ladyjlb's manga / #Shoujo(274)

** DROPPED - read ch 5 as of 02/09/20 Cliched plot, awful ML, pathetic FL

** Rate 3.5 so far - read ch 10 as of 09/09/20

Read ch 81 as of 05/10/20

Ch 139 as of 03/01/22 - rate 3.5 so far ** FL doesn't use her past life experiences much at all ** FL is a bit annoying … lost interest. DROPPED - FL 11yo was sold by her prostitute mother to Duke Castiello, who is allegedly her father. FL was beaten by her mother and locked in a box whenever her mother had customers. Her mother called her “Pink Eyes”. She’s given a new name “Estelle” meaning “star”. - When FL was 3-4yo, she remembered her past life memories as a 23yo college student called Seo Young. Those memories helped her endure the life with her mother. - FL meets older brother Carles / Carlo while exploring mansion. He has a fever and she cares for him. His mother died when he was very young. Her name was Rene Konil, the 3rd daughter of a Baron. - As requested, FL is given a tutor to learn how to write and she wants to learn about the world around her. His name is Heidel Creutz, a commoner who taught at the Academy. - FL is assigned her own personal escort knight, Amel / Emiel Astrada. She picked him herself as he was friendly from the start. - Emiel is an aura swordmaster and became a knight at 13yo, so he is now 18yo (tbc). Later it’s revealed that he’s the son of Marquis Leymonde, a family that has always been hostile to the Castiellos. - The Duke’s knights are called the Knights of the Black Wolves. - Kelson the head butler - Annie the nanny - Astor Wanze, Commander / leader of the knights Duke Castiello characteristics: - Blood of the Asmodians (King of demons) - Black / dark aura, fast healing / regeneration, fast growth, strong - Black hair, red eyes - Hard to conceive a child, usually has many mistresses - Do not get on well with humans and vice versa - Is the only Duke in the Empire of Arcania - The Duke owns a mine for spirit stones / soul gems, used for magic items and to help stabilise aura. - FL is reassured by the Duke and Emiel that she is a Castiello. Her pink eyes mean she’s a rare mixed type. She’s also not afraid of the Duke or Carlo which definitely makes her a Castiello. - Carlo returns to Huanglip Academy that’s exclusive to nobles. - FL is afraid of small spaces, thunder, lightning and drowning. This is because she was trapped in the box her mother locked her in during a thunderstorm and the box filled with water up to her neck. - The Duke puts a bed in the treasure room which has no windows and gives FL a key so she can access the room whenever she wants. He slept with her there during a storm. - The Duke takes FL to the capital to be formally introduced. - FL is assigned 3 more escort knights who will alternate: Jean Seigon, Ellen Piz / Fitz and Roy Dillon. - Hunting competition: 1st social introduction of FL. She handles herself well when confronted by a rude noble lady. - The Empress approached FL alone and later the Duke. Before she became Empress, she pursued the Duke. - The Duke captured and killed a bear for FL, making him the best hunter out of the competition. - After letting it slip to Heidel, FL learns from the Duke that she is a spirit user who can hear spirit stones (soul gems) and make contracts with spirits to borrow their power. The side effect for spirit users is that the more power that is borrowed, the more a spirit user assimilates to become a spirit. The Duke tells FL to keep her ability a secret, as many would covet this ability and target her. - The last known spirit user from the Rasyad / Rashad family disappeared hundreds of years ago. Spirit users were slowly purifying the tainted land of the continent that was owned by demons long ago. The Castiellos, the Rashads and the mage tower were tasked with driving out the demons from the continent. - Currently the Castiello family own several territories but some are tainted lands where humans can’t live. - Hunting banquet at the imperial palace: the official announcement of FL as the Duke’s daughter. - FL makes new friends Riria Cervan (grand daughter of a Count) and Alexandra ‘Sasha’ Valje (daughter of a Baron). - Carlo took a day off from the Academy to pay a surprise visit to FL. - FL is invited to the Empress’ tea party, where she meets the blind Princess Iris who isn’t treated well by the Empress. - FL goes to 200yo White Hall which has hot springs running underneath it to spend the winter. - Carlo arrives with his friends Zeon Encaste / Xeon Enkast, son of a Count and Prince Riddle Rooste Alkina. - FL didn’t know her bday. After some investigation, it was determined to be around the Star Festival. FL chooses 20th January as her bday. On the day of her bday, FL receives many gifts including a golden bow from Carlo. - NB: The mage and Thirteen had approached FL before. - After her 12th bday celebration has ended, that night FL is kidnapped by court mage Lefton. His magic was imbued in the supreme spirit stone given to her by the Duke for her bday. She's imprisoned, beaten