Prologue

Nature's priestess. Nature's legs. Nature's hands. And finally, Nature's representation. Those are the multiple names the people of our country use to address my sister. We're in the year XXXX, and a select few people have been granted different magic powers. The country was not at war, so it did not strike anyone as a noteworthy event. The gifted lived their lives as ordinary people, often helping others using their abilities. We were at peace. Yes, until one of the gifted murdered someone and lost their powers. And another followed in his footsteps. And then another. After this third incident occurred, my father, governor of the country, ordered a research to be conducted on the remaining gifted. One fact was revealed by this research : the gifted received their powers after wishing for something that was hindering their life to stop. At their lowest point, they had thought : "How great would it be if I could solve this on my own?", and the next day they had noticed a change in themselves. Another research, this time to try and replicate a power was conducted. It failed miserably multiple times, plunging the researchers into despair. What were they going to tell my father? One of them came up with an idea, a concept that they all had refused to entertain before. Since all other research had failed, why not simply push for the recreation of the situations and emotions that gave rise to those abilities in the first place? His peers were outraged, declaring it torture as it meant to subject individuals to harsh things.

- His lordship will never accept this idea. He will have our heads!

The researcher still presented his idea to father. Father was enraged of course, immediately ordering for the researcher to be imprisoned until further notice. But I intervened. The idea of having power intrigued me. I was born the daughter of a concubine, the result of an extra marital affair. Father had two other legitimate sons who had died young, so he had appointed me as his heir, until his wife could birth a son once more. Even though no one said it, having an affair was extremely frowned upon, even more so the resulting offspring. My mother was not in the house anymore, and I had no one to depend on. My own father saw me as a shield, to block any attempt at remarriage and his wife regarded me as a thorn in her side. So I naturally accepted the researcher's proposal.

- Father, why not let me have a try? If it will put your mind at ease.

- Do whatever you want.

Father was confident in the recent pregnancy of his wife and I was confident in getting a power of my own. After all, I was already subjected to a harsh situation, was I not? However, both our hopes were dashed. My stepmother died after giving birth to a girl, and I gained no power. 

- Tch. How disappointing.

 Those words from father, I never knew who they were directed at. My infant sister, born at the cost of her mother's life? His wife, freshly buried in the ground? Or me, the heir he did not want? Whoever it was, all three of us had earned disfavor from him, and he spared us no thought until my sister's fifth birthday.