(Alice POV)

It was the beginning of the day, and I was covering my face in shame. With my mama safe and both of us at peace, the memories of my actions in the mountain made me crazy with shame. I didn't want to recognize I acted like that.

"What happened to me!? I always mocked the kids in the village for acting edgy and over the top, and now I did the same! Aah!" (Alice)

I won't ever forget the time when, in the village, there was the tendency among the boys to try acting cool and dangerous.

Are you asking why? It was to impress me and my friends. Of course, we felt pity and goosebumps for their actions, so we altogether avoided them.

Thanks to my unrestrained shame, I was so immersed in wriggling in bed that I didn't realize I woke up Mama. Mama was always weak in the mornings, so I would leave the bed in silence every morning so as not to wake her. But today, I was so focused on calming down my shame that I forgot about it.

"Alice... good morning... What are you doing?" (Orie)

Hearing Mama's voice made me panic; with a red face, I looked at her sleepy face with a bit of drool, not knowing how to respond. I didn't want to explain or talk about my dark past, but at the same time, I needed an excuse if I wanted to keep it secret.

"Wha-- ahh... You…You know...I-I know! Mama! I thought it was a shame I wouldn't have your fantastic body in the future! Ye-Yeah! That's it!"

Even for me, that excuse was desperate and full of nonsense, but it was enough to distract mama. My excuse immediately blew away the drowsiness on her body, and with a scarlet face, she stuttered in a shy voice.

"Wh-What a-are you... What are you saying so early in the morning! You little devil!" (Orie)

I'm sorry, mama; your sacrifice won't be forgotten. Seeing how my shy mama reacted was enough to calm down the shame I felt from my dark past.

Well... I can't deny I wanted to tease mama a little, but I still had a lot of super important questions that I couldn't ask yesterday.

"But you know mom... I don't know what the queen Aiya looks like. Does she have a good body? For her own good, she must have a good body, otherwise... I'll make her pay." (Orie)

"You can't do that!! She is your biological mother! Even if you can do something, you mustn't do it! No one can know what will happen if she learns about you." (Orie)

Hearing mama's warning made me wonder about some minor details from yesterday's talk. Mainly related to why they discarded and tried to kill me.

"I forgot to ask something yesterday, but... Why did my parents throw me away? I know I am starless, but was that the only reason?" (Alice)

"I see... Let me explain: every royal family member needs power and talent to keep the nation in peace. A starless child conceived by the royal family is considered a curse.

You would have been a bargaining chip in an arranged marriage if you had a decent number of stars. But people are like the spirits; they only want talented children. This is especially true in high society.

If the royalties and nobles of other nations learned about you, all relationships with the holy kingdom's royal family would be cut. The fear of staining their "privileged" blood is one of the main reasons they don't allow relationships with commoners. That's why they tried to dispose of you; to them, you never existed." (Orie)

So, life in the nobility is a luxurious mess... it's a little hard to imagine how I would have lived as a princess, but I'm grateful to them for throwing me away. Thanks to that, I got a lovely mother and the possibility of having a free life.

Mama looked a little sad for explaining the reason, so I tried to cheer her up in my own way.

"I know you are sad because they tried to dispose of me when I was a baby, but right now I need you to give me a piece of very crucial information... Does the Queen Aiya have a good body?" (Alice)

"Haa... Do you only think about your body? If this satisfies your curiosity, then yes, the queen is the most beautiful woman in the holy kingdom... and has a better body than most women. Although If I think about it... maybe... her chest is a little bit smaller than mine?" (Orie)

Mission accomplished... that's what I wanted to say, but why is she looking at me so exasperated?

While my mom looked at me like, "I don't know where I have failed," a little maid entered the room with two sets of clothes and breakfast. Filled with curiosity, I looked at the little maid, who looked the same age as me. Aside from the maid attire, the little maid had a headband on top of her red hair and a golden bracelet on her wrist.

"Miss Alice and Miss Orie, I brought your clothes and breakfast. Miss Alice will wear the training set, and Miss Orie will wear the maid set. If you need something else, I will be outside the room." (????)

Without showing any emotion, the little maid left the room without another explanation, leaving us a little stunned. Putting aside what happened, we ate breakfast and put on our clothes as instructed.

After leaving the room, I was surprised to see the same maid waiting for us with an old butler at her side. The butler gave the impression of a veteran who has been working here for at least several years. His white hair, wrinkles, and professional attitude were proof of that.

I couldn't help but see him as the perfect definition of a butler with his clean and neat uniform, white gloves, a pair of golden glasses, and gentle aura.

"Miss Alice, Miss Orie, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Robert, and I will be overseeing Miss Orie's training. As the head butler, I need Miss Orie to follow me. You must learn how to be a good maid, even if you have previous experience.

Miss Alice, Anil was assigned as your maid, so don't be shy about asking for anything. I apologize if Anil's attitude bothers you. This girl can't voice her thoughts and emotions with ease. But besides that, her skills as a maid and bodyguard are guaranteed." (Robert)

The maid, named Anil, bowed her head at me and returned to her previous position. Seeing her actions, the butler only nodded in satisfaction.

"Miss Orie, please follow me." (Robert)

My mama nodded at his words and hugged me before walking alongside him.

I could feel Anil looking at my interaction with Mama, but when I tried to look at her, she was already walking in the hall.

