"I am just like you..."
Those words made Serenity's eyes twitch from anger; she glared at Bella.
"Nobody's like me."
Her gaze felt quite intimidating, but Bella had such a crazy day, so at this point she couldn't care.
"Yet here I am..."
just lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, spilling everything,
"The oldest princess of VALERIA, the firstborn of the ARBORMUND, both my parents are from different races, just like you, but...."
A sarcastic smile curled its way onto her face. "Unlike you, I was treated like a servant from birth, nothing like a princess, only because my mother was a hostage of pride...until one day..."
Her smile faded away. My mother had enough from their treatment and constant targeting; she couldn't hold on for any longer to the point where she killed the second wife right then and there... At the moment my father signed the divorce papers, not only that, but she also ran off with a commander from the craniom, leaving me there to pay the price of her crime.
Serenity opened her window, allowing the wind to enter the room, and then she sat on the open frame, listening while the wind kept her fresh and awake.
"After that day my life was nothing but a nightmare…" Bella kept talking, "The second wife she killed was his beloved wife; because of her, even the pity my father had for me vanished. He became a second version of my mother, hating me because of her the same way she hated me for being his daughter, and just like that, the so-called home I once had turned into a hell worse than it was... Thankfully, I awakened the mariposa not long after. I was so happy thinking they would accept me, but just like you described it..."
Bella's face twisted with anger as she recalled everything.
"That castle turned into my cage... a cage that didn't protect me but almost bled me to death. I wanted to escape but still yearned for his recognition..."
Serenity's eyes twisted from anger, and it was all poured on Bella. "Does this shit sound reasonable to you, huh?... What more proof did you need to realize they're not fit to be parents? Clinging to that fake delusion of wanting a family is useless; from beginning to end, they didn't have any foundation of emotions toward you... Excuse me, but you should have stepped down earlier."
"You're right, but my chains were cutting too deep into my skin; even when I escaped, my body was still covered in wounds..." She looked down, eyes full of despair. "I went to the king of AVALOR just to escape that torture. I swore an unconditional submission to be a slave under his feet. My power will help no one but him; all I need is a safe place to return to... Back then I wasn't really sure if I would come back alive after making that request."
"It's hell if you stay but death if you're rejected, yet you gambled with your life," Serenity said.
She pulled up her tank top, showing Serenity the mark under her left chest, the mark of an oath.
"I did, and luckily I succeeded."
"Gotta say it, I am impressed; it takes more than some useless courage to have such a suicidal attempt."
Serenity gave her a thumbs up with a soft smile drawn on her face; she said just two words.
"Well done."
Those two words made her stunned; she quickly turned her head at Serenity. "What?!...Say it again."
"I won't; I hate repeating myself the most," Serenity said indifferently right in Bella's face.
Bella's stunned face was remarkable, but it was quickly replaced with a happy one as she burst into laughter.
"Pfft...hahahahaha...who praises someone like...like that? Hahahahaha."
Bella's eyes softened, sparkling with a faint glow; her body slowly returned to her normal self, flustered and overwhelmed.
'The one and only thing I've ever wanted...I never expected that she would be the one saying them, and it makes me feel incredibly happy.'
As her lips curled, drawing a smiling face, feeling silly, she looked the other way.
"Th...thank you."
"Whatever."
Serenity got away from the window. "Since everything is over, let's go to sleep; tomorrow is going to be a long day."
"Okay."
"By the way, close the window if you feel cold."
"Got it."
Serenity got under her blanket, closing her eyes, and Bella finally placed her blanket properly beside Serenity's bed and was about to sleep.
She suddenly leaned on the bed, poking her shoulder.
"Serenity, are you awake?!"
"Hands to yourself."
Bella quickly retreated her hands. "Oh! You have a no-touching policy; sorry I forgot."
"Why aren't you sleeping again?!" She didn't even bother opening her eyes or even turning her way; she just kept lying flat on her bed.
Bella leaned on the bed. "Serenity, can I ask you one last thing!?"
"Last one, then go to sleep."
"I guarantee this is the last one."
"Say it already."
Bella's cheerful mood from before vanished; she gritted her teeth, asking, "What do you think I should do with my family?"
Serenity stayed silent, and Bella kept staring at her endlessly, waiting for an answer.
"You don't seriously expect me to answer that question for you, do you?!"
