It was a normal day at the kingdom square for Byulyi. She has her usual errands of delivering products to their loyal customers along with the daily hustle in the streets. Fortunately for her, being a merchant’s daughter prepared her enough for the commotion.

Today, there was a public execution taking place. General Gong Yoo of the Sun Squadron is reading off the royal scroll the details of the crime. The incriminated person is facing the crowd watching. His eyes were indifferent to his coming death not in the matter that he has accepted it but instead it was as if he intended for it to happen. Byulyi made eye contact with his wizened eyes for quite some time and felt that he was trying to tell her something. After a few more moments, she finally shook it off and went to the direction back home.

“Your crimes, former Court Wizard Moon, include use of forbidden magic in the premises of the kingdom, unlawful use of funding, and treason to the crown. The consequences for your actions entail beheading,” he leered down to the wizard. “Any last words traitor?”

Looking ahead, he ominously said: “My legacy shall bring forth the means to the end.”

And he was no more

“Grandma, I’m home,” Byulyi called out to the empty porch. She was immediately greeted by her youngest sister at the door.

Infected by the hyperactive child, she played with Chaewon for a while after finally arranging the produce from her errands.

“Ah, Byulyi you’re here,” her grandmother finally greeted. “Be a dear and help Eunbi out in the garden will you? The army has requested more potions to be crafted and we could use a bit more mountain flower for their injuries.”

“On it gram,” she replied immediately. Then solemnly she added, “How is mother faring?”

Her grandmother had hesitant eyes, calculating silently how to approach with tact.

“It’s best to see her for yourself after you finally finish some chores with your sister.”

With that, she was shooed away into the garden to help pick out the needed herbs.

The day’s work was over and they were able to produce a good batch of potions for the soldiers. With their grandmother as one of the well-known apothecaries in town, the two eldest sisters were taught everything about herbs since they were little.

“Grandma is father going to be home tonight?” Eunbi innocently asked.

“I’m afraid not dear,” their grandmother replied sadly. “Your father has been on more errands ever since the shop became the kingdom’s supplier for the war.”

To the side, Byulyi was keeping busy grinding the dried leaves in the bowl. She tried her best to keep focused on her task. Ever since her mother fell ill, their father has been taking on more dangerous deliveries to encampments.

“Is brother at least with him?” she murmured quietly.

Her sister and grandmother suddenly went silent. When she didn’t receive an answer, she finally looked back at them and saw Eunbi clutching something to her chest.

“Unnie, I-I… oppa told me to give this to you when he left last week.”

She was handed a letter that has a small parcel attached. Immediately, she reached for it and tore open the envelope.

To Byulyi,

I am off to see father for the last time. The general tasked me to recover his body from a bandit raid and give him a proper burial when I come home. Worry not sister as the general himself assured that the bandits have already been eliminated.

You’re the head of the house now until my return. As loyal as I have been to the military, I cannot trust them completely with the family’s safety as they have left someone as important as our father to ruin. I might be wrong but your situation is dangerous since they didn’t hesitate to send me with only a small squad.

The next time grandmother needs something delivered, ask Ilhoon next door to do them for you, he gave me his word. If you have errands in the market, make sure to invite your friend Heeyeon to keep them off your back, she’s a smart girl. Sandeul and Baro will keep their eyes out for you anytime they are on duty.

I arranged for your enrolment in the University this fall. Enough time for you to make your move to Winterfall when it gets rough. Grandmother and mother know of this. It will be cold in Winterfall but the kingdom wouldn’t dare to put their hands in the strongest neutral territory. You’ll have to speak to Seokjin by the time you are prepared.

Eunbi has my specific instructions since I gave her the impression of “in case of emergency.” I know that she and Chaewon are too innocent for these kinds of affairs. Please take care of everyone and most importantly yourself.

I love you

Your dearest elder brother,

Lee Minhyuk

P.S. When you open the parcel, make sure to speak to mother about it.

She read the letter over again… and again… and again.

It sounded too much like a farewell. Her brother was asking for too much yet too little at the same time. Never has it crossed her mind that their humble business would ever be involved in complicated events. She must have read the letter at least a hundred times because the next thing she knew, Eunbi was trying to hand her a handkerchief, barely noticing the tears that welled up in her eyes.

