It had already been 2 years since I was "adopted" as Kiel's daughter and apprentice. Now, I'm 13 years old and no longer had unhealthy thin body thanks to Marigold's dealicious and healthy home-made food and snacks. My hair that was cut short and unevenly by annoying young children now grew longer and trimmed nicely by Marigold. She also fixed my hair into side ponytail with blue ribbon. Father gave me dresses and clothes that I always saw the rich people's daughters wore while I was on streets, although I asked him for the clothes that's easier for me to move around as I still had my active side and often got dirty.

Even though I was also his Apprentice, Father never once taught me his magic in the last 2 years. In fact, he only taught me about English, Mathematic, History, Social Studies, and Science...well, mainly about medicine plants, both from Human Realm and other Realms, because it was important for making magical herbal medicine that father always made for his clients. He expected me to learn it as soon as possible.

"Knowledge is power in society, without it, you're nothing."

That was father told me before he made me more homework. Aside from English, he also taught me some of French and Italian, saying it was equally important as I learnt English. Aside from school lessons, he also taught me Fairy Language and their history, alongside other magical beings. I never went to school in my entire life, so everything was new to me and father was patiently teaching all of those.

I was truly grateful with father. He still made time between his errands, his potion-medicine brewing and teaching my lessons. He kept Saturdays and Sundays as off-day; Tuesdays and Thursdays for my lessons; and Mondays and Wednesdays for his jobs. While he was gone for his jobs, Marigold and Alvin taught me all kinds of important Etiquette to be like a noble daughter because back in Fairy Realm, father was some-kind of important noble. I had to learn the manners or I would stain father's images as the noble in Fairy Realm.

My way of talking, my manners, everything. Though father told me it's alright to act what I wanted, but it had to be graceful. He didn't like having me not as myself.

0-0-0

"I think it's the right time for you to meet him." Father said it bluntly during the lessons.

"Meet who?" I stopped writing the formulas for this calculation and looked to my father.

"Gilbert Baker. He's the Wandmaker, the wizard who's specialized in wand-making." He looked troubled for a minute, like he was debating with himself.

"I think...it's time for you to learn magic."

"Seriously?!" I jumped from my seat when I heard that. I had been waiting for this moment.

"Don't get too excited, young lady." He flicked my forehead.

"Ouch!"

"I can't teach you any fairy spells at your current state. I'm planning to teach you how to brew the herb medicines first, but it requires a wand in the end."

"...speaking of wand, I never see your wand, Father."

"You're seeing it." He pointed to the cane he's always carrying.

"Your cane is your wand?!" I could feel my voice raised in shock and confused. "I thought it's just normal cane with unique carfting style."

"Wand can appear either as a stick or a cane like this and it's crafted by the Wandmakers and depends on the Sorcerers, wizards and witches." He showed me his cane closer. "Your wand is like your hand, eye, touch, all your sense. No one can use your wand because it's linked with your soul."

"So, every wand is unique and the one-and-only?"

"Yes, wand is like your mediator for your magic. The wood of the wand determines the characteristic of your magic. Combination of the Cores and the Gemstone determine how powerful your magic is."

I was half-listening to father's small lecture about wands and half-daydreaming about what my wand would look like. Not to mention father was finally decided to teach me his magic, which I had been waiting for, and I didn't mind I had to brew potions and medicines for my first lesson. Magic was magic afterall.

"Are you listening, Rosina?" I went back to the reality when he called me.

"Ye-Yes!"

"Anyway, we will meet Gilbert tomorrow at 10." He told me as he looked into my writing progress.

"No lessons?"

"You still have Etiquette lessons with Marigold and Alvin in afternoon." Father was still looking into my writing progress and closed the homework book. "And more homework for English Grammar, you still mess up with the same mistakes."

"Yes, I understand Father..." I mentally sighed because I got more homework to do. There was still Mathematic, History and French homework to do. Father truly kept me learning even he was away for his jobs.

