Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol. 1- Novus Magus

[Revised/Edited] Episode 7: A Prison of Luxury

-"To create change, one must have the courage to stand up and challenge the status quo, even at the risk of losing everything."

[Shui Clan Palace, Sera]

*Sarah*

I put my white comb down after finishing combing my long cyan hair. Think that was good enough. Any more and my hair might have started to fall out.

The frills of my long white and blue skirt waved like flags in the wind as I made my way to the window. A majestic garden laid two floors below. It spanned on for about a mile in every direction until reaching a white stone wall. Flowers of various colors and species gladdened my aquatic-blue eyes.

The garden was one of the few things I enjoyed in this cage. The prison called my room. No amount of luxury or splendor could make up for the lack of true freedom.

The other day, I had told my older brother, Qing-Yuan, that I wanted to go to Nine Petal Academy. Yet, the man wouldn't have any of it. He instructed me to stay in Shui for my own safety, that going to Kyuu Seishin was too dangerous.

How could going to an allied nation for school be dangerous? If anything, staying in Sera was more risky. Especially, given how agitated I've made the puppet masters running the country behind the scenes.

"Stupid Qing," I said, sighing. I placed a lace-gloved hand against the crystal glass and felt prana flowing through it. A charm had been put in place to prevent me from escaping from here.

My eyes shifted to the snow-white door behind me. There had to be at least two guards standing on each side of it, ensuring that I would get caught as soon as I opened the door, if they even allowed me to get that far.

Unfortunately, those were my only options. Breaking the charm on the window was probably my best bet for freedom. But not by much. Breaking it would alert the guards—both outside the door and those roaming the garden I so dearly loved. I knew that fighting the guards would be foolish. They were professionals with some of the highest rankings in all of Sera. Meanwhile, I was just a princess who had only recently completed middle school. Compared to them, I might as well have been an infant.

'Is there really no escape?'

"Hey, Sarah!" a voice called out. I jumped forward, almost banging my head against the window itself. I spun around and saw a lanky young man with light brown hair and grayish eyes standing before me with an impish smile.

"Hal?" I exclaimed before staring back over at the garden then back again at him. "How did you get inside? How did you even get past the guards? What are you even doing here?"

He held his hands up. "Woah, woah! Starting with the questions already? A simple 'hello' would be nice, ya know?"

"Hal!" I whispered as I narrowed my eyes at him.

He scratched his forehead and smiled. "No need to give me that look. You see, I was on my way to Wahkan for the Nine Petal entrance exam. Since I happened to be passing by, I wanted to come see my dear old friend."

I narrowed my eyes further and raised a finger at him. "Listen closely. I have no idea what your true intentions are, but that does not matter right now. I require your assistance. Do you pledge to help me?"

He chuckled. "That's why I'm here!" He grabbed me by the waist and jumped into the air.

The next thing I knew, a cold wind struck my body. I shook my head and glanced around. We were in a driveway, outside of the silver gates on the other side of the garden.

"What specimen of magic was that?" I asked, confused by what I had just experienced.

"Please talk normally," Hal said, letting go of me.