The word prodigy was synonymous with Charlotte; her superior ability was apparent from a very young age.

  Be it intellect or magical power, she was unrivalled in her age group. No, that would be underselling it; she had the combined intelligence of all her tutors by the time she was ten.

  She became a pyer in her family’s politics and a powerhouse at it, gaining the recognition of even her grandfather, the current head of the Arcknight household.

  In terms of magic power, before everyone found out she was a starchild, she was so above everyone else that magic was as easy as breathing.

  However, here is where things took a turn for the worse. When she was eleven, she started getting bouts of weakness, especially after a particurly intensive day of using her magic.

  A doctor was not even necessary because at eleven, her hair changed, from the striking blue of her heritage to the sparkling starlight that was synonymous with the cursed existence: a star-child.

  A star child had enough mana inside them to match even the high elves of the World-Tree. A mighty and magical race, but unlike those powerful beings, humans did not have a unique organ to regute all those magical particles. The result was a form of self-destruction that ravaged the body from the inside out.

  It was not wholly without hope; the strongest mage across the nds, Merlin, was also a starchild and still alive, hundreds of years old. Among the countless contributions he has made to the human race is the hope of star children everywhere.

  When humans reach sexual maturity around 16-18, their magical presence also evolves. This is a big reason magical training had to start as early as possible: the magical particles are far more votile during these formative years.

  While this makes it hard to control, it also makes it far more malleable; hence, nobles were, on average, far stronger than commoners because they used those early years to gain an advantage.

  If star children do manage to reach that maturity, their control expands far enough that their magic particles stop ravaging their bodies. Merlin himself has been the only success so far.

  Most star children go to Merlin hoping to be the next one to survive, and like everyone else, her fleeting hopes were dashed when he could not help. This made her bitter, and her greater intellect became a curse as she understood just how little time she had left.

  Her hopes and dreams were dashed, and as with all members of the far Arcknight who failed to form, she was hidden away and forgotten about. Her new home was a forgotten former Stronghold that was never renovated—a truly derelict location for her derelict life.

  She would have ended it all if not for her pride; she was an Arcknight, and she would die with dignity. Despite being full of foolish young children and equally stupid teachers, she even attended the local school. But she would uphold herself for as long as she could; that was how she fought against the cruel world that would consume her.

  Despite this, the world slowly began to lose color as she had nothing to live for tomorrow; only her stubbornness kept her going.

  But she found something she could cherish even here. It started with a boy, as was typical for all teenage girls(even if she did not think it would happen to her). He was as stupid as the rest and impulsive, too.

  But initially, what drew her was his complete ck of magical power. He was a null, another extremely rare condition on the complete opposite spectrum as hers. While she had too much magic, he could not process magic at all, and any magic he absorbed disappeared into nothing.

  Well, not nothing, as even nulls could use the unique feature avaible to all humans and exclusive to their race: the power to make special skills.

  Every race had something about them that made them uniquely powerful compared to everyone else. Regardless of any other racial trait, this was one thing that identified you as a specific one.

  Half-breeds could get either but never both and was cssified based on which one they got. Funnily enough, all half-humans would always get the human racial trait, possibly because of how well adapted it was to inheritance and why powerful lineages were the most common in human society.

  He abused his racial trait to the extreme. Normally a woman could make upto 3 skills and men upto 6. Women compensated for the ck by being far more magically potent. But unlike magic which was best improved when young creating skills took a lot of time and effort. In fact, 90% of people never hit that limit.

  So imagine her surprise when she found out that he had all six before even hitting maturity.

  A genius with a curse, just like herself. The kinship she felt with him made her want to get close despite how childish he was. So she started trying to decipher how, but having built her reputation as a lofty noble Charlotte found no opening.

  That all changed when he made a big spsh in the vilge, that was to be expected, geniuses were rarely kept hidden. He had beaten the local priest, his entire family and took his two daughters for himself.

  While she had thought the act barbaric, she also saw the romance in it. Women outnumber men 2 to 1 and so had a much easier getting partners. So for someone to go so far made her young heart beat despite herself.

  It only beat louder when she learned the circumstances around his apparent aggression. The priest was using his two young daughters for sexual relief. While it was outright illegal in the capital, out here in the boonies, the rules were a lot more x and sexual crimes were always more lenient to the men.

  Nobody batted an eye at the crime; in fact, the vilge got angry at him for beating up a man of the church. It was here her fantasies nearly turned into hero worship when he challenged the entire vilge to keep them as brides.

  She wanted to know him, and her isotion only egged her on.

  The world also threw her a bone by making him her bodyguard: something her maid invented so that she could keep seeing that handsome guard captain. The woman was very repressed and a godsend to Charlotte, so she allowed it.

  And thank the gods she did, because in exchange she had the opportunity to make a new friend. Her only friend.