From the day I found a stone of appropriate size in the middle of the night, I never stepped a single foot outside the laboratory.

Whenever meals were left at the door by the maids, I just made do with them. In truth, I often forgot them entirely and skipped meals.

My mind was occupied solely by the new magic stone.

How could I imbue an ordinary stone with magical power, just as the Karua Empire had done in their human weapon experiments? That was my only thought.

‘I tried inscribing the ancient script found in the notebook onto the stone, but it had no effect whatsoever.’

The very element that the original Tanashia considered the most crucial part of Ascan’s tattoo.

I mobilized all my knowledge and scoured every book I owned. If my judgment was correct, the original Tanashia’s assumption had been right.

But what was the problem?

Even after engraving the same ancient script onto the stone, there was no change at all. Thus, I arrived at the most fundamental question.

‘Why did the Karua Empire specifically choose to engrave ancient script onto humans?’

What was the difference between stones—which didn’t work—and humans—which did?

Lost in thought for a long while, I soon reached a sudden realization.

‘Come to think of it, not everyone who received the ancient script became as powerful as Ascan. Sadly, most of them died; even those who gained power didn’t retain it for long.’

Ascan was the Karua Empire’s finest human weapon, created through their experiments.

It wasn’t simply that stones didn’t work while humans did.

Generally, humans who underwent the experiment gained power upon receiving the ancient script—but I wondered why Ascan, in particular, could wield the greatest power of all.

‘Why Ascan?’

It would have been ideal to find clues in the original novel , but regrettably, the novel was unfinished.

Moreover, magical engineering weapons weren’t treated as important content in the original work, so everything had to be solved by me alone.

I locked myself in my room and conducted countless experiments.

I mobilized every magical engineering device in the laboratory and tried connecting the stone and ancient script using every method known in this world.

Yet, still, no change occurred.

I lost all willpower and lay sprawled on the laboratory floor. I couldn’t even begin to guess where I’d gone wrong.

‘Was I mistaken from the very beginning?’

I doubted whether my entire concept was flawed, but no matter how much I thought about it, theoretically, it seemed entirely possible.

Suddenly, I remembered the compliments I’d received from others.

─Until now, Lady Tanashia’s willpower has been so strong that we couldn’t dissuade her, but please stop wasting time on magic theory or elemental studies. You’re already a genius, my lady.

I first heard I was a genius from Matella.

─You’re a genius in magical engineering. I didn’t even want to say this, fearing you’d become too arrogant—but I, who grew up hearing I was a genius, took ten years to achieve magic stone decomposition, while you succeeded just by reading a book.

I received confirmation again from Barnen that I was indeed a genius.

After completing K01, it went without saying. Dekain, Rohel, and many others praised me unanimously.

─That young lady developed K01?

─How could someone so young develop such a weapon? Truly remarkable.

─She’s a genius in magical engineering.

So,不知不觉地, I must have come to believe I was exceptional.

The theory that magic stones could be artificially created didn’t seem wrong, yet no solution came to mind no matter how hard I thought.

Apparently, I wasn’t quite the extraordinary genius others claimed I was.

‘Should I just give up here…?’

Lying on the floor, I gripped the stone inscribed with ancient script and raised it high toward the ceiling.

The unresponsive stone felt bitterly disappointing.

‘Of course—if it were easy, scholars of the Karua Empire would’ve attempted it long ago.’

There must be a clear reason why no one had ever succeeded.

An overwhelming sense of loss washed over me at the thought of turning back without solving the problem, but for now, I had no alternative.

Just as I was about to sluggishly rise from my spot—

I accidentally dropped the stone I’d been holding.

Clatter—

The stone rolled and bumped firmly against the table.

At that moment, the unbelievable happened.

Flash—the ancient script carved onto the stone suddenly emitted light, producing a brief burst of radiance.

‘…What was that?’

Since this was the first time I’d witnessed such an anomaly, I couldn’t help but be startled.

I hadn’t done anything special. The stone had simply rolled on its own across the floor and collided with the table.

I quickly scooped up the rolled stone again.

A thought I’d never considered before flashed through my mind.

‘Stones are inanimate, humans are living beings. The difference between them is…’

There were countless differences, too many to list—but judging from what had just occurred, one key distinction stood out.

‘It’s whether they possess active energy.’

My mind, which moments ago had been ready to abandon research on the new magic stone, now brimmed with numerous hypotheses.

‘Until now, magic stones naturally contained magical power, so they functioned merely by being mounted like gems.’

I stared at the stone in my hand, engraved with ancient script.

