The rune flashed for a few seconds but…
"Huh..?" nothing happened.
"But…but…did I chant wrong?"
With all her magic, Terla poured all her hope too. But the result disappointed her…
"There must be something wrong…, something is wrong, is the magic I poured not enough?"
She felt so helpless as she kept repeating the same chant and thumped through the pages recklessly…
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" Ahh!!" a thin paper cut her finger and blood flowed out from the paper cut.
A drop from the cut fell onto the rune and suddenly, the rune glowed in deep blood red color.
Terla was bewildered watching the scene.
Soon, a tiny figure glowing in a pale gold light appeared in front of her and she heard the figure ask,
"Do you wanna make a contract with me?"
She answered " Yes." but she couldn't hear her own voice, her vision became blurry, and the taste of blood entered her mouth. When she touched her face, blood was flowing out from her nose.
She looked at her hand through hazy eyes then again at the little figure…
*thud*
Terla collapsed on the floor.
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###
"Ahh…"
Sunlight fell on her and she was woken up by the warmth.
Holding her aching head, she sat up.
She opened her eyes and as her vision got clearer, what greets her was a little figure staring curiously at her. When she looked down, her nightgown was stained with blood all over and her hands were also covered in blood.It took her some minutes to grasp the situation.
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.
When she came back to her senses, she asked the little figure still inspecting her from afar…,
"I…passed out?"
The little figure nodded.
"And…you are the little glow from last night?"
It nodded again and a bored voice rang in her mind, " Yes. I am a light spirit…and you can call me Anna."
'I thought she would be a bright and cheerful spirit but as from the way she talks…'
" I can hear you."
" What? You read my mind? Hey, even if you are a spirit, you can't just read others' minds as you like. It's privacy!"
Anna picked her ears and said "I didn't read yours, I can just hear it. And I told you it's Anna."
" oh…, Anna." Terla could only be silent.
Terla: " Do you know what happened last night?"
Anna: " You still can't control the pure magic inside you. The magic in your blood activated the rune. While summoning me your magic went berserk and then you passed out."
"So did I succeed? I mean …, the contract…"
Anna didn't answer but interrupted " Keep your questions. I'm tired. I spent too much magic healing you." and she then turned into a light glow and disappeared into Terla's body.
"Oh…"
After a daze, Terla got up from the floor and prepared herself a bath.
When she finished washing up, the sun was already shining brightly up in the middle of the sky.
" It's already about 11." Terla went down to the kitchen.
On the way, maids were doing their own stuff, cleaning or chatting but not a single one of them came to greet her or ask whether she wanted to have her breakfast. But Terla didn't care or maybe she was just used to it.
She entered the kitchen, pulled out some bread, ham and sliced them.She tried to use the fire magic but the intended magic didn't come out. The nearby maids saw it and laughed under their breath.
But it was not her first time. Every morning, she came down to make her breakfast and there were also days when she used too much magic which made her out of magic the next morning.
She skillfully started a fire and began to fry an egg and sliced ham. When they were done, she put out the fire and let the bread heated with the dying pan heat. She plated them and went back to her room.
Just as Terla finished her breakfast, her callo flashed.
[ We need new dresses for the upcoming ceremony. Get ready. I'll be there in 15 minutes.
-Mom ]
Terla quickly ran out of the room, placed the dish in the sink and came back to dress up. She chose a casual gown she found in her wardrobe and ran back out again.
When she arrived at the front gate, a carriage was already waiting for her.
The wooden carriage was simple without any decoration and a coachman was putting down a stair to step on. She went inside the carriage and sat beside the lady.
The lady wears a pale pink gown and her look isn't outstanding. She got dark brown eyes and her hair was styled into a braided updo. She was surely her mom but they look nowhere alike except from her midnight ruby curls.
After being silent for a while, her mom spoke up
" Have you got the tea party invitation?"
"Yes."
" You will need two dresses, then."
"Imm…"
Stonebarrow is one of the most outskirt towns in Orton city and it took long to get to the city even by carriage.
About an hour later, we arrived at the clothing store.
"Welcome, Madam. Welcome, Miss." the store-owner greeted.
"What kind of dress would you like, Madam?"
"For my son's 'Qualification Ceremony'."
"Oh, you came to the right place Madam. Please follow."
"What about you, miss?" an attendant near me asked.
"For ' Qualification & Graduation Ceremony' and another for a tea party."
"Oh, this way, please."
"Your brother's qualification party, is it?"
" Yes. And my graduation too."
" Oh." the attendant looked surprised. If you ask me why…
" My darling…look at this dress. I bet you will look gorgeous in it.", a woman was holding up a luxurious dress.
" No, mommy. I like this dress better. And it is my graduation ceremony, not a ball. That one looks too extravagant.", the girl in front of the woman shows an elegant dress with less jewels on it.