Despite being grateful for the youngster’s assistance, she kept quiet and tried to smile at her sister despite the tears. She’ll have to handle everything until they’re both old enough.

She decided to be strong and continue with Minhyuk’s instructions. The parcel he left was barely the size of her palm.

“Grandma, may I speak with mother?” she asked tentatively.

Her grandmother nodded and proceeded to lead Eunbi for bedtime.

Alone with her thoughts, Byulyi went to her parents’ room. She opened the door gently and saw her mother still lying in bed, looking a bit better at the least.

“Byulyi, dear how are you?” her mother asked faintly.

“I was supposed to ask the same, mother.”

They shared a light laugh at that. However, with Byulyi still clutching the parcel tightly, what she was there for was noticed immediately.

“I see. So I take it that Minhyuk said it’s finally time then.”

“Mother, why are we in danger?” her confusion was obvious in her eyes and her mother took pity on her ignorance.

“Come sit. We may have a long evening ahead of us.”

It was a treacherous task to travel from the capital to WInterhold. They were lucky enough to be able to move out just in time before their home was ransacked by the royal army. As it turns out, Byulyi and Minhyuk were adopted by their father’s sister, making them not directly blood-related to the rest of their siblings.

The parcel contained a skillfully crafted amulet in the shape of a crescent moon. It must have been enchanted because the moment she wore it, a whole new world opened right in front of her eyes. Byulyi can now see magicka lines in the world. Its absence could mean inanimate structures while its presence can take form in vaguely-shaped colorful masses. No wonder Minhyuk wanted her enrolled in the university.

Her now-aunt mentioned that Byulyi and Minhyuk were both strongly affiliated to magic because of their parents and in extension their grandfather, meanwhile her and their grandmother were more on the side of alchemy. Minhyuk was more into enchantments therefore always having his weaponry at the highest conditions compared to the other soldiers albeit hidden. It was one of the reasons he is a few steps away from being hailed as the youngest general to date.

Byulyi, on the other hand, is more sensitive to her environment. Their grandmother described her as spiritually attentive. She never knew what it was about until she stepped into the University.

Travelling to Winterhold during summer was their best bet of getting there with the least difficulty. But then the bustling roads would mean the royal army is present in any town they might pass through.

It reached to the point that her friends Sandeul and Baro had to subtly them as much as they can under the guise of Seokjin’s mercantile business travelling to each region. Heeyeon, in addition, does her best in distracting the other guards during inspections with her charm and wit… anyone’s guess.

Fortunately, they were able to reach Snow Point just before summer ends with only a few hiccups down the road. The far northeast of the continent was barren for the most part in terms of landscape with its jagged mountains and deep valleys. Only few strategic watchtowers litter the mountainous view.

Baro and Sandeul immediately went back to the kingdom when they visited the last town in order to not raise suspicions while Seokjin and Heeyeon remained with them for the rest of the trip. There really was nothing stopping them from leaving, nonetheless, Byulyi is thankful for having such loyal friends.

Upon reaching Winterhold, Seokjin stopped the carriage in front of a large empty house.

“Seokjin, what are we doing here?” Byulyi asked.

The man grinned widely and fished out a piece of paper from his satchel.

“Your brother has some really nice friends out here,” he replied cryptically as he handed the scroll.

Byulyi opened it to find out it was a deed for the house. By the sheer size of it, her brother spent as much as he can to provide for them even in his absence. As she still stood in awe, her younger sisters and grandmother began unloading the carriage with Heeyeon and Seokjin.

Getting back her senses, she helped out immediately after tucking the piece of paper into her robe.

After they cleared everything, Seokjin handed her a heavy parcel.

“Someone wanted me to give these to you a week before we left.”

Examining the package, it seemed to not be composed of books alone. Suddenly, her friend is fidgeting in front of her. When he caught her attention, he opened something like a chasm in his carriage with lots of trinkets and apparels that not only looked rare but also extremely expensive. Out of curiosity, he asked.

“Was the former court wizard related to you, Byul?”