"Eh, th-"
"Enough," Serenity cut her off mid-talking. "The fact that you're asking me that question already boils my blood."
"But—"
"Don't...a single extra word, and I will get physical. If you still have any dignity left in you, then you wouldn't be asking such a question."
Bella was as cold as ever; at this point all her feelings froze.
"I know, and I am never going back ... I am just confused about my next step; my hatred used to be directed at my mother till you made me realize it's not just her, so I don't know if I am supposed to seek revenge or just let it go?"
Serenity opened her eyes, judging Bella with her eyes from upside down; in the end she released a loud sigh, feeling helpless.
"Sigh, a vengeful race indeed... you already realized the kind of feelings you have towards those so-called blood relatives of yours, and since those angry feelings give you power, then maybe start by drawing a clear line between the two of you. Actually, forget it."
Serenity took her phone from under the pillow and used it to push Bella away from her bed.
"What..what's wrong?" Bella asked confused by every word and action serenity said and did.
Serenity threw her phone beside her on the bed and closed her eyes, leaving her a final message.
"The question is what should you do not me ...the answer better off coming from you, this is your tribulation so only you gets to decide the end whether it's a good ending or not it's all on you" serenity replied
Bella nodded before moving under her blanket lying on the ground and finally closed her eyes to sleep.
With that, the day that felt endlessly long finally reached an end, each prepared to face a brand new day, welcoming a new chapter of their life...
...
7 a.m. the next day, at this time Ash was on his way back to his kingdom; he looked behind at the blue sky of REGIS one last time before bidding farewell.
"See you soon, my ultimate desire."
At the same time Serenity was still deeply emerged into her sleep ,when she suddenly woke up on the alarm echoing in her dreams once ,
"The clock is ticking and destinies are about to intertwine...witch of cursed time, wake up!"
-wide open-
"Huff, huff, huff, Huff...huff...huf."
Serenity joilted awake her face went pale her eyes terrified ,sweating profoundly, with her heart poinding fast , she clung to her chest,
"The fuck was that?!"
Serenity looked around her, checking Bella, to find she had already wrapped her blanket neatly and left.
"Gone already?"
She got up from her bed and headed to the bathroom, unbothered to even lock the door behind her. She opened the shower, soaking herself in water.
Serenity kept her face up with her eyes closed. Still in her cloth, she closed the water and slowly sat on the soaked floor, leaning on the wet walls. Staring at the broken mirror, she let out a smirk.
"To actually be called by name...Now this is a first."
After she finally calmed down, she closed the door and took a warm shower before changing into her black dress, heading to class.
After she finally calmed down, she closed the door and took a warm shower before changing into her black dress, heading to class.
As usual, the topic of all the students was the semi-finals of the cup of glory that was about to begin shortly after classes today.
"Who do you think will win?"
"I say, Jarvis, he is a brutal fighter. Didn't you see how he almost killed Ray?"
"You have a point, but if it were me, I would say damn, he has a secretive way of winning, using fire at the first round, but later we couldn't tell how or when he won."
"I bet Eclipsa has not a single loss so far."
"Continues winning, breaking records, instant dominance—that's what I call power, man."
"I get what you mean; the ice maiden is so... cold."
Serenity sat on her chair in the middle of all that noise, rubbing her forehead. "This headache just won't stop."
Baial came from outside holding some candy in her hand and gave it away to the other students.
"Here, have some."
Serenity originally had some candy on her desk but was so deep in her thoughts and took one without even seeing what she took, unwraped it and eat it only after the taste entered her mouth did she realize what she took,
"Mango flavor?!"
Baial smiled, holding her head up, feeling proud, asking with full confidence, "It's good, isn't it?!"
Serenity took out a handkerchief from her pocket and spat the candy into it, making Baial feel insulted.
"If you won't eat it, why take it in the first place?"
"I am allergic to mango."
Her words shattered bile and made her burst into a cold sweat seeing Serenity pulling her sleeves and the red rash all over her arms and neck, even spreading to her face.
She was worried sick something might happen to her. "It's just one piece of candy; it can't be this bad, right?"
After a second it didn't calm down but got worse; Sylvia came saying,
"This is severe; you should see a doctor."
"I know."
She calmly got up, ready to leave, but her head started spinning; she lost her balance and was about to fall if not leaning on the chair. Her head kept spinning; she removed her glasses and sat back, pressing on her head with both hands.
