Years Pass By...

It's been 10 years since the meeting with the queen, and to say that the life of Helena and Selene was not easy is an understatement.

Helena, who was already 60 years old at the birth of Selene is now 70, however because spirit essence slows the age process to a certain point depending on the magical power of the individual, she appeared in her early 30's.

The first stage of a magical cultivators journey is the mortal stage which has three Realms which are respectively Establishment Realm, Core Formation Realm, and Core Completion Realm.

Helena was in the Core completion Realm, which was achieved in the past ten years, which spanned her lifetime to that of at least 200 years.

Helena, in these 10 years switched over from being a midwife to a maid for Selene while also being her motherly figure. She would arrive at Selene's room everyday, help her get up, take a bath, dress, and teach her as the duke neglected Selene's education.

Despite doing her best it was not easy, everyday she would be sabotaged by guards or other maids in the household whether that be through ruining and overturning her quarters to destroying books she acquired for Selene to read. Along with such problems she was constantly beat or lashed at by guards who felt a sense of superiority over her. The duke never put a stop to such hatred so it continued to grow for harboring and taking care of the 'devilspawn'.

Helena usually had a bruised body or occasional broken bones when returning to her quarters for the day. The injuries never got to severe because healing was quicker the stronger the magical power of a magic cultivator.

Selene had it no less troubling than Helena. Wherever she went she was looked down upon by everyone in the household. Selene had grown up to be a fine young women, from learning etiquette to studies she diligently studying under Helena. Selene had grown lustrous moon white colored hair that fell to her the top of her bottom. Usually she gave her hair large curls near the bottom to give a more sophisticated look. Her red blood eyes that shone like rubies gave a deep contrast to her white hair while accentuated her mature face after years of abuse.

Selene too was beat by 'measly' guards, however it was not as bad as what Helena got and was usually hidden from view. The only reason such actions were ignored was that whenever the duke was drunk and reminiscing about his wife, the thought of the vile white haired, red eye bitch would come into his mind. Some nights he would seek her out and lash out at her with a whip asking why he took his wife from him.

Selene from a young age quickly realized that her father hated her with every possible strand of his being. When interacting with people Selene would remain indifferent with an expressionless face or whenever she was being whipped or beaten by guards or her father she would remain silent which she learned was the quickest way to make would be attackers bored.

Selene knew she was weak, and she was eager to learn how to become a magician and cultivate spirit essence to gain strength. All youths would start their journey at the age of 10 so since the day had arrived she was eager to start learning.

Helena, knowing what today meant, was equally excited to see her baby girls journey start in magic. She arrived a little early today with a present in hand for her young mistress. Standing next to her was Aurora, Selene's personal maid. Aurora too had grown and was a half year older than her mistress.

Aurora had deep black midnight hair, that was tied up into a donut bun. When it was let down it went to her mid back and was as smooth as silk. She had sparkling amethyst eyes, sharp eyebrows, and a small nose that gave her face a mature yet cute charm even for such a young lady.

Aurora had grown up and groomed to be Selene's personal maid and she couldn't be more proud of her moon haired, red eyed beautiful mistress. Aurora had seen first hand the troubles both her teacher and mistress had gone through and not once did they complain. Aurora was utterly disgusted with the maids and butlers with the household and avoided all interaction with the guards.

One could say her devotion was a fervent desire as her mistress treated her like a sister throughout the years and as the older one she took it upon herself to make sure her mistress was always taken care of and loved no matter how hard things got.

"Good morning, young mistress." Helena never lost her respect for Selene. Even if she acted like a mother figure for Selene, the midwife now maid made sure to always make sure of their standing. It was so that Selene was always aware of her position as a dukes daughter.

"Mmmm, gooood morningggg mama." Groggily and stubbornly refusing to get up even with the curtains pulled back, Selene rolled around in her 4 poster curtain bed.

"Sigh~ child, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not your mother..." Helena could only sigh and shake her head. Inwardly she was jubilant. Helena loved being called 'mama' as she raised such a wonderful child herself. "Aurora, if you please."

Aurora, who was standing by the side gave a deep sigh before walking up to the bed or her mistress and grabbed them before yanking them off! "Young Mistress, you must get up, we have to leave for the academy today."

"Mouuu~ Aurora, you're a jerk!" The usually indifferent Selene had a total flip side to those she loved. She glared at the amethyst eye's of her maid which she considered an older sister.

"Yes, yes and this jerk is making sure to get you out of your bed everyday, cleans your clothes, gets you tea when you need it, and cooks you food when you such require." Aurora had a slight mischievous smirk to her face as she took a jab at her mistress.

Selene could only pout at her maids teasing. Not that she cared as Aurora has told her many times before that she will always be there for her as a maid and older sister whichever situation it requires.

"Ughhh~ fine...I'm up, I'm up ok!" The blinding radiance of the sun still shown in the room lighting up her bed as Helena stood there with a smile on her face.

"Young Mistress, the carriage to leave for the academy departs in an hour. Before you go though Bella, Aurora, and I have gotten you a present!" Helena walked up to the bed and presented a little box no bigger than a hand to Selene.

Selene gave a beautiful smile as she grabbed the box and began to open it. Pulling away the string and wrapper a small box appeared. Taking the lid off, Selene gazed at the rose colored hairpin. With a red stone at the center of a rose with a lighter shade of red it matched her eyes perfectly.

"Ohhh~ thank you! It's gorgeous!" Selene had a dazzling smile that showed her pure white teeth while her eyes gradually rose into a crescent shape from pure happiness. Deciding she would wear it today, Selene quickly got out of bed and rushed into the bathroom. Aurora naturally followed as she always did and helped Selene out of her black and white negligee that she usually slept in.

In the bath, while Aurora scrubbed her young mistress's body, Selene inquired about their academy, "Aurora, they allow personal maids to attend with nobles right?"

"Yes, for Marquess and above, young nobles are allowed to bring their personal maids or butlers to academy. However, we are not sleeping there as we don't have to travel as far as others. We are lucky that the academy is located near the border of the duchy which will only take us at most a half hour to arrive so usually I would not be needed." Aurora explained as she went to get another bucket of warm water from the faucet for hot water in the bathroom.

"Well I need you there, so you are coming Aurora." Defiantly Selene refused to be left alone. She had no reason to interact with other nobles as she has been well attuned to what she would see. Licentious gazes from men that look at her body even though she was only 10 and envy from young ladies that look at her in hatred.

She knew this because it happens first hand here at the castle from the older maids, butlers, and guards. There have been a few cases where guards, after a session of whacking her with a stick or whipping her would get touchy. Selene abhorred men for this and despised ladies for the use of venomous words they would use.

"As you wish, Young Mistress." Aurora too knew what would happen, for some reason her mistress was too beautiful for her young age. She had little interactions with people her age but knew very well the attitude of adults. Her young mistress could probably deal with adults easier than children so Aurora also felt a need to protect her mistress.

After drying both their bodies from washing, Aurora quickly dressed into her knee length maid uniform and black stockings. After that she helped dress her mistress in a rather conservative neck high dress that covered her shoulders but not her arms and that went down to just above her knees. The dress was black with red outlines along the hems of the dress and her curves.

After a few more checkups and jewelry, Selene put her rose red colored stone hairclip in her white moon like hair and changed her appearance from a smile to one of indifference.

"Lets go." Selene usual charming tone became one of pure coldness as she stepped out of her room, the door being opened up by a bowing Aurora.

"Yes, Young Mistress." Aurora voice and visage didn't change however as she has one of indifference at all times even around her young mistress. However, Aurora is more talkative around Selene than with others.