Realization then dawned to Byulyi. It all made sense now why they left alone her stepfather, why her brother was sent to a suicide mission and most of all, why they had to run away.

He’s more than a relative, Seokjin… he was my father.

The first few weeks at University went well for Byulyi. After the internal drama she had from the revelation, she tried to keep a low profile in her studies. It was a pleasant surprise for her to know that Heeyeon was also enrolled in the school and is living with her brother in Winterhold. The two of them kept together and only socialized slightly with the others as everyone was busy.

Keeping on the pendant from her brother was a good idea. With the presence of magicka lines flowing around her coupled with her natural affinity for the environment, she is almost always ahead in class particularly in Destructive and Alteration magic. Her skill in alchemy is somewhat a given with her growing up in an apothecary but only she and Heeyeon are aware of that fact.

Her nobody status among mages changed drastically. She then found out the hard way that wizards could be so prideful.

At the peak of autumn, the trees in campus have long shed their leaves. While it is normal to feel a strong gust every now and then, Byulyi knows that there are some people who purposely cast wind magic to blow leaves in their faces. It doesn’t bode well to either of them that Heeyeon would jump at the chance to electrocute someone given the right reason.

Her enhanced vision in all things magic related allows her to trace the perpetrators. She tried one-on-one confrontation with them but all it earned her is a glare and a stiff dismissal of accusation. Pushing at them to stop was an option but the agitated energy Byulyi perceives is more than enough for her to back off.

It continued until her final year but this time it was with one of the professors.

Kim Gura prided himself in being the archmage of the University, therefore granting himself the honor of teaching the most advanced classes. Byulyi has a very high image of him. Unfortunately that would burn to the ground.

That semester started out good enough for her. The usual grind in classes, getting extra credit for advanced tutorials and taking care of her family were the main points of her life at the time. It was no longer surprising to everyone that Byulyi can keep up in class a lot faster but the archmage decided it is a type of misconduct.

To her, it made no absolute sense since they do not have exams and only needed to be taught spells and methods. There were also no restrictions with regards to apparel or accessories so at this point the archmage is being ridiculous. She shares this sentiment with Heeyeon one night at home.

“Heeyeon-ah, isn’t the archmage supposed to be a dignified person? Why is he targeting me all the time?”

Heeyeon, reading her book at the corner, set it aside and hummed thoughtfully before giving a response.

“Byulyi, you’re basically the University’s golden child at this point. He probably doesn’t want some alumni to think that he’s losing touch or something.”

Byulyi considered the thought and proceeded to practice more on new alteration spells. As she is absentmindedly casting the spell, her friend broke her out of the trance.

“I didn’t know you have a cute dog for your familiar.”

“I can actually summon three of them.”

Eyes wide, Heeyeon scrambled to Byulyi’s side, eager to see. Byulyi complied, breathing in deep and letting out energy from her hands. In front of them now are three corgis staring up at them.

“Why three?” Heeyeon suddenly asked.

“It’s for my siblings. The first one is for my brother, the slightly subdued one is for Chaewon and the one now running around is for Eunbi.”

Her friend looked on in amazement while she brought herself to contemplate.

This is all for my family.

Byulyi is at her final straw. Lately, someone has been sabotaging her projects. Starting with her own garden patch on campus suddenly turned to ashes, and then the enchanted weapons she was supposed to gift Sandeul and Baro were stolen from her locked laboratory in the University’s basement not to mention the potion she has been brewing for months suddenly spilled all over the floor. She was normally calm about people targeting her but this is steadily becoming an exception.

She stormed out of the laboratory and tried to trace the fading foreign magicka line coming from her workspace. Whoever did it knew she will find them and tried hard in covering up their traces. She ended up at the last place she would ever think of.

Heeyeon’s house

In the dead of night, she came back to her friend’s house, certain that she will be there. Byulyi was ready to tear the door down and demand answers from her friend but halted at the sound of shouting.

“Let him go! I’ve done what you asked,” that desperate voice was most definitely Heeyeon.

The reply was a murmur to her ears so she tried to keep herself calm for both of their sake. If foul play was involved and someone blackmailed her friend to sabotage her, she’ll have to send oversized wolves instead of corgis.

