♡ Chapter 1 ♡
“That is impossible!”
In the heart of the Magic Tower, specifically on the top floor where all the mages gathered, a massive wave of objections erupted.
“Anyone but him! That can never happen, Lady Lusha!”
“Please, reconsider this!”
When Julius, the Chairman of the Council, finally shook his head in refusal, I finally opened my mouth after a long silence.
“Are you all still feeling resentful because Kanyak is an orphan?”
The mages, who hadn’t heard my voice for nearly a week, began to speak with faces flushed with excitement, as if they would never back down today.
“Kanyak Lant is not made of the same mettle as Tower Masters! That is a solemn truth considering his savage nature and cunning standards alone!”
“Lady Lusha, please withdraw your decision, if only for the sake of the Tower’s future. Kanyak does not possess the qualifications of a Tower Master.”
“Surely Rafael, the eldest son of the prestigious mage family ‘Hiden,’ should become the Tower Master…”
I clutched my forehead at the headache caused by those piercing voices. Good grief, why is everyone so jealous?
“Thanks to Kanyak, the monsters of the Mist Forest—which had been a chronic headache for a long time—have disappeared. That boy finished in just three days what you incompetent lot couldn’t do in six months.”
A sudden silence fell over the noisy room. At that moment, strands of black hair swayed behind the Golden Dragon cabinet located at the entrance of the conference hall.
“Furthermore, thanks to that boy’s leadership in the restoration of the Imperial Palace barrier, the work was completed perfectly without any flaws—a task that would have barely been managed by fifteen high-ranking mages.”
“T-that is true, but—.”
“Ah, I heard the young master of ‘Hiden’ returned home in the middle of the work? Crying on the pretext that he ran out of mana.”
‘That cowardly bastard’s crying reached my room at the peak all night long, you scoundrels! I knew his true nature from the moment I saw him trembling in fear just because our eyes met while they were dragging him here and there.’
“…Ahem.”
“……Cough, cough.”
“Lady Lusha, saying such things might tarnish the reputation of the Hiden family—.”
“Then don’t live lives where your reputation is tarnished simply by the truth being told.”
Silence followed this decisive retort. It seemed everyone no longer had anything to say, so I stood up from my seat. Julius, who was nearby, approached with long strides.
“Lady Lusha, we won’t deny that Kanyak’s abilities are superior. But the position of Tower Master is not a place where just anyone strong can sit, as you know.”
“What are you trying to say?”
When I asked my question with a tilted tone, Julius’s white hair, which proved the passage of years, shook slowly. Then, my eyes slowly met his golden pupils, the depths of which remained unknown.
“You do not realize it, but Kanyak Lant’s nature is savage to the extreme. His ambition is no different from that of a primitive barbarian. If such a person rules from the top, won’t the future of the Tower become very dark?”
At first glance, one might think he was truly worried about the future of the Tower. What a joke—even an old snake that had lived for a hundred years wouldn’t be this brazen.
“If Rafael sits in this position, all of you corrupt people will be behind him, so what’s the difference?”
“…Lady Lusha.”
“Enough of this. Let us prepare quietly for the succession ceremony. I am the best at enforcing my will, as you know.”
I passed Julius and walked out of the conference hall quietly. I heard cries mixed with resentment from behind me, but pretending not to hear was not difficult for me.
When I reached my room at the top of the Tower, I saw Kanyak sitting on the window frame. The silver moonlight of midnight was streaming over his pitch-black hair.
“Kanyak, what are you doing there? You look like a child whose feelings were hurt after eavesdropping on the adults’ conversation.”
“……Do you truly wish for me to become the Tower Master, Master?”
“Of course. Do you want me to stand by and watch the Tower fall into the hands of the stupid and weak-willed Rafael?”
When I answered with a smile, Kanyak turned toward me slowly. There was a quiet sadness dwelling in his trembling red eyes.
“I don’t know why you stand by my side to this extent… despite my origins, and because I did not follow the elite path like Rafael.”
‘Look at that. The Council was truly wrong.’
“Kanyak, come here.”
I reached out my hand. Kanyak hesitated for a moment before cautiously climbing down from the window frame and approaching me.
‘No, he is so kind and gentle like this! Where on earth do those words like “savage” or “cunning” come from?’
“Everyone is blinded by greed for power because the chance to control the Tower is imminent. Forget everything you heard from them.”
“A-am I… truly a bad child in your eyes, Master…?”
“A child who can’t kill a single mosquito in the summer and lets himself be bitten ten times? Bad, my foot. Is that mosquito an evil god then?”
When I cracked my joke with a haughty tone, the stiffened features of Kanyak’s face finally loosened. We had spent years together, so soothing him was not difficult.
‘It’s already been ten years. Since I brought Kanyak in as my disciple.’
That child, who used to be small and weak, had suddenly become a seventeen-year-old young man.
‘Once this birthday passes, he will be eighteen and officially an adult, so there will be no problem with him taking the position of Tower Master.’
However, Kanyak was still a small child to me. Aside from the master-disciple relationship, the age gap between us was eleven years, so perhaps this was natural.
While I was patting him for a long time, Kanyak suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Lady Lusha, do not leave.”
“Huh? Leave? I told you it’s just a trip for sightseeing on the occasion of my retirement.”
“But….”
“You act like such a child at times like this.”
I smiled coolly and stroked Kanyak’s head, while a cold sweat ran down my neck.
‘Wow. I thought he had figured me out!’
