"You are not my daughter! You are a blood sucking demon!"
Those were the last words she heard and also the last ti Annara saw her mother before she was taken by her father's people to live and grow up amongst the half-bloods of her planet. She was only six years old at that ti.
Her unfortunate fate didn't stop there. Not only was she never showered with love by her father, who took her in out of pity, being just an ordinary half-blood noble with a lot of enemies, misery soon enough ca to the Vermont family.
When she was at the age of twelve years old, she beca the last living na of the family, left alone with no land or wealth to support her life going forward.
Essentially left with no other choice, with her decent bloodline genes and the legacy left behind by the family she was a part of, young Annara participated in the Magus Academy's selection of new acolytes.
Understanding how important the selection was, Annara showed more than enough willingness to intimidate and hurt her peers if it allowed her to be selected and enrolled to the prestigious institution. However, this ruthless attitude she adopted also made more enemies for her back ho.
She kept climbing forward, through anything in her way, until she finally achieved her dream: to be noticed by an extraordinary woman – one of the grand magus of the Magus Academy – and beco her disciple.
With such a formidable figure as her backer, no one back ho dared to ss with her any more.
However, just when she thought her fortunes were turning and her life was finally starting to change for the better, she once again found herself standing on the wrong side of the fence. She was branded a traitor and forced to act against her will.
Now the fate of her master was unclear – most likely dead, coupled with the whole matter of the half-blood rebelling against the Magus Alliance, she was now a fugitive on the human side and an outcast on the elves side.
Everything she had fought for so far had been lost.
"What a complete waste! I should have not followed that woman!"
After spewing curse to get all of her frustration out, Annara recollected her composure. Sitting in the pilot seat of the spaceship, her gaze fell on the dying Serpent Princess as she had a pondering expression on her face, considering the options she currently had.
She noticed how the white-haired girl's condition was steadily dwindling, which ant she should seek treatnt for her as soon as possible. That automatically ant they couldn't stay in hiding for very long.
Unfortunately, getting to Ouroboros was a journey of at least five days, during which they had to pass through at least half a dozen checkpoints. The long and safer journey would take two or three weeks, and that estimate was only if they didn't run into any trouble.
On another note, while bringing the Serpent Princess back to her ho would be a plausible plan that could net her rewards or even sanctuary to pass the storm, Annara couldn't help but recall the treatnt she received last ti she was there. She clearly rembered how she had been held in prison for weeks on end for no apparent reason.
Glancing at the unconscious white-haired girl, she muttered, "...I really need to think this carefully… I'd rather let you die than endanger myself."
Still, despite her strong self-preservation instinct, Annara knew she couldn't just do nothing. After all, if the girl really did die, so would her chance of obtaining any reward.
After thinking through the situation and estimating the risk many tis, she finally thought of which was the solution with the best odds. She decided to find a place where she could stay safely and at the sa ti sent a ssage to Ouroboros that included bringing her a reward.
"10 million spirit stones should be cheap for a princess like her, right?"
Now that a few days had passed since her escape from the elven planet, Annara flew the ship off the rock debris and headed for one of the cities on a planet that existed in the neutral zone. It was a bit further, but definitely a lot safer.
After landing on the planet, whose surface was mostly desert plain, she hid the ship in a large sand dune several hundreds of miles from her destination city. She quickly went to the city and sent a ssage to Ouroboros.
In that ssage, she was trying her best to convince Ouroboros that she was telling the truth. Luckily, her experience of visiting the faction and knowledge about the other party added to her credibility and things surprisingly turned out a lot smoother than she expected.
In just three days, Annara could see a spaceship, which she suspected belonged to Ouroboros, entering the planet. Shortly after the ship landed on the outskirts of the city.
"It's truly nice being a princess and all, huh…"
It turned out the Ouroboros had been looking for the white-haired girl the past few weeks. Sothing about her running away from her ho.
Knowing about the Magus Academy's confidential mission, they sent several groups to the border. However, what awaited them was confirmation that the girl was not among those who returned, which most likely ant she had died.
Just when they were about to lose hope completely, Annara's ssage reached them like a ray of hope. Of course, they first took a skeptical attitude to the ssage, before finally learning that it ca from a town near the area where the mission was taking place. Hence the reason for their swift arrival.
Apart from several Ouroboros magus, Annara was very surprised when she saw a prominent figure – the Queen, Silvian Ouroboros the Silver Serpent – had actually co in person.
Seeing this special treatnt – the things they did to co after a spoiled runaway princess – Anna couldn't help feeling amused.
"Here's the ten million spirit stones as promised." the Ouroboros Queen said as one of the magus stepped forward and opened the case he was carrying. When she saw Annara receive the case, she quickly said, "Now take to my daughter."
Annara nodded and led the group to where she had hidden the spaceship. What she saw next was not a reunion of a queen and a princess, but a worried mother hugging her daughter in her tight embrace.
At that exact mont, Annara could feel her heart skipping a beat. It had been a long ti since her heart beat like this. So long she couldn't even rember when was the last ti.
Such a thing convinced her to do the unthinkable. It was an opportunity she must not miss. Just as the group was about to leave, Annara knelt before the queen. Her hands were no longer gripping the case filled with spirit stones as she said, "I am Annara Vermont. An outcast, without ho, without faction… If… if you are willing to take , I vow to serve you with utmost loyalty."
Hearing those words, the Ouroboros Queen stopped in her tracks and gave her a quick glance. Silence descended for a few monts before she turned around, ignored the case and continued walking away.
It seed she had been rejected and to Annara's surprise, it hurt a lot more than she thought it would.
Understanding she was unworthy in the other party's eyes, she simply sighed and stood up before picking up the case again. However, just as she turned around and was about to leave, the Queen's voice rang through the air, calling out to her.
"Where are you going? We need to hurry and return ho right away."
There was a certain warm feeling that rose up inside her when she heard the word go ho.
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