I was lonely.
　Even before I was called Lucy the Crimson, and even after I was called Lucy the Crimson.

　I was born into one of the oldest families in the Empire, a great nobleman, but my parents had died early.
　The title was inherited by my older brother, who was far older.

　I was raised in an old, dingy castle, and one day I met a young woman.
　She was a petite, brown-haired woman named Lilra.
　She was a professor at a school of magic.
　She happened to have been invited to the castle as a guest of her brother.

　As soon as Lilla saw me, she convinced my brother that he should enroll me in the magic school as soon as possible.

''He has an amazing talent,''

　Following those words, I was only eight years old when I enrolled in a magic school.
　Everyone around me was a boy and girl of about twelve years old, so I think my youthfulness floated away.　

　On top of that, no matter what I did, I was better than the other students.
　Whether it was a written test or a practical magic skill, I was far better than the younger me, by far.

　So my classmates shunned me and made all sorts of backhanded remarks.
　I didn't fit in around them either, and I didn't think I needed to be involved with classmates who were inferior to me.

　The only person who was on my side was my teacher, Ms. Rilula.
　Although Rilula-sensei was a commoner in status, he was outstanding among the professors of the magic school.
　Not only was she talented in magic, but her teaching style was also very easy to understand.

　The teacher was kind and always had a troubled look on her face as she told me that I had to get along with the other kids.
　But all I needed was Lilla-sensei, and my only goal was to master magic with her.
　That was happiness for me.

　But that happiness was abruptly lost.

　After I graduated from the magic school at the age of thirteen, I remained at the school as a research student.
　I chose to become a professor of magic school.
　Professor Lirra welcomed the idea.

　But when I was fifteen years old, Professor Lirra quit her professorship.
　He told me that there was an agency on the southern frontier that was investigating ancient magic and that he was transferring to it.

　I want to follow him, I complained.
　But even the kind teacher didn't shake her head.

She said, "Lucy, you should stay here and continue your research. It's the best choice for you.

But....

You'll be fine on your own.

　There was no way I was going to be okay on my own.
　For me, Dr. Lilla was everything in the world.

'I need Dr. Lirra!

I've taught her what she needs to know already. I don't think there's anything else she can teach me. She's very bright.

But....

Someone else will need you, and someone else will need you.

　With that, the teacher gently stroked my red hair and left.
　I cried alone in the lab where the teacher was gone.

　After all, I wasn't what he needed.
　I'm all alone.

　It wasn't until six months later that Dr. Lirra was captured and executed by the Empire as a traitor.

　I didn't understand.
　Why did the teacher have to be killed?

　Dr. Lirra was a spy for an enemy country, he said.
　It seems that he had visited the southern frontier in order to organize a rebel army against the Empire there.

　When I heard that, it didn't make sense to me.
　I couldn't understand why the teacher was trying to do such a thing.

　What I found out was that there was a world outside of the school of magic that I didn't know, and I didn't know anything about my teacher.

　I immersed myself in the study of magic.
　I felt like my heart would break if I didn't do so.

　Eventually, at the young age of nineteen, I became a professor at the school of magic.
　I was hailed as a once-in-a-century genius, and the Empire gave me the second name and medal, "Lucy the Crimson".

　But my heart remained unfulfilled.
　I wanted to see Dr. Lilla again.
　With an unfulfilled wish, I was to receive my first apprentice.

　And I would meet a boy.
　That was my first disciple - Solon, who was sixteen years old.