PLTSVA 25

“Mom is really proud of you.”

After crying a bucket of tears in the morning and making all sorts of incomprehensible remarks, Mom finally said she felt relieved now.

Dad chimed in from the side.

“You’re following in your mother’s footsteps and becoming a national representative. Our daughter, tell us anything you want to eat today.”

On the way to eat out, I saw how the city lights had filled the darkening Seoul as the sun set.

“Come to think of it, what was that about you crying this morning?”

When Dad, who was driving, asked the question, Mom exclaimed, saying don’t even mention it—it was quite a scene.

After much deliberation, I finally told them what was on my mind.

“What would you do if I died?”

As silence fell over the car, I hurried to explain myself.

“I mean, I died, but I was reborn! In a place where there were people who liked me and cared for me. A place without you two…”

“What are you saying all of a sudden?”

“Haha… Yeah, weird question, right? I had a dream like that this morning.”

Embarrassed, I turned my gaze back toward the window, and then I heard Mom’s voice.

“If there are people in that other world who love you as much as we do, I’d be able to let go and mourn you freely.”

“…”

“Were they good people?”

Surprised by the unexpected question, I hesitantly opened my mouth.

“Ah… Yeah. There’s an older sister who practically raised me, a cute younger girl who clings to me like a koala, and even… well, it might sound strange, but a family. A family in another world… We haven’t been together for long, but it really felt like a real family. People who could fill the void left by you two. And there’s also a boy—my soulmate, really…”

Luca. I missed him deeply.

He used to say the world would fall apart without me. Could he live well without me?

His hand, which he always held so tightly, the face that lit up whenever I stroked his hair…

“I miss him.”

No—why was I even talking about all this? They wouldn’t understand it anyway.

“It was just a dream, a dream! One wild dream.”

I had died in a bus accident and was reborn in another world where I lived a turbulent life—and I still remembered it vividly.

I laughed, turning from the window to look at my parents in the front seat.

But then—

“Why are you crying…?”

They couldn’t even look at me, tears rolling down their cheeks.

“We’re relieved… truly. Our daughter, are you really happy in that world?”

“Your mom and I thought it was just a regular dream. You kept appearing in our dreams every night. Ever since the day of the bus accident…”

I opened my eyes wide and trembled at their next words.

“How did you know we regretted not being able to say goodbye, and came back to us?”

[We love you, and we’re sorry.]

With those words, their forms shimmered. The car interior started to dissolve, and the city lights outside the window shifted rapidly.

Even the people on the streets changed every second. It felt like every moment I saw belonged to a different dimension.

I was passing through countless worlds. But somehow, I knew where I needed to return.

With tears streaming down my face, I held the hands of the two people memorizing my face with their eyes.

“I love you, forever. Mom, Dad, I’m doing really well!”

[So don’t worry.]

I knew my voice had reached them. My vision turned white—then black.

I opened my eyes. This time, truly from within my own body.

Not in that small, messy room, but in the luxurious room the Duke had prepared and renewed every year, waiting for his lost daughter.

“Ria…?”

At the sound of my name, I turned my head. There, clutching my hand with a tearful face, was Luca.

“You’re awake? Please, tell me you’re okay. Please…”

He looked like he would burst into tears at any moment, so I reached out and stroked his hair.

“Of course I’d end up like this.”

And it wasn’t just Luca. In the room were Sister Serin, Garnet, Miller, Drehan, and my father too.

I had just met my parents from the other world, and now I felt strange. Not in a disconnected way—more like I could finally accept this man as my real father.

Because he looked at me with the same eyes as the parents from the other world.

“Are you alright? Fedric, what are you doing! Check Ria’s condition, quickly!”

He rushed over, pushing back my damp hair and anxiously rambling.

The doctor approached and began the examination. His face looked extremely worn out, but I could still see relief there.

They must have pestered him nonstop—I didn’t even need to ask to know.

“I only fell asleep. What happened?”

“You wouldn’t wake up. For two whole days.”

Two days? It had only felt like half a day for me…

Sigh. Whether in this world or that one, I was always giving my parents a hard time.

Drehan and Miller approached to add their own words.

“It was like living in hell. I’m so glad you woke up…”

“Is this… one of those signs?”

I knew exactly what Drehan meant—he was referring to what was written in the ancient texts.

I shook my head and put a finger to my lips. Too many ears in this room.

The fact I’d been unconscious for two days was already enough to cause shock and fear—I absolutely couldn’t reveal that I had an incurable disease growing within me.

Luca’s hand clutched mine tightly. I turned toward him.

He looked more mature than just a few days ago.

“I thought the world was ending. I imagined you’d never wake up again… If that had happened, I wouldn’t have had a reason to live. But thankfully, you woke up after two days.”

Luca rested his face on my hand.

“If you’d woken up on the third day, I wouldn’t be here anymore.”

“Luca! Don’t say things like that—”

What a dramatic tragedy this would’ve become.

I ruffled his jet-black hair.

“I didn’t expect to miss you most. But if I’d woken up and you weren’t here… what would I have done?”

His beautiful eyes, red like a deep ocean, held nothing but me.

He finally smiled at my honest words. As he asked if I meant it, I stroked his soft hair again.

Fortunately, the doctor—after examining me for three hours—declared my health to be no different than before.

Though he’d told my father the same thing ten times before, each time Dad insisted on another check. So, the poor doctor held back tears and did an eleventh.

Luca, who had left the palace and stayed at the Duke’s residence for two days since I collapsed, even brought in the imperial doctor.

Dad, suspicious about how Luca had rushed over so quickly, figured he had planted a spy in the Duke’s house.

Since he was the crown prince’s closest aide, uncovering the spy wasn’t easy. But knowing it was to protect me, Dad didn’t try to expel them.

