Few weeks ago, Lily had requested that Hazel should teach her how to cast proper spells.
Of course, the lady-in-waiting was surely taken aback by such request.
Normal humans were not made to cast spells unless they have magic in their blood and active caster's circuit in their body.
"For the past few weeks, you only taught me the basic. When will you teach me how to do higher level magic?" Lily pouted while eyeing the five-inched thick tome with longing.
Sporting a worried expression on her face, Hazel closed the grimoire. How will she be able to explain to the princess that casting spells was impossible?
The young princess didn't have a drop of magic in her blood. Lily wasn't able to inherit the caster's blood of Marjoram's royal family. Queen Anemone, who was from Thyme, was not a caster after all.
Added to that, Lily's caster's circuits were all inactive. Nothing can change that unless they would recourse to experiment.
"Please take a seat, my lady. It's time for another lesson." Hazel pointed to one of the wooden chairs. "before I agreed to teach you how to be a witch, I had mentioned about the caster's circuit and blood, right?"
The princess nodded before she filled in. "You said that everyone has caster's circuits in their bodies. But only few people like the witches, wizards, warlocks and other casters can use them."
Then the princess added. "About caster's blood... only few pure blooded caster family had survived through the centuries. The rest had mixed blood so only a few Marjorans can cast spells."
"I'm glad that you remembered, my lady." Hazel gave her a smile but the attendant couldn't keep herself from gazing at the princess with a wary expression.
"Those are essential lessons that a witch, wizard or any caster needs to learn. So, please pay attention for the next few facts." Hazel said. "for today's lesson, I will be teaching you more about caster's circuit.
Clearing her throat, Hazel prepared for her speech and hoped that her young mistress will be able to understand the details.
"Caster's circuits are the ones enabling witches to manipulate mana and cast spells. Everyone has them, however normal people could not use them because their caster's circuits are dormant."
"Does that include me too?" the princess asked. She already had her suspicion but she needed to hear it herself.
Lily knew for one that, except her father and the previous kings, only a handful from the royal family had caster's blood. Furthermore, the chances of having active caster's circuit was close to none.
Another reason for her suspicion was the progress she had made.
Despite being taught by Hazel for almost three weeks, she was only able to make a feather float on thin air. Even that simple spell was already hard for the princess to do.
The princess's face fell when Hazel affirmed, but she refused to give up. She had read books that talked about normal people being able to cast spells.
"Is there any way for me to activate my caster's circuits?" Lily asked while keeping her fingers crossed.
Hazel's grew pale at the question. She knew the answer but she didn't want to give the princess false hope. Despite that, she decided to be honest with Lily.
Taking a deep breath, the maiden answered. "Before I ran away from home, I was able to read books that could activate the caster's circuit of normal humans. There were a few options. One is to make a contract with a demon, allow him or her to take over the body and activate the caster's circuit."
"A demon?" the princess muttered thoughtfully. Her eyes shone with curiosity.
"Princess, this method is risky. Once the demon will take over, there is a chance that the host will go insane in the process. Only a small percentage of humans survived through this method and most of them turned into demons themselves."
Lily gulped at what Hazel had imparted, but she continued to listen.
"Plus, this is the reason why witches were hated." Lily's smile faded with Hazel's remark. "Only a small amount of witches got acquainted with demons, but people generalized the idea."
"Due to the contracts humans had initiated to cast spells, disasters happened and people blamed the witches." Hazel added. "So please promise me, you won't initiate a contract with demons. It is downright hopeless."
The princess nodded. Although one of her darkest goal was to meet a demon, going insane and turning into one was never her aim.
"What's the other method?"
"The other method is to use a catalyst to activate the caster's circuit. Catalysts could be relics from casters. Caster's blood or any vital organ will be incorporated within the person's body. Incantation will follow and the awakening process will start."
Lily almost got her hopes up, but Hazel said. "Unfortunately, such process was risky. About 97 percent of those who tried it died even before completing the awakening phase."
"So there's no hope for me." Lily muttered dejectedly.
Upon noticing her employer's face, Hazel cheer her up. "Your highness, despite having dormant caster's circuit, you were able to cast simple spells. And that is a great achievement!"
Lily just gave her a sad smile in return.
Instead of giving up, the princess still continued to learn magic.
For the succeeding weeks the girls met inside the sanctuary and began studying different types of magic.
Despite that obvious fact that the princess was struggling in spell casting, Hazel noted that the young girl had some talent in alchemy and potion making. She seemed to be good in whipping up potions and enchanted drinks.
"The revitalizing cocoa you made was really good!" Hazel exclaimed as she took a sip of the chocolate-like drink.
However, her excitement was cut short when she noticed her student spacing out.
For sure, it wasn't the spell that she had failed cast properly that brought that look on the princess's face.
Even without talking, she could sense that something's wrong. Working as the lady-in-waiting for the princess for more than five years had its perks!
"Your highness..." Hazel made her way to the other girl. "Is there anything wrong?"
Lily looked at Hazel with glassy eyes. She gave a heavy sigh before she said. "I had been having a recurring dreams lately. And it is bothering me a lot."
"Tell me about your dreams." Hazel requested as she took a seat next to the princess.