"And I also lend you my basic potions and medicines books. I can't let you brew one yet, but at least you should learn how to brew some from books."

"Really?!"

"I've decided that you can learn it, so why I don't lend you those books?" With that, father stood up from his chair.

"That's all for now. You better don't stay up too late because of the excitement and doing your homework or we will be late for the meeting."

"Don't worry, father. I will sleep around 10." I replied him happily.

"Well then. Good night, Rosina." He smiled as he caressed my head gently. "Have a nice sleep."

"Good night, Father."

0-0-0

I woke up a little bit late because I finished up all the French and English homework at night and it was past from my bedtime when I was done with those. Another reason was because I was too excited to sleep because I finally learnt magic, even it was still brewing potions and medicines.

After a nice bath and Marigold's warm and delicious breakfast, Alvin drove me and father out of town to the north. It had been a long time since I was out from the House, I mean really away from the House. I mostly spent my time inside the House and sometimes went to the garden when I missed the outside. There was Greenhouse as well where Marigold took care medicine plants for brewing, I sometimes helped her out when I had no homework or lesson to do. To be away from the House felt like a small blessing because to be honest, I didn't really like staying inside for so long.

After around 2 hours of driving, we arrived in small but peaceful town. Well, it was like a village in atmosphere, but bigger and more advanced. Then, Alvin stopped the car in front of an old house on the edge of the town.

The house looked like it was stood for like more than decade. Even it was an old house, it was well-cared by the owner, both the building and the garden. I followed father to the front door and he rang the bell.

"Coming." A voice from inside replied as I could hear footsteps walking towards the door.

The door opened and revealed a man around his late 40s with fine gray haircut and blue eyes. His clothes was a simple white shirt and brown pants. He looked to father first and then to me.

"You come not on the day of your wand maintenance, which only means one reason." He spoke up with deep, understanding tone.

"Yes, I want to craft a wand for my apprentice who's also my daughter." Father said it proudly as he tapped my shoulder.

"What's your name, Child of Sorcerer?" He asked as he looked straight to my eyes.

"I'm Rosina...Rosina de Clare." I answered timidly because I could feel his eyes weren't looking at me, but to my very soul.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss de Clare." He offered a handshake, which I took it. "I'm Gilbert Baker, but I'm more well-known as the Wandmaker."

0-0-0

Gilbert guided us to his studio. The smell of various woods and few other things which I didn't recognize its smell hit my nose before I set my foot on his studio. The studio was messy, but tidy at the same time. There were boxes full of various woods with label on it. "Apple", " Holly", "Oak", and many more. Next to those boxes was two large of cupboards, each I think served as different things with one and another. The first cupboard had labels like "Orichalcum", "Mithril", "Golden Apple" and many things I didn't recognize. The second cupboard had labels I could recognized the most; "Sapphire", "Emerald", "Ruby", "Diamond" and many more. Wood crafting tools was dominated the other part of the studio. A large table with few chairs were on the middle of the studio.

"Take a seat while I'm picking up the wood first." Gilbert said to me and father as he carefully picked one wood from each boxes.

"Now, let's start with the wood first." He said that as he put the wood in front of me.

I didn't know what to do, so I just sit and stared the woods with confused look. Gilbert took the chair on the opposite of the table and waited for my next move.

"Pick one of the wood and focus." Father's words broke my trails of confusion.

"Like this?" I picked up the nearest wood and hold on with both hands.

"Try to focus of warming up the wood on your hands."

I had no single idea what father meant, but I trusted him. I tried to "warm the wood up" like he said. Before I knew it, the wood suddenly shattered into dust, leaving me in shock.

"Don't worry about it." Gilbert spoke up before I apologized for "turning the wood into dust". "It happens all the time, so go on."

