The words fell over Ophelia like rain, but they were not new. They were so familiar that they had long since stopped hurting… or so she thought.
The truth was, those old wounds had never truly healed. Since childhood, her mother had never embraced her like she did Adelia, never spoke a kind word, never sat to braid her hair or gift her a necklace. She was raised by the servants—most notably, Madeleine, who had become the only mother she knew in the palace.
From a distance, she watched how her mother treated Adelia like a spoiled princess, whispering secrets to her and sewing her dresses with her own hands. Ophelia? She was "the other girl" in her eyes.
"Are you done?" Ophelia finally spoke, gently setting her spoon beside her plate before standing quietly. "Don't worry—I won't embarrass you again."
She left the table as silently as she had entered.
But inside… everything roared: anger, sorrow, loneliness, and a desperate need to prove—to them and to herself—that she was not just a shadow.
Her breaths were heavy as she walked through the garden, struggling to shake off the biting words that echoed in her mind as if branded there. The cool breeze did nothing to soothe her, nor did the familiar sight of the oak trees ease her distress.
Suddenly, her daydream was broken by a soft voice... then she heard him say from above:
"Your face looks awfully gloomy today."
She snapped her head up, stepping back in a moment of shock, only to find Kael hanging upside down from a tree branch, smiling at her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She placed a hand on her chest, trying to process the scene.
"Kael! For heaven's sake... can't you appear like a normal person?"
He laughed, swinging gently.
"I find this more fun… especially with you."
Then he jumped lightly from the branch and landed silently in front of her. He stepped closer and took her hands. This time, his gaze was different—not mocking or teasing, but sad.
"Tell me... what happened? Who upset you?"
Ophelia gently pulled her hands away. She didn't want to talk about the banquet or her family.
She looked at him steadily and said,
"I... agreed to the union. What do I have to do now?"
A moment of silence passed. Kael's expression shifted, a faint smile spreading across his face—not mocking this time, but a quiet victory.
"Finally... you've made your choice."
He stepped closer, his eyes shining with a deeper color than she'd ever seen.
"You won't regret it, Ophelia."
Kael sat on the edge of the stone fountain in the garden, while Ophelia remained standing, her eyes searching his.
He smiled softly and spoke calmly:
"I'm sure you've guessed my identity, Ophelia."
She answered hesitantly:
"Not completely... but let me try. You're a spirit... but not like the spirits of Light or Water. Are you one of... the hybrids?"
His smile grew wider as he clapped slowly, mockingly impressed:
"Wow... just one night and you've figured it out. You're really clever."
He stepped closer, his eyes glinting the color of the ocean at dawn, and whispered:
"Yes, as you said. I'm one of the 'Silvern'... a line of hybrid spirits. My father was a Water spirit, and my mother a Light spirit. The spirit community rejected me because I didn't fit—too impure for either side."
Ophelia interrupted him suddenly,
"What about your parents?"
He looked at her for a long moment, a sad smile appearing on his face.
"They abandoned me. They had to. If they had kept me, they would have been exiled... or worse."
Ophelia fell silent, unsure of what to say, but he continued in a calm voice:
"You want to know why I chose you, don't you?"
She nodded slowly.
He said confidently,
"Because you're special. Someone like you… deserves power."
She raised her eyebrows, surprised.
"Special? In what way?"
He stepped closer, raising his hand slightly toward her shoulder but didn't touch her, as if his hand sensed something unseen.
"Mana... energy needs a vessel to contain it. Otherwise, it cannot be tamed. Most humans have this vessel… but you, Ophelia… you don't have it at all, yet the mana... surrounds you."
Her eyes widened.
"Surrounds me?"
He nodded with a smile.
"It's as if your body attracts it, controls it without containing it. That… is unnatural. You don't need a vessel—you're a completely different kind."
In a voice barely above a whisper, Ophelia asked,
"I control it? How?"
He looked at her for a long moment, then said,
"That's what we'll discover together, now that you've agreed to the union…"
As Kael's gaze held hers, and his voice echoed in her ears, Ophelia felt the world around her grow distant, quieter, as if all sounds suddenly faded—and another voice began to speak inside her… her own.
(What am I doing? Agreeing to a 'union' I don't truly understand… with a being rejected even by his own kind?)
She looked at his hands, then into his eyes… blue as the sea, yet hiding a world she couldn't comprehend.
(But he didn't lie to me… didn't pretend, didn't try to win me over with fancy words. He spoke the truth simply, even when it was harsh.)
She remembered her father's look when she exposed the Duke—the angry tone, the accusing eyes of those present… and Adelia's uneasy face, afraid she'd push Ophelia further away.
(In this world, being myself means being rejected. But Kael… he didn't reject me.)
She looked at his outstretched hand, relaxed, waiting for her to choose.
(He said I control mana without a vessel… so what am I then? Am I truly human? Or something else?)
A shiver ran through her body. For the first time, she wasn't afraid of the answer.
(Even if I'm something else… even if this power is a curse… I'll try. I won't live and die as someone else's shadow.)
She raised her eyes to him—clear and daring.
(I will follow this path… until the end.)
Kael smiled as he saw the change in her eyes—the hesitation turning into determination. He stepped closer, his voice softer than the breeze:
"I know what's on your mind, Ofelia. That's why... I'm with you."
She finally asked in a quiet but clear voice:
"You said I control mana... how? I don't feel it, I don't see it."
He reached out his hand, opening his palm to reveal a small blue spark floating above it—like a drop from a living sea:
"Mana only becomes visible when summoned. It listens... but obeys only those who understand it. You don't need a vessel because your body is the link itself. A rare thing—I've never seen it before."
Ophelia stared at the spark as it gently spun around his palm, then slowly floated toward her. When it touched her shoulder, she felt a faint warmth spreading through her body—as if the light pierced an inner darkness she never knew existed.
"Is... this from it?" she asked, her voice filled with newfound awe.
"Yes. It's already responding to you. But it's lost, confused, without guidance. That's why we need the union."
She asked, "Tell me how it works."
Kael smiled slowly but didn't answer right away. Then he said,
"Our union isn't a written contract, nor a spell cast with words. It's deeper. You'll open a path into yourself... and I'll give you my power, in exchange for being a part of you. Together, we become one entity when needed."
He paused, then continued,
"I won't deceive you—it's a double-edged sword. You'll feel me inside you. My intentions, my thoughts at times. And if your body rejects me... the price might be your life."
Ophelia stepped back. This wasn't what she expected.
"Then why should I take the risk?" she asked, eyes locked on his.
He looked at her long and said,
"Because you're tired of being trapped by rules that aren't yours, in a world that doesn't recognize you. And because you, Ophelia... for the first time, have a choice."
She stayed silent, but this time didn't look away. She had chosen.