Ella, born with the supreme ""Pure Gold Bloodline,"" was destined to rule. Her jealous aunt Morgan bribed a priest, framing her as a curse; her grandmother ordered her burned; her parents watched. Bram, a ""foolish"" janitor, rushed in and saved her. Her magic was sealed; her ""Star Pendant"" became a charred lump. Six years later, powerless Ella was the academy's ""magic-less trash,"" with her foolish father. When her brother Julian beat her, Octavia, longing for her dead daughter, smashed the child against the blood-testing stone. The Duchess then let her son kill; shielding Ella, her father lay dying, spine severed. To earn a coin for medicine, little Ella jumped into a freezing lake. The icy water washed the pendant clean, revealing a faint blue glow; ashore, she met the Duchess, who stared, stunned. When the Pure Gold magic breaks the seal, the ducal family will face eternal regret. Battered Ella, holding her father's hand, feels only coldness for the ""blood relatives"" weeping.
