“I Just Want to Be Loved…”
At nine years old, Alice was still longing for love.
Three years had passed since her engagement to Lambert.
They had never once argued and seemed to have a good relationship, yet Alice never felt any genuine affection from him.
Lambert loved himself too much, constantly talking about himself and never showing interest in Alice’s hobbies or preferences.
She struggled to develop feelings for him and felt no happiness in their relationship.
To be a worthy fiancée for Lambert, Alice had mastered impeccable manners, developed beautiful handwriting, cultivated a melodious singing voice, and dedicated herself to self-improvement in many areas. Yet, apart from compliments on her appearance, Lambert showed no care for her efforts.
“How can I make someone love me? I just want to feel loved, even if only a little…”
Alice softly voiced her wish to the spirits fluttering around her. For a brief moment, she felt as if the rainbow-colored dust they scattered had wrapped her in a warm embrace.
From that day onward, Alice began experiencing strange visions in her mind during quiet moments.
She saw her mother arguing with her father in the hallway while dining, her brother walking in the courtyard before later lying in bed with his leg bandaged.
Initially, Alice thought little of these fleeting images. However, as days and weeks passed, the scenes from her visions began to unfold exactly as she had seen them. Realizing the gravity of this phenomenon, she grew concerned.
Around the same time, her academy lessons introduced the concept of heavenly blessings (tenkei).
Humans were born with innate magical power, allowing them to use magic, though the type of magic varied by individual. Alice’s magic was wind-based.
Separate from magic, there were rare abilities called heavenly blessings. These were gifts bestowed whimsically by spirits and took on many forms.
The day after the lesson, Alice delved into the library, pouring over texts to determine what her ability might be.
(This is foresight…)
The visions in her mind were glimpses of the future for those in front of her. She became certain that her gift was the ability to see the future.
It was still a fledgling ability, with the future she saw ranging from a few minutes to a few days ahead. She couldn’t control when or for whom the visions occurred.
In the past, there were those who, blessed with the heavenly gift of foresight, ascended to queenship, supporting the king and contributing to the prosperity and stability of the nation.
If it became known that Alice possessed the heavenly gift of foresight, she might be forced to marry the Crown Prince, the first prince of the kingdom.
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