Chapter 1: "Unexpected Arrangements"

Kingdom: Hundred Winds.

Royal Capital: Azure Storm.

Royal Palace. Princess's Chambers.

Deep night.

Princess Eleanor sat at the writing desk, deeply engrossed in reading an ancient book.

On the left side of the writing desk, there was the only burning candle illuminating her reading. Next to the candle lay a blue crystal, and on the right side, there was a long stack of dusty books.

"Magi are individuals who can command fires and winds, summon rain and lightning from the heavens."

"Mighty magi can destroy mountains and dry up seas."

"Why do all books start with this nonsense? Yes, it's partially true, but why write it in every book? Well, let's continue."

"The bloodline of magi is the source of their magical powers."

"The primary and main ability of the magical bloodline is the ability to refine ether."

"Ether is the energy that exists between the sky and the earth and nourishes all beings."

"Refining ether is the process of absorbing ether into the magus's body and turning it into magic force."

"The process of refining and accumulating magic force in the magus's body is called cultivation."

Eleanor stopped reading and took the blue crystal next to the candle.

It was a magical crystal that contained ether energy.

Holding the crystal in her left hand, she closed her eyes. After a moment, energy began to emanate from the blue crystal and enter her body. The energy flowed through her entire body, and then slowly began to dissipate.

Eleanor opened her eyes.

"I can feel and absorb ether, but I can't turn it into my magic force. It's strange; father said that our family once possessed the magical bloodline of the azure wind."

"It was a magical bloodline attribute of the wind and gave the owner the ability to control the azure wind."

Eleanor placed the crystal back on the table and began to flip through the book.

"Types of bloodline."

"Bloodlines can be innate or acquired." 

"Innate bloodline is obtained from the union of a human and a god. A child born of this union receives a magical bloodline from the god itself. Such a bloodline will not fade even through many generations." 

"Acquired bloodline is obtained through merging with divine blood of a god or through merging with a life crystal." 

"The life crystal is a crystal that forms in the body of a magus or magical beast after reaching the fifth level." 

"Life crystal can be taken from the body of a magus or magical beast after their death." 

"The crystal is equivalent to one drop of divine blood of a god." 

"The weakness of an acquired bloodline. With each generation, the life force of the bloodline will weaken, and by the sixth generation, the bloodline will die due to the exhaustion of life forces. The only way to avoid this is to reach the fourth level and above. If a magus reaches the fourth level, the life force of the bloodline will be restored, and the count of generations will start anew."

Eleanor pondered. 

"So, my great-grandfather the founder was a magus of the last generation. It's a pity he couldn't become a magus of the fourth level." 

Eleanor began massaging her temples from fatigue and drowsiness. 

"What a disappointment."

"Even if I sell all the wealth of our family, I don't think I'll be able to obtain the life crystal, let alone the divine blood of a god." 

"Well, there must be an easier way to become a magus." 

Eleanor began flipping through the book. And not finding anything that could help her become a magus, she closed the book and took another one. In the same way, she flipped through three more books. And finally, in the fourth book, she found the information she needed. 

"A secret way to obtain a magical bloodline."

"Share the bed with a fifth-level magus."

"What???"

At first, Eleanor didn't understand the meaning of the sentence and deeply pondered. But soon her lovely young face turned as red as the ripest tomato, and even her ears and her snow-white neck blushed.

"W... who even wrote this nonsense?"

"Complete rubbish."

Eleanor tore out that page of the book, crumpled it, and threw it against the wall, then proceeded to throw away the entire book.

Eleanor continued searching the books for ways to become a magus.

An hour later.

"Restoration of the acquired magical bloodline."

"The magical bloodline after the fifth generation does not truly die. The life force in the bloodline simply depletes too much, and therefore the bloodline enters a state similar to sleep. In such a sleeping state, the bloodline will exist for five more generations, and only then is there a possibility of the bloodline truly disappearing."

"The life force in the blood and flesh of some special magical beasts, as well as some rare magical herbs, are able to restore the life force of the bloodline and awaken the bloodline from its sleeping state."

