Chapter 49
Jaina recalled the time a few days ago when Mikael had come to see her.
“So tell me—something the other kids couldn’t possibly give you as a gift!”
Mikael had been throwing a tantrum, insisting he wouldn’t leave unless she told him exactly what she wanted.
In the end, unable to resist his persistence, she’d made a small request.
“Actually… there is one thing I want.”
“What, you think I wouldn’t give you that? Come on, tell me!”
“You can’t say no after I tell you, okay?”
“Fine, fine. Just say it already.”
When she whispered her wish in a small voice, Mikael—who had been proudly tilting his chin up—instantly turned bright red.
“What?! Why would you even want something like that…?”
“But you said you’d grant anything I wanted.”
“Shut up! As if I’d do something like that!”
He’d shouted in embarrassment, thrown her a random present instead, and vanished.
She thought he’d simply given up. But clearly, it had been on his mind all along.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone about this, got it?”
Mikael grabbed both her hands, sighed deeply, and hesitated for a long moment.
Then, lowering his head, he muttered softly:
“Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Jaina,
Happy birthday to you…”
What Jaina had wanted from Mikael was simply a birthday song.
She’d only answered honestly when he kept asking what she wanted—never expecting he would actually do it.
“Thank you, Lord Mikael.”
Her cheeks flushed pink as she spoke quietly.
“Today… was actually the first birthday party I’ve ever had in my life.”
Then, she smiled gently.
For some reason, today, she felt she could finally forget the lonely and sorrowful Min Bobaek she once was.
She remembered how, on her birthday, she’d once stood on the rooftop of her apartment, touching the cold railing, because she had nowhere else to go—
and how she’d wondered if she might simply melt away into the world if she jumped.
“Now I finally have a place to belong.”
Her own room, her own family, her own friends.
Only six years remained to her—but Jaina was content with that.
* * *
After the birthday party ended, Jaina was assigned a new maid.
A woman named Yurika, someone Jaina had met once before.
“I’m sorry, but could I trouble you for a blanket? I need something to sleep under.”
“What? Are you planning to sleep here? This isn’t really a place for people to rest—especially not for a young lady.”
When Jaina had first arrived at the Mage Tower and chosen to stay in a storage room, Yurika had been one of the few who kindly helped her, despite knowing it went against Mikael’s wishes.
“Are you feeling comfortable here, my lady?”
“Thank you for your concern, Miss Yurika.”
“Please, just call me Yurika.”
Yurika gazed quietly down at the small girl lying in the center of a large bed.
She couldn’t help but wonder why such a little child had come to live in the Tower alone.
But whenever she tried to ask, Jaina always changed the subject.
‘She probably doesn’t want anyone to know. In that case, I shouldn’t pry.’
Yurika remembered how Jaina had been when she first arrived—sleeping in a storage room, wrapped in only a single blanket.
So seeing her now, in a luxurious room with even a parlor attached, felt like a blessing.
‘It’s strange, though… that cold, ruthless Tower Lord gave a room to a child who isn’t even a mage. Still, it’s good for her.’
Yurika didn’t know that Diamid was actually Jaina’s biological father.
Of course, she sometimes noticed how their black hair and blue eyes resembled each other.
‘Could she be… a hidden daughter or something? Haha, that’s silly.’
It was just idle speculation.
‘Even if she were his real daughter, he wouldn’t treat her much differently. That man’s cold even to his own nephew.’
Yurika remembered once seeing Mikael get harshly scolded by Diamid after failing a mission.
The terrifying scene had never left her mind.
‘Haa… I know I shouldn’t concern myself with private matters as a servant, but…’
For some reason, Yurika couldn’t help but worry about Jaina.
Her calm, adult-like composure was admirable—but sometimes, she acted like an old person waiting quietly for death.
‘She’s easy to attend to, sure, but… it’d be nice if she acted more like a child.’
One day, Yurika spoke to her idly while brushing her hair.
“What kind of hairstyle would suit you, my lady? Short hair is cute, but sometimes a change is good for the mood, don’t you think?”
She gently ran the brush through Jaina’s soft hair and started trying different styles—
a small braid here, twin tails there, or tying it loosely with some side bangs left down.
“You have such lovely hair. It’s fun to style.”