When Dad and Luca argued about the prince staying too long away from his duties, I thought I might go crazy.

Eventually, when the doctor said I was slightly dehydrated from being unconscious, water mages were summoned the next day.

You could say they were the doctor’s backup. The mages had no idea what kind of place they’d walked into.

‘Just drinking water would’ve been fine.’

I thought to myself as they took my hands.

Small orbs of water bubbled up from our clasped hands. I was amazed at the unfamiliar magic, but only briefly.

The cool sensation was nice, but I felt it was finally time to leave the bed. I resolved to press my case more firmly with Dad.

“You’ve done great, both of you. I’ll explain to the Duke, so you may stop now.”

I said to the sweating mages. As if they’d been waiting for the words, they let go of my hands and gasped for air.

Poor things. But honestly, I felt completely refreshed. It was an excellent treatment.

“Is using magic always this exhausting?”

I asked gently, seeing one of them nearly collapse.

“Ah, no… This… this case is the first… ever…”

I told him not to speak and handed him water. Once he had recovered enough, I asked again.

“This is your first time? Why?”

“I… don’t know,” the first mage replied awkwardly.

The second seemed to recall something.

“I’ve read about this before. When facing someone with overwhelmingly superior mana, it’s like being sucked into a black hole. That’s the only way to explain this.”

Overwhelmingly superior? These were second-tier mages from the Magic Tower. That meant they were just below the tower master.

They were at the very limit of human magic capacity. And me… my body had surpassed that limit—to the point of destruction.

I finally understood. The second mage stared at me in disbelief.

Mana wasn’t something you could measure; it was something you sensed. Even those with some magical ability could feel another’s presence or unique wavelength, but not the amount.

That’s why no one had discovered my incurable illness. My father and Miller both had mana, and if they’d sensed the vast amount of destructive mana in me, they would’ve noticed.

But seeing the mage’s face now—it was clear he might go report to my father at any moment.

I smiled.

“What’s your name, Mage 2?”

“Ma-Mage 2? You mean me…?”

When I nodded, he answered.

“Zen Carno… ma’am.”

“Zen, I understand what you’re saying. You mean my mana was overwhelmingly stronger than yours and Kinder’s?”

His sea-blue eyes showed discomfort under the cloak.

That’s what he meant, but confirming it out loud made it even more absurd.

“Zen and Mage 1…”

“Kinder.”

He revealed his name too. It sounded like he came from a chocolate factory.

“Right. Zen and Kinder—if you’re second-tier, and I’m far beyond you… That’s unbelievable to me.”

“We feel the same…”

“Let’s say your condition was just poor today. Please take a bottle of the Duke’s signature shrimp wine when you go.”

“Shrimp wine…? Really?”

Kinder lit up at the mention. Simple man. But Zen… he wouldn’t be so easily appeased.

I asked Kinder to report to the Duke that the treatment was complete.

Kinder left, thrilled he could finally go home. Now only Zen and I remained.

“Are you alright?”

I knew what he meant. Containing this much mana in such a small body was dangerous.

One wrong move and the vessel could shatter.

“I’m perfectly fine. Before being adopted into the Duke’s house, I was on the verge of malnutrition. Expensive food really does make a difference. I’ve recovered a lot these past few weeks.”

Zen scratched his head at my evasion.

“…I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, but don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

His blue eyes under the cloak strangely inspired trust. Mages usually didn’t.

Nowadays, they were all about money and politics, not like their reclusive, scholarly predecessors.

Even so, I opened up. I didn’t fully trust him, but he was clearly powerful—more so than Kinder.

He had barely broken a sweat, unlike his colleague who almost passed out.

That meant Zen’s mana wasn’t far off from mine, which also meant he was capable of managing great power.

There was no point pretending with someone like that.

“Can I trust you, Zen?”

“Of course. And if things get worse, you can call on me. As the lady of House Rayes, you can easily hire mages from the tower.”

Zen lowered his hood. His youthful face, likely in his mid-twenties, was framed by blue hair.

“Take my hand.”

He held it out.

Believing he wouldn’t harm me, I took it.

A small, blue magic circle hovered above my hand.

At the same time, I felt something leave my body.

“As I said, your mana absorbed some of ours. If lower-ranked mages had been here, it could’ve been dangerous.”

“If it had been lower mages…?”

“You would’ve drained them completely. They’d lose their jobs, and you… your vessel might’ve broken. Right now, you’re reabsorbing the mana you took from us.”

“You can take back absorbed mana? Then maybe you could take my remaining mana too…?”

If only.

“Mana you absorbed from others can be removed. But your own mana—it’s a part of your body. Only someone far more powerful than you could drain it.”

Which meant: no one could.

It was a miracle I was still alive. Only the elven blood of Raveria let me endure.

I nodded as the magic circle faded from my hand.

“Reabsorption complete.”

“Thank you.”

“Come to think of it, you’ve proven yourself to be the true daughter of House Rayes. A normal human couldn’t survive this much mana. But an elf’s descendant…”

I nodded again. He seemed surprised.

“Are you content to remain a foster daughter? Even if your secret is revealed, the Duke might not be able to protect you. But you could at least prove your bloodline.”

“Maybe so. But I don’t want to burden the people I love. And I think they’ve already realized I might be his real daughter.”

In my past life, what hurt the most wasn’t my failing body—it was seeing my parents cry behind closed doors.

I carried the burden for their sake. I forced myself through therapy, found a part-time job when I could move my hands, and pretended to be happy with my friends.

It was cruel to both them and myself.

“I’ll say this now: I’m not just going to wait around to die. Incurable or not, I’ll pretend it never existed. If I make a fuss, they’ll find out. But they can never know.”