"Crowns topple easily. Thrones crumble like dust. Hearts cease to beat. Thorns draw blood."
In a country torn into two, there should have been no room for mistakes. Especially not at the very core of the royal family. That was what she was. Yes, a...
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"For what are star-crossed lovers but a soul for another soul meant? Some stories are doomed from the start, but love remains unaware."
Irina Lantsov did not know when things began to take a turn in her life.
She had been born a princess. The first child and sole daughter of a man who was considered a great and benevolent king.
Her mother had called her a beauty who had inherited the dainty features of a Lantsov without taking on the aggressive attitude.
Growing up, she had been granted everything she could ever have thought to ask for. The newest dolls, the most delicious foods, the best dresses. She had a little brother who followed her around everywhere, a mother who doted on her, and a father who favored her above all.
However, when her mother died giving birth to Igor, it all changed. It was as if her mother had taken all the happiness and left them all behind to suffer in the loneliness. Oleg ceased to become the little brother she adored and became a boy who tormented her relentlessly.
Igor was too young to understand things and only grew up sheltered by his countless caretakers. He did not grow up in a happy palace but he grew up not wanting for anything. King Andrei lost all sense of himself in his work, ignoring his children to their own devices.
That was until the night Irina killed her caretaker, commanding her to jump from the window with the abilities that she was born with. From that moment on, King Andrei allowed himself to turn his focus to his eldest child. He saw her not as his daughter, but as a project to work on.
It was as if he had forgotten that he was a father meant to protect his child. Instead, he only became a king concerned with hiding one of his subjects' secrets.
Unfortunately, it was this renewed focus that caused the disdain that Oleg had for Irina, thinking that his father favored his sister over him even if he was to be king. It caused such jealousy to fester in his system that he sought her demise.
When they had gotten sick with the plague, Irina was sure that she would've succumbed to death yet something saved her. It was only later that she realized it was her power that saved her.
As the years went by, Irina grew into a beautiful woman. Cold and unfeeling, but beautiful nonetheless. She befriended her guard and together, they visited nearby villages and lands in order to help them with the most basic of things.
It was the least she could do while her father was sick in bed and her brother was off in the front. Even if he was merely drowning himself in brandy.
It was in one of those instances when she caught the attention of a certain Shadow Summoner without knowing and you know how the rest of the story goes.