Jaina watched in the mirror as her hairstyle kept changing.
She’d worn the same short haircut every day—
never imagining such small changes could transform her appearance so much.
“Hmm… let’s see…”
After trying a few things, Yurika gathered the hair at the top of Jaina’s head and tied it up into an apple hairstyle.
“How about an apple bun today?”
Jaina nodded shyly, her cheeks faintly pink.
“Oh, don’t nod yet! I haven’t secured it properly.”
Holding the bun with one hand, Yurika rummaged through the drawer with the other—
but found nothing useful inside.
Frowning, she realized for the first time that Jaina owned no hair accessories at all.
“Well then, no helping it. Would you mind borrowing one of mine for today?”
Yurika removed the ribbon she had been wearing and tied it into Jaina’s hair.
“But if you give me your ribbon, what will you use, Yurika?”
“Oh, I usually tie it back anyway. Letting it down for once won’t hurt.”
Jaina touched the ribbon for a while after Yurika left to tend to other duties—
then went straight to find Izren for advice.
“This happened earlier today… What would be a good way to repay her?”
She spoke while stroking Izren’s head as he purred on her lap.
Meow. Meow.
Izren was in his cat form, unable to speak human words.
Listening to his soft cries, Jaina decided to interpret them her own way.
“I think… I should make her a ribbon in return. I remember hearing the seamstresses talking about ribbons the other day.”
When Izren meowed in apparent agreement, Jaina decided to visit the market with him immediately.
She went to ask Mikael for teleportation magic, but he frowned suspiciously.
“I don’t like sending you two alone.”
“We’ll come back safe and sound this time. Please don’t worry.”
Jaina lifted the cat in her arms defensively, as if to say she could take care of herself.
Mikael sighed.
“Damn it. If it weren’t for the Tower Lord’s orders, I’d go with you.”
He clicked his tongue, shot Izren a sharp look, and waved his hand in the air a few times.
“What did you just do?”
“Mana detection spell.”
It basically meant he’d be tracking their location in real time,
but Mikael sounded rather proud of himself as he said it.
Jaina and Izren exchanged glances, then nodded.
“If I sense any strange mana, I’ll come running. So don’t worry.”
And with that, Mikael vanished in an instant.
Jaina stared at the empty air where he’d stood and murmured to Izren,
“Isn’t that a bit overprotective?”
Meow, meow.
But this time, Izren shook his head, seeming to agree with Mikael’s caution.
Jaina looked at him blankly, then down at the sapphire bracelet on her wrist.
‘So… mana detection and tracking magic are just normal things here?’
She felt a moment of confusion—but decided to ignore it.
After all, it all came from their concern for her.
Still, no matter how she looked at it,
simple magic like that wouldn’t be enough to protect her six years from now—
when the dragons would come to kill her.
‘Hilvencia and Mikael are treated as major villains in the novel, but what about Izren…? Will he really be okay? He’s still far from meeting the protagonist…’
For the first time, Jaina seriously thought about what would have happened
if Izren hadn’t been expelled from the Tower in the original story.
* * *
Izren preferred to stay in his cat form.
He claimed it was because his body felt lighter that way—
but at the moment, it wasn’t helping at all.
“No unaccompanied children allowed inside.”
They were stopped at the entrance when trying to buy ribbons.
‘Lord Diamid even gave me money for playing the harpsichord…’
“I have money here.”
“Is that really yours? You didn’t steal it from an adult, did you?”
How could she convince them she wasn’t some thief?
Jaina stood on her tiptoes, peeking into the shop.
She’d been turned away for being “just a child,”
yet inside, a girl about her age was shopping freely.
Jaina’s eyes narrowed.
‘What’s the difference between me and her? Why can she go in?’
It didn’t take long for her to find the answer.
“She has a knight with her… She must be a noble.”
Meow, meow.
At her words, Izren lifted his chin as if to say, wait here a moment.
Jaina held him close and slipped into a quiet alley.
A few moments later—
“It should be fine now.”
Izren reappeared—not as a cat, but as a man.
He was dressed in a pure white uniform, with shimmering lavender eyes beneath silver-blue hair.
A sword hung at his waist, completing the image of a noble’s escort knight.