‘Artificially created magic stones are different. They require continuous motion and active energy to generate magical power.’

Like a person possessed, I immediately began constructing something.

It was a device designed like a squirrel wheel, capable of endlessly rotating a stone placed inside.

I placed the ancient-script-engraved stone into the newly built device and activated it. As it began rotating at a steady speed, the ancient script started glowing.

Watching the scene, my entire body trembled with excitement.

This was something I’d never realized before—a brand-new discovery.

But the stone generating magical power instantly emitted a puff of smoke and lost its glow. Clearly, it had reached the end of its lifespan.

‘Wait, is it really that short?’

Even conventional magic stones couldn’t be used infinitely due to limited magical reserves—but artificially made ones were even worse.

‘At this rate, if mounted onto K01, it wouldn’t even fire a single shot.’

I needed a greater quantity of magical power.

‘How can I achieve that?’

My mind raced. Had I missed anything before? Now that I’d made a discovery, I began viewing things from an entirely new perspective.

Then, I recalled the question I’d pondered moments earlier.

‘Why was Ascan uniquely capable of wielding such powerful abilities?’

Not everyone subjected to the same experiment became as strong as Ascan.

If I could figure out why only Ascan succeeded, I might also amplify the magical power generated by stones inscribed with ancient script.

‘Why… why only Ascan…?’

It couldn’t be simply because Ascan possessed more active energy. By that logic, adults older than him would’ve been more suitable.

Perhaps it was genetic.

Although I didn’t know about Ascan himself, his body might have been exceptionally suited to receiving fire-based abilities.

‘Genetic, huh…’

Stones weren’t living beings. So if genetics played a major role, that wasn’t something I could artificially replicate.

Click-clack—I paced in circles at the same spot, deep in thought.

Then, a speculative idea occurred to me.

‘The stone that just expired was picked up from a valley. Unlike human genetics, what if I used stones closer to fire?’

I began taking out and examining, one by one, all the stones I’d previously collected through others.

Finally, I spotted one that caught my eye.

It was volcanic rock.

More accurately, it might be called pumice. Formed from lava of this world’s volcanoes, unlike in modern times, it bore a reddish hue.

Gulp—I swallowed hard and began inscribing ancient script onto the volcanic rock.

On the reddish stone, I engraved only two characters in ancient script:

According to Ascan’s tattoo, I should have inscribed [Eternal Flame], but I feared injecting too much power might cause overload.

Since generating merely fire-based magical power—like a regular magic stone—would already count as success, I boldly omitted the ancient script for [Eternal].

Having finished preparations, I placed the volcanic rock into the rotating device I’d just built.

Pressing the activation button, the volcanic rock began rotating steadily.

Whirrr—

This was different from the previous stone. The ancient script on the reddish volcanic rock emitted brighter light, beginning to accumulate fire-based magical power.

My heart swelled with emotion.

It was a success.

I removed the magic-charged volcanic rock. Though it appeared like an ordinary stone when not rotating, it currently held stored magical power.

With further research, I might even achieve continuous magical recharging instead of discarding it after use, as I originally intended.

To address perceived shortcomings, I began inscribing magical formulas onto the volcanic rock.

This was an entirely different approach from before.

Previously, I inscribed magical formulas onto weapons mounted with magic stones to ensure proper power output.

But now, I inscribed formulas directly onto the volcanic rock meant to replace the magic stone. Since I’d artificially imbued it with magic, this was a completely novel approach.

The completed volcanic rock was densely engraved with numerous magical formulas resembling mathematical equations and geometric patterns.

To others, it might look like a strange stone—but this was my very first successfully created new magic stone.

Holding the reddish volcanic rock, I smiled in satisfaction.

‘Now, a new era in magical engineering will begin.’

Though some improvements remained, I intuitively knew: completing this meant I could create new magic stones.

When I opened the laboratory door after several days, something blocked my path.

Puzzled, I looked down—and saw an entirely unexpected person.

It was Ascan.

He was sitting, leaning against my laboratory door.

“Ascan?”

When I called out in surprise, he instantly lifted his head and looked at me.

The way Ascan, upon seeing me, crinkled his eyes as if unable to contain his smile, felt strangely touching.

“What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering my question, Ascan stood up. He carefully examined me up and down and murmured softly,

“Why aren’t you eating properly? Look how gaunt you’ve become.”

“Really? I only skipped a few meals…”

“‘Only’? Don’t skip even one meal. What if you collapse?”

Listening to Ascan, I felt as if I were some frail creature about to be blown away by the slightest breeze.

