Chapter Two

What was most important now was to keep Rion alive. If he found a good partner and lived past twenty, I could shut myself in the Magic Tower with my mentor and enjoy my exciting, magical life. Who would have thought I’d find my calling by falling into a novel? While training to increase my mana and doting on Rion, I saved him from our cousin and eradicated all other threats around him. However, it was important to keep my distance. That kid was so cute and kind—everything he did was adorable—so it was hard to act neutral. But I managed.

I did the bare minimum as an older sister. I’d say, “Have a great relationship” or “I wish you a wonderful marriage” when he brought over a boyfriend—and occasionally a girlfriend. I had the opportunity to meet a nice guy myself. Surprisingly, it was the stud I’d hitched Rion to in my second life. I never imagined getting married, but, I decided that I should find happiness for myself and my little brother this time around.

I swiftly got to making plans for both weddings. I was looking at draft designs for my bridal gown when Rion burst into my room in a fury. He stretched out his delicate hand and grabbed the glass of lemonade on the table next to me. He chugged it in one go, threw up blood, and died.

Someone had poisoned the lemonade. I started my twelfth life already deeply angry. What the hell, man?! Poison?! I cleared a shit ton of hurdles already, and now I had to worry about poison? I took my royally pissed-off self straight to Rion and screamed and cried about him being born with such a weak body that he’d die of poison. Rion, of course, had no idea why I was acting like this, but he kept apologizing anyway, begging me to forgive him.

Don’t be so nice, you idiot! You moron! You’re breaking my heart! What was even the use of getting angry at an ignorant kid anyway? I’d just feel worse. After crying my heart out, I pulled myself together and started forming a plan to help Rion live his inevitably short life to the fullest. I fucked up our cousin and threatened the duke into making Rion an official part of our family. Then I helped my little brother develop poison tolerance, brought in a teacher to help him learn how to fight, and blitzed him with lightning magic when he got too cocky.

He was forbidden from leaving the estate in case something we had yet to encounter tried to kill him. His schedule was so hectic that he couldn’t even get a boyfriend in this life. This, fortunately, helped him evade quite a bit of drama, and he was able to safely reach his twentieth birthday. Then twenty-one, and, to my joy, twenty-two. At twenty-three, he was still glued to my hip, but at least he was alive and kicking. Three years had passed since the twentieth-year death trap.

He’s finally safe, I thought. The moment this occurred, I freed myself of all worldly desires and decided to leave so I could find my own happiness. I, who was the descendent of Duke Roxburg. I, who was the heir to the Roxburg dukedom, the so-called Heartless Winter Apricot Flower of the Kingdom. I, who was the Lady of the Silver Thunderbolt (or whatever other weird nicknames people gave me). I threw my responsibilities and title to Rion and left the estate.

I had a feeling that the duke would come running after me due to all the effort he’d already put into my successorship education, so I didn’t go anywhere near the Magic Tower, located inside the Kingdom. Instead, I crossed the mid-continent mountain range and entered the so-called unexplored lands beyond.

During my eighth life, my mentor told me about the original and true Magic Tower. The towers in each country were merely branches of the original, and every archmage in history came from the original. Those who knew of its existence were few and far between, so people rarely sought out this place. Meanwhile, I knocked on the front door, holding my secretly re-edited dissertation.

There weren’t many residents in the tower, and I quickly reached the upper echelon. The director himself came down and examined by dissertation findings. I passed by the skin of my teeth, but no matter—I was permitted to stay. My days were filled with training, research, rejection, thesis revision, rejection, thesis re-revision, rejection, and finally, re-re-revision. Magic is so fun!

As I continued my research into lightning, I lost track of time. The director called me a dumbass for throwing away my noble title to play around with magic, but I was as happy as could be. Several years passed this way, with me living the life. I’d thrown away all worldly desires and finally found happiness. This was what I had been born to do. My work was constantly rejected, but I kept smiling like an idiot, so the director eventually started calling me a lunatic and got sick and tired of me.

One day, I passed out drunk after some hardcore partying to celebrate achieving my third mana circle. I was shaken awake by a colleague of mine, a wind mage who’d achieved the fourth circle. He rambled on about me being in danger, and that someone was here to see me. I was certain no one was looking for me. And even if they were, why would it be dangerous? I told him to shut up and tried to fall back asleep.

He said I’d understand when I got there, so he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and started running. I desperately wanted to sleep more—until I arrived at the main hall. Then I woke up real quick. My little brother, Asterion, stood there, radiating a violet aura. The director of the Tower, a master Elementalist with eight mana circles, was destroying the place amid an intense battle. What the hell was this? This was a totally different genre. It’s fucking scary!

This is a romance novel, right? Right? That guy swinging his sword and slicing that bookcase in half while screaming “Let my sister go!” was everyone’s favorite doormat from Asterion of the Starry Blue Night, wasn’t he? I couldn’t tell what was real or not as I looked at the handsome, silver-haired Asterion, much taller and broad-shouldered than I remembered.

