Chapter 1. Worse Than Enemies
“Is that all you magicians have to say to people who risked their lives in battle?”
The emperor’s sneering voice was like a blade.
But I, standing before him and glaring coldly back, was no less cutting.
“Please mind your manners, Your Majesty.”
I brushed my fiery red hair back with an air of boredom and raised my eyes.
The look between the emperor and me was filled with sharp hatred.
I opened my mouth.
“Wild beasts that slip their leashes have no place in this world. Shouldn’t they be trained and disciplined accordingly?”
I saw the emperor’s shapely lips twist with menace.
His deep blue eyes, turning cold, looked as though they could freeze me where I stood.
“Hah. Did you just compare me, the emperor, to an unchained beast?”
He certainly had the power to back up such a threat, but I raised an eyebrow calmly, showing no fear.
I swept my gaze around the room.
Brushing off the murderous glares aimed at me, I continued with the same slow, disinterested tone that had become second nature to me.
“Oh my, I wasn’t referring to Your Majesty. I’m sorry you misunderstood.”
“…”
“Amazing what the subconscious will reveal.”
It was pure mockery.
A clear jab at awakened beings—like the emperor and his knights—who sometimes lost control and destroyed everything around them.
Naturally, those listening were furious.
“Duke, aren’t you being too disrespectful to His Majesty?”
As the imperial knights jumped in, those standing behind me—my people—immediately stepped forward to retaliate.
“You’re the ones interrupting the Tower Master while she’s speaking!”
“What?”
“Have you forgotten that, under the oath of the Third Emperor, the Tower Master and the Emperor hold equal authority within this chamber?”
“But there’s still a limit!”
“The Tower Master hasn’t even raised her voice. It’s you who are being rude!”
“Ha, picking at words like that—how insecure are you magicians?”
“What? Insecure?!”
A sharp verbal clash erupted.
The atmosphere was icy, nearly suffocating. But honestly, this wasn’t unusual.
This meeting room of the Deharok Empire was where the strongest of the empire—awakened beings—and their opposites—magicians—gathered to decide imperial affairs.
Which meant…
“Duke, you should be aware that your sarcasm has long surpassed the limits of my patience.”
The strongest awakened being in the empire and ruler over all others.
The emperor—Kaishis Kizel de Baroha Deharok.
And I, the leader of the magicians who deeply disapproved of the current world revolving around the awakened.
The Master of the Magic Tower and heir to the House of Ariel, Hilaria Daen la Ariel.
The relationship between us, leaders of two enemy factions, was the absolute worst.
The tension between us broke when someone made a strained noise, dragging their chair.
Crash!
Both the emperor and I turned to look.
“Ugh… I-I’m s-sorry… urk!”
A clear surge of uncontrolled power emanated from the fallen man.
A twisted smile spread across my face.
Oh, how perfectly timed.
“Tsk.”
“…”
He was one of the emperor’s knights.
A look of victorious satisfaction flickered across my fierce eyes.
My expression clearly said: Look! Another of your people has lost control!
The emperor’s face contorted with frustration.
“My apologies, Your Majesty. But if the agenda has been covered, I’d rather not waste any more time—especially when it seems your noble awakened knight is seconds away from snapping. Don’t you agree?”
“Duke.”
“Leave him unchecked, and he might burn down the room. Or melt it? That one deals with poison, doesn’t he?”
“How kind of you to worry.”
“Oh, not at all.”
The emperor’s jaw clenched so hard it audibly cracked.
As one of the knights bowed in apology to the emperor, I, in all my arrogant Tower Master glory, slowly stood from my chair.
“Then I shall take Your Majesty’s silence as permission to conclude the meeting.”
I swept out of the room, and the other magicians followed behind like baby birds trailing their mother, visibly pleased.
Just before I fully exited, the knights’ sharp voices shot at my back.
“How can she be so disrespectful?!”
Ah, that one was the emperor’s right-hand man.
“I still think it’s a mistake that someone like her, with fire-based magic, leads the Tower. The Emperor holds dominion over water-based abilities!”
I’d love to go back in and freeze him from head to toe.
“Exactly! Isn’t she cold as ice anyway?!”
That guy—did he have plant-based powers or something?
I remembered the lunatic who went feral on me after I freaked out and ripped up some leaves he summoned.
Still, the emperor said nothing.
With that confirmed, I put distance between myself and the meeting room.
When I was far enough that no awakened being could hear me—
The magicians behind me, chattering like ducks, burst into speech.
“You were amazing today. When was the last time the emperor was left speechless?!”
“Soon, they won’t be able to ignore magicians anymore. Once the research is finished, gate issues won’t be theirs alone!”
“It’s all thanks to you, Lady Head—”
“…”
Ugh, seriously.
As their excited chatter filled the air, I quietly glanced up.
And just like that, their mouths snapped shut.
Hah. If there’s one upside to this damn possessed life, it’s this character’s personality.
She’s so notoriously mean that just raising my eyes gets the mood under control.
Not that my heart isn’t pounding out of my chest.
I lowered my voice, speaking in the cold tone I’d gotten used to over the past few days.
“How long do I have to keep listening to this nonsense?”
“…”
The air went cold again.
I didn’t forget to lift my chin arrogantly.
“Anyone else have something to say?”
“N-No, ma’am!”
They were definitely thinking they’d angered me.
Good. That’s exactly what I wanted.
“S-Sorry! Please rest well, Lady Head!”
At last, in blissful silence, I entered my chambers.
I made sure I was completely alone.
And slowly—
“Ugh…”
I slid down against the door.
Well, more like my legs gave out and I collapsed.
A groan escaped me.
Just thinking about the emperor’s piercing gaze still made my fingertips tremble.
“I almost died again today.”
How long am I going to live like this?
I buried my face in my hands, despair washing over me.
“Why is the emperor so terrifying…”
With my heart thundering in my chest, I glanced toward the full-length mirror leaning against the wall.
Reflected in it was a beautiful woman, collapsed pathetically on the floor.
No one in that meeting room would ever imagine this scene.
Of course not.
I hadn’t either!
“What’s the point of being that pretty…”
Even after a week, that unfamiliar face still unsettled me.
“It’s not even my face!”
That was definitely not my face.
A week ago, I had been a perfectly ordinary—well, slightly special—civil servant in South Korea.
One Week Ago
Up until just a week ago, I was a normal A-rank guide working for the Association in 20XX South Korea.
Well, normal aside from being notoriously unlucky with colleagues.
“Ugh, you bastard! Get your filthy hands off me!”
Even though I was competent enough to hold my own, this was how they treated me.
“How many times do I have to tell you your guiding is disgusting?!”
Espers found my guiding repulsive.
As a result, my reputation was rock bottom.
I was treated like dirt—filth, trash, a parasite.
“Pfft, a guide acting all high and mighty. Hey, aren’t you going to move out of the way?”
To them, I was just a worthless bystander.
Meanwhile—
“Oh, Haeun! Why are you even here? Seriously, with her around, you don’t need to come to such a rough field site!”
“It’s okay, oppa. Gate duty is mandatory twice a month, remember? We can’t just dump everything on her.”
“Who’s saying anything? Hey, A-rank. You badmouthing Haeun or something?”
“I’m fine, oppa!”
S-rank guides were treated like royalty.