"This sucks…"
Sylvia extended her hand to Serenity, offering help.
"Let me help you to the infirmary."
"No thanks, I can manage on my own."
The temperature in the room dropped significantly, and everyone suddenly felt the cold in their bones. They stared, looking around them like crazy, all searching for the source.
"Acho...why is it suddenly too cold in here?" Mariana asked.
Sylvia kept rubbing her hands together for the heat. "I don't know, but right now I really need a blanket."
Baial started jumping in her place, trying to warm up. "Why is it freezing in here?"
She turned to Serenity, feeling worried, but collapsed on the ground from what she saw.
"Serenity, are you okaaaaaah...what the fuck?!"
"What?!"
Her loud scream drew the attention of the whole class towards Serenity, and all ended up joining her shock.
"What in the world is going on?!"
Serenity, who was sitting in front of them, was glowing in white smoke, with her whole body covered in thick layers of ice and her hands covering her face; the scene felt as if looking at an ice wall.
"What in the world is happening?!!" Sylvia said
Right at the moment their room teacher entered, confused by the cold just like them,
"What's going on?...Why are you all gathered like that?"
She moved forward, dismissing the other students till her eyes finally caught sight of Serenity; she turned at a burial, asking,
"What happened and what is that?!"
Baial got of the ground ,rubbing her hands together, eyes full of tears,
"Teacher, I didn't know either...I didn't expect something like that to happen."
"Calm down, I don't understand anything." She slammed her head and turned to the other students. "Can someone explain what is happening in here?!?"
"I tell…" Sylvia started telling the teacher exactly what happened. "Baial gave Serenity a mango candy, not knowing she's allergic to it, and her body instantly was covered in rashes. We wanted to help her to the pharmacy, but she refused, and her body suddenly turned like this."
Teacher Vanessa's eyes widened, stuck on the beginning of Sylvia's words, and pointed at the pile of ice in front of her.
"This...this thing is the princess?!"
Sylvia nodded, making the entire room start whispering.
"Serenity is a princess?"
"We didn't know."
"Are you kidding me? Nobody knew."
"What happened to her?"
"Who knows, but the class president might get executed for this."
-clap, clap-
Teacher Vanessa drew everyone's attention and then started giving out her orders.
"That's enough... Everyone leave the classroom; no classes for today. Sylvia, go to the principal's office and tell her there is an emergency."
She turned, glaring at Baial. "You... stay here and don't move."
"But I can't enter the principal's office without a pass," Sylvia said.
Vanessa handed her a golden armor token and rushed her. "Go... or all our lives might be in danger."
"On it."
Then Sylvia ran out as fast as she could and quickly hid behind the teacher's eyes, tearing up, while Teacher Vanessa released her seventh-circle magician soul weapon; only a magician at the 7th circle can summon such weapons.
Raising her hand as if holding something light that transformed into a glass wand, she had a total of seven circles circulating around her arm in opposite directions.
She pointed her wand at the ice.
[Regula magni ordinis qui vitas nostras circumdat, adiuva me ut regulas circa me moderer.]
A white light came rushing from her wand towards Serenity, but the light was absorbed by the snow, and lightning came rushing at them.
Vanessa tried to make a shield to protect them against the lightning, but the lightning crashed it the moment they touched.
[scutum]
-shatter-
"Fuck!! Watch out!!
Vanessa held a pail between her arms to protect her from the shock; as a result, she was gravely injured. Even the other students at the door scattered in all directions just so they could avoid it; as a result, a huge hole appeared on the wall outside.
"What would have remained of us if that lightning had hit us?"
"Bloody hell, we would've died."
Baial helped the teacher sit on one of the chairs outside the classroom; with her back mostly burnt, she was busy healing herself when Baial knelt in front of the teacher.
"I'm sorry...if you weren't busy protecting me, you wouldn't be this badly hurt, just like you are now."
Vanessa placed her hand over Baial's head.
"I am your teacher; this is my job. As long as you're my student for one day, I will protect you till the end of that day. Got it?"
Principle Grace came from behind the students, with short rosy hair, wearing a long black skirt and a white buttoned shirt decorated by an open red tie—nothing like a woman who is already a grandmother, more like a twenty-year-old woman.
-clap, clap, clap-
"I should say it when it's due...I am proud of you, kid."
