I recalled the details about the academic conference and felt like my head was going to explode from the stress over the next few days.
It felt like one mountain after another—just when I barely solved one problem, another hurdle appeared right in front of me.
‘What’s the point of knowing the novel’s plot? I can’t actually do anything about it.’
The academic conference wasn’t a place ordinary people could attend. To even set foot there, you needed some kind of special ability.
In the original story, Tanashia Brellof couldn’t attend the conference and threw tantrums over it. So how on earth was I supposed to participate and change the future plotline?
‘But pretending I don’t know anything is too risky—the future might shift in unpredictable ways…’
I was stuck between impossible choices. It was enough to drive me insane.
“Haaah—”
Unconsciously, I let out a deep sigh. Hearing it, Barnen, standing beside me, exploded in exasperation.
“When you begged me to teach you, where did that enthusiasm go? Has your mind already wandered off somewhere else?”
“It’s not like that. I’ve already finished everything you taught me earlier.”
In a weary voice, I handed him the paper where I’d solved the magic formulas he’d assigned.
Barnen glanced at the paper, stared at me with a shocked expression, then glared even more furiously.
“Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you can be lazy!”
“It’s not laziness—I just had some things on my mind. I haven’t skipped a single bit of my magical engineering studies.”
“Hmph. Anyone can say that.”
Barnen shot back without conceding even a word.
Lately, Barnen’s inexplicably harsh treatment was piling up stress on me.
‘If only he weren’t my master…!’
An irreverent thought nearly surfaced, but I shook my head firmly to dismiss it.
Everything I did was for survival. Even studying magical engineering was aimed at crafting powerful weapons to avoid my death ending.
‘Endure it.’
I turned my gaze back to the magical engineering textbook. Though I’d chosen this field purely to survive, the truth was—it grew more fascinating the more I learned.
As I diligently solved more magic formulas, Barnen glanced sideways at me and grumbled,
“Remember this—you’d better not disgrace my name at the academic conference.”
Academic conference? Out of nowhere?
I lifted my head and stared at Barnen with puzzled eyes.
“The academic conference?”
“You didn’t know I’ve been invited to the upcoming academic conference?”
“Master, why you?”
“Why? Because I’ve been selected as a judge.”
“…!”
The academic conference was a gathering for people with exceptional talents to exchange achievements and demonstrate their skills.
In other words, they needed someone to judge who was truly outstanding.
If the attendees were students, then judges were like their teachers, right?
Stunned by this unexpected news, I could only gape at Barnen.
Seeing me with my mouth hanging open like an idiot, Barnen misinterpreted it as admiration and cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem, you haven’t heard this from Matela yet?”
“So when you said ‘don’t disgrace my name’… does that mean I’m going with you?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Hearing Barnen’s answer, I was so overjoyed I nearly shouted in celebration.
“Really?”
“Yes. If you don’t want to go, fine.”
“Of course I want to go! But if you’re a judge, what’s my role there?”
Suddenly, suspicion crept in. If Barnen was a judge, what was I going as?
I was an ordinary person, unlike Noxia Brellof who could control water or Reiana who could manipulate wind.
How could someone like me possibly attend the academic conference?
Barnen answered me as if my question was absurd.
“You don’t seriously think you’re ordinary, do you?”
His words struck right at the heart of the matter, leaving me speechless. If I wasn’t ordinary, then what was I?
Barnen looked at my face, sighed with exasperated amusement, and continued.
“You’re a genius in magical engineering.”
“Oh…”
“I didn’t even want to say this because I was afraid you’d get too arrogant—but I, who grew up hearing ‘genius’ all my life, took ten years to successfully decompose a magic stone. You did it just by reading a book.”
Ten years? Barnen took ten years to decompose a magic stone?
I was shocked anew by this revelation. But Barnen wasn’t finished.
“Look at the book you’re reading right now.”
Following his words, my gaze naturally drifted back to the magical engineering textbook I’d been studying moments ago.
“That’s a textbook only the most elite experts read. Still don’t get it?”
I blinked slowly, organizing my thoughts.
In short—I knew I was a genius, but apparently, I was an even more monstrous genius than I realized?
“So Master, you’re telling me… you want me to attend the academic conference and demonstrate my magical engineering abilities?”
“Exactly. I can’t stand how magical engineering is treated as a fringe field. I’ll bring you along and flatten the noses of all those who’ve ignored it! Hahaha!”
I felt dazed as I listened to Barnen’s confident laughter.
Maybe… he’d planned this all along, right from the moment he accepted me as his disciple.
─Originally, I came here out of necessity, but honestly, I’m getting interested.
─You’re getting interested in me…?
─No, not you—in your designs.
Back then, I thought his passion was purely for new weapons, but apparently, he’d been burning to teach a lesson to everyone who’d dismissed magical engineering.
As absurd as it sounded, it was perfectly plausible coming from the eccentric Barnen.
Though I felt slightly used by him, I didn’t care—I wanted to attend the academic conference more than anything.
Whether Barnen flattened someone’s nose, crushed it, or broke it entirely—I was just happy I was going to the conference.
“Understood, Master. Then shall I try making that weapon?”
My own motivation surged. If attending the conference was possible, there was nothing I couldn’t do.
“Yes, that’s the spirit. Those formulas I’ve been teaching you? They’re all related to that weapon.”
It was infuriating that he’d planted groundwork without even consulting me first—but now that I had a clear goal, past matters didn’t matter.