and tortured while Lefton conducts experiments on her. To survive she’s separated her mind from her body and goes into severe mental shock. She remains this way even after she’s rescued and Lefton is killed. - FL recovers after she almost leaps to her death and is stopped by Emiel, who asks her to punish him for not protecting her. - The mage slave called Thirteen (now Anne) is rescued too. She’s allowed to stay with FL and wants to become her mage. - FL is with the Duke and Emiel in the soul gem mine. They find a very large crystal that FL feels is alive but a hand appears and pulls her into the crystal. The one who pulled FL in is Reng Rashad, a spirit user from the past who became a spirit. - Reng senses FL’s high affinity with the spirits and says she’s very gifted. He calls the spirits and FL makes a contract with 2 of them, naming them Alpha (water spirit) and Omega (fire spirit). She also receives 2 spirit stone cores as gifts. Reng then helps FL go back, and she finds out she was away for 6hrs. - Carlo makes a surprise return home and starts giving archery lessons to FL. One of the cores given to FL has been attached to her bow, and it’s a wind spirit stone core. - FL convinces the Duke to allow her to attend Carlo’s graduation ceremony at the Academy. FL goes with the Duke, Astor and Emiel. 4yrs later: - The Castiello estate is reopening after closing its gates and cutting off all contact with the capital. - FL will be 16yo so it’s time for her coming of age ceremony. - Solad County owned by the Castiellos near the Chanelle River has been purified by FL over the last 4yrs. It’s finally showing signs of recovery with plants growing and the monsters disappearing. - FL sees what Emiel is like during training and it’s completely different to how he treats her. FL is mad and disappointed, thinking his gentle affection for her is a lie. She asks him directly and he assures her that it isn’t. - Dressed as commoners, FL goes to the nearby village for the 1st time with Zeon and Anne to look for a coming of age / bday gift for Carlo who will be 20yo (NB: coming of age usually 18yo for boys, but it was postponed due to isolation period and guarding the territories). FL orders a charm bracelet. - There are rumours of an awakened dragon … - The Castiello family have very bad relations with the Marquis families. A messenger from Marquis Raymond / Leymonde has arrived to see FL. She’s given a jewelled bracelet then told to visit the Marquis for an even better gift. The messenger also tells FL not to trust Emiel. - FL thinks her maid Stephanie and Emiel are dating … later he tells FL that he doesn’t have a girlfriend as he doesn’t have time, and it would be hard to find someone who understood that FL was his no.1 priority. - Carlo’s bday / coming of age celebration is a small intimate affair. Zeon, Riddle, the Duke and FL gathered for a garden party. - FL realises the order of the gems on the bracelet spell “mother” and she thinks Marquis Leymonde may have her birth mother as the surprise gift. To take the initiative, FL has a rumour spread that her mother died and a small funeral was held. - Arthur, Captain of the Shadows who handle intelligence work for the Castiellos. FL is now authorised by the Duke to use them. - FL visits Marquis Leymonde with Anne, Roy and Ellen. She fought with Emiel who didn’t want her to go. - After delaying FL with their son to keep her company, the Marquis finally sees FL alone with Anne. FL’s birth mother comes in and pleads with FL, grabbing her which Anne uses magic to force her back. FL doesn’t acknowledge her, calling her a fake and an actor. - FL tries to leave the room with Anne but they’re surrounded by guards. Outside the room Roy and Ellen are injured while fighting more guards. Just as FL decides the call on her spirits, they announce help is here. Suddenly Carlo bursts through the window. While Anne is using her magic on the guards, Emiel also appears. Carlo takes FL home 1st by carriage. Couples: - Knights Ellen Fitz and Roy Dillon - Stephanie the maid and Jean Seigon the knight, later get married. - A dragon has appeared and the Emperor has ordered the Castiellos to defeat it. The Duke will march with 2/3 of his knights to the mountains where it’s sleeping in its lair. FL and Carlo will stay behind to protect the estate. - FL sent Omega to be by the Duke’s side. She’s worried when their connection is suddenly cutoff. - Marquis Leymonde and Marquis Grapefon have joined forces to attack the Castiello territories. Marquis Leymonde sent a messenger with marriage proposal to FL, who is chased away of course. - Carlo goes out to meet Marquis Leymonde’s forces first. Zeon joined him as support. - Marquis Grapefon started to make a move. FL goes out to meet him. She taunts his soldiers across a river by shooting an arrow into their flag. As they cross, FL has Alpha flood the river and drown them. Marquis Grapefon’s remaining soldiers slowly retreat. FL won with no casualties but feels terrible about causing so many deaths. - The