Ria Soleras held a secret that barely anyone within the Jack Kingdom knew, and discovering this secret would often result in disappearance.
Unlike the pristine appearance of Ria from the outside, an extremely talented young woman who possessed beauty and wealth envied by all, the reality was different.
Ever since she was born, Ria had been treated with disdain by her father, King Lucien, who provided her with the bare minimum to maintain the appearance of a princess to the outside world.
Inside the palace of the Jack Kingdom, away from the public's view, she was picked on by the lowest servants for the smallest of reasons.
Initially thinking it was due to her mother coming from the Cosmos family, which fell shortly after her birth, Ria worked extremely hard to make her father acknowledge her.
Yet, no matter how pristine her etiquette or how talented she was, the glimmer of hatred never left King Lucien's eye.
All alone in the palace, which for most symbolised luxury but for her represented a prison, Ria's world was one devoid of light, with each day simply ticking by.
Although her dark days as a beam of light illuminated a child, her younger brother Rowan Soleras. Rowan treated her like a real sister and was the lovable little brother who made every day worth living for Ria.
That all changed on Rowan's tenth birthday, sparring in a courtyard of the palace, each move being monitored by the guards.
The childlike smiles on the siblings' faces changed when Rowan was called away by a maid who shot Ria a dirty look before leaving.
She didn't have to be a genius to figure out that the one who called Rowan away was her father, Lucien.
Hours passed as the two were engaged in talk whilst the bored Ria waited for her little brother to return.
Yet the one who returned that day wasn't the lovable little brother Ria knew but instead someone else entirely.
Although all of Ria's senses, as well as her soul, could tell the boy who stood in front of her was indeed the Rowan she had been sparring with before, everything felt different.
Instead of the loving smile Rowan typically showed the sister, he doted on his face, which was marked with a look of disgust.
It was as if the thing before him wasn't his sister, who he loved and cared for, but instead, a mere cattle that wasn't worthy for him to look at.
"Don't come looking for me again if not called; I wouldn't want to spend any more time with you than possible."
Leaving Ria alone in her dark room unfit for a Baron, let alone a Princess, she felt as if the world she knew was crumbling around her.
Her last pillar of support in a dark world she couldn't understand or navigate had not only left her but now despised her.
When Ria eventually awakened her 'Ace' card, it was uniquely ranked, and the child, who was desperate for recognition, rushed to her father.
Expecting at least a hint of happiness, Ria waited for her father's reaction with a smile. Instead of joy, the young princess was met with a bloodcurdling killing intent, which caused her to collapse.
As she struggled to retain consciousness, Ria turned her eyes to the King of the world's greatest Kingdom and saw a look she would never forget for the rest of her life.
Even though she had never seen such a look before, Ria could tell that her father, the man who she thought would always protect and look out for her, wanted to kill her.
Like a rabbit in a trap, the barely awake Ria waited for the blow to come, yet as if there was some intangible force holding him back. After Ria passed out, she woke up the next day as if nothing happened.
The next night, Ria wished she had kept her talent a secret; her treatment around the palace had gotten even worse, especially from Rowan, who refused to even speak to her from that point on.
Ria Soleras, despite her world-shaking talent, which would make Ducal families treat her better than the Duke, was now more alone in the palace than ever.
Possessing a spade 'Ace' card implying she was a highly weighted aura user, Ria was forced to pick up a sword.
Although she could have begged the King, she knew deep down that her father would never grant her a teacher, so she trained alone.
Isolated from her family and feeling like a disease within the palace, instead of raging, Ria put up a mask to deal with giving birth to the cold beauty Ria Soleras.
Swinging a sword without rest, alone in the courtyard where she once played with her brother, Ria would leave every day with her hands in tatters.
It didn't take long for Ria to realise her unique 'Ace's' ability seemed to be prophetic, allowing her to glimpse seconds ahead whilst fighting.
The majority of her training went into exploiting these visions to break her opponent's techniques and quickly defeat them.
