To say the maids were surprised when I came back in a knight's arms was an understatement.

The knights of the De Villanova dukedom were befitting of their image. Although I had initially been surprised to be placed into a knight's arms, I quickly came to terms with it—of course a duke would have knights. It was actually silly of me not to think so. I guess the reason I had never thought of it before was because I had never seen one. I had always been secluded in the east wing that I didn't know much of what went on outside of that. It was strange being so isolated, and the maids did a very good job of keeping it that way. Of course, I knew if they didn't, Kael would not hesitate to kill them.

My brief encounter with Kael had become somewhat dreamlike in my mind. It still didn't feel real, almost as if I had dreamt the whole thing up. After all, it had been more than a year since I'd seen him last, even then I didn't get to view him properly. To say he was beautiful was an understatement.

Except, every rose had it's thorns. Kael's thorns just happened to be big arse thorns that had poison on the ends.

Deadly.

It was still strange looking at such deadly beauty and the same time trying to comprehend being biologically related.

It didn't feel real.

No wonder it all felt like a dream. As if any day I would wake up, and I would find myself staring at the same old ceiling with peeling paint, and a stack of biology books by my outdated computer. No sound of human life aside from what occasionally floated in through my window from the city streets. Any day it felt as if I would wake up and be back in that apartment. On my own.

I swallowed and shook my head.

Lettie snatched me off the knight, her face fierce as if she were saving me from a snake. His facial expression didn't change. I believe Kael had called him Tirack.

He was tall, had dark grey hair (despite looking to be only in his early twenties) and had honey brown eyes. He also had a scar on his left brow, creating a little space where there was no hair, accentuating his domineering vibe.

The knight bowed, catching her—and me—off guard.

"The master has informed that he will seeing the miss again soon."

Everyone's jaw dropped, including my own.

What...the...****...

Why?

What was happening?! Everything was wrong! Edythe wasn't meant to meet Kael for another five or so years. My pulse quickened, did that mean I would die five years sooner?

I couldn't be sure.

As we were outside, I saw the light reflect off Lettie's eyes.

And they were bright green.

My suspicions had been correct. She knew magic. I just didn't know what kind. It was the first time I had seen her show it off so blatantly. And she was using it for me.

I felt touched. She really did care about me.

The knight remained calm, his expression giving away nothing. "I will return when the Master calls for her again."

Then he turned around and walked away without listening to a reply, which seemed wise. It felt as if the maids would pounce on him if he stayed any longer. The hostility in the air was almost palpable.

Unsure of what had really just transpired I looked at Lettie.

She seemed both disbelieving, angry and happy at the same time. First and foremost above all, she looked worried. Her eyes lingered on the spot that the knight had just vacated before she finally dragged her eyes to me.

Her bright green eyes returned to a normal brown. She gave me a reassuring smile. "It will be alright miss. I am here for you."

I was still shocked.

I didn't want to see him again. It would ruin everything.

It already had ruined everything.

I didn't want to throw everything off even more! How was I meant to establish my fortune and plans if I had to spend my whole time trying to just stay alive?

Fearful, I bunched my hands into fists and accidentally scrunched up Lettie's sleeve. She must've taken it as me being reluctant or scared, because she then gave me a reassuring look as she pulled a stray hair behind my ear.

"It's ok miss, I wouldn't do anything to bring you harm."

Yeah. Right.

As if anyone could stop Kael the moment he decided to go on a killing spree. Probably not even Mother Nature. Somber, I rested my head on Lettie's shoulder. It felt as if all the energy had been sucked out of me by some energy vampire.

I was completely drained.

I didn't even feel like mana accumulation.

Sleep.

I wanted to sleep.

And a nap was exactly what I got. In fact, the next day I still felt drained and lack lustre. It was only until four days later that I finally felt back to my original self. Even the maids had worried, especially after I spent most of the first day in bed. They had been fearful that I had come down with some sickness and made sure that all my needs were met.

Really, all I needed was sleep.

Whatever Kael had done, he'd done me good.

I was so incredibly weak. It was pathetic really.

Why couldn't I have the natural talent of Eleanor and just whip up myself some fresh energy with a snap of my fingers?

