Prologue
"So, basically."
I took a moment to sort through the situation. The towering stack of letters in front of me was enough to shatter any sense of reality. I slowly replayed what my new mom had told me.
"There are this many letters saying they want to take me in as their daughter."
Even stretching out my little arms as far as they could go, I couldn't encompass the mountain of letters. But that wasn't the end of it.
"And these ones here are from people suing Mom... over something or other."
There were also stacks complaining about issues with the adoption. Most of them were from my old family—the ones who'd treated me like a disposable rag and tossed me aside. The letters from the Academy and Magic Tower had long since rotted away in the corner, so I skipped those.
I turned my gaze elsewhere. This was actually the scene I'd been most curious about from the start.
"So, what's with all the stuff he's burning over there?"
What were the letters my new dad was silently feeding into the bonfire? Adoption applications? Nobility trial requests? I was dying to know.
My eyes sparkled with curiosity, and my new mom grimaced as she opened her mouth.
"Marriage proposals sent to you."
I was shocked. My mind went blank for a moment. Wasn't I only ten years old right now?
One, two, three... No matter how I thought about it, my age stuck at ten.
Proposals... to a ten-year-old?
I looked up in confusion, and gentle replies came back.
"The families who sent these are about to vanish from the world soon, so don't you worry."
"I'm gonna kill 'em all."
The terrifying words popped out of my usually silent new dad's mouth. The important thing was that my new mom didn't stop him. She actually egged him on.
"Burn them faster. There are too many, and we're running out of time."
"I've got all their names and addresses memorized. Just hold on."
I started to protest, then clamped my mouth shut.
How did things end up like this...?