She inched closer to the door to properly make sense of the current conversation

“Huh, you think that’s enough? Disappointing. And here I thought you were one of the brightest minds in the University.”

Beyond the door, there is no mistaking the Archmage’s voice.  Since he is behind all this, this is no mere child’s play. Gears started turning in Byulyi’s mind. He is most probably holding Heeyeon’s brother captive somewhere in the University since he really can’t leave and if her friend is desperate enough to resort to merely following orders. This turns out to be more of the elder’s mysterious grudge on her rather than academic foul play.

She moved away from the door and headed home, straight to her laboratory. There, she devised a plan to finally put an end to all their suffering.

She started out by brewing the strongest invisibility potion that can be brewed from her available ingredients. The winter season is not making it easier on her but she’ll manage. Next, she put on some of her father’s rare and expensive gear in case of the worst scenario.

First, she’ll have to figure out what is happening and to do that, sneaking into the Archmage quarters is the best way to go. Hopefully she can find out where her friend’s brother is being kept and also some way to tear down the Archmage.

The cold season allowed her to wear the thickest of coats over her robes, still making her fairly inconspicuous. Through the course of the day she had not seen Heeyeon. It was probably for the best as the night before was surely stressful.

Having no more classes, Byulyi went to a secluded area at the hallway where the Archmage quarters are located. She then drank the invisibility potion she made and waited for the Archmage to come in sight. If she estimated right, she has about three hours before the effect wear off. That should be enough time to scour the room.

The man was fast approaching. Byulyi wasted no time and followed him inside. The area she entered was quite impressive with its high ceilings and reinforced walls. Fortunately, when the indoor garden caught her eye, she was able to position herself against the wall as the Archmage left the room.

She started by rummaging the bedside tables for possible prison keys but came up short. A muffled cry then came from the garden. Byulyi then ruled off this man as disgusting for going this far.

Taking the shovel nearby, she dug up the soil, not caring much for the plants. The muffled sounds steadily get louder until Byulyi finally uncovered the top of a large crate with an open tube attached for air. Without hesitating, she blew off the lid uncaring of the noise. She pulled up Heeyeon’s brother and gave him a restoring potion as he looked frail.

Summoning one of her dogs, she let him out of the room with it guiding the boy back home. She needed some evidence to incriminate the old mage and proceeded to scan his collection of trinkets. What caught her eye was there was a pendant almost identical to what she is wearing, only with a different pattern.

The door slammed suddenly and Byulyi turned around to find the Archmage fuming at her with his face reddening with rage. Seething with anger, he lashed out at her.

“Your father took enough from me. I was supposed to become the court wizard but no,” he spit out. “The king only saw him and his oh so amazing ideals that got him beheaded.” He let out a sickening laugh at that.

Byulyi herself is now enraged. He resorted to such underhanded methods to get back at her deceased father. Her friend’s family was also endangered and she doesn’t even want to try to think about him putting a hand on her sisters. At the height of her anger, the Archmage still deemed it fit to fuel the fire.

“But then as powerful as he is,” he continued sinisterly. “He wasn’t able to get me away from your mother. He’s a waste of space for her,” then his eyes darkened with something evil. “I have to say, I had fun taking that blasted necklace off of her.”

The western wing of the campus exploded into pieces.

The first touch of snow doesn’t feel too bad, Byulyi thinks as she looks up at the night sky. Her last memory before being laid on her back in the courtyard is uncontrollable anger at the Archmage. She somehow knew within herself that it was the accumulation of everything that has been happening in her life lately.

Rising up slowly, she spotted the destroyed room right across where she is. With her subconscious mostly at work, she conjured her spirit familiars and made way to where the Archmage is struggling to get out of the debris.

“You will pay for this you insolent child,” he gritted out.

At this point, Byulyi has had enough. With her raised right hand, she let out a snap and her dogs suddenly transformed. The small familiars merged together into a terrifying creature.

“Cerberus, make it quick.”

Not a concern was spared to the screaming that followed. Byulyi made her way to a debris pile and started rummaging for her mother’s pendant. The screaming was long gone when she finally found it in a destroyed display case.

Under the dark sky in the first snow of winter, Moon Byulyi was reborn.