While Anna…
Anna would only marry after two things. One, a boy her age who didn't yet become mage could defeat her in a sword fight. Two, she would only marry after become mage.
"Anna!!! You're daydreaming again!" Silvie shook Anna's body harder.
"Oh! Yes? Yes? What were you talking about earlier?" Anna wake up and asked.
"Why are you daydreaming like a woman who has lost her mind?" Silvie asked anxiously.
"It's nothing Silvie" Anna sighed and looked somber.
"Is your mana flow not active yet?" Silvie stared with a sad face.
"Yes, not yet." Anna looked down sadly.
Silvie hugged her best friend tightly. Silvie knew Anna desperately wanted to become a mage but she lacked teachers, money, and talent.
Silvie saw her friend who kept getting up early to practice swordsmanship until the night.
Anna really wanted to become a mage. She didn't want her life to just stop in this city.
Anna wanted to be able to fly and shoot fire like the mage she had seen as a child.
"Anna, it's time for us to go home, your parents will be worried if you are late." Silvie looked at her with a smile.
"Hmm." Anna just nodded.
Her body was very tired. Anna continued to train until she passed out but the mana flow in her body didn't show the slightest reaction to getting up.
This made Anna very frustrated.
Anna and Silvie parted ways at a crossroads. Anna dragged her tired body into her house.
From the outside this house looks warm and comfortable. It is built with white bricks and has mahogany decor. This house only has one floor.
Tall, boxy windows allow enough light to enter the home and have been added to the home in a fairly asymmetrical pattern.
This house is equipped with an old kitchen and two bathrooms, also has a small living room, three bedrooms, a dining room, and a basement which also serves as a storage area.
The roof is triangular in shape and covered with overlapping tiles. A small chimney is next to the house.
The house itself is surrounded by a simple garden, with mostly grass and a few small trees.
"Anna where have you been? Don't tell me you're practicing swordsmanship again!? I told you not to be a mage! You're an adult! You'll be 20 years old soon! You want to be a spinster? Huh!?" an angry voice came from inside the house.
He is Anna's father, Gilbert Morris.
"Gilbert, let Anna rest first" a soft voice came from a middle-aged woman with white hair, fair skin and a pretty face.
She looked more like a noble's daughter compared to a simple housewife. The gentle smile that always formed on her pink lips made Gilbert's neighbors and friends jealous of him.
She is Anna's mother, Cila Morris.
"You shut up woman! I am the head of this household, I am in charge!" Gilbert snapped at his wife.
"Okay... we can talk while we eat." Cila smiled softly.
"Humph!" Gilbert sat on a chair at the dining table with his face still angry.
"Anna, let's eat first, you must be hungry" Cila held Anna's hand and brought her to the dining room.
The dining room of Anna's house has a round table two meters in diameter with 4 chairs arranged around it.
On the dining table there are various kinds of food that are still warm. Cila always re-cooks their dinner and gets up early to make their breakfast.
Anna who was tired just sat and ate her dinner.
Gilbert began to speak again.
"Anna you as a woman shouldn't think too much about mana. You want to become a mage? Heh! Why do you want to become a mage? Can you really fight?
You better be like your mother. Look at your mother she has no mana but she makes a good wife. Every time we come home there is always warm food.
Whenever you need anything, your mother is always there.
The house is always clean. Your brother can focus on school without having to bother about food and clean clothes.
Not like our neighbors. Have you seen their house? Like a wrecked ship. Albert always complained of hunger whenever he was on guard duty.
Look at me whenever I have a guard duty I can brag about my wife's food in front of other colleagues.
I even got a promotion for often giving the captain of the guard your mother's good food. Now I become the vice-captain of the guards.
See a family with a mage wife, neglected. Their children are starving, their house is a mess, and her husband is cheating on her with a maid.
Would you like your family to be like that? Huh?..." Gilbert continued to babble as he ate.
Cila, who was highly praised by Gilbert, just looked down in shame with a flushed face. She loved being praised by her husband but not in front of their child either.
Anna just bowed silently, she no longer had the energy to argue with her father.
Actually their family is a happy family.
Gilbert works as a wall gatekeeper, while Cila works as a housewife.
Anna has a younger brother named Artur who currently attends a Mage school. Artur managed to get a scholarship at the most famous mage academy in the human alliance, the Military Academy.
After he graduated from his school, Artur would leave and live in the Military Academy dormitory. Gilbert was very proud of his only son and boasted about him.
Whenever Artur came home, he always shared his experiences during school.
Anna wanted to be able to fight with a sword in her right hand and a staff in her left. Anna also wanted to become a great mage.
However, Gilbert's love and pride in Cila made him think that the ideal and good woman for the family was a woman like Cila.
Submissive, diligent, gentle, and stay-at-home.
Anna doesn't hate Cila, she's just disappointed in Cila.
Cila comes from a mage family, both of her parents are mages. Anna never knew why Cila didn't activate her mana flow and became a mage or why Cila wanted to marry Gilbert who was only a wall gatekeeper.
Hearing Gilbert still raving and praising his wife, Anna quickly finished her dinner.
"I'm done" Anna ignored Gilbert and rushed into her room.
"Hey Anna! I'm not done talking yet." Seeing Anna rushing to her room, Gilbert wanted to catch up, but Cila grabbed his hand.
"Gilbert, maybe she's tired" Cila said with a soft smile on her lips.
"Huft... Cila you know best how pathetic a child in a mage family is"
"I know Gilbert... I know... but Anna is now an adult, she will understand" Cila looked directly into Gilbert's eyes reassuringly.
"Humph!" Gilbert sat back in his chair and continued eating his dinner.
Both of Cila's parents are mage. both have busy work schedules. They didn't have time to take care of Cila, so Cila lives alone in big house with her maid.
Even so, Cila is still happy because she still has both parents. Her Mage parents also make Cila feel proud.
Until they decided to divorce. Cila's father already had another lover, his own platoon partner. Meanwhile, his mother was pregnant with another man's child.
They separated because they hated each other, didn't even want to be in the same place.
Cila who is their child is considered as a symbol that they once loved each other. Cila is hated by her parents.
Little Cila lives in a big house alone.
Her maid chose to follow the new master in another house.
This was a normal life for Little Cila, but something was different.