THE name "Enora" was decided long before I was even born. It held the meaning "Honor". Which is the name that the Queen decided to bestow the firstborn, if born a girl. And the day that the Queen absorbed enough mana to conceive a baby, Heavens sent upon her, a healthy baby girl.

The thing is, the Queen had absorbed more mana than she had planned to. Resulting in the birth of my twin sister, who was birthed 12 hours after me. The weather turned from semi-chill to snowy. It was a beautiful, calm snow. And so the Queen gave her the name, Eira; meaning "Snow". Referring to the weather she was born in. 

It was peaceful with just us, being raised side by side. Although there were some issues with telling us apart due to our similar features. Well being born almost a day apart doesn't excuse the fact that we are identical twins.

Despite being busy with her duties, the Queen still made time for me and Eira. She showered us with all the love and care she could ever offer. Sometime after we turned around 3 years old, Ciro was born. I could remember clearly the day he was born. The sky was clearer than it had been in a long while. The sun shone brighter than all the heirlooms we have stored in the castle. The birds spread their wings and flew across the sky without any worries that snowstorms might build up anytime soon. Just like that, the snow that had been falling for 2 years straight had stopped. And the Queen didn't have to overuse her mana to maintain the land's stability as much as she did in the past. Ciro's birth was considered as a gift from the heavens .

But alas happiness didn't last long. In the upcoming few years, the Queen unknowingly conceived once again. For the first time after giving birth to three children with no sweat, the Queen had an unusual share of hardship in giving birth to this little one. It took her almost three nights and four days to give birth to her fourth child. Which I find absolutely absurd. But seeing the Queen's pale complexion, any hint of skepticism that my heart bore was vanquished almost immediately. 

Not long after that, the newborn was named "Shivani" by the councils, since the Queen had refused to name her. 

Things haven't been the same after that. The Queen still spends most of her free time with us, but something about her felt different. The glow that was usually on her face seemed to dim over time. I knew it had something to do with the stability of her mana. With the birth of Shivani. But I didn't dare comment on it.

Although me and Eira played with Ciro most of the time, Eira made a few advances to spend time with Shivani too. But for some reasons, the Queen would always try to separate us from Shivani and avert our attention back to Ciro, who was still a toddler instead. She'd always say- 

"It's for the good of Shivani that you two stay away from her. How about playing with Ciro in the garden instead? He must be bored being in the room all day long." She said that with the most convincing smile that she could plaster on her face.

Of course, me and Eira were always bemused by her behavior. It was so unlike her. Not only that, even the people around us tried to isolate Shivani from us. 

And that was when I'd learned the truth. The birth of the Queen's childrens affects the state of the Kingdom depending on the child's pure mana. Be it for the better, or for the worse. The Kingdom had prospered with Eira, Ciro and my birth. But it had not been the same case for Shivani. Shivani's pure mana had circulated chaos among the Kingdom. The corps were dying. And that left an impact quite big on our economy. 

Turns out, the Queen had tried to stabilize the state of the field corps and drained a lot of her mana. But still even after all that, nothing got better. And the Queen stopped trying only after falling ill for a whole month, which was a rare situation since us elves had stronger immune systems compared to normal beings such as humans, animals etc.

After many months of recuperating in isolation, she managed to gain her health and came to a decision to conceive yet another child. That was her last resort and hope. If things turned out for the better, then the yet to be born child's pure mana will help with the situation and bring back the stability to the footing of the Kingdom. If not, then the Kingdom might suffer a much bigger loss. It was a hard gamble and required lots of discussions and meetings with the council.

But god seemed to be in a generous mood because Akira's birth had turned the situation around for the better. Thankfully. Living up to his name; he was a bright kid and clear with his intentions I could've sworn that I heard his wails even when we're on different floors. Neither me or my other siblings had that much energy as a kid. He was much more playful and blunt, resembling Eira more than his own mother.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Further Information:

Mana : an impersonal supernatural power which can be transmitted or inherited.

Pure mana : a supernatural power which exists in the body. Without pure mana, mana and other forms of magic cannot be practiced by the individual.

New characters:

Queen : the mother of the protagonist, Enora. A responsible women in her 50's. Loves the kingdom and her children the same. Gave birth to five healthy babies.

Eira : the twin sister of the protagonist. An outgoing individual who's always pumped up to try out something new. Has a tremendous amount of pure mana and mana in herself. Thus, unknowingly earning the support of many of the councils and is likely to succeed the throne, according to people's mouth.

Ciro : the third child of the Queen and the first son in the family. In contrast of Eira, he's much more alike with his mother. A responsible and quick witted individual of his own. Cares a lot about the people around him, thus gaining the people's support and has a high chance of succeeding the throne.

Shivani : the fourth child of the Queen. There's not much known about her as she has been shunned by society and rarely leaves her room unless she feels like taking a walk. Is extremely distant from her siblings. Known as the "black sheep" of the family and has the fewest supporters. Hard likely to ascend the throne.

Akira : the youngest of all five siblings. A bit chummy with people and is an open book when it comes to his feelings. He's not really a big fan of Shivani because he's surrounded by people who talks only negative things about her. Overall a naive 14 years old, but has a high awareness of the situations around him and is able to manipulate things for the good outcome and has earned quite a number of supporters himself.