She still remembered how it all started. How her life had changed in a string of fateful events.

“From now on, you will be known as Rosabella,” her new master said as the metal collar around her neck melted in between her dainty fingers.

All she could feel was mild warmth as the metal fell apart.

“And from now on, you are no longer my cousin, but my dear younger sister,” said the other redhead, continuing, announcing to all the people around them.

A few gave a look of disappointment but the willful youth ignored them.

The burden pressing onto her mind vanished as the metal collar clanged on the ground.

Bella suddenly recognized her cousin Rosazita as herself, and not as her owner. The very girl she had played with and befriended ever since her fifth birthday. She recalled that, unlike her, this cousin of hers lived in the big Capital city.

Floods of emotions suddenly hit her and Bella fell to her knees. Tears flowed out of her eyes uncontrollably as she recalled everything that had happened. The mix of grief and joy wrecked her being until she didn’t know what to feel.

She remembered it now, clearly.

The undead had broken past the town’s defenses, and screams began to fill the air. The rules changed not very long after that. Gone was duty or honor. Everyone was for themselves.

Dear father and mother were at the walls, and she didn’t know if they had survived when the undead broke in and made it into the town. Even if they survived, she didn’t think they would come for her.

She knew this because her first brother and second sister had long escaped the mansion with the family’s retainers. Bella wasn’t even surprised when it happened. She had almost expected it. No matter how much praise she received as a clever girl, she was still the third in succession.

As the third daughter, Bella was left to fend for herself, and her fifteen years self did her best to hide from the rotten evil beings. There were many nooks and crannies she had used to escape the boring and exhausting magic training, and she had picked the best location. Bella was once told that the training would help her in the future, but she hated the idea of being married off for the sake of the family.

But despite all her effort, the undead still found her. Bella was staring at death itself before being ‘saved’ by one of her father’s guards. The man bashed the skeleton skull into pieces and she had very little choice but to take the offered hand. They navigated the town’s sewers and escaped the town together with two other women.

Despite escaping without a scratch on her, things only got worse by the day. They struggled to feed themselves, and before she even realized it, Bella ended up sold as a slave by the same man who had saved her. She was confused when the man suddenly said he was sorry, and the next thing she knew there was a slave collar around her neck. Her thoughts grow distant all of a sudden as she was handed over to the Slaver for a few pieces of gold.

Bella the slave relearned the real meaning of life and hunger. She and the others were carried in cages from place to place to be sold like animals. She also learned not to antagonize her captors when one of the braver girls was picked to teach others a lesson.

The girl was injected with something before she was used by the men. They laughed at the unfortunate girl's feeble attempt to resist, and it didn't take long before she was begging for more like a deranged slut in the flower district.

For three days and night, the blond girl was used as a toy, right in front of her and other slaves.

But Bella learned that everyone had their limit. In the very end, the former rich girl was begging to be ended for good before she was left behind in the Wilds to its denizens’ mercy.

What she had witnessed was unspeakable, and she had watched them with muted empathy. A kind of horror she didn't want to even remember. Her mind screamed inside but she didn’t feel anything towards the girl. Not even sympathy. The horrible scenes had only been a constant reminder that her only respite was the much higher value put upon unblemished young virgin slaves.

Even now she almost thanked the metal that had been around her neck. The collar had muted all the most extreme emotions inside her, saving her mind from breaking apart.

But it was not without consequences.

All this time her emotions were repressed by it, and everything came back to her like a broken dam of horrible memories. She was overwhelmed by them. Bella was glad she was finally safe with the family’s protection but the things that had happened destroyed her inside.

Life is unfair. As the third daughter, Bella knew it all along inside, but there was a difference between knowing and witnessing how low humans could go.

She knew Zita was trying to calm her down but she just couldn’t even respond to her. Bella just hugged her knees on the ground and cried her heart out.

She didn’t even know how long it had passed after she was freed from the collar. Everything happened in a blur before she found herself in a nice bedroom, staring into the mirror.

“She is pretty,” Bella said as she touched the mirror with her fingers.

“Yes, you are gorgeous,” said Zita as she stood not far behind her. “Welcome back, Bella,” the girl continued with teary eyes.

And just like a flip of a coin, Bella was able to function normally again. The awful experience was still there but as if it was stored away and deep in the back of her mind. Bella smiled as genuine as she could at her cousin-sister, she owed the girl a lifetime of debt.

They both had red flaming hairs and were almost the same age. Zita would be 17 soon and would go through the awakening ceremony not long after her birthday party. Bella was 16 at the time and a year before she could discover her awakened spirit and join adulthood.

Zita’s big blue eyes never left her as she walked over and hugged her.

“Using the base of your name to rename me is a shrewd move,” Bella said as she returned the hug. “Thank you, cousin, no, big sister.”

