Chapter 01
The first time I saw him was not long after my fifteenth birthday.
“That’s Philion Elfert. The third son of House Elfert.”
Black hair. Pale skin. Half-lidded lavender eyes that looked perpetually bored.
I couldn’t make out every detail from where I stood looking down at him, but even from this distance, he was breathtakingly handsome.
Well, he was the male lead of a fantasy romance novel. Of course he would be.
“That old man, Count Delike, won’t stop bragging about him. Keeps calling him the genius of the century.”
Count Delike was Philion’s maternal grandfather—a mage who had stopped the First Great Monster Stampede twenty years ago.
And the mage who had stopped the Second Stampede…
…was my patron, Count Volks.
Similar ages. Similar abilities.
…Similar achievements.
Now you can understand why the two families became bitter rivals.
“You absolutely can’t lose to Philion, Lady Raiel! You have to repay everything Grandfather has done for you!”
My attendant, Fiona, clenched her fists as she glared murderously at Philion.
I could only answer with a bitter smile and a nod.
Though, honestly, there were plenty of things I wanted to say.
Technically, I belonged to a very distant branch of the family, so I shouldn’t even call him “Grandfather.” I should be calling him “my patron” or “Family Head.”
Philion really was a once-in-a-thousand-years genius.
And yes, the Count currently treasured me…
‘But the moment Philion takes first place from me…’
‘…he’ll start looking at me like I’m nothing more than an insect.’
And then “Raiel Volks” would come to hate Philion.
But Philion would become far too powerful for her to ever defeat.
So naturally…
…all that resentment would eventually be directed toward his disciple—the heroine.
Every novel has one.
The petty villainess who constantly interferes with the heroine’s life and bullies her at every opportunity.
That…
…was the role assigned to me.
Raiel Volks.
‘I have to change it.’
At fifteen, I had already made my decision.
I was going to side with the male lead.
Because the true mastermind behind the original story…
…was none other than my patron, Count Volks.
Unable to bear the existence of a young genius who had surpassed even him in his prime, Count Volks developed the same jealousy and hatred that Raiel did.
In an attempt to kill Philion, he reached for the forbidden power of summoning the Demon King.
But while performing the ritual, the Count was consumed by power from another world and died.
The Demon King then manifested directly and attempted to destroy the world—
Only for the male and female leads to stop him.
That was the ending of the original novel,
I Became the Beloved Disciple of the Master of the Magic Tower.
Therefore…
‘I have to cut ties with Count Volks as soon as possible if I want to survive.’
Ignoring Fiona’s nonstop chatter, I began making plans to get close to Philion.
Fortunately…
The opportunity came sooner than expected.
“Hi. I’m Raiel Volks.”
Finding him alone, I boldly approached and held out my hand.
“I know our families aren’t exactly on good terms, but I’d really like us to get along. I mean it.”
“…You want to be friends with me?”
“Yeah.”
His lavender eyes widened slightly, as though he had heard something completely unexpected.
But only for a moment.
“There are only two kinds of people I keep close.”
He looked at me calmly.
“People stronger than me… or people who obey me.”
“…What?”
“Though if you became my dog…”
A beautiful smile curved his lips.
“…your grandfather probably wouldn’t like that very much.”
His smile deepened.
“Would you still be okay with that, Raiel?”
I smiled back just as confidently.
“Then I’ll just become stronger than you.”
Immediately afterward, we headed to the training grounds.
The moment we requested a practice duel, word spread throughout the Magic Tower.
Trainees flooded in to watch.
By the time we took our positions…
Even the elders had arrived.
Everything happened incredibly quickly.
Including…
…my defeat.
“…That was disappointingly easy.”
It was an outcome I had never expected.
I knew Philion was the genius of the century.
But back then, he hadn’t even properly studied magic yet.
Count Delike had intentionally delayed his education, worried that forcing him too hard would make him lose interest in magic.
And he was only fifteen.
Meanwhile…
I was mentally forty.
Fifteen years from this life.
Twenty-five from my previous one.
I had decades more experience.
I was a transmigrator.
I had studied like my life depended on it.
