born without the gift to sense mana, which then meant (depending on their rank of nobility) whether or not they wanted to pursue another route: contracts.

If one formed a contract in order to wield magic, they fell into the prestige class known as an Arcanist—as their sole source of power came from their contracted beast. They were also termed that as they created "pacts" with these powerful creatures to harness their innate magical gift and perform spell-like feats and abilities.

It was well known, that some families even spent fortunes to ensure their ungifted children formed contracts with magical beasts in order to wield magic (although not their own). Some families even had magical beasts that served the heads of the family and had served many masters for generations—but was also very rare.

Every child that could wield magic (in one form or another) was sent to the Royal Academy of Magical Arts. It was important that any person of with any degree of magic entered this academy as it was a an important hallmark of prestige—or what I liked to call "boasting rights". Though it was noted that over the centuries there had even been some baron families that had risen all the way to counts as a result of their magical achievements and contributions to society. As far as I was aware, it was extremely hard to raise one's noble rank unless it was somehow connected to magical aptitude. There was also an old legend, of a commoner that formed a contract with a legendary beast and was granted the title of duke after saving the kingdom.

Acacius.

Yet everyone regarded that as a mere child's folktale that parents used to help inspire their children, all so they would try harder when they entered the Royal Academy of Magical Arts.

Here, mages learnt to harness and use their magic according to their natural affinity.

Darkness, earth, fire, water, air and light were the six categories that a person's natural affinity fell into.

Naturally, darkness and light were incredibly rare. So of course—Eleanor wielded light magic despite being a commoner with no magical bloodline.

No wonder I was going to die.

How could I compete with that?

I stared at my child-like hands and clenched them into tiny fists. I was completely powerless. Weak.

I had to change that.

Luckily, there were a few small moments throughout the day where I was left to my own devices. It was the only thing that kept me sane. Having someone tail you wherever you went thinned you're patience pretty quickly. Having someone also telling you "don't go there" and "be careful" held a new special place in my heart, added to my special list of comments that triggered me.

Therefore, considering I knew absolutely nothing about magic, I went to the only place that I could think of.

The library.

Fortunately, the library was in No Mans Land—as I liked to call it—because although it was technically a part of the east wing, it was still adjacent to the main section of the mansion. When I had told Lettie I wanted to go there, she had seemed hesitant, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

After a few moments, I tried pleading with my eyes by making them as big and round as possible.

"Ok." She breathed, as if she had given up. "But we need to be quiet ok?" She then held her finger to her lips. "Libraries are meant to be quiet."

Somehow I got the feeling that wasn't the only reason she wanted me to be quiet.

I nodded earnestly, trying to portray full innocence.

She smiled, then reached over and picked me up. It was only after we had been walking for a few minutes that I realised there was no way I could have made this walk using my own legs. It was too far.

I frowned. I would need to work on that.

As we walked, I became overwhelmed over how many hallways and rooms we walked by. It was extravagantly huge. Large enough to get lost.

When we finally stopped before two large doors, Lettie whispered something under breath before entering the library. I was too distracted by my apprehension to pick up on what she said.

Inside, I felt like I had walked into the setting of a movie. Sunlight filtered down from a sky light in the ceiling onto the tiled centre of the library. Yet it was only after I took a better look that I realised the entire floor was pure marble. The area which the sunlight filtered directly onto was some form of mosaic art piece. It seemed as if you would need to be on the roof staring down at this piece to get the entire picture. Yet judging from something that looked similar to a hand—it must have been some famous person.

It was surprisingly serene in here. I had honestly expected to walk into some dark, large library with sconces on the walls being the only source of light.

But it was the complete opposite. The natural light from the ceiling above lit up the room, reflecting off the marble, giving the impression of being amongst the clouds. Large bookcases made of beautiful light oak-like wood towered above us, reaching all the way to the ceiling. Surprising still—there were some strange plants that I couldn't name that I noticed twisted around some seats and bookshelves.

Aside from us, there were a few other servants I noticed dusting the shelves and cleaning the marble, keeping this place spotless.

Lettie seemed to relax when she saw the others, then put me down so I could "find my book" while she went over and discussed something with the other servants.

Initially, a few servants came up and greeted me, cooing and talking amongst themselves. Naturally, they must have assumed I couldn't understand.

A boy servant with eyes that appeared more like a reptile's, seemed surprised when he saw me. "She looks exactly like the master!"

Another maid laughed. "Of course Henry, she is the master's daughter."

He seemed short of words. "But I don't even see a trace of the lad–"

"Henry." Lettie caught him before he could say anything else.

Like who?

They were all silent. Only a few uncomfortable stares in my direction.

Whatever he had been about to say, seemed to sober everyone else up, because they then decided to leave me alone so I could "explore".

Annoyed, I decided to walk away. There was no way they were going to mention anything else with me around.

After walking around the library for a while and trying to make sense of the aisles, I eventually made my way to a section that looked like what I was hoping it would be.

Spells.

Knowing that I was alone—because all the other servants were talking, I decided to open the books and read them.

Although the language was different in this world, for some reason, I still could read the the symbols and make sense of them.

Was it a higher power's grace? Had they decided to gift me with literacy to help me fight against my terrible luck?

Truly, I needed all the help I could get.

I silently thanked the heavens that I could read. But after a while of rifling though many books, I realised it wasn't going to be easy. And looking down at my dismal height, I realised that I would not be tall enough the reach the books on the higher shelves. Not unless I got a servant to fetch them and subsequently give myself away.

I sat down and sighed at the books around me.

Great.

Another road block.

Suddenly, a book appeared in front of my face.

"I believe," the voice said. "This might be the book you're looking for."

Mana Maleficarum

It was an old book, with a faded cover and almost nothing outstanding about it. It looked ordinary, yet almost instinctively, I took the book without thinking, as if driven by some unknown force. The words resonated deep within for reasons completely foreign to me.

"I found it strange." The voice continued. "To walk into a usually quiet library, yet hear a loud mind at work."

I looked up and met his silver eyes as he watched me. How long had he been here?

How long had he been hearing my thoughts?

I felt my face begin to flush in embarrassment.

How had he got in? Wasn't this place restricted?

"Your thoughts are so loud for one so quiet, little rose."

Castiel smiled at me, and I noticed that despite the fact that light was shining on the both of us...

he was the only one that wasn't casting a shadow.