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I picked randomly and did the same thing. The second and third wood were turned into dust just like what happened on my first try. However, nothing happened when I did that on the fourth wood. Gilbert looked happy as he took the wood from my hands.

"I see...your wand will be made out from Eucalyptus wood." Gilbert told it as he put the wood in a box among his wood crafting tools.

"This wood is well-known as one of the strongest wood with healing capability. The magic energy is good and pure, clean like the earth from which it is born. It seems you're destined to be a healer, maybe even greater than your father." He commented about the wood of my wand and he carefully searched few things in the cupboard. I looked at the corner of my eyes that Father smiled when he heard that.

"Uhm...Father?" I called father and he looked to me with a bit confused. "How can he tell that much?"

"Well, the wand-making magic is one of the oldest magic, but the most mysterious one. Even I can't figure out the mechanism of that magic."

"And the same thing goes to who can hold the magic." Gilbert joined the conversation as he walked back to the table, carrying various things on his hands. "The magic chooses its wielder. Even one of your parents or your ancestor is a wandmaker, it's not make you guarantee that you will be a wandmaker. Me, for example, comes from a herbalist family, yet I got chosen by this magic and become wandmaker."

After saying that, he placed those items in front of me, each with one and another. There was a beautiful apple coated in golden color, some glass bottles with various things inside like rainbow-like dust or some liquid with different colors, rose petals with earthy-red color, some-kind of fish scale, and many more.

"This time, try to hold your arms like this." Gilbert took my arms and guided my arms. "Close your eyes and feel the magic within you. You don't have to think, just feel it like you feel things with your senses."

I did what Gilbert told me. I closed my eyes and tried to "feel" the magic within me. Gilbert said it's like feeling things with my senses, so I emptied my mind and felt deep down inside myself. I felt something I never felt before, it was like spring breeze in the middle of forest, flowers seemed to be playing nice melody, the trees were singing.

"And open your eyes."

Gilbert's command stopped the vision and I opened my eyes. there was 3 items that's resonating to my "magic". Gilbert took the items and placed it beside the wood that chose me.

"How can you find her in the first place, Kiel? This young lady is surprisingly powerful." Gilbert said to father with surprised tone. "There's only like few wizards, sorcerers and witches to have this within their wands."

"What are you talking about?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Orichalcum, the blessed metal that's bestowed from God of Sea. Phoenix Tears, it has magical healing power. Fairy Dust, something fairies use for magic and I think she gets it from you. It reminds me of your own Cores."

"What?" I was dumbstruck when I heard that and looked to my father.

"My wand has Phoenix Tears and Fairy Dust as two of the Cores, Holly as its wood and moon stone as its gem. This is why I can use Fairy Magic and skilled healer."

"Ah, I just remember something, since you mentioned about wood." Gilbert went back to the pile of wood and searching of something among them.

"There it is. I hope this will suit you." He handed me over a thin-thorny green wood, which I knew perfectly what this wood was.

"Is this from rose?"

"Yes, this wood is famous among female wizards, witches and sorcerers for its rosy scent." Gilbert sounded happy when he heard my question. "But I never make a wand or rod made of this wood."

"Why?"

"Rosewood is probably the weakest wood to be use as wand wood, but good if you mix it with other wood because it's somehow enchanted the magic, aside of giving its signature rosy scent, and it's often compatible with most wizards, witches and sorcerers and safe to be combined with other wood for wands and rods."

"However...Marie Nithercott, the infamous human elf wizard, has rosewood for her wand wood." Father disproved Gilbert's words. "Right now, she's the most powerful wizard in this era."

"Marie Nithercott...she's an exception." Gilbert was in deep thought when he heard that name.

"Who is she?" I asked because both Gilbert and father seemed to be in deep thought.

"Like I said, she's the most powerful wizard in this era, Rosina." Father explained to me. "Her mother was a fairly powerful wizard and her father was one of Elf Kingdom's royal wizards. At that time, it was impossible for a human and an Elf to be together and have child, but she was born under that condition."