Since entering the Magic Tower at eleven, I had never once lost my position as the top trainee.
And yet…
“You’re too weak to even be useful as a subordinate.”
From that day onward…
Philion and I continued to face each other.
Not through arranged duels.
Simply because every trainee examination and evaluation naturally placed us in competition.
But…
Defeat.
Defeat.
Another defeat.
And another.
Defeat.
Defeat.
Official Record:
153 Matches
0 Wins
2 Draws
151 Losses
That was the miserable result of my five years of competing against Philion.
During those five years…
Many things changed.
The family became busy mocking me.
Count Volks insulted me even more viciously than he had in the original story.
The other mages weren’t any different.
And then…
At the Magic Tournament held when I turned twenty—
“Wow… you’re really terrible.”
I suffered my 152nd defeat.
“You really are impressive.”
Philion looked down at me.
“Five years have passed, and you’ve still made absolutely no progress.”
“…”
“Still, I’ll give you credit for your persistence.”
He smiled.
“Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t even show up today.”
“…”
“After losing this many times, you still insisted on standing in front of me.”
He tilted his head.
“And no matter how much I’ve ignored or looked down on you…”
“…you’ve never gotten angry even once.”
Then, in a quiet voice—
“Raiel…”
“…are you in love with me?”
That…
…was the exact moment my patience finally snapped.
“SHUT UP!!”
“That’s what everyone says.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!”
The senior mages rushed in and dragged away the rampaging, hysterical me.
Philion left with us.
And even then…
He continued following after me, saying,
“The more I think about it…”
“…that’s the only explanation.”
“Will someone…”
I groaned.
“…please get that bastard away from me?”
“Why not just admit it already?”
From that day on…
Philion’s harassment officially began.
And yes.
Harassment was exactly what it was.
Because he came to bother me almost every single day.
Usually, our conversations went something like this.
“Raiel.”
“I think I need to take on a disciple.”
“So?”
“Grandfather found a talented girl.”
“They say teaching someone also improves your own skills.”
“He wants me to accept her.”
“What a joke.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“…Can I?”
“…Why are you asking me?”
“Because you’re in lo—”
“I TOLD YOU I’M NOT!!”
Pretty much like that.
“Teaching will improve your skills, my foot!”
“They’re making you take a disciple because your personality is garbage! They want you to grow up!”
“Oh.”
He grinned.
“So that’s your way of admitting I’m already strong enough?”
“GET LOST!!”
“I knew you’d say that.”
He spent the entire conversation smiling as though he were having the time of his life.
This had to be some new form of bullying.
Since I could never beat him…
He simply came around whenever he was bored to pick a fight.
The funniest part was that despite teasing me so much…
He accepted a disciple anyway.
Coincidentally…
I met her on the very day she entered the Magic Tower.
She was stunning.
The moment I saw her long pink hair…
‘So it’s finally time for the heroine to appear.’
“Raiel.”
Philion, who had been standing beside her, hurried over to me.
“I kept refusing, but Grandfather…”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“I’m not interested.”
“…You’re angry.”
“I’m not.”
In fact…
I was in an excellent mood.
Beautiful girls naturally put people in good moods.
“You two look good together.”
“I hope everything goes well.”
I sincerely wished them the best.
Philion wore a strangely complicated expression.
I didn’t pay it any attention.
I had more important things to think about.
‘The story is following the original plot.’
The Delike mages called me a villainess for daring to challenge Philion.
No matter how many times I tried to get close to him…
He never became my friend.
A few days ago, Count Volks had ordered me to send him every piece of research in the Magic Tower related to the Demon King.
I made every excuse imaginable to stall.
But eventually…
Other mages delivered the materials to him anyway.
The Count even came personally to threaten me, saying that if I skipped the next experiment, he wouldn’t let me off.
And now…
The heroine had officially become Philion’s disciple.
The original story…
…would only move faster from here.
‘I won’t be able to avoid my death either.’
No matter how desperately I struggled…
The outcome remained exactly the same as in the novel.
I couldn’t change the flow of fate.
Then…
‘At the very least…’
‘I’ll decide for myself how I die.’