dragon has taken human form and made a pact with the Duke. Asra the dragon had used illusion magic and the Duke and Emiel were the 1st to break free from it. While waiting for the other knights to wake up, Asra sends Emiel to where FL is for a brief reunion. - FL arrives back at the estate and the Duke is there with Asra the dragon. Omega is returned to her and the connection was broken because Asra took them all to another dimension. - All of the knights were teleported safely back to the estate by Asra. - While out walking late at night, FL thinks she might have feelings for Emiel after he escorts her back. Emiel is also questioning his feelings for FL after she hugged him. - Carlo and his men won the battle against Marquis Leymonde. He executed the whole family: the Marquis, his wife and his heir. - Roy was badly injured in his eye and didn’t have long to live. Despite Alpha warning FL about the strain on her body, she proceeds to heal Roy. His eye is restored and he pledges to serve FL for the rest of their lives, swearing a personal oath of allegiance. - FL finds out Anne has been learning magic from Asra. Magic originated from dragons and humans have an incomplete knowledge of magic (kept a secret by the mage tower). In exchange, Asra is learning what magic humans have developed on their own, and obtain samples from Anne’s body for research. - Asra makes a prophecy for FL: You will die one day because of the one you love. - Emiel decides to quit being a knight and inherit the title of Marquis Leymonde, all without telling FL. - Roy is now FL’s personal knight and has left the Black Wolves. FL gave Roy a gift of dragon scale armour (made by Asra in exchange for a taste of FL’s blood). - FL is given responsibility for managing Solad County by the Duke. It’s the territory she purified. - FL hears Emiel is leaving. That night she can’t sleep and goes walking. She hears a sad, furious and mournful sound of a spirit stone and comes across Emiel practicing with his sword. - FL confesses her feelings to Emiel but he rejects her. She cries as she begs him not to leave, but he ignores this and tells FL to go inside out of the cold, then he walks away. - The sword FL ordered for Roy has arrived. Omega helps her to create a spirit stone from a jewel and fuse it to the sword. - Asra tells her that Alpha and Omega are elemental lords. Spirits have rankings and elemental lords are like the kings of elementals. - Asra is leaving to head west where the other dragons went 200yrs ago. He gives FL a taste of his blood and she sees a memory of his older sister calling out to Aninta the 1st mage. She then gets to experience flying on his back. She declines his offer to go with him. - A year later, 18yo FL is in the capital and receives an invitation from Princess Iris. She can now see. FL also bumps into Riddle who is angry that Carlo cutoff their friendship. - In the palace gardens, FL meets the famous pianist McGillan Rolph trying to get inspiration by putting his head underwater in a fountain. FL goes to his home to listen to the incomplete piece and she recognises it as a water elemental song she’d heard as a lullaby from Alpha. She sings the rest of the song for him to help finish his composition and leaves. - Back at the Castiello mansion, McGillan visits with a bunch of roses. He asks FL to sing that song again and afterwards calls her his muse. To help him, she lends him the supreme spirit stone she received from the Duke for her 12th bday. - FL attends Count Cervan’s funeral. Riria and Sasha both warn FL to be careful around Princess Iris. It’s possible the Princess might try to ostracise FL from high society. - Princess Iris’ salon gathering: the Princess is wearing the exact same outfit that FL had ordered for her upcoming salon. Then the Princess tries to humiliate FL by having her play the harp (she’s been learning since she was 11yo) with the pianist McGillan. Instead the guests are impressed by their performance. - FL designs a completely different dress for her salon, which becomes a popular trend. FL had painting instead of music and this also became popular. - There are concerns that the Emperor suspects FL is a spirit user. FL wants to learn more about the oath between the Castiellos and the royal family. The Duke tells her about the terms of the oath and the sceptre with the jewel of the oath (a big red diamond). In return FL agrees to stay in the Solad County for awhile. - FL is in Solad County for 6mths. During that time, Roy became an aura swordmaster. Later FL learns she was sent there to avoid hearing the rumours about a certain new Marquis … - Princess Iris told FL that she’d fallen in love with the new Marquis Leymonde. She asked FL for help with the matchmaking. At her tea party, the Princess introduced the new Marquis to FL and it’s Emiel. - FL drops her teacup and cuts her hand. She asks to leave the tea party early. She’s furious at Roy for not telling her when she asked about the new Marquis and cancels his oath. She’s furious at the Duke for