The church ran the orphanage down the street with around 100 kids and three caretakers. Most of the kids who became orphans were left at the doorsteps as babies, while some others became orphans when their parents died. The leading cause of parental death was a monster attack, and the second leading cause was a deadly disease. And it was rare for any of them to get adopted.

The Orphanage had four levels: the basement, the first floor, the second floor, and the attic. There were rooms for each child and three shared bathrooms. There were four rooms for the caretakers and one large room where all the kids ate, played, and learned to the best of their abilities.

Sid was sitting in the corner with his one crutch resting on his lap. He wanted to play with the other kids his age, but ever since the accident, the kids have made fun of him and his missing leg. The adults would tell him that he needed to stay inside and away from the other kids so he wouldn't get hurt. Sid hated this life. Luckily, some of the girls would visit him, and they would be kind and not make fun of him. They even taught him how to read and write.

Sid was the son of two hunters, and one day, his parents never returned. He broke his leg during his first year in the orphanage. Then, one of the caretakers brought him to a doctor to have the broken leg amputated. Sid hated that the leg had to be removed, and now he would be made fun of for the rest of his life. That was 6 years ago, and now he's eleven, and his future wasn't looking bright.

"Hey, Sid! Did you see the Royal Convoy!? I bet the Crown Prince is in there! I wonder if I'll get the chance to see him!" Mary

A girl named Mary was excited to see the Royal Convoy.

Mary was a young girl with a cute face and short black hair. Her blue eyes were shining bright. She was twelve years old. She's been at the orphanage since she was a baby. She's a pre-teen who loved reading fairytales about noble boys falling in love with the commoner girls and rescuing them from poverty, and they end up getting married and living happily ever after. She also loved the fantasy stories about knights and princesses, but she'd always wanted to go to the royal palace and see a real Prince.

"But there's a dark elf who must have tricked the Prince into loving him," started another girl.

This one was a young girl with curly brown hair and bright green eyes. Her name was Elaine, and she was the same age as Mary. Elaine was a pretty girl who loved to play with the other children, but she would never let any of them touch her. Especially around her ears, which she always covered with her long, curly hair.

"Elaine! Don't be so negative! You're just jealous because you have no imagination!" Mary said while shaking her head.

"B-But you've heard the stories about dark elves, right?... She's going for the top, and soon, she and her evil minions will take over the Kingdom!" Elaine tried to reason with her friend, but Mary would have none of it.

"Oh, please! Sid, what do you think?" Mary asked, turning to her friend.

Sid didn't respond, as he was too busy thinking about what his future held for him.

"SID! Are you even listening!?"

"Huh? What?" Sid snapped out of his daze, looking confused.

"Ugh! What do you think about the dark elf?" Mary asked.

"Um, she's probably just a dark elf... Right? There's nothing wrong with them. Especially with how the Priestesses were talking about her... They say she's not evil." Sid shrugged.

Mary was not satisfied with this answer.

"Sid! You're a boy! You're supposed to have fantasies about these things, right?"

Sid just looked at his missing leg, "I wish I could, Mary..."

"Sorry..." Mary was silent for a moment. "Maybe you could get a peg leg, Sid. OH! You could become a pirate! I'll even write a story about it! Just like those ones in the books! You'll have an awesome crew and a ship named after me, okay? It will be great! I can even tell you stories about your adventures!"

Mary's excitement made both Sid and Elaine smile, but then Elaine frowned.

"You are brushing this dark elf issue aside. And if she turns out to be bad, we might all be her slaves for her to experiment on."

Sid rolled his eyes and laughed, "Elaine, I don't see why a dark elf would care about experimenting on a bunch of kids. We're not—"

*BOOM!*

The doors to the front of the orphanage opened with force as a bunch of children ran in. Some were excited while most of them looked worried. The Cleric who was running the orphanage came rushing over, followed by the two Priestesses.

"Why didn't Mother Astra tell us the Goddess' Favored One was coming here?" The Cleric was asking the Priestesses.

"We don't know, Father Simeon. The knights came from the Mage's Guild and just told us that the Prince and Princess are here with the Grand Master," a priestess answered.

"The Grand Master!?" Father Simeon said in surprise. "What does a mage want with us?"

"We don't know anything, Father," the second priestess answered.