She walked along with some other
"Grandmother, you're finally here...oh?!"
Vanessa noticed the masked young man, who was wearing all white, with long black hair and alluring silver eyes, with his face still covered, but you could still say he was an attractive man, standing behind her grandmother.
"Grandmother, who could this be?"
Grace turned her head to the boy that was leaning on the wall.
"Oh, him!...He's here to meet his sister; don't mind him."
Vanessa was a little flushed facing that insanely attractive man but felt a bit embarrassed. "Welcome to Regis, and sorry you had to witness such scenes on your visit."
The man nodded his head calmly, then turned towards Grace. "Can we hurry up here? I still want to meet my sister."
Grace looked at him totally pissed ,"Yoyoyo...What a rude family who doesn't have any manners , you're as rude as your sister serenity"
"Say it in her face. Why say it to me?"
"You think I wouldn't dare?"
"Not thinking. I'm sure you don't have the guts."
"You-"
Vanessa pointed at the man; her previous blush disappeared, replaced with pure fright. She pointed at him, asking,
"Serenity…he's Serenity's brother."
"He totally is that bitch's brother," Grace said.
"D…Doesn't that make him ALKANA's heir, ARIES DE ALKANA?!"
"Yes...What are you on about exactly?....wai…" Grace looked at her hurt granddaughter with eyes full of worry. "Why the hell did you ask for me here?...Don't tell me it's related to Serenity?!"
Upon hearing those words, Aries's eyes instantly turned bright red, glaring at the already injured Vanessa as if wanting to kill her right there and then.
Seeing how he reacted, they went into dead silence, especially sylvia ,'we are already on hot water with the VOLDEMORT, and now you're telling me that AVALOR is also involved and a family that have a DE as their middle name nonetheless, the fuck did those bastards do to have such ultimate connections .....but still this connection may be the only reason that can explain her relationship with the notorious king .'
'What have I done?! I am dead, I am dead...Mom, get me out of here.' Just this news alone was more than enough for the poor little pal to drop to her knees, sobbing like crazy.
Vanessa, seeing her like that, took the lead to speak.
"Grandmother, did you have any idea Serenity is allergic to mango?"
"That kid is a total freak; she never eats from anyone's hand, so it can't cause any trouble whether she has it or not."
She turned to Aries, who was standing at the corner. Seeing the stunned look in his eyes, she knew they fucked up. She quickly turned to her granddaughter, "Tell me what happened, and make sure you leave nothing behind."
Vanessa started explaining what happened and what the students told her, even the source of her injuries, ".....and that's what happened."
"I see, a simple allergy won't cause such a thing. Just how bad could it actually be?"
Grace opened the classroom's door and was horrified; even the students couldn't believe what they saw.
The entire classroom turned into piles of ice and snow centered on serenity.
Under such sight, Grace turned to Aries, "Your sister, your mess, have any idea what exactly is going on here?"
Aried was on his phone talking with someone and didn't pay attention to whatever Grace said. He suddenly took a photo of the frozen classroom and sent it to someone. Not even a second passed before his phone started ringing.
-Ring, ring-
"Hello, do you have any idea what to do in here?"
-Open the phone's camera and make the screen towards your sister.-
"Wait a second...done" after opening the camera, and Jevon appeared on the other end; many had mixed emotions about the situation.
With the door open, almost the entire corridor felt like the ice ages.
Jevon only said one sentence: "My kid woke up; it's time to go home."
Suddenly, without any warning, the mark of the fox tribe appeared at the phone screen and right above Serenity.
The piles of ice started loosening, turning into small ice folks. All started circulating around one point where Serenity was sitting.
With the ice melting, Serenity was finally uncovered from under the snow, but her appearance was nothing like the human who was swallowed by ice and snow.
Her hair turned icy silver-shaded platinum, her ears prolonged and pointing like that of an elf, and her face and ears had a dreamy blush that was uncovered slowly with her hands moving away from her face, showing how much of a beauty she is.
When the little snowfolks around her started merging with her body, finally a clear image of her eternal beauty appeared: full lower lips, a small pointing nose, long platinum eyelashes, and one snowfolk under each eye; even the ends of her hair were full of snowfolks.
Serenity slowly turned her icy silver eyes at Aries; only after seeing that look in her eyes did her father on the phone smile.
"Welcome back, my kid, SERENITY DE ALKANA."