Chapter 11
“You’re right in front of me, but you’re thinking about something else. That’s mean!”
“Sorry. No matter how much I think about it, there’s something I just can’t figure out….”
As I trailed off and obediently apologized, she shook her head hard, her eyebrows drooping.
“You don’t have to apologize. Honestly, I think I’m the only one who enjoys meeting you, so I was just being petty.”
“That can’t be true. I also really like having this time to talk with you, Ansharie.”
“Really?”
A faint unease flickered in her pale green eyes, which trembled slightly.
I’m pretty sure I always tell her I missed her and that I’m happy to see her whenever I come.
I didn’t know why she was always so anxious, but instead of asking, I gently stroked her silky platinum-blonde hair and nodded.
“Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t sneak out to see you behind Father’s back.”
“……”
Ansharie fell silent. Her eyes calmed, but a shadow still lingered on her face.
Was that not enough?
I added more firmly, looking at her.
“Really, for my precious little sister, I’d do anything. Even things that seem impossible.”
It wasn’t exactly a choice I made myself, but I had actually crossed dimensions in the end, so it wasn’t a lie.
Come to think of it, what happened to my original body? I don’t remember dying.
Is my sleeping body still intact somewhere, while only my soul came to this world?
Or maybe I died during sleep due to some accident.
Overwork, fire, heart attack—some unexpected incident like that.
“That… is okay.”
While I was lost in thoughts about my past life, Ansharie, who had been looking down, answered in a subdued voice.
“Why?”
I hadn’t expected a refusal from her, so I widened my eyes in surprise and asked.
“I also care about you, big sister. I don’t want you to push yourself because of me.”
She’s an angel! A literal angel has descended!
How could someone from a corrupt noble family like that awful marquis produce a child like this?
Especially from a household where even upbringing involved mental magic brainwashing.
I was so deeply moved, like a believer witnessing the parting of the Red Sea, that I almost teared up.
But her words continued.
“So please promise me. Don’t do anything dangerous.”
Tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.
It was the first time since possessing this body that someone had worried about me.
I held back my tears so it wouldn’t show and hooked my pinky finger with hers.
“Okay… I promise.”
To be honest, I had been anxious too.
Ever since I suddenly found myself in this changed world, I had often felt like I was left alone.
Moreover, I was now an extra destined to die soon.
So I had deliberately avoided all those negative, uncertain thoughts.
Why I woke up in Tiamia’s body.
Whether I was originally alive, or whether Tiamia had already died.
What would happen if I failed and died again in this world.
Countless questions with no answers—I had shoved them deep into my heart and clung to Ansharie instead.
Because the clear goal of “escape with my favorite character” was the only thing keeping me myself.
So I wouldn’t sink into fear of death or the feeling that this world might be nothing more than an illusion.
“Puu…”
Sensing my mixed emotions of joy and sadness, Rira, who had been curled up on the pillow, approached and rubbed her face against me affectionately.
“Kiik, kiiik. Nng.”
It felt like she was telling me I wasn’t alone—that she was here with me.
“You’re comforting me?”
“Nng.”
Her simple answer strengthened something in my chest.
Well, Rira herself is reassuring. She’s always been the one solving problems when things got difficult.
From opening the iron door earlier, to neutralizing mental magic and saving Enliri’s nanny—all of it had been thanks to Rira’s abilities.
Once again, I was glad she was with me.
I smiled brightly and expressed my heartfelt gratitude.
“Thanks. I really don’t know how much strength you give me.”
“Kiiing!”
This time, she sounded proud.
She puffed herself up, acting all impressive—but she was still just a raccoon.
It only made her cuter, and I let out a small laugh.
Then Ansharie, who had been sitting beside me, spoke hesitantly.
“…I also want to become someone who can help you someday.”
Her voice was so small I almost missed it.
But before I could even process it, she continued more firmly.
“Right now I can’t do anything and all I do is sleep in bed… but I want to get healthy and become someone you can rely on!”
So precious.