"Special magical beasts: white whale, black turtle..."

"It seems that most magical beasts are familiar to me. The only problem is, I can't find them on the regular market."

"Special magical herbs: star grass..."

"Star grass…"

"It seems, two hundred years ago it was found on a misty island."

Eleanor raised her hand and tried to turn the page of the book, but then she couldn't turn the page—the book page and her hand didn't move, no matter how hard she tried.

Soon all her strength left her body, and her head fell onto the book.

"That seems to be all for today."

That was Eleanor's last thought before she closed her eyes and fell asleep at the writing desk.

Morning.

"Knock. Knock. Knock."

The sound of knocking woke Eleanor, but she didn't want to wake up, even if she slept in an uncomfortable position and in an uncomfortable place; the sleep was still as sweet as ever, so she didn't open her eyes and decided to continue sleeping.

"Knock. Knock. Knock. 10 times... 30 times... 50 times..."

The knocking sounds at the door didn't stop. And they reached a point where Eleanor could no longer ignore them.

"How I'm tired of this little girl. Is she really going to drive me to a nervous tick? Making her my maid was the biggest… biggest mistake of my life," Eleanor thought, guessing the identity of the person knocking on the door.

Only one maid had such persistence in the entire palace.

Usually, maids left if they didn't hear her response after two or three knocks, but not this chambermaid. Her persistence knew no bounds.

"The end to my beautiful and sweet sleep."

Lamenting her sleep, Eleanor gathered her strength and rose from the writing desk.

"You can come in," Eleanor said, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

The door to the room opened and a petite figure entered. 

It was a girl of about ten or eleven dressed as a maid. She had two long braids on either side, a soft white face that still retained its childlike roundness, and most striking were her mesmerizing dark eyes, reminiscent of a dark starry sky.

"Aah!"

The maid girl screamed in fright when she saw Eleanor's condition. Large dark circles under her eyes and tousled, dusty hair. Then she saw the multitude of books scattered on the writing desk and on the floor next to the writing desk.

"Your Highness, were you reading all night again? How many times have I told you that it's bad for your health!" 

Princess Eleanor's love for reading was widely known throughout the palace. Initially, her passion was seen as a simple display of diligence and thirst for knowledge, but gradually it grew to a frenzied level, sometimes spending entire days immersed in books.

"And what else is there to do in this boring palace?" replied Eleanor.

"You take off your clothes, and I'll go fill the bathtub with hot water. I hope you haven't forgotten that you have a meeting with the young lord of Wintergale House today?"

"What?" exclaimed Eleanor, her drowsiness seemingly blown away by the wind.

In place of drowsiness came a dark seriousness. Eleanor grabbed the little maid by the shoulders and looked at her with a face full of seriousness.

"Repeat everything you just said," commanded Eleanor.

The gloomy expression on Eleanor's face frightened the little maid, and she began to speak, stuttering.

"I... I said for you to... to take off your clothes."

Eleanor sighed.

"Relax, Evelina. I wasn't asking about that, but the last sentence. Who am I meeting with?"

"With the young lord of Wintergale House," replied Evelina.

"How did this happen, why don't I know about it, and why am I supposed to meet with him?" Eleanor asked.

"You agreed to it yourself when your father suggested you meet him," Evelina replied.

"I agreed to this?" Eleanor repeated, surprised.

Evelina began to nod her head like a rattle.

"When did this happen?" asked Eleanor, not remembering anything about it.

"Two days ago, when you were about to go to the royal library, your father came and started telling you about the young lord of Wintergale House. You weren't interested in listening to him, so you just said you agreed to everything and went to the library. That same day, the king sent a letter to the lord of Wintergale House asking to arrange a meeting for you and his son. Yesterday, a letter came saying they would come to the palace today at noon. Yesterday I wanted to tell you, but you closed yourself in the room and wouldn't let me in. I told you several times through the door that you have a meeting today. You said you understood and told me to do other things," said Evelina.