"Once Oriana arrived at this rural town's doorstep, she collapsed. But everyone here is kind and bighearted. Rather than receive the same treatment as before, the villager nursed her to perfect condition. No one discriminated against her ominous appearance. Instead, Oriana was granted a roof and hammer.
"Oriana finally achieved what she yearned for years, a place where no one treated her differently because of her ominous feature. She felt blessed and gratified and was about to settle in long-term in this town. Then a rumor had conjured within her interest."
"A rumor about a mysterious being lying around the mountain's peak, a being who isolated himself from the masses. Since Oriana had always borne the desire for the opposite, which is to blend with the masses, the rumorous entity greatly provoked her curiosity."
"During any occasion, Oriana would round up every villager she encountered and question them regarding the mysterious, lonely being that dwells above. But the answers remained repetitive as all denoted him peculiar and said he wished to be confined solely because of balancing the essence of the world."
"Despite being warned countless time not to interrupt the being, Oriana pays no heed to the warning and proceed to plan the climb of that imposing steep mountain."
"Days after day, Oriana would save her money under the nose of other villagers to purchase the essential climbing gear from one traveling merchant."
"Finally, the night before the great climb, an old hooded Demonkin invited herself to Oriana's lodge. At the moment, Oriana was conducting her final inspection regarding the necessities."
"And once the hooded Demonkin arrived, a few knocks were accompanied. The knocks had startled Oriana since she had never had a guest before. Or mostly, because she was a nomad at first hand."
"Oriana quickly hid the equipment and rushed toward the door. When Oriana opened the door, she found herself a strange dark feathery hooded old Demonkin with a nicely carved staff, and her eyes were bright red. Oriana was initially concerned but thought it was rude to shut on someone without proper addressing. So she politely asked for the motive of the strange Demonkin's visit thereafter."
"The Demonkin only replied with one word before vanishing into thin air, "Destined," was what she spouted. The second the strange Demonkin vanished, Oriana was frightened and rushed out to check her whereabouts, but the result was naught."
"She dashed back into her lodging and sealed the door. Oriana was perplexed after a bizarre visit and began questioning herself. After a period of contemplation, Oriana slapped herself back to her senses and returned to focus on the preparation."
"During the dawn of the underworld, the sun barely rose, but Oriana had already climbed a quarter of the mountain. The more Oriana conquered the mountain segments, the closer Oriana reached her fated intervention with Azemos Vuzgal. Will the encounter be amicable or inimical..."
***
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***
After a year had passed,
Mina eventually reached seven and qualified to attend her first-ever school, The Dragania College. The Dragania College is one of the most notorious academies in the underworld, as many nobles and royal families graduated or attended this academy. As Dragania is a prominent academy established by a renowned clan, Dragarok. Granted that Dragarok is not blessed with unrivaled attributes, like Zaran's physical fitness or Urkon's immense mystical competence. However, Dragarok Demonkins were gifted with peerless wits that surpassed any other clans.
And most Dragarok Demonkins attained the highest academic level sooner than others did. And even became scholars, librarians, lecturers, and advisors before hitting maturity. Thus, many educators of Dragania are young Dragarok.
Aside from wealth and reputation, youth with great intellect and competence are also encouraged to join the academy. Besides, all the educators in Dragania are authorized to be top-notch scholars. Since the essential criteria for securing a seat as the lecturer of Dragania, three academic awards and scoring impeccably in test results are a must.
And under the tradition of Dragania College, Dragania will allow the freshies' parents to accompany them during each orientation. Hence, Mina will be accompanied by her parents during the orientation.
On the day of Dragania's orientation, Mina was so thrilled to attend her school that she lapped the castle more than once in her uniform. When she coincidently encountered three of the maids that cleaning the castle hallway, she hollered,
"Risa, Piura, Asteria, look at my uniform!" she extravagantly presented herself before them. Mina's cuteness in the uniform struck the maids and charmed them into squeezing her in their embrace.
