The scarlet fairy and the ice blade - Chapter 1
“Clan of the Flame”.
Bridget was born as the eldest daughter of the prestigious Maydel Earl family, known as such for generations due to their expertise in flame magic and the fact that all of its members are born with radiant red hair.
In the kingdom of Fillid, it has been a custom since the time of its founding for children who have turned five years old to visit the temple and enter into a contract with a spirit.
The inhabitants of the spirit world, fantasy creatures that are normally incompatible with the human world, sometimes lend humans the right to use part of their powers.
For example, if a child enters into a contract with a water spirit, that child will be promised the talent for water magic.
If a child enters into a contract with a wind spirit, they will be promised for the talent for wind magic. If they enter a contract with an earth spirit, they will be promised for the talent for earth magic.
Conversely, children who do not receive a contract spirit will not have magical talent.
This ritual is an important one for children and their parents, as it determines their future.
And so Bridget went to the temple to enter the contract ritual on the day she turned five.
Eleven years later, Bridget still remembers that day as if it happened yesterday.
She will never be able to forget it for as long as she lives.
“……The contract spirit of Countess Bridget Maydel is… ‘Nameless’.”
The priest’s voice was laced with confusion as he made the announcement.
A great commotion spread through the temple… as a young Bridget timidly looked back, all she saw was utter disappointment etched on the faces of her parents, who just moments before had been filled with hope.
Nameless refers to what are known as micro-spirits.
They are the remnants of spirits with weak power that can only float in the air, the kind that are no longer given names by the human world.
Therefore, they are collectively called Nameless.
It is not uncommon for commoners to enter into a contract with a Nameless.
Some families would even be happy with that, as it means they have secured a contract at all.
However, for the eldest daughter of the Earl family, and the legitimate heir to the bloodline of the Clan of the Flame, to enter into a contract with a Nameless――.
This event spread among the people as an unprecedented incident.
That same year, the eldest son of the “Clan of the Flowing Water”, who are often mentioned alongside the Maydel family, entered into a contract with two top-class spirits, which was another cruel twist of fate for Bridget.
Bridget was grabbed by the arm by her own father as soon as she returned home that day and forced to plunge her left hand in a blazing fireplace.
Her father paid no heed to Bridget as she wailed and begged him to stop because of the heat and pain, and the terrible torture continued until those around him stopped him.
Maydel Earl simply said that he was going to redo the contract after the priest who treated her wound left, and behaupted it with a look of indifference.
‘If it were truly my child, there’s no way it would enter into a contract with a Nameless. That’s why I made her touch the flames, to test her,’
He declared, and it goes without saying that Bridget could no longer think of the man as her own flesh and blood.
Bridget began to hide her left hand, which had been left with burn scars, with a glove that went up to her elbow. The wounds were so deep that even a high-ranking priest who used healing magic was unable to heal them perfectly.
These incidents garnered Maydel Earl sympathy, but the eyes of the people who looked at Bridget were now filled with nothing but mockery.
At tea parties and parties where the sons and daughters of nobles were invited, Bridget was openly pointed at and made fun of by the children.
The nickname “Scarlet Fairy” began to be used as a mocking name for the incompetent Bridget Maydel.
Fairies are one of the types of spirits in the spirit world, and are said to be inferior in terms of their magical power and other abilities.
It was the perfect mockery for Bridget, who had a mismatch between her birth and her abilities, and many of the children laughed in agreement.
–amidst such painful days.
An encounter at a tea party she had been invited to would change Bridget’s life forever.
This was her encounter with the third prince, Joseph.
Joseph approached Bridget, who was sitting in a corner seat with a gloomy face, without speaking to anyone, with his escort knights behind him.
“Miss Bridget, is there anything you like?”
As Bridget, who was not talkative at all, struggled to answer while facing such a handsome prince, he suddenly asked her such a question.
Her eyes blinked, and without needing to think, Bridget answered.
“I like spirits.”
“I see. Why is that?”
She regretted it immediately.
This was the usual kind of mockery she received. She should not have answered him so honestly.
However――telling a lie would go against her very nature.
Thinking this, Bridget blushed with nervousness but resolutely said.
“……They’re terrifying… but I think they’re very pretty.”
“Oh, I see. That’s lovely.”
That was it.
That was how it all started.
But the third prince――Joseph laughed and said those words.
For the young Bridget, they were words of incredible healing and salvation.
Whether because Joseph had taken a liking to Bridget or not, an official announcement was made from the royal family, and soon after that, the two were engaged.
Bridget was overjoyed. She became very attached to Joseph, her only ally.
–However.
But then, little by little, Joseph, who had been her beacon of salvation, began to change.
“I think stupid women are so cute and to my liking.”
When was it?
He had coldly uttered such words.
Bridget was troubled.
This was the kind of standard mockery she received. She shouldn’t have answered him so honestly.
But — telling a lie went against her very nature.
Thinking this, Bridget blushed with nervousness but resolutely said,
“……Stupid women… what kind of people would that be?”
“That’s right. That’s the spirit.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t understand anything and ask others for the answer. Right now, I think you’re stupidly cute.”
Bridget was stunned, but Joseph seemed to be in a good mood.
Such incidents continued every day from then on.
“Women who look good in pink are great. I bet their minds are similar in color.”
“Why don’t you try to scream and make a fuss every day to at least relieve my boredom?”
“You should wear a lot more makeup. To the point that your real face is unrecognizable.”
“Women who get better test results than their fiancé are the worst. Can’t you even pay attention to that?”
Bridget was desperate.
Desperate to change herself to suit Joseph’s tastes. She changed herself over and over again.
She threw away all of her favorite clothes. She filled her wardrobe with pink.
She changed her way of speaking. She even changed the way she treated people. She acted arrogantly and invited hatred.
She bought new makeup and put on heavy makeup. She made half of the mistakes on her test.
She abandoned her old self and replaced it all.
After all,
(I want Joseph-sama to think I’m cute.)
――That’s right.
That’s why I think it all started with feelings that resembled a faint love.
But what about now?
Bridget couldn’t figure it out even if she tried.
Unlike when they first met, there was no tenderness in Joseph’s eyes when he looked at Bridget.
His eyes were narrowed in contempt and disgust, and there was no mistaking that they were not the eyes that would look at the girl he had wanted to be his fiancée.
(Or rather……there’s no need to think about it.)
I’m amazed at myself for even thinking about it.
Lying on the bed, hugging my knees, and holding my eyes shut.
It was all over.
(After all, I was broken up with.)