not telling her and she has Alpha help her leave home. - She finds herself at McGillan’s home, listening to him playing. She enters and starts crying. He hugs her then collapses with a high fever. In the morning he’s abit better and FL shares her story over breakfast. Later she has a healer sent to him. - Back at the Castiello mansion, FL apologies to her family for worrying them. She accepts Roy’s apology and takes him back. - FL offers to be McGillan’s patron to show off his new piece. - At the Princess’ next gathering, FL faces her head on and tells Emiel that she hates him then leaves. - FL no longer cares what high society thinks, but this made her more popular than ever. - At a ball, she dances with Riddle and asks about the sceptre. - On the terrace, she’s approached by Emiel. He denies the rumour that he’s engaged to the Princess, as he likes her. FL calls bullshit, but he said she only liked the kind and gentle guard. She doesn't know the real Emiel. - FL has the Shadows investigate everything about Emiel. She receives info on him from his birth to the present day. When he was 13yo, he was saved by the Black Wolves after his own knights from Leymonde were killed by monsters. He joined the Black Wolves after his father said he should’ve died honourably with his comrades rather than let himself be saved by the Black Wolves. - Anna thinks FL should take revenge against Emiel and his petty excuses. FL is also worried of being forced to marry Riddle. Zeon refuses a temporary engagement with FL but he still asks her to marry him, which she refuses. - FL asks Emiel for a temporary engagement. He accepts. He still says he likes FL. His only condition is that she spend time with him once a week. - FL agrees to perform a simple duet piece with McGillan as part of the release of his new composition. They meet 3 times a week to practice. Emiel interrupts one of these sessions as FL was meant to go out with him that day. During their date, FL gives him her 1st kiss. - A court mage is appointed to test if FL is a spirit user. - Alpha and Omega break their contracts so FL won’t be found to be a spirit user. She can make the contracts again later at the spirit stone cave. - FL is tested and the Marquises are disappointed she’s not found to be a spirit user. - There are rumours about FL and McGillan being lovers, and even of McGillan being FL’s concubine. - The day of the concert, Emiel arrives late due to a family issue. The performances are a success. Emiel looks unwell and Carlo squeezes Emiel’s side, making it bleed. Emiel was stabbed by his family with a poisoned knife. He’s taken back to the Castiello mansion where he’s treated, with Anne working on an antidote. - FL had told Emiel that the rumours weren’t true and that she wouldn't kiss him if she hated him. Emiel and FL share another kiss. - Sasha has sent an urgent message for FL to come quickly. FL arrives at Sasha’s the next morning and she’s asked to leave Roy outside. They share some wine together then FL collapses. The wine was drugged as part of a scheme by Princess Iris who took Sasha’s baby hostage. - Alpha took FL’s soul away before she completely died. Just her body is dead but her soul watches on. Princess Iris cuts some of FL’s hair and eats it. She transforms to take on FL’s appearance. The Princess goes back with Roy to the mansion and rushes to see Emiel. Then she goes to see the Duke. They all can tell that she is not the real Estelle. Anna casts spell to torture her into telling them where the real FL is. Sasha arrives and tells them FL’s body is in the Roe River. - FL’s soul is taken by Alpha back to the spirit stone cave. She meets Reng who helps her make the contract again and return to her body. Meanwhile FL’s body was retrieved from the river and is at the mansion. Emiel is crying but FL suddenly opens her eyes and they embrace. FL rests for 3 days. - FL admits to Emiel that she likes him, and has always loved him. - The Emperor has died (most likely murdered by the Empress) and the Empress is currently the Regent. The Crown Prince collapsed and is unwell. The coronation can’t be held for another 6mths. - FL is forced by her family to go on holiday. She goes with Emiel to the Blue Villa next to a large lake. - Riddle comes to see FL unannounced. He proposes to her and tries to take her by force. FL can’t fight back as she experiences the oath for herself where the Castiellos can’t hurt the royal family. Emiel saves her and punches Riddle til he faints. - FL’s spirit contracts remind her that she has another name not bound to the oath: “Pink Eyes”. - Emiel left without telling FL. Next thing he’s engaged to Princess Iris and doing her bidding. Emiel wants to get close to the Princess so he can find the jewel of oath and destroy it for FL. Even if this is at the cost of his life. - There are 3 factions of mages: those who support the Empress, those who are with Anne and want to leave the mage tower, and those helping Princess Iris.

Read ch 17 as of 19/11/20 - just didn’t do it for me.