The man was like a black panther. A black panther roaming the vast plains with its head held high.

With each step, the flexing of his large muscles was sensual.

His slightly tanned face had a small scar at the chin. His thick eyebrows were deeply furrowed, giving a heavy impression, but upon closer inspection, one could see that he had very delicate features. His eyes, surrounded by sharp black eyelashes, were a silvery gray with a hint of pale blue, reminiscent of a snowy sea.

“Haah.”

He walked over with heavy steps and sat down next to me, letting out a deep sigh. His large hand wearily rubbed his face. His messy black hair fell with a soft rustle, casting shadows on his face.

After sitting with his head bowed for a while, he straightened up and muttered in a low voice.

“It’s my choice, but it’s tiring.”

My fingertips trembled involuntarily at his voice, like melted chocolate. His gaze turned towards me. Tensing up in case he might try to caress my face, I stiffened, but he didn’t reach out to me.

He just laughed softly.

“You’re not tired since you’re lying down. But isn’t it about time you got up and left your seat, you lazy miss?”

Lazy? Me?

After quietly listening to his words, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Calling me a lazy miss is too much. I wasn’t even expecting to be called a sleeping beauty.”

“……?!”

As if he didn’t expect me to answer, he jumped up from his seat in surprise. Even in that brief moment, his two hands raised towards me were in a perfect defensive stance.

“What? An assassin?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the word assassin. What could I possibly do against him? His forearm looked as thick as my thigh.

“If someone was targeting you, I think they’d send a more robust assassin.”

“……Are you talking right now?”

“Who else would it be if not me?”

I slowly raised my body. My arms trembled, probably from lying down for so long.

“Since I’ve answered diligently, would you answer my question too?”

I asked with a slight smile.

“Who are you?”

Who are you to enter someone else’s bedroom so casually and talk to me like this?

An excellent magician, but without magical power.

An enormous inheritance, but even more people coveting it.

In this situation, how best to protect both life and inheritance?

“Sis, what are you thinking about?”

What am I thinking?

‘I’m wondering whether you’ve poisoned this tea or not.’

I sighed and looked down at the black tea placed before me. When I raised my head again, a cute face with golden hair and ruby-red eyes tilted its head, eyes twinkling brightly.

Diana Periway. The younger sister I once cherished.

There was a time when I loved Diana like my own body. How could one not love such an adorable child?

But now, facing Diana, all I could think was:

‘How detestable.’

Diana’s smile and her star-like sparkling eyes all seemed fake to me.

Because in my past life, she killed me to obtain the inheritance.

‘She must have poisoned this too. Since killing me with poison right away would raise suspicion, it probably won’t be a poison that kills instantly.’

Besides, there are many other poisons she could use on me. Poisons that blind the eyes, or paralyze the legs.

‘So she can push me down the stairs to my death, just like in my past life.’

Weakened by poison, I fell helplessly, unable to do anything.

‘I’d rather not experience that twice.’

As I kept staring at the teacup, Diana urged me:

“Why are you just sitting there? Drink up, sis. It’ll warm you up nicely.”

“It’s summer?”

“Huh? ……Oh! Did you want cold tea? Then you should have said so. Wait, I’ll have them bring some ice.”

“That’s not necessary.”

I flipped the teacup over in front of Diana’s watching eyes. The untouched tea flowed out, staining the white tablecloth.

Diana’s brow furrowed. For a fleeting moment, her true nature was revealed, unable to be hidden, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“I only drink plain water originally.”

Plain water, as if. I actually loved tea originally. I used to spend all my pocket money on high-quality black tea and teacups. When doing magic research, the only time I’d rest was when drinking tea, so colleagues who wanted to calm me down would bring teapots.

Well, even that’s all in the past now. After dying once from being poisoned, even the sight of a teapot made me feel sick.

‘At least I’ll save on pocket money.’

I met Diana’s completely distorted gaze and smiled faintly.

“Thank you, little sister.”

Truly angered, Diana couldn’t even fake a smile as she stomped out of my room. I let out a sigh through my nose.

