“..uo..g lor..!”

“Young Lord!”

“Mary, I thought I asked not to be disturbed?” said the young boy sitting comfortably in his study. The study was a medium-sized room filled to the brim with books and scrolls with a singular wooden desk located next to a large circular window at the edge of the room with the crest of a dragon adorning it.

The young boy in question seemed to be around 4-6 years of age, he wore clothes that seemed to come straight out of the 18-19th century. His appearance was childish while his eyes gave off an air of superiority and something else that seemed mismatched to his age; the boy had hair that seemed to shine with its deep dark vermillion pigmentation which also inadvertently made his distinctively cold snow-white eyes stand out.

“Young lord, the duke has asked for me to escort you to his study.”

“Lead the way.” The boy sighs and follows the maid, before closing his door he takes one last look around his study admiring his collection of ancient scrolls and books on various subjects and thinks to himself ‘I was almost finished! Now I have to go deal with my father.’

The creaking of the worn door echoes through the mansion's vast hallways as the boy shuts the entrance to his study. As his hand pulls away from the handle a sparkling static blue light snaps from his fingers towards the handle.

——————————————

It has been around 5 years since I was born into this world, I was born into a noble family in a country that has a ruling monarch, one of the many ways that this world vastly differs from earth is that it is home to magic! But because of that magic, the technological growth of this world has stagnated because no one researches in the field of science.

The Nobel family I was born into was the ducal family of Vermilion, making me Arthur Von Vermillion. My father is the brother of the current Emperor of Elroy, though I suspect my father is filled with anger and envy towards his cousin because he was unable to attain the throne even with his famous exploits in the war against a country called Roland.

In fact, my mother was once a princess from Roland but was sent to marry my father as a tribute after they lost the war. On that thought, I rarely see my mother as sh- *Knock* *Knock*

“Duke, your youngest child Arthur has arrived!”

“Come through, alone.” My father said through the door in a deep crackling dry voice, my father is Alastair Von Vermilion, he would be considered tall by most, his broad shoulders with a naturally fearsome and cold demeanour that feels like it could strike fear into even the most ferocious beasts. Even more striking than his height was his short hair which had a dark vermilion red that was almost like a scarlet flame emanating from his head, and his cold hail like eyes with their white pigmentation stared at me as I entered the room.

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I walked to the centre of the duke's office and gave my greetings, I was ignored. Time seemed to stretch as I stood watching the duke continue reading through documents, every now and then I would hear his metallic dip pen drag across some documents or scrolls. The eerie silence mixed with ambient noise that lasted for what seemed like an hour was broken by the duke's deep, cold, and domineering voice.

“It has come to my attention that you have a desire to study magic, and it seems you have quite the affinity for it. So, I have decided that when you turn 12 you will be sent to the Imperial school of magic and will board there until you graduate. And you will graciously take this opportunity to grow yourself.” He said the last sentence in an authoritative and threatening tone to tell me in a roundabout way that I had no say in the matter.

“This child thanks the duke for this gracious opportunity. If that is all I will take my leave.” I give a slight bow and leave for my study.

My father wasn't sending me to the academy out of goodwill, he merely wanted me out of the way so that I wouldn't threaten my older brother's right to succeed my father. Well, it didn't matter to me, I wanted nothing to do with such matters as they were tedious; all I wanted was to study and perfect my magic.

——————————————

The rustling and chaotic streets of the market were as lively as always, with merchants selling their goods, and stalls selling food such as juicy kebabs, roasted chicken, and ever abundant fruit to the common folk.

The people of the empire were wealthy and most of the commonfolk could make a living with the ability to live in a semblance of luxury; most that is, as in every country there are the slums. A cruel and resource-deprived area on the outskirts of the capital, polluted waters that would make one sick from drinking it, and most did as they needed to survive.

The slums are home to many children from the red light district as prostitutes who accidentally got pregnant would cruelly abandon their sons and daughters in this dirty hell-like place. And in one particular corner of this small rotten world was a mother and a daughter. The mother was particularly beautiful with long snow-white hair and scarlet eyes that seemed to shine like jewels with fair and pale skin; so beautiful in fact that it seemed she would be able to bewitch men with just a look.

While she was indeed beautiful, the slums had worn her down; her wrists were so thin and brittle it looked like they would snap if touched along with her sunken cheeks due to lack of food.

On the contrary, her daughter was as healthy as any child, looking as if she hadn't starved a day in her life. One assumes that the mother gave all her food to her daughter at the expense of herself.

Her daughter just like her mother had snow coloured hair that shined as if nothing could dirty it; but unlike her mother, her hair slowly merged into a deep fiery vermilion red. And then there were her eyes, her eyes shined with a ghostly pale white with an innocent and cute look.

To Be Continued.