“Well, your name is too short for the main family,” Zita replied. “I only added a few more letters to it. Call it providence as any other name will never fit as good as yours, Bella.”

Bella let go of her sister but still held on to her hands. Her smile faltered as she was reminded of something else, and suddenly it felt hard to look at Zita’s pretty eyes.

Regardless of how hard it was, deep inside, she still want to know.

“Did anyone else… survive?” Bella asked while looking down at her feet.

“No one but you and a young steward in training who was following your older brother and sister. Everyone else disappeared without a trace,” Zita let out a small sigh.

“I see,” Bella replied, unsure how to feel when her fate had turned around over her head.

‘The undead will pay. The corrupted [Lightbringer] will pay,’ the voice inside her head promised.

Bella felt like her life was renewed right after that. She had found her life purpose. Maybe this was why she had finally awakened from her sorrow sickness.

Most importantly, she realized that she wasn’t doing this for her dead family members but only for herself. Of course, Bella had grown up well-loved but being left behind to die had soured those happy memories. The future her family had planned for her might not be what she preferred to be but she still had a future.

The undead had taken everything for her. Even her hope.

From that day on, Bella had trained in [Fire] magic diligently. She used to hate it but now it had become the only reason she woke up early every morning. It was known that only the most intense fire would be able to purge the undead, and she was willing to do almost anything to gain such power.

Time went by until it was time for the matured Zita to take her place as the Matriarch. The former Matriarch, their great aunt, retired as the family’s Elder as the custom dictated. There was no power struggle to select a family leader as all heirs already had wisened up that power was a burden rather than what most men thought it was.

Not many men could understand this fact because they never had to carry a child for the sake of the family. A child that would ensure their family bloodline stayed strong regardless of what the mother thought of the man.

Only rarely this unification was desired by both sides as not a single awakened soul liked being told who to love or to bed. Regardless, this tradition had kept the family strong for hundreds of years despite what its followers thought about it.

Beneficial or not, it was still a burden no Matriarch wanted to hold on to forever. The current generation of Elders could only choose who they thought were suitable consorts, but despite what they thought of themselves, the senile old men and women weren’t always right.

Seven men came and went, and Zita wore a tough face as she went through pregnancy and gave birth to each child for the family. Only her last child had promised a better future for the family where others would have quit long ago. The woman had done more than any other Matriarch in the family history.

Bella did her best to support Zita but there was little she could do. She even questioned the Elders’ decisions at every corner but no one had listened. They were very creative at making up excuses whenever the child didn’t even meet the minimum standard.

The miracle seventh girl was named Anabella at first before Bella begged her older sister to differ. Her sister finally named her Anaxandra, the next heir of the Emberwind family, but for an oath Bella owed her. Bella had no choice but to promise to do something she would never be willing to do in exchange for the name change.

That favor came more than a decade later. Twelve years had passed since the oath had been taken, and Bella was called back to return to the family by Zita herself.

The recall was understandable because of the incoming invasion army of the undead, and Bella was more than willing to die in the siege, not for the family, but Zita. Her savior.

She couldn’t find what she was looking for in her journey, but she was fine with it. To her, the girl named Bella had already died the moment she was abandoned by her own family. She also had enjoyed her life enough, free of duties for the family because of her dutiful sister.

To her, it was time to pay back the life debt. Bella had accepted her demise as a favor paid if it would save Zita and her children.

But her sister was a lot craftier than she gave the woman credit for. For the oath she owed, Bella was told to abandon Zita and took care of the family the woman left behind.

On the tenth day of the siege, Bella was forced to do the one thing she would never do, to leave her dear sister to die. It tore her apart in ways she never had thought possible. It was the worst day of her life and there was nothing more painful than to hear the child cry for her mother. It felt like the cry was worse than her own, years back when she was left behind by her family.

Since that day, her thirst for payback had only increased a thousandfold.

She became the Matriarch so she could use the family's vast connections for her purpose. Thankfully, Bella didn’t have to wait long for a miracle to happen. Now when she had found her salvation, she would never let him go even if it killed her.

The tiny blue sun she witnessed that night was everything she needed and more.

The King and his foolish noblemen might think the [Lightbringer] was just a means to an end.

A tool to be used and discarded later.

They would benefit if he were to succeed in defeating the undead and reclaiming the lost lands, but even if he were to perish, it would have very little effect on their lives. Some of them might even prefer that he never return after stopping the undead.

These people were blinded by shines of gems, gold, and silver.

He might not matter to them but not to Rosabella. She could tell that he was more than just an old soul from another world. All of those years spent traveling the world weren't for nothing, and she could tell from her hard-earned experiences.

Adrin was the future itself.