"And it had to be paid with her mother's life." Gilbert said in eerie tone.

"...yes. Her mother died soon after she was born. For the past 50 years, she was raised and trained in Elf Kingdom by her father and other Royal Wizard members until she made a decision to return to human realm. Ever since then, she's becoming powerful than before. Also, due to her elf bloodline, her beauty stays premanent even after 100 years had passed."

Marie Nithercott... Somehow, she reminded of my past, more like we were alike on one side. I grew up without knowing about my father and she grew up without her mother. I was a Sorcerer and She was a wizard. I was pity on her because she didn't know what mother's love. On the other hand, I was a bit jealous on her because she was able to learn magic during her childhood while I was forced to hide it. However, it was our father who brought out the talent of magic from inside.

"...okay, let's continue on." Gilbert quickly changed the topic and pointed to the rosewood on my hands. "Try to do what you do with the wand wood."

I focused on my energy like I did to find out which wood for my wand. The same warm energy flowed from my hands through the wood. At my surprise, it didn't shatter into dust like the other wood.

"Okay, it seems I can use this for the mixing." With that, he took the rosewood and placed it in the box alongside the materials earlier.

"Now, the last material." He places couple of gemstones on the table in front of me. "The gemstone. For this one, focus on your energy and make it shine like a sun."

I closed my eyes and places my hands above the gemstones and focused on the energy. I let my instinct did the work and let my energy flowed from my hands, imagining a shining gemstone. I opened my eyes and saw one gemstone was shining to brightly that it was hurting my eyes a bit.

"And stop!" Gilbert broke my focus and quickly took the gemstone before the brightly shine disappeared.

"...Kiel, this girl is special..." He told to my father as he examined the gemstone. "Alexandrite, the mysterious color-changing gemstone. She might be rivaling Marie Nithercott in term of magic, seeing how Orichalcum, Phoenix Tears and Alexandrite choose her."

"Come to think of it, she also has Orichalcum and Alexandrite for her wand."

"Man, how lucky are you, to find such a rare unpolished sorcerer with possible a great deal of magic."

"If that's the case..." Father patted my head. "It seems I make a right choice to give you detailed magic lectures when we go back home."

"Eh?" What did he just say?

"Since you have the talent, I better lecture you the basic of the basic until the advanced one. Of course, I won't let you go easily for your schooling lectures too."

"Hahaha, that's so like you, Kiel." Gilbert laughed as he saw my mix of surprised and miserable face when I heard there would be more lectures. "I will get the wand ready in one week. Until then, have fun on Kiel's magic lectures. He can be a devil teacher when it comes about his specialty."

For this moment, I wished I didn't have to learn magic.

0-0-0

"Oh, by the way, Kiel..." Gilbert called out father just before we're leaving his house.

"I think...I find my future Apprentices just few towns from here. Strange enough, it's sisters and both have the same talents." Gilbert told him and it gave father sad look. Wasn't that a good news?

"I see... It's good for you then. It's rare to find one Apprentice, let alone two and siblings." Father congratulated him, but there was a hint of sadness in the tone. I wanted to ask, but something made me not to do that.

"Yeah, they're smart and well-aware of their potentials, so they're safe for now. Tomorrow, I will ask them if they want to be my Apprentices, probably I have to lie to their parents for it." He joked a bit at the end.

"Of course. Not everyone is fond of wizards and sorcerers. I wish you good luck with them." With that, father leaded me to car.

"It's my pleasure to be in your care for all this time, Gilbert. Good day." Father said that before we're leaving.

"Father...is something wrong for him to have apprentice?" I finally found courage to ask him during our way back.

"You will understand when the time comes, Rosina." Father just responded it while looking out the car's window.