Out of the blue, a familiar yet aggressive throat-clearing sound pierced through the rear of the maids. It was none other than Lilia herself, the head maid. She was unpleased with the maids as she thought they were slacking. Therefore, she madly snared at them. The maids immediately dispersed and returned to their post as if nothing had happened.
After strictly supervising the maids, Lilia grabbed Mina's hand and escorted her to her parents, who were waiting for her at the castle entrance. During their venturing, Lilia advised Mina in a soothing tone while walking her to her parents,
"Mina, remember to always present yourself courteously in front of the public eyes, since you're the Princess of Vuzgaria. And Princesses are supposed to be elegant and classy. So under no circumstances, your zippy and mischievous behavior shall not let it out, even a little."
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"Not even laughing?" Mina frowned at Lilia after hearing her strict advice and asked,
"Laughing...? Hmm..." Lilia went into contemplation mode and soon added,
"Unless... you genuinely find it humorous. Otherwise, it is highly advised not to, especially a belly laugh. So Aunt Lilia advises Mina, always keep your voice in check, ensuring it is low and soft. Chuckle would suit best..." Lilia replied,
"Then, so did Aunt Lilia always present herself delicately during her school years?" Mina responded in an irritated tone after hearing Lilia's biased advice. But once Lilia heard the question given by Mina, she tittered and responded,
"Aunt Lilia has never been to any school during her youth, let alone entitled as a princess. So, Aunt Lilia is blatantly foreign to these forms of occasion..." Mina is unamazed by Lilia's answer and points out,
"Then why is Aunt Lilia expecting Mina to be high and majestic when Aunt Lilia doesn't even know anything..."
"Well... Aunt Lilia does know some of the highborn Demonkins who always presented themself high and mighty when they interacted with lowborn like us."
"But Mina despises the hierarchical idea where we always differentiate ourselves based on our societal ranking. Mina believes everyone should be treated equally, not treated because of their wealth, reputation, and power." Lilia was shocked by Mina's answer but immediately lightened up, as she never ceases to amaze Lilia at how Mina's distinctive notion.
After the intimate conversation between Lilia and Mina, they soon to have arrived at their terminal destination. As Mina's parents, the King and Queen of Vuzgaria, watched Mina subtly approach them from afar. Before sending Mina off, Lilia kneeled before Mina and whispered,
"If you thought Lilia's advice was unreasonable, follow whatever favor you, Mina. Aunt Lilia may be foreign to whatever you will confront, but what I can do is wish you the best in your upcoming journey. So, live your life to the fullest and have a wonderful time! But also, Mina, please refrain from involving in unnecessary quarrels..."
"Yes, Aunt Lilia! I promise I won't do anything outrageous during my school!"
"Good girl..." Lilia gently patted Mina's head and sent her to her parents with a broad smile.
Once Mina arrived before her parents, the three of them ingressed into a florid enchanted conveyance, driven by two royal guards with one as an assistant.
Without further prolongation, the conveyance embarked on its journey to The Dragania College as Lilia and a few other guards, butlers, and maids delivered their blessed farewell.
During the expedition to Dragania, the royal ride was at least surrounded by ten escorts, purposely supervising and safeguarding them from latent danger. The leader of the escorts is none other than Igor Xorros, an exemplary champion of Vuzgaria, who scored perfectly in physical and magical tests.
Onward at the entrance of Dragania, varieties of wealthy and notorious families arrived with condescending behavior. Some bombast their appearance with ritzy jewelry and clothing, some were egotistically carried by their servant while entering the academy, and some were even frantically swarmed by their unwavering and obsessive fans.
Shortly after Princess Mina and her parents landed at Dragania, all the attention immediately shifted toward them. Before the Vuzgal family could exit the conveyance, an announcer would proceed to provide a lengthy, royal welcoming speech.