Her ambition, coming from a ten-year-old child, made my nose sting.
Why did the author make such a good child suffer by tying her to that marquis?
She had done nothing wrong except being born his daughter.
The contrast between the novel’s Ansharie and the real child in front of me was so stark it made my chest ache.
In the original story, she was a villainess who obstructed the heroine, caused trouble, and did cruel things without hesitation. Even reading it had been unpleasant.
But this child, not yet fully corrupted by the marquis’s brainwashing, clearly had a thoughtful and gentle nature despite her age.
The future that awaited her in the marquis household made my throat tighten, but I forced those thoughts away.
No. I don’t need to feel sorry anymore. That future won’t come.
As long as I was here, Ansharie would not become a puppet of the marquis and die like in the novel.
So instead of pitying her, I smiled softly and patted her head.
“You’re already my strength, Ansharie. No—my motivation!”
Her stiff expression relaxed.
She kept her mouth closed, but her slightly raised cheeks and trembling lips, as if trying to suppress a smile, betrayed her effort.
Cute.
The heavy atmosphere soon disappeared, and our conversation shifted back to everyday topics.
“Everyday life” meant I trained magic all day and Ansharie simply slept in the recovery room, but we still talked happily about small things like what we had for lunch, the weather, and how mischievous Rira was.
As my throat began to feel sore, I suddenly remembered my escape plan from the Serentia Marquis family.
Right, I should ask Ansharie’s opinion about this.
It was part of a plan I had made since deciding to seek help from Ishtar.
The “Become Sub Male Lead’s Disciple Project!”
The sub male lead, Osiris.
He was currently known as the Master of the Magic Tower and a 7th-circle archmage, but his true identity was a gold dragon who had once been the heroine’s friend a thousand years ago and transformed into a human after sensing her reincarnated magic.
Dragons are the strongest race in this world!
Of course, the protagonists Ishtar and Enliri would eventually become just as overpowered as Osiris, but they were still growing.
So in the current timeline, Osiris was the strongest being.
Moreover, the Magic Tower was a place even the powerful Serentia Marquis family couldn’t easily interfere with.
That’s why I had planned from the beginning to escape there with Ansharie, who was being kept locked in the recovery room.
Since Osiris was in love with Ishtar, he wouldn’t refuse a request from her.
However, this plan had risks.
Even if we were safe for the moment, the marquis would not stay still after losing both his “material for expanding his mana circle” and his heir.
He would likely mobilize all the power and wealth of the Serentia family to find us.
Even staying by Osiris’s side wouldn’t guarantee absolute safety.
And the future I knew from the novel might no longer be reliable.
Rira’s survival and the nanny’s survival had already changed the original plot.
With Ansharie also disappearing, I couldn’t predict how the marquis would react.
Time was running out, so although it was uncertain, this was still the safest option I could think of.
But then, a few days ago, during an out-of-body experience…
I realized the marquis relied heavily on Cain.
And that gave me a better idea.
Using Cain to send Ansharie to Osiris as his disciple.
It would make the escape more complicated, but becoming the Magic Tower Master’s disciple would guarantee Ansharie’s safety.
Even if many variables changed the future, the greedy marquis would not suddenly become kind or reconcile with the Duke of Acherlaide.
So the downfall of the Serentia Marquis family would likely still proceed.
If so, all we had to do was prove that we had nothing to do with the marquis’s crimes by living in the Magic Tower from childhood.
That way, we could avoid the execution ending.
In other words—we just had to stay in the Magic Tower until the marquis destroyed himself.
And when he’s imprisoned before execution… I’ll go visit him and mess with him a bit.
I was thinking this with determination when Ansharie gently shook my shoulder.
“Big sister?”
Ah—right, I got distracted again.
Before she could get upset, I quickly changed the topic.
“Ansharie, what would you think if you became the Magic Tower Master’s disciple?”
Well, even if she said no, I wasn’t planning to change the plan.
But I still wanted to hear her opinion.
