The Main Character

Aine Darien’s peculiarity was peculiar in itself. Having been raised by fairly normal parents, it was a wonder how Aine came to be as she was.

Lord Callum and Lady Odette were known to be well-grounded despite the riches of House Darien. Lord Callum, like most busy businessmen, spent his days in his office, doing the usual paperworks or receiving visitors, which they never seem to have a shortage of. On free days, he would go fishing if he felt like it, but he mostly just slept. Lady Odette enjoyed regular walks to town and would often be seen exchanging gossip with other ladies in the market. At home, if she was not managing the affairs of the House, she’d be busy with her hobby, embroidery.

Aine, their only child, was pretty much a younger version of Lady Odette—albeit only physically. Aine inherited her mother’s long, black hair that naturally curled along the edges, her mother’s bright green eyes that always seemed inquisitive, her mother’s pale skin that easily reddens even in the slightest rise in temperature, and even her mother’s mole at the left edge of her nose. It would have been nice if their similarities extended to their personalities; however, Aine had always been quite the odd one.

At age 5, while other girls played dress-up with their dolls, Aine was sticking needles onto hers. At age 12, while other girls were learning to embroider flowers and the initials of their crushes, Aine was attempting to embroider magic circles and mantras. At age 13, while other girls were learning how to brew tea with the most fragrant herbs, Aine was brewing concoctions with bat wings and snake skin. Aine’s obsession with witchcraft and wizardry has become a cause of concern for her parents. Her parents—primarily her mother—had continuously attempted to make Aine be like the other girls, but by the time Aine turned 15, they had simply given up. They were, however, still holding on to one last hope…love. Perhaps falling in love and finding a true match could somehow help veer Aine away from her rather curious hobbies. She might finally become like all the other girls.

And so, when Aine turned 16, Lady Odette began arranging dates for their daughter, searching the kingdom for notable young men suitable for the only heir of House Darien. Little did they know that they just pushed their daughter deeper into another of her strange fascinations.

***

Aine smiled as she turned to her shelf of potions. An array of mixtures—which she had carefully arranged per color—in glass tubes looked back at her. Her gaze moved to the highest row of the shelf, where amongst a line of tubes containing shades of violet mixtures, was one lone tube that didn’t follow the color coding. The tube contained a clear fluid. Aine tiptoed to grab the tube, and as she shook the tube, the mixture inside glistened.

Her parents thought that if Aine found love, she’d stop thinking about witchcraft and magic. Then again, they never really told her exactly how to find love. So she decided to try finding love…in her own terms. Aine turned to grab her notebook and a fountain pen on top of her desk. She flipped through the pages until she found an empty one. Aine scribbled, Love Potion: Trial 8.