When I did return to my usual self and finally got a moment alone, I closed my eyes.

I barely had to focus now.

After doing it hundreds of times, it now didn't even feel as if I had to search for the mana. Now it felt as if the mana itself was searching for me.

I could feel it instantly. It was on my skin, my hair, my eyelashes and my nose. It was everywhere, swirling around me. The more I practised, the higher the volume of mana I began to sense.

The moment it touched my skin, it melted into me, almost as if they were snowflakes melting on my skin.

Breathing in deeply, I released a slow and purposeful exhale. My muscles relaxed and felt renewed.

Taking a quick glance around, I made sure there was no one present before I pulled the book out from under my bed. Although everyone seemed to see it as some butterfly book after Castiel had put some incantation on it, I couldn't be too careful. Who knew if this spell had some time limit on it? It still felt strange that people were looking at this book as if it were something else.

Magic was so strange.

When I went moved to the following page, I finally felt as if I was somewhat ready to move onto the next step.

Chapter 1 - Increasing Your Magical Power:

In order to increase your magical power, connecting with the source of your power is deeply important.

Although some might consider this basic knowledge, even masterful mages must always practise their fundamentals.

Therefore, you must work through the following exercises to deepen your connection with the source of your magic.

I stopped reading.

Source of my power? I had no idea.

It had never been a thought that had crossed my mind before. Naturally, I knew Eleanor's source of magic: light. She was the main character so of course I knew. But in a novel that was so focused on Eleanor and her relationship with the second prince, it had failed to mention any real details about the other insignificant figures around her.

Insignificant figures like me.

My mind was troubled. Edythe was half demon and half human. She was split in two. Who was to say that the human side she had inherited from her mother didn't have a magical attribute of it's own? What if that was the source of Edythe's power, and not the demon blood within her?

What did demons even use as a source of magic?

I let out an irritated sigh and slammed the book shut. As I was slamming the cover shut, my index finger slid across the edge of the fine page that I was on, immediately cutting through a fine layer of skin and causing pain to shoot up my arm.

I stared at my finger in detached fascination as blood began to well. Great. Now that I didn't know what my source of power was, I couldn't progress. That meant that I couldn't get stronger. That meant that my chances of escaping were becoming smaller. That meant that the my chances of avoiding death were also smaller.

A chill ran down my spine.

The blood pooled and began to slide down my finger. It was warm and I could feel the area where the skin was open begin to throb. Annoyed, I shoved the book away from me and it slid across the floor. I couldn't even avoid a stupid paper cut.

The sudden movement caused a drop of blood to fall off my finger and splat on the marble floor, barely avoiding the pristine carpet beside me.

The red was a stark contrast to the white and gold surrounding me.

The blood from my finger also wasn't letting up as it ran down my wrist. Briefly, I contemplated calling Lettie, but I knew it would stop eventually, and I was also too angry at myself to want another person in the room with me.

Seriously. What was I meant to do?! How was I meant to become stronger?! I bit my lower lip and could feel a faint sting behind my eyes as tears began to well from my sudden emotional outburst. This body also annoyed me. It was too weak. My spike in emotions had caused it produce tears on cue. It was as if I was on my period.

I hated tears. I hated crying, showing how much something meant to me. When I blinked, I tried to will them to disappear. I hated how my chin quivered, how the sudden emotion had now rendered me speechless. Angry that my vision had now become blurry and that I couldn't control myself enough to make it stop, I forcefully rubbed my eyes to make the tears disappear.

I don't want to die. Not again.

The anger and emotion were fresh and it was the first time I had ever become so emotionally unstable since coming here.

I won't die.

I could feel the emotion turning into resolve as my vision cleared and I stared at the blood on the floor.

I will become stronger.

The emotion was like a flame within me, slowly hardening my resolve and making me more determined to change my fate. It didn't matter if I wasn't the main character of this story.

All I had to do was survive.

As I stared at the drop of blood on the floor, I heard movement and voices outside my door. It sounded like Lettie.

But it was just before the doors to my room opened that I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, or that my vision hadn't fully cleared.

I stared at the drop of blood on the floor as the impossible happened.

It separated into two.