Chapter One: The Countess’s Identity Gets Discovered

What started it all?

Char sat in the gloomy schoolhouse, his arms wrapped around his knees. Despite being only five years old, he’d already given up on everything.

The boys’ dormitory was like a cell, the clothes the Mercures had given him were cheap and of poor quality, and the training he had to endure daily was so needlessly harsh, it bordered on abuse. But he knew that if he didn’t meet the Mercures’ expectations, the only thing awaiting him was a miserable death.

Then again, no one would mourn him if he were to pass away; not his parents, who had chased him from their home as soon as they’d learned he had mana, and certainly not the Mercures. These people viewed the children in their care as mere objects. They wouldn’t grieve for him. He’d most likely end up discarded somewhere like trash. Char had already seen it happen several times since entering the schoolhouse. The teacher would abandon the students on the training grounds and dispose of their bodies when no one was looking.

Char didn’t know why he should keep on living. Yet, at the same time, he didn’t want to die.

Curled up on his bed in the large dormitory where he and the other boys were confined, Char found his gaze drifting to the empty bed beside his. It had belonged to a slightly older boy who had died just a few days ago. He had been friendly, and for some reason, he had taken it upon himself to look after Char. The boy would often come talk to him, despite how unsociable Char was. Apparently, he had been an orphan from another country, whose relatives had sold him to the Mercures when they’d heard that the house was looking for children with mana.

A single picture book lay on the otherwise empty bed. It had been one of the few belongings the boy had brought to the schoolhouse, and Char remembered seeing him gazing at the book as if it were the most precious thing in the world, despite his struggles with reading and writing. Soon, an adult would come and throw the leftover possession away.

Char climbed down from his bed and picked up the book. Havi