0-0-0

Just like what Gilbert promised, my wand arrived through the packet in front of the house. When I opened it, I was stunned how beautiful this wand was. The wand was thin, but beautifully white pearl with the length was around 39 inches. From the top to bottom, there was beautiful red and purple-colored four-petal flower patterns. The gem was on the bottom of the wand. I could smell the familiar rosy scent coming out from the wand. When I held it for the first time, I felt I had been holding it for the rest of my lifetime.

"I'm surprised Gilbert can craft such a beautiful wand like this." Father was praised Gilbert's work a bit when he saw me handling the wand.

"Your wand isn't made by him?"

"...no. It was crafted by the other wandmaker, but he already passed away." He answered as he held his wand a bit tight, which I missed that.

"But, Gilbert talked like he's the one who crafted your wand."

"Well...that's the mysterious side of wandmakers. It's like the wandmakers in the past has passed their knowledge on their chosen successor, despite the past, present or future. Even the successor can't explain it."

I was amazed by the mysterious magic of wand-making. I felt Gilbert was the one who was special in here, seeing he was chosen by this magic.

Before I realized it, father was already dragged me to the tower on the south part of the house. The tower was for his herb workplace. I had been visiting his workplace for his magic lectures. My homework was twice harder since last week.

"Since you have your wand now, I want you to practice for real." He said it as he was setting ingredients for a potion or medicine.

"Huh? Right now?!" I asked in surprised tone.

"Of course, it's better you practice than listening to lecture." With that, he finished preparing. "Now, what kind of potion or medicine you're going to make?"

Dried Thyme, Basil, Blueberry leaves, Oregano leaves, Anise seeds and pure spring water...

"Cough Medicine?" I answered after one minute of recalling the recipes that father pounded to my head since last week.

"Correct. Now, brew a nice cough medicine." With that command, father sat on the chair and watched my movement, which made me even more nervous.

I took a deep breath and tried to recall the recipe. Two leaves for each dried Thyme, Basil, Blueberry leaves and Oregano leaves I put on the pot, poured the pure spring water until the leaves was soaked by the water and boiled it in low temperature. Crushing the Anise seeds into a fine powder while stirring. When small bubbles appeared on the edge, I put the Anise seed powder and stirred it nicely in medium temperature until it was boiled and the liquid turned clear blue.

I thought I did a great job when I watched the greenish liquid turned into clear blue when it was boiled. Now, for the magic-!

"The Small Lady is brewing her first medicine." The sarcasm tone of Alvin broke my focus and I didn't know when Alvin came to the workplace.

"Shut up, Alvin!" I shouted angrily at him when I tried to recall the spell.

"You better don't mess up, Small Lady." He playfully said it as he watched beside me.

I took a deep breath and chanted the spell.

"Nature of the green, cleanse of water, heareth my voice, and bless me to heal the ones who need."

As soon as I finished chanted, the liquid on the pot slowly stirred on its own and changed the color from its clear blue into a beautiful bluish transparent water. Alvin and father watched in awe when it happened.

"I can't believe this...the Small Lady can brew the cough medicine." Alvin leaned to the pot to check on the water, but suddenly fell asleep.

"Alvin?! What happened?!" I went panic when it happened.

"Because you failed to brew it..." Father answered as he put Alvin on the old couch.

"I...made a mistake?"

"Yes... You put two Blueberry leaves, instead of one leave..." Father literally facepalmed as I realized my mistake. "Because of that, you made sleeping drug instead of cough medicine."

"...sorry..." I lowered my head and quietly apologized, but father patted my head.

"It's okay, you're still learning. Next time, you do it properly."

"Yes, Father!"

From that moment, father let me help him to brew the medicines and potions, despite I made some mistakes. Even so, father never got angry and made me to brew the new one properly. Slowly but surely, father entrusted me to brew easy medicines and potions. Without realizing it, my brews became a little famous and few of father's client requested it. From that, the rumor of him taking an powerful unpolished apprentice was everywhere.

Now, I was more well-known as "Child of Fairy Sorcerer."