The hamlet that Stela lived in was named White Bridge - after a singular timber bridge that lay across a stream. While almost every Village in Margelia had at least one temple in its vicinity, White Bridge did not have one.

There were only seven houses in White Bridge and they were spread far apart from each other. If Stela didn't know better, she might have thought that theirs was the only house for miles across. Stela spent her time reading and watching her parents work.

Once a week, the old couple took their produce to the local market, returning with goods which they could not grow in their farms. When she had turned four, her parents had begun teaching her how to read and write. To avoid suspicion, Stela had been feigning ignorance of the alphabets. A recent interest she had picked up was Botany. Her father had scores of books on Botany, some of them were medicinal tomes. These, Stela pored through in her spare time, using the rough sketches of different plants as a disguise for her unusual interest in it.

The study in their house was divided into two parts. On the left were Martha's historical and philosophical books. On the right were the high shelves filled with romance novels, that belonged to Martin. In a corner were the books on botany and ethnobotany. While boredom fueled a part of her interest in these books, a small part of it was a question that often floated in the back of her mind - could the poison that killed her be found in these tomes? And yet, whilst her knowledge grew, she never encountered information on a poisonous plant that could produce the symptoms she had experienced.

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Another interesting part of her rebirth, was the faint presence of her Saintess powers. It was as if the magical essence that had formed the core of her powers had been planted in her tiny frame. But that could not be possible, Stela would often conclude.

In her past life, her Saintess powers had awakened at the age of 10. Till then, she had lived as an ordinary child in one of the orphanages run by the Holy Seer. She had always been stoic and unemotional, having experienced no warmth or affection in the cold and perfunctory world of the orphanage. When she healed the broken bones of one of the boys in the orphanage, everything changed. The maids and nuns in charge of the orphanage began showering her with attention and care. Then a week later, a magnificent carriage showed up in front of the orphanage and whisked her away.

Her natural intelligence sailed her across the various lessons in the Holy Seer's Temple with ease. In fact, it was about then that rumours of a Saintess who was a genius spread across Faryard, the capital. She had been required to wear a veil at all times, to preserve the purity and holiness of the Saintess. However, she was aware that the true purpose of the veil was to protect people from the Saintess' rumoured ability to bewitch people, that only the highest echelons in the Holy Seer's Temple were aware of. While she was not clear as to how much strength the rumours held, being totally disinterested in other humans, she continued wearing her veil.

In fact, in her previous life, the Saintess Aster had been one of the most beautiful women in the Kingdom - with dusky skin, wavy ice blonde hair that fell carelessly to her waist, clear green eyes that looked a little pitiful, a heart shaped face and a shapely but slender frame. Despite all this, she had never felt a hint of affection for anyone - with the exception of one person.

Remiel.

The apprentice and heir of the Holy Seer.