* * *
“At least for the time being, no crazy b*stard will propose to me.”
Anyone who’d propose after seeing me in this state would have to be completely insane. And from what I remembered of high society, there weren’t any lunatics quite that far gone.
While I walked gracefully in my trash bag outfit—
“Wow, no rain, no rocks to trip over. Even the air is crystal clear without a speck of fine dust.”
It was amazing. This was the first time I’d felt so refreshed since becoming aware of my past life. I definitely got the feeling that this world, which had been forcibly screwing me over, had changed.
Now’s the time to build up the strength to stand against Mariposa’s tyranny…
I was walking along happily, pondering how to build up my power, when I happened to pass by the training grounds near the mansion’s main gate.
Abisan, Mariposa’s son who was diligently practicing magic, shoved my shoulder hard with a sneering smile. “Hey, family disgrace! Where the hell have you been?”
I was about to say I’d just come back from causing a scene at my engagement, but inherent fear blocked my words. This brat had a habit of hitting me regularly.
As I stood there trembling, he grabbed my collar with a carelessly clenched fist and dragged me along. “Follow me. You need to get beaten up instead of me.”
My body, imprinted with terror, couldn’t think straight as I was dragged all the way to the training grounds, where a familiar face greeted me.
“Lord Abisan! Where did you go? You haven’t finished your fireball training yet!”
“Ah, Master! I’m sorry. But I think fireball practice will be tough for me today. Just beat her up instead. You always hit her when I can’t do magic, right?”
Abisan’s cocky tone grated on my ears. The magic instructor’s sticky gaze fixed on me.
“That’s right. I did. You brought the punching bag.”
“Cough, cough!”
I was shoved to the ground as he released my collar, collapsing in a heap. This was exactly what always happened to me. I need to get up and run, but my body won’t move. Damn it!
I just sat there on the ground, listening to the humiliating words raining down on me. At this rate, the instructor’s indiscriminate kicking would begin.
“Giselle, I thought you were begging and groveling to Marquis Berto and Duke Reshaniel again this time.”
“Marquis Berto went on a voyage, and Duke Reshaniel went on a pilgrimage to the magic tower. They’ll come back later, so she’ll just stay home quietly for now. Like this girl has friends or anything.”
I bit my trembling lips as I watched Abisan’s instructor loosening up his hands to beat me.
“Just now, did you say Marquis Berto?”
“Ha, yeah. Your so-called childhood friend. The person you always grovel and chase after.”
Hearing Abisan’s sarcasm finally snapped me back to my senses. What am I doing, being scared now? I brushed the dirt off my body and shot up to my feet.
“No, I don’t! I don’t follow that damn demagogue around!”
“What did you say?”
Whether he wanted to argue back or not, just thinking about Marquis Berto made rage flare up inside me. That b*strard was the regretful male lead #1 who threw me straight into hellfire. He had some mysterious illness that caused him pain whenever he held a sword or used magic, but strangely, the pain would lessen when he held my hand.
I used to worry about him and, thinking we were friends, often let him hold my hand. But what that b*sard did to me…! He spread false rumors that I liked him. Fighting only with manipulation and fabrication. A real professional demagogue, huh?
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists in anger. “That trash? I want nothing to do with him!”
Then Abisan made a mocking expression and said, “Wow, have you lost your mind? Looks like you don’t know your place, so should I teach you a lesson?”
“Ah, it would be good for you to practice fireball magic on that wench once, Lord Abisan. Try burning her hair.”
The magic instructor and Abisan both sneered at the same time.
“Right, I’m completely different from some pathetic wench who has no mana and can’t even cast magic. I should teach you a proper lesson.”
“Who says I don’t have mana?”
“Because you don’t. That’s why you went begging to Duke Reshaniel, going ‘Your Grace, Your Grace!’”
“I wasn’t the one doing the begging though?”
Duke Reshaniel was.
Regret male lead #2, Duke Reshaniel. That b*stard is trash too.
Duke Reshaniel, who dreamed of becoming the youngest future master of the magic tower, was one day cursed to lose all his mana. There was only one way to break free from the curse. To permanently steal mana from someone born with vast amounts of it. And the person who caught his eye—me—was someone with an extraordinary mana heart, even if I didn’t realize my own potential.
“Duke Reshaniel, where does this mosquito-like b*stard get off making such a shameless proposal?”
Duke, magic tower master, whatever. That guy’s a mosquito. A mosquito that parasites off others because he doesn’t have a drop of mana.
“What kind of nonsense are you suddenly spouting? This wench is talking back and even glaring at me?”
“Sorry, but even though I got my blood sucked by that mosquito b*stard, I’m still better than you.”
Maybe he couldn’t understand why the ‘family disgrace’ was speaking informally to him. Abisan shouted at the instructor. “Hit her quickly. She needs to get beat to come to her senses!”
“That’s right. She’ll only behave after getting hit.”
The instructor raised his rod to strike me. But I raised my hand and glared right back at him.
“Yeah, well, I’m not going to take it lying down anymore.”
With a whoosh, the rod that was about to hit me burst into brilliant flames and turned to ash. I grinned wickedly with a fireball floating above my palm. Looking at the flustered Abisan, I strode toward him.
“You know what, Abisan? I think I’m better at casting fireballs than you.”
Both the instructor’s and Abisan’s eyes widened simultaneously. I took another step toward Abisan. The flames flickering from my fingertips singed both their hair at the same time.
“Ahhhhh!” Terrified, Abisan fell on his butt and asked frantically. “Y-You! You knew how to cast ma-magic?”
“That can’t be right. The stupid wench must be using an artifact!”
Looking down at them in their panic, I dusted off my palms. Artifact my ass. Where would I get the money to buy something like that? I just learned by watching when Abisan was getting magic lessons from his tutor and getting beaten up.
Thanks to that idiot Abisan dragging me along whenever he learned magic, I managed to pick up enough to cast second-circle magic. I had no idea how to do anything beyond that, and thanks to that damned mosquito, my mana was nearly gone, so this was my limit.
I sprinted toward the door to escape before they could regain their senses, throwing one last jab at them. “Look at that. Your hair’s all burned and frizzy. Serves you right!”
“Hey, family disgrace! Have you lost your mind?”
“Mark my words. From now on, I will never lose to you b*stards again!”
Abisan and regret male lead #2, Duke Reshaniel. Both of their goals were to become the archmage.
I, the one you all look down, will become the archmage you desire the most. Just you wait.
What is an archmage? It is a mage with such powerful mana that they’re counted among the top five strongest in the empire—someone even the emperor shows respect to.
If I develop my abilities and become an archmage… My abilities will change, so the original story will definitely get twisted too. Killing two birds with one stone.
As I rushed out through the gates of the Florette estate, I quickly calculated my plan in my head.
1. Recover my lost mana.
2. Receive magic lessons under a decent teacher.
3. Use items like artifacts and potions to become even stronger.
The first thing to do was fill up my depleted mana to the brim! Fortunately, thanks to reading [Will You Regret It When I Die?], I knew how to fill my mana. That method was…
* * *
“Welcome, Cus…tomer…?” The restaurant owner, dressed in clothing covered with skull patterns, bolted upright.
This place was none other than <The Dangerous Fire-Breathing Dragon>, a restaurant secretly operated under an alias by the Kalinos family.
