♡ Chapter 6 ♡
(The Hidden Disciple Hides His Power)
“Before that, tell me about my condition first. I don’t think the rampage will stop with just one time.”
For now, it had calmed down, but as long as my mana kept being suppressed, there was no guarantee the same thing would not happen again.
‘It would have been better if I had known from the beginning… but this is my first time having such a weak body too…’
Thanks to the power Kanyak had given me, I had stabilized for the moment, but once that power was used up, I would return to being the frail and delicate Imperial Princess again.
I could not leave things like that.
“Well, just as Master said, the mana stones will keep you alive. Right until the point just before death, that is. Just like when I met you in the underground.”
“And if I can’t obtain the mana stones?”
“Then what happened today will happen again.”
Just as I thought.
That was the answer I expected.
The mana stones would only help keep me alive. They would not improve my health.
They would merely keep me from dying.
‘At first, things were so urgent that I aimed for the mana stones just to stay alive, but if it goes on like this, I’ll never get out of bed.’
So if you ask whether there was another way—
There was.
Right now.
In front of my eyes.
After thinking carefully, I put on the kindest smile I could manage.
“Which means… since you were able to control my rampage, our mana compatibility must be very good.”
“I don’t really want to hear the rest.”
Kanyak narrowed his brows, clearly sensing something ominous.
Ignoring him easily, I smiled sweetly and continued.
“Shall we start seeing each other more often from now on?”
“Why would I—”
“Because I think I can undo the seal on the diary.”
From the moment I first met him, I could tell Kanyak found me annoying.
He looked at me like he wanted to throw out the intruder who had entered his territory without permission.
Then all I had to do was find out what he wanted and offer a condition he could not refuse.
Fortunately, right now, that seemed to be my diary.
“How confident are you?”
“One hundred percent.”
I answered boldly under his doubtful gaze, and Kanyak let out a scoff.
It was obvious from his face that he thought there was no way I could undo the seal, but since he had no better option, he seemed to want to believe me.
‘Actually, I could tell him the contents of the diary right now without even opening it.’
Well, of course.
I was the one who wrote it.
But there was no way I was going to tell him that so easily.
“So now, not only are you taking my master’s mana stones, you also want to make use of me?”
“Ah, if you say it like that, it makes me sound so bad. Let’s just call it cooperation, cooperation!”
“You really are something.”
Kanyak let out a breath as if I was absurd, after seeing my bright expression.
When he roughly ran a hand through his hair, the black strands fell messily over his neat forehead.
“I’ll make sure the reward is worth it.”
I had to complete the dimensional movement magic again as soon as possible.
Something must have gone wrong while activating it, so I needed to try again.
I could not die here without even trying.
More than anything—
I still couldn’t let go of my regret over white rice, Spam, fresh kimchi, half-cooked fried eggs, and soy-braised pork…
How did I endure ten whole years here?
There’s a Korean person here, damn it!
“A reward? Do you even know what I want? Don’t tell me you think one diary alone is enough to settle this.”
Kanyak glared at me fiercely and ground his teeth.
As his sharp red eyes bore into me, my mouth shut on its own.
Ah… what should I do?
That had actually been my plan.
How unfortunate.
The truth was, I did not know much about Kanyak’s desires either.
When he had been my disciple, I had raised him with a lot of freedom and very little interference.
‘I thought children become more twisted the more you control them, so I let him be free… but looking at him now, maybe that turned into poison instead…’
At most, all I knew was that Kanyak had often shown interest in my diary and in the various businesses I had been planning.
‘…Wait. Businesses?’
“You’re interested in the magic tool business, aren’t you?”
I only threw that out because I could not think of anything better, but Kanyak’s eyebrow suddenly twitched.
At least he looked willing to listen, so maybe I should keep going.
“More exactly, I mean the magic tool business Lady Lusha had planned.”
Back when I was Lusha, I had once planned a magic tool business to gather capital, as one way to survive in this world in case dimensional magic failed.
Of course, every single one of them was guaranteed to become a huge hit.
‘They’re based on modern science that doesn’t exist here, so of course they would be.’
Things like air conditioners, fans, heaters for winter, air purifiers, and hair dryers—
Appliances that could practically be called necessities for modern people.
Magic existed here, but it belonged mostly to the upper nobility, so it was basically the same as not existing at all for ordinary people.
In the end, I completed dimensional magic, so all those plans stayed locked away in a drawer.