Sid, Mary, and Elaine were watching this happen, and they were confused as all the children gathered around the large room. It didn't take long for Sir George, Sir Richard, Lady Rachel, and the rest of the Royal Knights to secure the area.

"Alright, children. Please quiet down!" Father Simeon said, trying to be heard.

"Children!" Sister Thalia's loud voice boomed across the room. Everyone stopped talking and looked towards her. "Please make a line! When the Prince and Princess come in, you will greet them with a bow. Now, please hurry up and make a line." The Priestess ordered, and the three went around to ensure the children lined up neatly. Elaine was worried, while Mary was still excited as they took a position in line. Sid just sat in the corner like he usually did when a hopeful candidate for adoption came by.

A few moments later, the doors opened once again to the Grand Master of the Mage's Guild, the Dwarven Arch-Mage of Ironside, the Headmaster of Fairchild’s Arcane Institute of Magic, and a bunch of Mages from the Mage's Guild walked into the orphanage. Fennic had an unamused look on his face as he thought this was a waste of his time. Saffron, Hajdah, and Laika were intrigued by how Rya was going to test these children.

Father Simeon hurried over to Fennic, "Greetings, Grand Master. What brings the great Grand Master of the Mage's Guild to the humble orphanage?"

Fennic frowned. " The prince and Princess dragged me here, and I would like to get this done as soon as possible. Is this all the orphans?"

Father Simeon was confused as he looked around at all the Mages and the Royal Knights that had entered.

"Ummm, yes," he replied, unsure of the answer.

"Good," Fennic said, looking at Balthazar, the Wind Mage. "Tell the Prince and Princess that they can start."

"Yes, sir," Balthazar said as he walked back outside. And after another moment, one of the Royal Knights announced.

"Now announcing, His Highness, Crown Prince Quinus Meredydd, and Her Highness, Princess Rya Vellanax!"

The crowd of children looked up and saw the pair enter the room, and a hush fell over the group as Quinus and Rya entered the building with Nieren following up the rear. Mary was star-struck when she saw the charmingly handsome Crown Prince.

"Wow! The prince is so hot," she gushed.

"He's okay," another girl said, trying not to blush.

Elaine, on the other hand, felt dread as her eyes landed on the Dark Elf. She tried to shrink into herself. She wanted to disappear. Why did the Prince bring her? She wondered.

Quinus and Rya walked forward, and Rya had a fake smile on her face. Quinus wanted to brush out with laughter but his etiquette training saved him.

"Does give me that look, Quin," Rya muttered through her smiling teeth.

"Look, what look?... You're doing great."

"You're an ass."

"I know that you're going to have get used to this type of lifestyle, and this is good practice," Quinus said as they were a few feet away from the crowd.

'Dammit! Acting regal in front of nobles is one thing, but doing this crap in front of normal people feels weird! I just wanted to find some young mages and Quin is using this as a opportunity to train me,' Rya thought as they stopped in front of the children. 'Remember, straight neck, no sudden moments, and put on a bullshit smile. Be confident, but not arrogant, and don't spook them.'

Rya and Quinus stood side by side and stared at the children in front of them. Most of the kids were apprehensive they saw Rya scary smile as most of them wanted to back away.

"Hey, Babe... Maybe you should ease up on the smile?... You look a little creepy," Quinus whispered with the skill of a professional politician.

"Shut up," she said, not moving her lips.

Quinus sighed and spoke loudly, "I like to thank you all for the impromptu visit... You probably know who I am... And this is my lovely fiancee, Prince Rya..."

"Hello," Rya said with a strained smile.

The kids almost flinched at Rya's smile. Quinus knew that Rya needed to stop what she was doing or all the children would run from her. It wasn't proper for Nobles or Royalty to act casually in front of commoners, but Rya was wound up too tight. He knew how stubborn she could be so he deployed a secret weapon.

"Now don't be frightened of her, children. She's just as scared of you as you are of her. But don't be fooled. She may be a dark elf, but she a push over."

Rya's fake smile disappeared as she turned to Quinus, "QUIN!? I trying to use that annoying noble etiquette they drilled into my head and you making fun of me isn't helping."

The kids couldn't help themselves and began laughing at Rya's misfortune.

"There, that's better," Quinus said proudly.

"I'm going to hit you! I'm trying to be serious and I don't want to get in trouble with your mom and dad."