‘It’s satisfying, but not a good strategy. Now that she knows I won’t drink tea, she’ll probably try to poison my food with more diverse dishes.’

In other words, I’ve turned a situation where I only had to avoid tea into one where I have to avoid all food.

‘But there are things in life that are simply unbearable. For me, it’s the tea Diana offers.’

Still, I didn’t regret spilling the black tea. Rather, I was amazed at my own patience.

‘It’s a wonder I didn’t splash it in your face, telling you to drink it yourself.’

From the moment I first saw Diana after turning back time, my hands itched to slap her, but I had to restrain myself. If I resorted to violence carelessly, I’d be the one in a pinch. I could easily imagine Diana acting pitifully outside.

“My sister must have brought back a mental illness from the academy. She throws things she sees, hits people for no reason like this…..”

In that way, she’d paint me as unstable and ultimately get what she wants.

“We can’t entrust Periway’s future to my unstable sister. Your Majesty, please recognize me as the heir instead of my mentally ill sister.”

‘Ah, since persuading His Majesty would take too long, she might use another method.’

It seems more realistic that she’d confine me as mentally ill and then poison me. It’s not uncommon for someone mentally weakened to become physically weak and pass away early.

‘Either way, the ending is death.’

How did my life transform into such a spectacular one where my life is constantly threatened? Until just recently, I was learning magic at the academy, wondering whether I should tilt my head right or left to dodge the books thrown by professors.

‘No, come to think of it, wasn’t I in life-threatening situations every day at the academy too?’

The magic books aimed at the back of my head were thick enough to be weapons.

I recalled the magic department professors at the academy who treated their disciples like untamed beasts.

‘Ugh, I feel nauseous. I need some fresh air.’

Just a moment ago, I seemed to miss the academy, but remembering the grueling days spent there made my head ache from top to bottom.

I approached the window of my room and opened it. That’s when it happened.

“Nelly! It’s your aunt! Don’t you remember how we used to play together when you were little!”

“What can you two youngsters do! You need a reliable guardian, like me!”

“Everyone, get lost! At times like this, the maternal family is the best!”

As soon as I showed my face, relatives clinging to our house fence shouted to be let in.

“……!!”

Startled, I quickly closed the window. Then I pulled the thick blackout curtains to completely cover the window. Darkness instantly filled the room.

“Ha.”

What am I doing now?

I laughed hollowly, finding it absurd. My legs gave out and I slid down to the floor.

I roughly ran my hands through my hair. Even though this was the second time I was experiencing relatives going crazy over a suddenly appeared inheritance, I just couldn’t get used to it.

“……Isn’t this all too much?”

When we sisters lost our parents, everyone pretended not to know, but now that a hidden inheritance has appeared, they come running asking to be let in?

‘But what hurts my heart the most is Diana.’

We sisters who lived supporting each other after our parents passed away. We were known as the incomparable, close sisters.

But when a distant ancestor we didn’t even know existed left a hidden inheritance to me, our relationship flipped like the back of a hand.

To monopolize the inheritance, Diana fed me a poison that paralyzed my entire body. Then she pushed me, with my slowed movements, down a steep staircase.

Even with my head cracked and limbs twisted, my breath didn’t end immediately. I looked up at my younger sister who was looking down at me with bewildered eyes.

[Diana… How could you do this to me…?] [Didn’t you say you loved me most in this world, sister? Was it a lie that you only wished for my happiness?]

To me, who had fallen and was coughing up blood, Diana answered with a soft smile:

[This is my happiness, sister. Farewell.]

A life betrayed by a beloved sister because of an unknown great wizard’s inheritance.

That was my past life.

The Periway Baronial House.

Long ago, it was the house of the great wizard Periway, who even helped establish the empire.

But while the inheritance of talent has a high probability, it’s not certain. In fact, Periway’s descendants failed to surpass their ancestors and drifted away from being a magician family.

However, I, Nelly Periway, was completely different. In my childhood, the first person to recognize my talent was none other than my home tutor.

“Your daughter is a genius.”