Rumor has it outside that I am going on a long trip for treatment in a foreign country on the occasion of my retirement from the position of Tower Master… but the truth is that all of it is a lie.
Because I intend to return to Korea.
Ten years have passed since I entered the dark romance novel The Secret Flower Garden of the Princess.
As ‘Lusha Annis,’ the ultimate villain destined to be brutally killed by the heroes, I was finally able to manifest the ancient spatial magic circle only after gathering mana nonstop for ten whole years.
Since dimensional magic is a high-level magic that lacks information and carries great risks, the preparation took a long time.
It was a long patience and isolation solely for the sake of survival.
‘I can finally go back to my home.’
Since I am in a situation where I am essentially fated to die, I lived quietly for fear of being harmed if I deviated from the original story, but I had one whim.
It was Kanyak, the only disciple of ‘Lusha Annis’ who did not exist in the original story. He was the first and last noise in my life, which I lived as quietly as possible to avoid death.
“Lady Lusha, you will return after the trip is over, right?”
‘Anyway, when you become the Tower Master, you will be so busy that you won’t have time to think about me.’
“Of course, definitely.”
The position of the next Tower Master, which everyone opposes, was a small consolation I offered to this noise that would remain alone after my departure.
“Mmm…….”
I opened my eyes lazily under the bright sunlight and saw Kanyak opening the curtains as usual. He ended up coming today as well.
‘I really didn’t imagine he would come even on the morning of the succession ceremony.’
Since I hadn’t announced the date of my departure separately, Kanyak came every morning to check if I was still there.
Unfortunately, I won’t be there when the succession ceremony begins. Because today is the day I leave.
“Master, live with me.”
A sweet voice came from Kanyak, who noticed I was awake. If the words hadn’t been charged with brainwashing magic, I might have answered, you rascal.
“Kanyak, don’t waste mana on useless things.”
“It didn’t work as I expected.”
Kanyak smiled faintly while disappointment appeared clearly on his face.
“I am the Tower Master now. I can do anything for you.”
“Hmm. I didn’t give you this position to do that.”
“But, you were the one who said: ‘Power exists to be abused.’”
…M-me?
‘I’m going crazy. What did I teach this child…….’
I laughed awkwardly with a lame excuse that it was just a joke, and Kanyak’s red eyes curved in turn.
“I’m serious. After you return from your trip, let’s really live together. I will build you a palace wherever you want.”
I don’t know why Kanyak started suddenly shouting “let’s live together” lately. Of course, Kanyak is kind and good, and on top of that, he is observant, so being with him was comfortable.
If I couldn’t return to Korea… if that were the case, maybe we really would have lived together.
“Maybe we will….”
It seems Kanyak was stunned by me talking to myself, as the cleaning tools he was carrying fell with a clatter. He seemed flustered because I, who usually paid no attention to it, had agreed with him.
“R-really?”
“I’ll think about it if you finish the succession ceremony today in peace and become a wonderful Tower Master.”
“I will be an obedient disciple who is good at housework.”
‘Boy, what on earth does that mean….’
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready now, too? Go quickly.”
“Yes!”
“…Wait, Kanyak.”
It was pure impulse that made me stop Kanyak, who was turning his back with a bright face.
“Yes, Master.”
I wanted to leave a beautiful memory for Kanyak, who would continue to live here without me.
“Congratulations on becoming the Tower Master. You will do your job well.”
“Thank you. This is all thanks to you, Lady Lusha.”
Kanyak smiled like sunshine after hearing my sincere congratulations, then closed the room door and left. I thought he would hang around for a bit as he usually does before leaving, but it seems he regained his senses because it’s the day of the succession ceremony.
“Shall I go too?”
Preparations were already finished. After getting myself ready simply and taking a careful look around the room I had grown fond of to bid it farewell, I teleported myself to the basement.
“Whew…….”
The giant spatial magic circle, which I had worked on for ten years, was carved massively onto the basement floor.
“Finally…!”
My hands trembled with emotion. The result I had been waiting for so long was finally before my eyes.
“This damn possession is ending now.”
Calling it possession is a euphemism; the truth is that it was nothing but a forced imprisonment system for readers that was mindless and did not recognize any human rights.
‘Because it’s a novel that only ends with the death of the final villain, which is me.’
After realizing this harsh truth, I poured all my mana and life force into completing this magic circle for the sake of survival.
Those fools in the Temple who think the Tower Master is just a tool for setting up barriers, and those bastards in the Association who barge in whenever they get the chance to take a truckload of expensive mana stones, and even those bastards in the Council who objected to every little thing I did!
“Goodbye, you dogs.”
My eyes filled with tears as I remembered my life full of sorrows, which passed by like a film strip.
“As soon as I arrive, I’ll eat white rice with a can of Spam. With fresh kimchi, a sunny-side-up fried egg, and soy-braised pork too…….”
While I felt hot tears—and saliva—streaming down, I dropped a drop of my blood, the final ingredient to activate the formula, onto the blue-glowing magic circle that was the fruit of my hard labor.
Immediately, a powerful light capable of filling the basement began to emanate from the magic circle that carried all my effort.
“—She’s awake!”
“…The Lady….”
“Tell them… immediately…!”
Ring. My troubled ears were ringing like a distant dream.
Ah, it seems I’ve finally returned to Korea.
I lifted my heavy eyelids with difficulty out of sheer joy, and I heard the voices that had been unclear the whole time with perfect clarity.
“T-The Imperial Princess has awakened!”
……What?
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