But if Kanyak wanted to inherit them, that would be more than welcome.
For a moment, he stared at me with a look that clearly said, How do you know that?
Then he quietly nodded.
“And then?”
Maybe because I was smiling, he decided not to question it further.
Anyway, even if he asked, I could just say that Lusha told me in a dream.
“I can help you with that.”
Since I was the one who came up with the business plans, I really could help more clearly and directly.
All the magic tools had been redesigned by copying Korean products and adapting them to this world, so there was no risk of the ideas being stolen.
I was the only one in this world who properly knew and understood them.
And to perfectly recreate the real products, I was necessary too.
After all, I was the only one here who had actually used them.
“You?”
“There are a few products that would be perfect to release in the coming summer, aren’t there?”
Things like electric fans and air conditioners.
And even handheld fans.
Even in Korean summers, that was still an amazing product, so here it would be close to revolutionary.
“How do you know? No one except me and Robel has read Master’s magic tool business proposal.”
“Ahem. I may not look like it, but I know quite a lot about magic studies. Maybe that’s why Lady Lusha appears in my dreams and teaches me various things. She still appears from time to time, so I’m sure I’ll be helpful.”
When I acted as if I knew a lot about magic tools, Kanyak let out a laugh as if he had been defeated.
“Then we’ll need a contract. I’ll come to the Imperial Palace as soon as it is prepared.”
“That sounds good. I’ll wait.”
Thanks to Kanyak, my mana had stabilized, so I was now in a condition where I could use a little magic without problem.
But before going back, there was something I had to do.
‘First, I need to fix the way he talks to me. I didn’t raise you like that, brat.’
Straightening my back, I glared up at Kanyak as much as I could.
“More importantly, Mr. Tower Master, how long are you going to keep calling me ‘you’? For now, my status is still higher than yours.”
“I don’t see any reason to use honorifics for a thief.”
I had expected it, and of course it did not work at all.
Kanyak looked at me calmly without changing his expression.
“Then respect me as your business partner.”
“Then you should fix your way of addressing me too. Fair is fair.”
“What, should I call you ‘Lord Kanyak,’ like the other mages do?”
For a brief moment, silence fell, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
He looked very displeased.
He had stayed calm the whole time, so I did not expect this to bother him.
“…Just call me by my name.”
“Alright, Kanyak. I’ll specially allow you to call me by my name too.”
The moment I called him as if I had been waiting to, his expression sank even further.
This time he looked even more annoyed.
I should not act like this toward my disciple, but honestly, it felt a little satisfying.
“You still haven’t left? Hurry up and get lost, thief.”
…Could you please call me by my name too?
“I’m going. I’m going.”
The moment I cast a warp spell back to the Imperial Palace, I realized it.
‘Ah. I forgot to set the coordinates.’
A moment later, I fell right into the middle of the Princess Palace.
Thud.
I slammed onto the hard marble floor in an instant.
When I opened my eyes again, my hand was already rubbing my aching lower back.
“Aow…”
As I lay there groaning with pain in my tailbone, a noisy commotion suddenly broke out around me.
“P-Princess?”
“My goodness, Princess! What in the world happened? You suddenly fell out of the air!”
Luckily, some passing maids found me and helped me up.
“We’re just glad you returned safely. At least that Tower Master told us you were unharmed!”
“They said you accidentally fell asleep at the Magic Tower. Our Princess, you must have been so tired…”
“Do you know how worried everyone was? His Highness the Crown Prince even drew his sword and was about to head to the Magic Tower.”
“But to leave someone so small and delicate like this and throw her through the air!”
“Exactly! How dare he treat the Princess with such disrespect!”
Ah.
So they had explained it as me falling asleep at the Magic Tower.
That was a relief, but…
‘Why does public opinion seem to be going in such a strange direction?’
“That damned brute must have acted arrogantly toward the Princess too! We should protest to the Magic Tower right away!”
“Exactly! I knew it from the moment he answered His Majesty so half-heartedly at the palace earlier!”
“How could Lady Lusha ever choose such a thug as her successor?!”
“If you ask me, Lady Lusha must have been deceived too! He probably acted like an angel with that handsome face of his!”
No, in this situation, how was I supposed to explain that I was the one who threw myself through the air?
‘Kanyak… that’s how it turned out.’
Leaving behind the maids, who were angrily running off to protest to the Magic Tower, I quietly returned to my room.