"It's fine... Sure you'll have to work on it, but for now, relax."

"No... This is a chance to work on being a princess and you're ruining it," Rya whined, which made most of the children giggle.

"You'll be fine, my love. But don't forget that you were the one who wanted to come here and help the children... So, let's do that and then letter down the line we'll worry about proper princess etiquette," Quinus said softly.

Rya sighed and nodded, "Maybe you're right... Hey, kids!? Was my smile really that bad?"

A bunch of children nodded vigorously, which made Rya pout and sigh in defeat.

'What the fuck!?... Fyrella Coldforge is shaking her head in disappointment somewhere. I know it... Well, I guess I can't be prefect at everything. Well, I better stop wasting time—huh? There's a kid sitting in the corner. Hm? He's missing a leg.'

Rya walked across the room with everyone watching her. Fennic was frowning at her as he didn't know why she was bothering with the crippled child. Mary watched with interest while Elaine was terrified about what this Dark Elf was going to do to her friend.

Sid looked left and right to see if Rya was looking at someone else. But he was the only person the general area she was heading towards. Sid knew she was looking at him.

Rya walked gracefully over and when she was a foot away from Sid, she kneeled, "Hello there, my name is Rya."

Sid's eyes widened, 'W-what the hell is this Dark Elf doing? I don't need her pity.'

"Hello... I'm Sid," he responded weakly.

"Sid, is it? That's a good name... So, how did you lose your leg?"

Sid looked away, not wanting to meet her eyes, "It's nothing."

"Come on, I'm not judging. How did you lose your leg?"

He glanced at Rya and noticed her bright azure eyes that looked at him with genuine curiosity, which was surprising to him. "I was playing in the streets of the city... When a merchant's horse got spooked by a carriage and ran me over."

Rya frowned and tilted her head, "You're lucky to be alive. Well, you need to stand up and join the rest of the group."

Sid looked at Rya as if she was crazy, "There's no way I can stand up. What can a cripple do?"

Rya smiled brightly and patted his head, "Stop complaining and stand up, will ya."

Sid was about to complain that he couldn't, but he stopped himself when he felt a warm sensation flowing throughout his body. And before her knew it him amputated leg was completely healed and regrew in a second. It popped out from his knee stump, and Sid couldn't believe it. His mouth opened and his eyes were wide as he moved his toes and then his whole leg. It felt like his regrown leg was asleep, but it would get better as soon as he started moving.

Everyone who hasn't seen Rya's healing magic was completely dumbfounded, including Fennic who's frown was gone. Sid's eyes were still wide and his mouth was agape. Sid couldn't believe it, and he thought it was a trick.

But a few seconds later, after he moved his regrown leg around, "Is this a dream?—Ow! Hey?"

Rya pinched him on the cheek, "No, it's not a dream. I healed you up so now you can stop moping around. Let's go. I got a job to do," she said with a smile as she stood up and walked back to Quin's side.

Sid was too shocked for words. But his mind slowly turned back on, and he tried to stand up but he lost his balance and braced himself against the wall until he was steady enough to get his new legs under him. After a few moments, he stood up and took a few shaky steps forward, but he managed to walk on his own. Sid felt a sense of freedom that he hadn't felt in a long time, and he had tears in his eyes as he joined the group.

Balthazar clumsy walked over to Fennic and bumped into him.

"Th-The rumors were true! S-Should we make her the next Grand Master?" Balthazar mumbled to his Master.

Fennic shook his head and regained his composure, "She'll be too busy ruling the Kingdom. And I don't want her to be tied down by the politics of the Guild... I wish she would take over. I'll make sure it's her name engraved on the new statue in the square."

Sid was a few feet away, and he was looking down at his regrown leg and wiggling his toes. "I'm healed... I can't believe it..."

"Are you okay?... Did she do anything else to you?" Elaine asked as she looked him over.

Sid looked at his worried friend and shook his head, "N-no... She just healed me."

"That's a relief," she replied as she placed her hand on her heart.

*Clap! Clap!*

Rya was clapping her hands, and she looked at everyone, "All right. So the reason we came here today was to find new candidates for the Magical Academy and Knights Academy. I'm going to test you all. Does that sound good to you all?" Rya said with a genuine smile this time.

All the children looked at each other with surprise looks written on their faces.