" What's extravagant about it? Looking splendid at your glorious day is more right."
"Mmm…is that so?", the girl was still hesitant looking at the dresses back and forth.
" What a loving mother and daughter!", the attendant sighed looking at the two.
Truthfully, I had the same thought. But that's not my concern.
As I looked around, I chose what I found appealing. I tried them on and the attendant said,
" Miss, you look good no matter what you wear.", as expected of an attendant.
The attendant then took my measurements and left to adjust the dresses' sizes.
When I found my mother, she hadn't finished choosing her dresses.
I went back to the lounge and waited as more mother and daughter pairs passed by.
# # #
Back in the carriage…,
" We will need to come back tomorrow. There's a lot to choose from…" Lady Ophelia sighed
" Oh my, look at the time." " Mr. Ferid, hurry up. We need to pick up Jack." she called out to the coachman.
" Yes, madam." *Kya*
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The carriage sped up and Terla spoke up, " Mommy, should I just apply for the IUQ class."
( IUQ - international university qualification )
" What is it?"
" Mmm… you said before, you two will have to struggle a lot to earn enough to send me to a university in Thido." ( Thido - neighboring kingdom of ' Land of Peace' )
" And I am thinking, if I get the qualification certificate, I can directly apply for a scholarship in Khisfire. And …"
Lady Ophelia's expression changed, " Haven't we talked about it?"
"Yes, but…"
" Is there guarantee that you will get a scholarship if you attend that class?"
" No, but many people are attending now… and many of them got scholarships."
" So, that means no."
" But mom, this will not take that long and it doesn't cost a ten of the expense we would need to go to Thido and going to Thido is not guaranteed either."
" In detail?" she asked with furrowed brows
"Ahh…, it would take about ten months and for the price, it is not sure yet."
"If you are not sure, don't say it."
"No…, that's where I need your help. You need to help me contact the class office."
"If you need help even for this mere thing, how will you survive in a foreign country?" Lady Ophelia got angry.
"But…"
"No buts!" Lady Ophelia started to shout in anger. "Haven't we made it clear? We will send you to Thido by any means. If you find any other way you can tell us."
"I told you, you just didn't listen to me." Terla replied as her eyes started to get wet.
" What do you mean by not listening?"
" I said it before too. I told you about other qualification courses and…"
" In detail!!! How would we know if you don't say in detail." she scolded again
Terla held in her tears and claimed… "I told you, there can be nothing more detailed than that, but it concluded the same…"
The carriage stopped and chatter entered from the outside…
Terla looked out of the window and saw that they arrived at the Academy.
She kept quiet but her mom continued to yell and scold her regardless,
"It is what you and your father talked about. I know nothing about it..."
Terla tried to stop her but she didn't…
Terla felt ashamed inside her and tears flowed out. She tried to hold them in but only sobs came out.
Soon, Jack came into the carriage and they left the school, but her mother hadn't stopped yelling.
She sobbed all the way home but no one tried to comfort her.
As soon as the carriage stopped and the coachman spoke, Terla immediately ran up to her room.
Terla sat down beside her bed and cried burying her face into the bedsheets.
Anna came out from inside and sighed as she looked pitifully at the sobbing Terla.
She wanted to comfort her but she didn't know how.
She wanted to tell her that her mom scolded her because she was worried, but she couldn't make up any words.
She wanted to distract her but she too was at a loss.
Time passed and Terla finally calmed down. She pulled herself together and looked at the clock. It was already four and her stomach started to growl. She hadn't had lunch since she went out but no one came to ask her if she's hungry or if she wanted to have lunch. No one seemed to remember or maybe they didn't care.
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Wind blew from the window and sounds of laughter rang in her ears.
She got up and looked out of the room.
*clang*
In the backyard, a boy was practicing swordsmanship with his teacher and a group of maids were gathered around, cheering for the boy.
Their shouts and gossip even reached her room.
" Wow…, our young master is so cool."
"If he is this good at his age, what will happen if he grows up…"
At the other corner, the male servants were also observing, " The way he swung the sword…hmm…as expected of our young master."
And at the seating beside the training ground, a couple was laughing and chatting with a cup of coffee in each other's hand and all kinds of refreshments on the side table. They looked so proud watching their son training.
"All of them are here." Terla wanted to laugh as she watched the scene but not a sound came out.
Anna, watching from beside, couldn't help but feel pain in her heart.
The woman yelling at her daughter not long ago, was now laughing heartily with her husband, enjoying refreshments when she forgot her daughter hadn't had lunch.
" Anna, do you know our heart has four chambers? And people say, each chamber stands for one's loved ones; first chamber for parents, another for siblings, the other for first love and the last for the love of their life… but for me, they are all vacant."
At a corner of the room, the callo flashed....