I spread out fresh paper and began sketching designs for the gun in earnest.
As Barnen and I exchanged ideas for a long while, he suddenly spoke in a serious tone, as if a thought had just occurred to him.
“But you can’t keep calling it ‘this’ or ‘that’ forever. How about giving the weapon a proper name?”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t named the gun made from magic stones yet.
As Barnen pointed out, lacking a formal name did make it awkward to refer to.
“Hmm… a name…”
Until now, weapons in this world were either portable accessories or swords and staffs crafted by embedding magic stones.
I had no idea what to call a gun.
“I’m not exactly gifted at naming things. Master, why don’t you pick one?”
“Nonsense. Since you created the weapon, you should name it.”
Even though he was helping me build it, he insisted on drawing a line—this was “my” weapon. It felt strangely touching.
I couldn’t quite put the feeling into words, but for the first time, I sensed Barnen’s unique brand of consideration.
Scratching my cheek, I suddenly spoke up with an idea.
“K01… how’s that?”
“K01? What does it mean?”
“K is the designation, and 01 means it’s the first series. Since this probably won’t be the final version we complete.”
“You’re right. K01… not bad at all. I like it!”
And so, after naming the magic-stone gun K01, Barnen and I threw ourselves into building it with renewed vigor.
Time flew by as I threw myself into constructing K01.
Every morning, the first thing I saw upon waking was the weapon blueprint. Every night, I fell asleep still pondering over its design.
Weapons made from magic stones weren’t endlessly reusable.
Even my bracelet, imbued with Light magic, expired after about three uses.
K01, too, could only fire roughly three magic rounds before becoming useless—since it couldn’t reload like a bullet chamber, the weapon itself was rendered completely inert.
It was a fatal flaw, but for now, I had no solution.
‘If I want to show results by the conference, I’ll have to maximize the power of those three shots.’
Otherwise, K01’s value would plummet with only three shots available.
‘Though modeled after a gun, K01 isn’t a real firearm—it’s a weapon that mounts magic stones and fires magic projectiles. How can I possibly make it stronger?’
Lost in thought as I walked alone, I suddenly felt my hand yanked—startled, I looked up.
It was Ascan who’d grabbed me.
“You…”
I was about to ask what was going on, but Ascan spoke first.
“What are you thinking so deeply about? At this rate, you’ll walk straight into a pillar.”
I looked ahead as he said that—and sure enough, a large pillar stood right in front of me.
I’d been so absorbed in my thoughts I hadn’t even noticed where I was walking.
“Oh, right. Thanks for grabbing me.”
Ascan gave me a displeased look before letting go of my hand. His hands were still warm—apparently, he ran hot.
“Are you heading to see that ‘master’ of yours again?”
“Yeah. The conference is coming up soon—I’m swamped.”
“I heard you’ll be attending the academic conference.”
“You should prepare too.”
“Me… too?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? Have you ever seen a needle go somewhere without its thread following?”
For some reason, Ascan’s eyes narrowed slightly, glinting with amusement.
He hadn’t openly smiled or turned back to look at me again, yet that tiny shift felt profoundly noticeable.
“What, you’re not saying ‘no’ anymore?”
“As the young lady insists, I’m hardly in a position to refuse.”
“Well, true.”
Technically, a slave couldn’t refuse wherever their mistress commanded them to go—but his attitude felt less like mere obedience and more like genuine interest.
Was he perhaps hoping I’d help him escape during the conference?
Just in case, I glanced around to confirm no one was nearby, then whispered to Ascan in a low voice.
“I already told you—I’ll look for a chance to sneak you outside. But just so you know, it won’t be during the conference. The destination’s too obvious, and with so many people around, escaping would be harder, not easier.”
I’d warned him in advance, thinking he might be disappointed—but strangely, he showed no sign of caring.
“Understood.”
He didn’t say anything else, so I couldn’t gauge his mood—but somehow, he seemed exactly the same as when I’d first invited him to the conference.
What’s going on?
I thought he’d be disappointed if he couldn’t escape…
I found myself studying Ascan’s expression and offered comforting words.
“Don’t worry. When the next opportunity comes, I’ll definitely take you out and—”
“I wasn’t worried you’d forget. I was merely curious about what this conference would be like.”
C, curious?
I was surprised Ascan gave such a human, relatable answer.
Yes—this was exactly what I’d wanted.
Apparently, taking someone to new places and building good memories really did brighten their spirit.
“Come to think of it, I’m curious too. It’s my first time attending—I’m very eager to see what’ll happen.”
More accurately, I was curious how the original novel would actually unfold.
Before I knew it, we’d reached the carriage. Barnen’s research lab was cramped, but currently, that’s where we were conducting K01 research.
Since Barnen’s lab was more suitable than Brellof Mansion, I now commuted there daily instead of waiting for him to come to me.
As I clicked along toward the carriage, I called back to Ascan.
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Yes, young lady.”
As Ascan saw me off, something seemed to occur to him—he spoke up again.
“By the way, young lady. I heard today is the Lady’s death anniversary.”
Lady?
At first, I didn’t know who he meant—but then I realized. He was referring to Tanashia’s deceased mother.
The one and only woman Orland ever loved.
Charles Li Rozena.
Instantly, scenes from the original novel flashed through my mind, and my body stiffened.
I knew all too well—from reading the novel—how disastrously drunk and broken Orland became every year on Charles’s death anniversary.
“…Where is Father right now?”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