"Miss Alice, please hurry up. I will guide you to the training grounds. Master is already waiting for you." (Anil)

Her actions surprised me, as they would be considered rude. But I let it pass, knowing she was terrible at expressing her emotions. Walking through the mansion made me realize this place was huge and surprisingly simple.

The corridors weren't covered with luxurious paintings or expensive gems. Instead, they had a clean design. After following Anil for a while, we arrived at the training grounds.

To my surprise, the training grounds consisted of a circular arena made of stone with seats and weapons at the edge. In the middle of the arena was Miss Fayna, waiting for me with a bored expression.

"Just in time, today I will teach you the basics and knowledge. The real training starts tomorrow, so I hope you are ready for it." (Fayna)

With her task done, Anil bowed at Miss Fayna and went to the arena's edge. With her gone, I stood alone before Miss Fayna.

"Tell me, Alice, how much do you know about spirits and spiritualists?" (Fayna)

"Spirits are entities of another realm capable of controlling the elements. We, as humans, can borrow their powers by signing a contract. Those who sign a contract with a spirit are known as spiritualists." (Alice)

"You are not wrong but lack of substance; let me ask you this question you should know very well. Why are the stars and affinity important for a spiritualist?" (Fayna)

Hearing this question made me remember the days when I could only dream of becoming a spiritualist. After taking a deep breath, I answered Miss Fayna's question.

"The Stars how compatible and potential a person has with that element. Only people with four stars or above can perform a contract. It is possible to increase the amount of stars, but it is considered very difficult to do it" (Alice)

"That is right, but I need to clarify something. The number of stars represents how much "power" you can use from your spirit without being wasted. Spirits have a type of energy known as astral energy, while humans have mana. To use a spirit's power, we must combine our mana and their astral energy to create that "new power."

When we combine our energies, there is waste and resistance. In other words, a person with more stars can spend less mana to achieve more remarkable results. They waste less energy, use it more efficiently, and recover faster than people with fewer stars." (Fayna)

Hearing their explanation felt unique; there were many things I didn't know. Miss Fayna smiled at my admiring expression before continuing.

"I still need to teach you about the elements... but for now, let's see your spirit; after that, we will continue. I almost forgot to explain about contracts. When a spiritualist signs a contract with a spirit, the pact leaves an emblem as evidence. After the contract is sealed, the spirit lives inside you, so the emblem is the medium to summon it.

The emblem doesn't have a physical form, but it is engraved in your soul. You can try to summon your spirit by pouring your mana into your emblem's contract." (Fayna)

Thats it? Pour mana into your soul? Anything else? Like... where is the emblem!? Her explanation was simple, with no detail or hint, only a "do it." Not wanting to disappoint Miss Fayna, I tried to pour my mana into my contract's emblem, and to my surprise, it worked.

"So you could do it with a lacking explanation... this brat is more talented than I thought" (Fayna)

Miss Fayna!? What do you mean by that!?

I continued to pour my mana into my emblem, utterly flabbergasted. I could feel my emblem taking shape behind me, but that didn't mean I wasn't shocked by Miss Fayna's words.

As I continued, I felt my body brimming with power, and when I thought it was enough, I extended my arm and summoned my spirit.

A flame of different colors appeared as if responding to my summon. This flame grew in intensity before leaving a spirit without a core in front of me. The spirit in front of me was a third-rank spirit. But its appearance was half white and half dark purple, giving it a charming color.

"Uh? Where am I? What just happened?" (????)

Did he talk? I couldn't believe my ears, but my spirit spoke while looking confused and lost. I turned my gaze to Miss Fayna and asked for an explanation. Who would have thought she was in a worse condition than me?

"Ho-How? This spirit should be a high-ranked one. Why is a low-ranking one?" (Fayna)

The confusion on Miss Fayna was evident; she clearly didn't have a clue about what was happening.

"Em... Mister Spirit, let me introduce myself. My name is Alice, and you have formed a contract with me. Do you have a name, or can you give us your name?" (Alice)

"My name... I don't remember; the last thing I remember was a fight... and then I... A lot of my memories are gone. I'm sorry I can't give you a name. But you can give me a name, right? After all, I can't go around without a name, right?" (????)

Now, it was my turn to be stunned. How was this spirit so cheerful after losing his memories? Shouldn't he be more worried about who he is?

While I was troubled about the cheerful spirit, miss Fayna recovered her senses. She coughed twice to gain our attention and looked at me with a twitching expression.

"You are really a messed box of surprises... For now, let's give him a name. I don't know what is happening, but sitting here and doing nothing won't take us anywhere." (Fayna)

Agreeing with her, I looked at the spirit while thinking about a name that would fit him. After pondering for a while, a good name came to mind.

"Very well, your name will be Azazel!" (Alice)

Mr. Spirit looked happy with his name as his flames glowed brighter. However, our happiness didn't last long.

"Now that you have given him a name, we will start the training. Forget what I said about learning only the theory today. I need to reschedule your training... but emptying your mana reserves and Azazel's astral energy should work for now." (Fayna)

For some strange reason, miss Fayna's words gave me and Azazel chills as she smiled widely with a vein marked on her forehead. She wouldn't be so petty to make us suffer only for surprising her a lot, right?

I was trying to ignore the chills when I saw Anil trembling in fear in the corner of my sight while hugging herself. Ever since I met her, I desired to see different expressions on her face, but not this kind of expression, especially from the training I will take.

Azazel and I decided to ignore our chills and began our training. How foolish I was; this infernal training was the beginning of our nightmares.