The years rolled on as Ria's talent was wasted away in the palace; despite her unique talent, due to lack of teaching and opportunity, she barely reached the late 'Ace' rank by the academy's first test.
Given a sword and clothing that wouldn't embarrass the royal family, Ria departed her life of 'luxury' in the palace.
Excitement and the feeling of freedom is what Ria felt as she departed on a new journey where she could make friends and let her talent bloom for the first time.
"Ria Soleras, it's time for your first fight."
Hearing these words, which meant she was just three fights away from freedom, Ria walked towards the magic circle whilst maintaining her cold facade, yet each of her steps contained a spring as she tried to suppress the excitement bubbling up inside her.
Regulus watched as Ria walked into the magic circle and couldn't help but have expectations for the upcoming fight.
'The sword by her side indicates she is likely an aura user as opposed to a mage.'
Regulus couldn't suppress his excitement about the upcoming battle as Ria's opponent, a massive man wielding a mace, approached her.
'Let's see what a peak genius of aura from the younger generation looks like in this world.'
Ria, a girl with looks close to perfection, stood before her opponent, a Neanderthal man who seemed to be from the Stone Age.
Beginning the fight, the giant wrapped a massive amount of card energy around his mace and swung downwards towards the slender figure of Ria.
"Elephant Art: Falling Weight!"
The giant called out the rough construct of an elephant that came down with the mace, showing the martial art was four-star.
Shattering the reinforced floor from the sheer force, the mace swept through nothing; before the man had even begun swinging the club, Ria had already nimbly leapt aside.
Staring at the woman who had yet to draw her sword and maintained a cold expression, the giant felt his face turn red as he executed his ultimate move prematurely.
"Elephant Art: 1000 Elephants"
The card energy in the air began to move as the giant used his club to shape his aura, but as this was happening, Rena was moving.
Drawing her sword like a streak of light and appearing before the giant crouched low, Ria sprung up and thrust her blade at a single point.
'Where does she think she's aiming? She can't stop the ultimate move of my tribe with such a flimsy blade.'
The giant thought whilst continuing his move, yet he felt the card energy around him fade away at that moment as if it had never been there.
Ria had spotted the critical moment in the execution of his technique and, at that moment, had precisely injected her card energy into a spot that, like a Jenga tower, caused the total failure.
Regaining her balance and quickly spinning on her feet, the cold steel of Ria's blade pierced the giant's tree-like neck. It was a short battle in which Ria Soleras was dominant against a strong opponent from start to finish.
Regulus, who had been watching the fight, had just experienced a rollercoaster of emotions; Ria Soleras had been the exact opposite of what he had expected to see, yet somehow even more impressive.
As a member of the royal family, Regulus had expected to see a flashy five-star technique that drowned her opponent with superior card energy until submission.
Yet throughout the fight, Ria had only used honed basics to prevail; seeing her halt the giant's movement by countering at a critical point, Regulus was shocked for just a moment as this was a feat only the pinnacle of swordsmen could achieve.
Yet Regulus had quickly figured out it was likely due to an ability she possessed. Causing a total collapse from a single move required the swordsmen to analyse and predict the move faster than the one who was executing it and then calculate and counter in a millisecond.
Such a technique was so tricky even in Regulus's former world of martial arts that it could make people think you could see into the future.
Yet Regulus knew Ria wasn't like this, and for some reason, he couldn't quite figure out her movements were full of flaws.
Although containing flaws would usually cause Regulus to be angry, all the clues he was getting from Ria suggested she was self-taught.
Unlike the previous aura users, who were full of holes due to a desire for constructs, Ria appeared like a patchwork tapestry that had been patched over hundreds of times.
He could tell that without a teacher; Ria had optimised her basics to the point where she could almost ignore the present flaws.
Despite Ria displaying a technique similar to foresight in the battle, Regulus was far more interested in the circumstances that led her to this point.
'Unlike the other royals, she reached this level alone with just a sword, a true monster of effort.'
'How far could you grow with technique and a teacher, Ria Soleras.'