Their grand ceremonial entrance astonished the crowd. Their visit was thrilled by many, but some envied it. Before they descended from the carriage, Mina quizzed,
"Mama, Papa, does all this ceremony really be necessary?"
"As the royal descendants, we practiced these ceremonies to preserve our authoritative reign, so our weakness can be suppressed, and any unforeseen dethronement will be eradicated..." The King answered but was then interrupted by the Queen.
"Let's just say it was a blessing to everyone who lends their eyes and ears toward our royal ceremonial since it is also our priority to maintain peace and order in a kingdom. So, if we deliver our benevolence to the townfolk as much as possible, their notion of conflict will automatically poof! Vanish, right? And so I bet Mina would love to give her blessing to everyone, right?"
"Yeah!" Queen's remark enthused Mina and somehow caused Mina itching to exit the carriage.
"Mama, Papa, quickly, let's leave the carriage and present ourselves to the audience! I want to give them all my blessing!"
Because of Mina's darling innocuous eagerness, The King and the Queen subtly chuckled.
"Here comes our roles for the ceremony. Remember to behave in front of the crowd, Mina..." the King solicited Mina and stroked her head delicately.
"And I hereby humbly declare the arrival of our prestigious, respected, and honored. The highest amongst the Clans, the mightiest amongst Demonkins, the greatest amongst all, his royal Majesty, King of Vuzgaria! Elias "Dinaz" Vuzgal!"
The crowd went frantic soon after the announcement as the King descended from the carriage, and waved before the crowds. The cheers and applauses were so loud that the staffs and students of Dragania were able to hear them.
The announcer then continued,
"Now, he is hereby accompanied by his esteemed companions! She was his dearest, tenderest, and most faithful consort, the courtliest amongst the Clans, grandest amongst Demonkins, the finest amongst all, the Queen of Vuzgaria! Lorelle "Dolroz" Vuzgal!"
After the announcement, the Queen was second to leave the carriage, leaving Mina alone in the carriage. Before the Queen's departure, she told Mina to patiently wait for her name to be announced before descending.
Then the Queen had descended, and despite being betrothed to the crown, thousands yet frantic about her. More precisely, it was her enchanting beauty that charmed thousands.
Earlier in the day, the entrance was only surrounded by hundreds, but now, it was crowded with thousands.
Lastly, the announcer proceeded to announce Mina's entrance,
"Last but not least, the person we are all expecting for! The star of today, she is the young and future of Vuzgaria and the brightest amongst all. I hereby welcome the Princess of Vuzgaria, Mina "Xuzredar" Vuzgal!"
The crowd once again went crazy and the cheers and applauses quaked the land of Vuzgaria.
Soon Mina stepped out of the carriage. She was so eager to meet the crowd that she accidentally tripped and threw herself onto the flat concrete. A gasp and silent pause was what came after her trip. The servants and her parents immediately launched themself toward Mina to ensure she was in good condition.
"Mina! Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere?" the Queen was agitated,
"I'm alright, Mama. It's just a scratch." Mina responded in her habitual tone.
Luckily, Mina only minorly scratched her left knee. Given that all Demonkins possessed a supernatural regeneration gift, capable of healing every minor injury or scratch in under a minute, except for severe and long-lasting damages, which might take longer to heal.
After the fall, Mina regained her feet by herself and casually wiped the dirt off her uniform. Despite all the attention locked on to her, she wasn't embarrassed a little. Maybe she was way too innocuous to develop anxiety.
After overlooking the situation, she implored her parents to proceed with the entering ceremony as she was keen to explore the campus. In spite of being worried to death, the King and Queen had no choice but to resume, as their little critter constantly pressed them.
After an aghast incident, Mina's hands were locked by her parents, with one on each side, preventing the re-occurrence of the accident. Despite being restrained to her ground, Mina felt merrier than ever as she barely held her parents' hand in the past. It was a rare family bonding opportunity in her book.