For as long as I can remember, everyone around me has always told me that I am special.
"You were born with an incredible gift"
"You are a genius girl!"
"We are proud of you"
Endless words of praise came from all sides.
I was the Quaramis' biggest exhibit and soon my family was back in the spotlight.
But as I grew older and outgrew my teachers, I noticed I was increasingly alone.
Nobody wanted to spend time with something they didn't know anything about.
"It is only when you are different from the rest that you distance yourself the most." Those were the words I always repeated to myself as a kind of vague consolation.
Over time, I learned to accept it: being different or the same as others is something that cannot be avoided originally.
Even though my brothers were growing apart, I spent more and more time alone. I was honing and playing with my powers. Discovering things was a lot of fun.
And that's how I came across new possibilities that I could develop with practice and proper dedication: I managed to create different spells that fit my ideals.
That was the height of pride for the Quaramis.
Zaphyris Quaramis was immortalized as the young genius whose power can work wonders.
But there was also a dark side that grew behind it: the fear of the unknown.
"Stay away from her or she will freeze your powers forever."
"His gaze is cold which emphasizes his arrogance as part of the ice faction"
"That girl scares me..."
There were people who didn't even bother to whisper their opinions.
Paying attention to public opinion is mostly a torture...
That was what I always thought when I went abroad or even within my own kingdom.
Then I met Estaroph, a noble knight from the southern lands of the continent: for some reason his simplicity and tenacity seemed attractive to me, but his words were much more so.
"You are a fool!" He said in a firm tone as he reprimanded me. "If you think you are alone, then gather those you want on your side. Don't wait for others to come to you, but wait for them."
Those words were very special to me and I thank you for making me think that way.
Estaroph was really the right man.
After we married some time later, it was up to the two of us to play the decisive role in the Sacred Ocean Tournament: with my power, and together with Estaroph's help, we propelled the Quaramis towards the crown of the Kingdom of Atlas.
The Quaramis Family returned to reign after several decades of darkness.
I finally felt happy: I could be alone inside a palace, travel wherever I wanted, and see people obey my will without me even saying a word.
The annoying noises never came out of their mouths again...
Public opinion disappeared...
Now even all the continents were looking for me and wanted to bring me to their lands; some others wanted to owe me favors in order to gain anything from it.
The name Ice Empress spread everywhere.
When everything seemed so normal, one day a boy appeared in my palace: his name was Lucius.
At first, I thought he was a spy, a mercenary bandit sent by some organization whose plans are to harm some princesses of the seven continents who currently live in my palace and under my responsibility.
But that idea changed quickly: that boy doesn't even know where he is.
He looks like a helpless child... just like Junk, Ephtos or Zaliph.
But there is something that worries me about Lucius, it is his spiritual power.
There is a possibility that his future plans are to harm my kingdom and kill one of the princesses. That way I would let my guard down while Lucius pretends he doesn't know anything and that he has lost consciousness...
But it is still unlikely, since they know that I have a secret weapon: thanks to the uniqueness of one of my children, I can see through the true memories of the person's soul.
And that's exactly what I was about to do the day Lucius was to leave my palace... or rather, I never intended to let him leave this place.
Why would he do something so cruel and crazy?
During this time, he has only been learning and has never done anything suspicious: none of the princesses dislike him and Ryujinzhu also secretly watched him and Wolf did not let his guard down for a minute.
Even Lucius has become acquainted with Zaliph and his siblings. Plus, it seems he has special mixed feelings towards my little Aphril.
Now that things have come to this point, why was it decided this way?
The answer to that comes down to my selfish feelings: Lucius has something that will arouse the greed of the other kingdoms.
If he were to fall into the wrong hands, it would be a waste for me to let him go since he is under my control.
He is nothing more than a weapon... a pawn about to take the enemy square and be used for personal gain.
If I let him go now, someone else will take advantage of it... so I won't allow it while I have him.
That's what I've been thinking but I couldn't rush it, I still needed to confirm who Lucius really is... the strange boy who appeared in front of me.
Since he could be bait that was sent with the intention of harming us in the future.
If that was the case, then he would kill him immediately.
All for the power of Atlas...
Long live the power of the Quaramis...