I thought I’d snap out of it if I looked at the director instead. However, all I saw was a stunning figure with long, luscious black hair wearing a monocle, triple-casting different elements while toying with the handsome Asterion. Oh. My. God. Director, you’re so fabulous. I’m dead. I mean, how the hell did you even triple-cast different elements? Was it even possible to think of three spells at once? You’ll teach me that later, won’t you, dear Master? Please teach me later.

Still, this wasn’t the time for that. Quickly grasping the situation, I called out to both of them to stop fighting. Rion whisked himself around at my call, apparently forgetting that he was in the middle of a freaking battle, and he promptly got flame-balled to the face. He was killed with a giant icicle through the heart for good measure. Consecutive attacks following a triple-cast… was that even humanly possible? I was in awe at what I had just witnessed as I became a sixteen-year-old Rosalite once more. My thirteenth life began, and I wanted to die.

***

In my thirteenth life, I was as soulless as could be. I didn’t put in any effort. I didn’t want to get involved with anyone. I stayed in my bedroom doing nothing but breathing. Forget succession, forget formality. I just wanted to lay in bed and devote myself to counting patterns on the wallpaper.

The duke developed a drinking habit because of my depression. He’d been my father for several decades now, and I’d developed a great fondness for him. I felt more for him than even my real dad back in Korea. (Sorry, Dad.) Despite my effect on the duke, I still couldn’t be bothered to do anything. I had no motivation to speak. And what was the point of studying? I’d be sixteen-year-old Rosalite again in five short years. What was the point of making friends? In five years, I’d have to start my relationships from scratch again. I rolled up in my blanket and pretended to be in a cocoon day after day. The duke had no choice but to accept Rion into the family and make him the successor.

Rion suffered the most in this situation. He had enough problems with the thirsty men buzzing around him, but now his father was a drunk, and his half-sister lived in a burrito cocoon. As I laid in bed with no appetite for days on end, Rion cried and begged me to eat at least a spoonful of something. He fed me himself. What a nice kid. It would have been so much better if you weren’t such a goldfish.

I grew more and more emaciated each day. Rion, too, looked haggard when he came to see me. After a while, he stopped visiting; he probably died earlier than expected. Before I knew it, I was sixteen-year-old Rosalite once more. I’d lost all desire for life by the fourteenth turn. I’d lived enough. I was worried about Rion suffering and dying, but I just didn’t have the energy to take care of him anymore.

It would have been better if I’d given up earlier. If I’d given up during my twelfth life, Rion wouldn’t have come to find me at the Magic Tower. He would have lived a long life. That day, I gazed at the clear sky and took my own life. In my fifteenth life, I only remembered crying. In my sixteenth life, I somehow cried even more.

In my seventeenth life, I couldn’t stop crying. In my eighteenth life, I cried so much that by my nineteenth life, I had no tears left. Then, just as I’d been reborn into my twentieth life, I had an ominous feeling, so I threw on my jacket and went outside and into the darkness.

***

I’d never experienced anything like this before. Whenever I woke up as Rosalite, it was always in my room, always in the afternoon, and a clear blue sky could be seen outside the window. Yet somehow, this time my line of sight seemed higher than usual. Was it just my imagination? Agh, I feel so disoriented! Bawling my eyes out repeatedly had no doubt done this. I slapped my cheeks with both hands and looked for a mirror. There was something I had to check.

“Let there be light.”

I hadn’t established a mana circle yet, but I could absorb some mana around me and make a tiny ball of light on the tip of my finger. I made my way down the familiar hallway, rushing to the first mirror I saw. It was immediately clear to me that I was older than sixteen. The shiny silver hair that was unique to the Roxburgs was past my waist. My body and face, too, were much more mature than what you’d expect on a teenage girl. Only the golden irises I’d inherited from the duke were the same.

Come to think of it, the people of our household were silver-haired and golden-eyed through generations. It was only Asterion that had violet eyes. His mother’s genes must have worked overtime. I wanted to see how the others were doing in this new timeline, but I couldn’t help but stare out the window instead. Something was in the annex. I sensed unusual magical energy, something unfamiliar… something I hadn’t discovered before.

Wait, the annex was where Rion lived! All threats must be eliminated! I became mad out of reflex and ran toward the annex, but then thought to myself, Why must I protect Rion again? and just stopped. There wasn’t a reason. It was just a force of habit. I had no reason to care about Rion or ensure that he lived a long life, yet my body moved before I could think. I should still go and check on him, though.

I skipped toward the annex, though with much less urgency. Even though it was nighttime, it was strange that there were no signs of life. I mean, it was odd, but it didn’t really matter to me. My existence was just that of a side character, anyway. I’d probably just repeat these five years with no future and eventually lose my mind.

Just as I had been humming under my breath, I sensed mana. While it was unlike anything I’d encountered before, I could deduce that it belonged to either a mentalist or a dark mage who contracted demons. They were the only ones who could create unnatural energy like this.