People don’t die from skipping a few meals. Besides, losing a bit of weight was a good thing.

“Stop worrying unnecessarily. More importantly, how did you even know I skipped meals?”

“I took care of your meals myself.”

“You? Not Jerin?”

I’d naturally assumed Jerin or another maid had delivered them.

Surprised by his unexpected answer, I widened my eyes—and he replied as if it were obvious.

“How could I entrust it to someone else when you wouldn’t come out?”

“I didn’t know. You didn’t need to go to such lengths for me.”

“Have you finished your research?”

“Well, more or less.”

“That’s good. Let’s go eat first. Since you haven’t eaten properly for a while, I’ll prepare something gentle, like soup.”

“At this hour?”

Outside the window, thick darkness had settled.

I’d emerged from the laboratory in the dead of night, when everyone else was asleep.

But Ascan looked at me as if questioning what the problem was.

“What does the time matter?”

The way Ascan acted—as if the world would end if I missed a meal—was so absurd I couldn’t help but laugh.

I grabbed Ascan’s sleeve and pulled him along unilaterally.

“Let’s go get some fresh air instead. I’ve been cooped up in the lab so long, I need to breathe.”

Ascan alternated his gaze between my hand gripping his sleeve and me, then resignedly began walking forward.

Stepping outside, I deeply inhaled the cool night air into my lungs.

It felt like I was coming back to life.

My head had felt like it was splitting from obsessing over the new magic stone, but just breathing night air brought a sense of liberation.

As I looked around at the flowers blooming in the garden, Ascan murmured softly,

“Eat something before you sleep.”

“Stop nagging.”

I plucked the prettiest flower from the garden bed. Turning, I gently tucked it behind Ascan’s ear as he stood stiffly.

Ascan was a beautiful youth whose gaze could captivate anyone. Seeing such a handsome boy adorned with a flower behind his ear was deeply satisfying.

“This should be done by you for me, not the other way around.”

“You look pretty.”

I grinned playfully and lightly patted his cheek.

Normally, he’d have said something more—but this time, he just closed his mouth and stared at me silently. Somehow, his face seemed slightly flushed.

Soon after, I sat down on the ground and gazed up at the night sky.

It wasn’t exactly refined behavior for a noble young lady—but since no one but Ascan was watching, I didn’t care.

I thought he might scold me, but unexpectedly, Ascan silently sat beside me and gazed up at the night sky too.

This wasn’t the first time I’d looked at the night sky with him.

─Have you ever looked up at the night sky like this before?

─……No.

─Then is today your first time?

─Yes.

Not long after meeting Ascan, wanting to be kind to him, I’d shown him the stars in the night sky just like this.

Tonight, like then, the sky was densely scattered with stars—beautiful beyond words.

“It’s always lovely. Right?”

To my question, Ascan strangely looked not at the night sky, but at me, as he replied,

“Yes.”

Though his answer was curt, recalling the past, it felt miraculous that I could now spend time so freely with Ascan.

Suddenly, I remembered something I’d once told him.

─Our family owns many villas. Shall we take some time off and visit one? Whether you prefer mountains or the sea, just tell me. Actually, no need to choose—let’s visit both.

When I first died and woke up again, I’d been so frustrated that I hadn’t properly enjoyed traveling.

Back then, I’d wanted to leave immediately—but somehow, I still hadn’t gone.

‘I told Ascan I’d teach him what it means to enjoy life, yet I’ve been terribly neglectful.’

Now that I’d found a clue to the new magic stone and had no urgent matters, I decided I should fulfill the promise I’d made long ago.

“Shall we go on a trip?”

“A trip?”

“Yes, I said it before. Mountains or sea—anywhere you want to go.”

Ascan seemed to recall that past conversation too. Smiling faintly, as if lost in thought, he replied,

“I’ll be happy anywhere you go, my lady.”

“Great! Then let’s pick a destination soon and leave without looking back!”

Ascan nodded in understanding, brushed off his clothes, and stood up. Then, he extended his hand toward me as if urging me to rise too.

“Eat something first.”

“Ugh, fine.”

As I followed Ascan toward the dining hall, a sudden curiosity arose.

Why was he awake at such a late hour?

“Ascan.”

“Yes?”

“But why were you sitting outside my room?”

Ascan, walking a step ahead, glanced back at me. Then, in a casual tone, he murmured softly,

“Because I missed you.”

Without realizing it, I momentarily faltered in my steps.

His words, tossed out as if trivial, strangely lingered in my heart.