Chapter 1- Prologue

"Why is a lonely peasant playing in the royal park by herself?!" a small red-haired boy asks coldly as he stared at a small six-year-old girl who was sitting alone in a sandpit.

Hearing his question, the small girl quickly turned her head in order to see who was speaking to her.

This made her short black hair to rest on her left shoulder as she stopped moving.

Her expression remained perplexed, her eyes slightly wide in surprise meanwhile she looked back at the hastily spoken boy who appeared to be around her age, however she soon took notice of the fact the boy was a few centimeters taller than her.

The boy seeing her reaction quickly snorts disdainfully at how dumb her expression as he turned his head quickly, signalling that he didn’t truly care to hear her answer.

This made the bemused girl tilt her head slowly, causing her neck to be fully exposed.

Her hands remained on a red bucket that she had been using to add an extra sandcastle with.

"But I thought the king had made this park so everyone can play in it" the young girl replied in a meek voice as she bit her lower lip in confusion.

Surely her auntie had not lied to her, right?

Otherwise why was this boy acting like this towards her?

Hearing this, the boy narrowed his eyes from the fact she spoke back and to him of all people.

"Hmph! Such impudence! You dare to talk back you stupid vermin?!" the boy snapped angrily as he folded his arms stiffly, startled the girl's hands trembled as she gripped the bucket tightly causing her fingers to go white in terror.

Why was he being so rude to her when she was just stating a simple fact?

What did she do to make him act like this?

"You even look pathetic for someone so small! A weak, ugly rat in my opinion" he said with a cruel smile.

Hearing this comment however horrified the girl who had been playing with her sandcastles in peace, wanting nothing more than to enjoy her time alone.

Only now it was being ruined because of him.

At the same time the young girl had been trying to practice magic with her bucket by making it levitate slightly while no one was watching.

Sadly the plan now derailed thanks to his appearance. 

"Wait a minute! Aren't we the same age?!" The girl blinked in surprise not truly knowing why he was being arrogant.

The reason she unsettled was that most nobles could only practice magic in public, on the other hand some nobles who didn’t have magic were considered to have lower statuses as opposed to the nobles who did have magic.

At times there would be discrete skirmishes from time to time involving the nobles over magic, caring more about their status regardless of magic or not.

As a result the nobles would gladly step on the other’s backs if it meant they could be on top, at times they would play dirty if it meant achieving the best result.

For magic- power was a sign of securing a seat in the higher hierarchy, while others who didn't suffered at their hands in order to stop anyone taking from overthrowing them.

Unfortunately those who were middle or lower class who had magic were often seen as cockroaches, easy pickings for nobility.

They were treated with disdain and bullied thanks to their status leaving more unsettled communities who wanted nothing to do with the skirmishes.

After all it didn’t matter if they had magic, they would never rise up or be acknowledged even if they did something amazing thanks to one thing- their blood status.

No matter their class they would never be on the same levels as nobles or someone of great importance, not even a positive glance or comment.

In truth it was rare for non-nobles to reveal that they had magic in public for fear of being persecuted. 

A majority of the population in the kingdom had no magic in their bones, nor could they use anything connected to magic.

As a result it caused a rift between both magic and non-magic users resulting in resentment and hatred from the non-magical population.

To the dismay of the inhabitants of the country, a war eventually broke out resulting in significant losses from both sides without any signs of stopping. 

The king of that era had eventually caused both sides to cease and forced a treaty between the sides in hopes of stopping the ongoing wars completely.

Despite this prejudicial issues had resumed within his own lands once more. 

This in turn had left the king upset and angry at how callous his own people could be when it came to the gifted and non-gifted.

But he could only do so much given how some of his allies even deserted him to take part in the war for their own benefits. 

By the time he had eventually gained enough power to stop the war, thanks to his faithful followers and supporters had allowed them to create a ceasefire on both sides.

Stopping everything completely leaving mixed emotions from both sides on how it was done. 

In exchange for stopping the war, the ones responsible- those who had agreed to stop the war, be them being magic users or non-magic users.

They had been sent away to an undisclosed area uninhabited by anyone, never to be seen again in hopes of avoiding another war.

The exiled would never be able to leave the barrier that had been put in place, in order to protect themselves and others around them. 

As a result caused the group to never see the true sunlight of their world again.

As expected some individuals would try to escape from the barrier, due to the fact that they felt as if they were trapped like rats in a cage for the war they hadn't caused. 

However the individuals were quickly put in their places thanks to the elders of the area as part of the agreement to avoid any more trouble.

Four hundred years had passed and some skirmishes would occur from time to time, but not enough to break out into another damaging war. 

It was then the current king had contacted the ruler of the banished ones, claiming it was time to make peace between both sides which led to an uproar in his country for allowing the Dark Dwellers to enter their land after what happened before.

Eventually a selected number of children would transfer to the school that was run by the Light Dwellers in order to start the integration, regardless of what the Light Dwellers would think or say. 

At first the Dark Dwellers resented and were completely suspicious of the idea, unsure of what the king was trying to accomplish by allowing them to enter their realm.

However some inhabitants on the other hand wanted change.

Wanting nothing more than to give their children or relatives a choice to be free compared to how they endured over the years.

Thanks to the years of living in their Realm, the Dark Dwellers who were now pale skinned due to the lack of sunlight would often be forced to wear protective clothing that had magic in them.

 In order to prevent them from either burning up and suffering the negative effects of the sun.

As a result a handful of Light Dwellers refused to let the Dark Dwellers have any respite and mocked them for having to wear such things.

Another common noticeable sign of a Dark Dweller would be their hair colour- black or green.

Mostly to the conditions of their home realm had caused not only their hair colour but their eyes as well.

Despite all this, the Dark Dwellers travelled through the harsh sunlight with their heads held high. 

No, they would never be put down regardless of who or what they were, magic users or not they wanted to be free and achieve something for themselves.

Seeing this as a chance to escape the pain they and their ancestors endured. 

At the same time, some chose to do it for their families or to simply make a difference but sadly prejudice still existed leaving it hard for some to want a job in the Light Realm.

Sadly no matter what, whether someone was Light Dwellers or not if a noble spotted a non-noble child using magic, scorn would be often introduced regardless. 

It would be a miracle in itself if the nobles were able to show kindness to those lesser than them, fearful of being judged caused the kind ones to shy away causing more resentment from both classes.