“I Just Want to Be Loved”
—That was the sole wish of Alice, the daughter of the Blumel Marquis family.
For the five-year-old girl, it was her one and only earnest desire.
Alice was a beautiful girl with long, pink-blonde hair and large, emerald-green eyes that sparkled like jewels. Born into a wealthy household, she lived a life of abundance, where nothing was beyond her reach. However, freedom and love from her family were the two things that eluded her.
Her father, the Marquis, and her mother, a former Count’s daughter, were bound by a purely political marriage.
Alice’s mother was a woman who spent all her time and money solely to maintain her beauty, showing no interest in her husband or children. Outwardly, she played the role of a devoted wife supporting her husband and a doting mother, but she made no real effort to connect with her family.
Her father, a workaholic who placed his career above all else, led an irregular lifestyle, often dining in a separate room away from his family. He harbored no positive feelings toward his extravagant wife and occasionally showed concern only for his heir—his son, who resembled him. The care of his daughter was entirely entrusted to the servants and tutors.
Alice’s older brother had once cared for her when they were younger. However, as time passed, jealousy over his sister’s beauty and intelligence grew within him. While he never outright mistreated her, he distanced himself and eventually built an emotional wall between them.
“A lonely family…”
Sitting alone in her room, Alice murmured in a faint voice.
Despite her privileged environment, she was far from happy.
In the depths of her memory, she had a faint recollection of her previous life—a life where she lived alone, unloved by anyone. She couldn’t remember her name or appearance from that life, but she clearly remembered yearning for love.
In this life, she longed to be loved by someone, more than anything else.
The world she was born into resembled a storybook, a fantastical place filled with wonder. Adorable little spirits, as delicate as flowers, fluttered about. Even now, one hovered near Alice, sprinkling iridescent scales into the air as it danced around her.
Spirits, which were typically one with nature, occasionally visited her room for reasons unknown. When Alice conjured a small whirlwind from her fingertip using wind magic, the spirits joyfully swirled in the breeze, as if playing along.
It was a picturesque world, with lush lands inhabited by spirits, cities developed with magical tools, and scenes of castles, grand balls, dazzling dresses, and colorful jewels that seemed straight out of a fairytale.
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