CHAPTER 9: STORY OF SERENA MAIZONO

SERENA MAIZONO

ORIGIN

My name is Serena Maizono, and I was human. “Was”, because I’m now a full-fledged dragonoid complete with crimson eyes and demonic blood.

When I was born, I’m completely a normal human. My father; who died due to illness when I was still a baby, is a human. My mother who nurtured me until I reached teenage years, is a human. So it’s a complete mystery how my eyes changed from brown to red until I learned about my family tree.

They said that my grandmother on my father’s side is a dragonoid. My grandfather who is a duke fell in love with the beauty of my dragonoid grandmother, which bore my bastard father. Humans despised children who came out from a dragonoid’s womb even though the offspring is a human, so my father lived like a reject. He never inherited the wealth of my duke grandfather.

Aside from being a soldier of Alterra who somehow got lost in Elysia, that’s the only thing I know about my father. All my mother told me is that my father is a man of justice who always help the weak. He has a kind heart to oppressed dragonoid slaves and rebelled against the evil human aristocrats.

My mother and I lived a simple life in Minos, Elysia. My mother is a well-known singer in the city. The sound of her voice filled the air with magnificent music. Operas, theatricals, ballads. Her songs calm people's nerves as they settled into a tavern after a hard long day of work. 

I continued to live a normal human life until I reached high school. Even as a young girl, I’ve seen the difference of lifestyles between humans and dragonoids. Humans live in clean houses while dragonoids live in slums. Those dragonoid slaves are the only ones who get to live together with humans, but not as an equal.

I am grateful that I am human. My worst fear is to be treated like a slave or an object, and I am happy that I’m not considered one. I lived my normal human life with human friends, human lifestyles, and human dreams.

I have a dream of giving a smile to the whole world. I want everybody to smile, whether they are humans or dragonoids. I want to make the world a better place.

During junior high school, I was discovered by entertainment companies. They saw my beauty and talent in singing, dancing, and acting, so I became a teenage superstar. I made a name for myself by becoming a model on branded companies, acting key roles in television, and performing to places in part-time.

I realized that this, performing in the showbiz industry, can give smiles to the people. I saw the audiences happy when they see me perform on stage, in live television, or even online. This is the dream that I have been longing for, so I should embrace it. 

My schedule became filled before I knew it, and I was making money as twice as my mother. We used it to build a beautiful bungalow for us to settle in, and we bought Dragonoid slaves to serve our house. Unlike most humans, we treated dragonoids as persons and we respected their lives. 

Being a high school student and a celebrity is no easy job, so I don’t have much time for socialization. My eyes were only locked to the prosperity of my career. As long as I set my focus on this goal, I’ll be able to give smiles to the people. As long as I can make them happy, I’ll be happy.

That’s what I thought until I met someone who could make me happy.

One day, on my way down to school, I bumped into someone in a hurry. My books fell off my hand, and the man whom I bumped into helped me pick my things.

“Are you okay?” The man asked.

“I-I’m alright! I’m sorry if I bumped to you!” I bowed in apology.

“N-No, we’re fifty-fifty to blame.” The man said as he put a notebook on my arm. Then we made eye contact with one another. After five seconds, his face became full red. “W-Wait, you’re Serena Maizono, the celebrity!”

“Y-Yeah…”

Our perception of the world stopped at that time.

It is a cliched romantic scene of everyone’s youth where a girl meets a guy by pure fate or coincidence. Nothing is remarkable on this man except his cute looks and dazzling emerald eyes. He’s just an average man with average body build and average posture. Nothing can be noted at him since you can find a person like him everywhere.

Yet I can’t help but take an interest in him. I don’t know the reason, but my heart felt lighter at that time.

Since we’re both in a hurry to school, our first meeting didn’t last long. We went running and living our separate lives, away from one another. And then, our normal lives continued.

I always see him from a distance. He stands out in my eyes for an unknown reason. Little by little, it became a hobby of mine to find this person whenever I enter the school. Wherever I go, I would just use my eyes to scan the surroundings and check if he was around. There are days where I could immediately see him, and there are days where I couldn’t find him. I’m not stalking him, I just always wish that he’s in the same place as I am. It became a little game inside of my mind that made me happy.

Was it love? Probably not. I’ve never fallen in love with my life before. I just had an interest in this random person, that’s all.

It was then when I overheard one of the students the man’s name. He’s Xenon Wingate, an upperclassman. I learned that he has a girlfriend which is a duchess named Marisse Trystgade. I once saw them date and had a public display of affection in a park. The days where I see them walk around the school withholding hands became frequent. 

It was then that I realized that it somehow hurt my heart. Xenon Wingate-senpai is happy with his girlfriend, and she’s happy with him. They look good together and they are madly in love with each other. It’s a bittersweet sensation of unknown origin. I’m happy but sad at the same time. I don’t know my emotions, and that’s how a girl’s heart is supposed to be anyway. Why am I happy? Why am I hurt? I don’t have a crush on him anyway. But why? I'm conflicted.

I continued the “Finding Senpai” game in my mind, and it continued to make me happy. As long as I can see him smiling with his girlfriend, I’m smiling too. He seems to be full of happiness and he does not care about anything else in the world. His smile gives me hope and pumps myself up, even though the reason is not me. 

I focused on my career. I attained the peak of my show business when I was sixteen and became the content of national news for my superhero series. I was even invited to other countries such as Alterra, Sargus, and Fleija to perform on the stage.

And that is when I encountered the greatest dilemma of my life.

My crimson eyes manifested for an unknown reason. I checked with my private doctor and discovered that it is the cause of my bloodline for having a dragonoid blood. Being a one-fourth dragonoid and three-fourth human, I have a rare case of my genes screwing up. I became a full-fledged dragonoid.

I tried to hide the truth. I used contact lenses whenever I performed to hide my dragonoid eyes. Only my mother, the doctor, and I know the dangerous fact that could lead to my fall, but it was soon discovered by my fellow celebrity co-worker Mayline. She accidentally saw my crimson eyes on the dressing room on one of our concerts.

“You’re a dragonoid!?” Mayline exclaimed.

“Y-Yes.” I shyly bowed. “P-Please don’t tell it to anybody, please! I’m begging you!”

“Of course! You are my friend after all.” Mayline smiled.

“Thanks, Mayline! You’re a great friend!” I joyfully cried. “I’m heavily indebted to you!”

Mayline Leviticus. She’s not a great friend.

Because right after that day of discovery, she gave out my secret to the whole world.