Prologue Story

I felt Inha’s gaze as I infused magic into the plate.

At the same time, all the gemstones embedded in the plate lit up, and the same numbers I had seen before appeared.

“Huh…? Mom definitely said it’s rare for someone to have all attributes. And she also said it’s hard for anyone to have more than three strong affinities…”

Inha, staring at the plate where I infused my magic, opened her eyes wide.

Mom was pretty shocked when she saw this too.

Light was 9, Darkness was 10, Water was 9, Fire was 6, Wind was 8, Earth was 5. Metal was 9, Plant was 4, Special was 10, Mental was 10, and Lightning was 8.

There were three attributes at the highest level of 10, and even three at 9.

Two were at 8. Even the lowest affinities, Plant and Earth, were around average.

In other words, out of the 11 magical attributes, I had a very high affinity with eight of them.

“So… that’s why you didn’t tell me. If you tell Mom, she’ll be shocked and rush over immediately. It might be better to keep it a secret for now…”

Inha’s eyes wavered with confusion.

She blinked, then handed the glowing gemstone plate to me with a calm expression and a small smile.

“Amazing.”

For some reason, it made me feel strange.

Maybe because it was such a simple compliment, but that brief remark made me incredibly happy. So…

“…Thanks.”

With an embarrassed expression, I grinned widely in delight.

That day, for the first time, we talked while smiling.

We ordered udon for lunch.

At first, when I chose udon, Inha hesitated but ended up ordering the same thing.

After chatting for a bit and finishing lunch, Inha became quiet again, just like usual.

But I felt like she was treating me more warmly than she usually did.

After all, she had smiled at me today and even started the conversation.

It was something that had never happened before.

And that wasn’t all.

How should I put it?

She felt less distant than usual?

Even when sitting on the couch, she usually sat a bit apart, but now she was right next to me.

When I struggled to reach for something on a high shelf, Inha helped me without hesitation (she was taller than me).

For some reason, those small changes made me happy.

Around the time the sun set, Auntie Suna came back.

When I opened the door via the intercom, she entered with a bright smile.

Uncle Jungmin almost tripped over the entrance.

He really is clumsy sometimes.

“Inha~. How have you been?”

With a face full of longing, Auntie Suna hugged Inha tightly.

Inha gave a soft smile and nodded.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Really? That’s good.”

“Were Mom and Dad okay?”

“Of course, it was a bit tough, but no problem! Oh, hi, Eunha.”

“Yes, hello.”

They’re such a warm family.

A strong, loving mom, a bit clumsy but kind dad, and a cute, pretty, smart daughter who cares for her parents.

Wow, what a heartwarming trio.

I smiled quietly, feeling the warmth spreading inside me.

“So, Inha, what did you do while we were gone?”

“…Aunt Mirae helped me with magic training.”

“Well, Mirae’s good at sensing things. You could come over to learn from her sometimes.”

“…Okay.”

Inha didn’t bring anything from home.

She was ready to leave as she was.

But for some reason, she hesitated and looked back at me.

I wondered why.

She must’ve been really happy to see her parents return.

She could just go home with them right away.

Almost at the same time, Auntie Suna looked at me with a concerned expression and asked.

“Will you be okay alone, Eunha? Mirae won’t be back until tomorrow, and Jinhwan won’t be home for a few hours.”

“Yes. I’ll be fine.”

To be honest, I was quite used to being alone.

I answered her with a casual expression.

When I replied as if it was nothing, Auntie Suna hesitated for a moment before saying.

“If you get scared or lonely by yourself, you can run over to our house. We’re right next door, remember? Now that I think about it, I’ve gotten used to going to Mirae’s place, so you haven’t come over to our house much, have you? Alright, I’ll tell that girl to come to our place tomorrow.”

She smiled brightly as she spoke.

“You have to come over tomorrow too, okay?”

At her words, I smiled and nodded. Now that I think about it, I didn’t have many memories of visiting their house.

Suddenly, I started looking forward to it.

Auntie Suna was not only competent but also busy, and wealthy to boot.

She’s one of the top-ranking magicians in the world, making her a highly sought-after expert.

I’m sure she has all kinds of interesting magical tools.

Of course, I wouldn’t be able to touch them freely, but just seeing them would be exciting.

“…See you tomorrow.”

Inha hesitated for a moment before saying her goodbyes and returning home.

That short farewell made me incredibly happy.

I went to my room with a big smile and suddenly thought.

“Oh, right. I can do some serious magic training after a while, huh?”

I beamed.

Alright!

So, shall I start with illusions?

In the end, that day, I collapsed from magic exhaustion for the first time in a month. …Well, it still happens sometimes.

The next day, when I got home from kindergarten, Mom was still sleeping.

She’d forgotten to pick me up a few times before when she was swamped with work or other reasons.

But since I wasn’t just any child, I always returned home on my own without a problem, and by now, she was used to me coming home by myself.

Even the teacher just brushed it off as something that happens occasionally.

Sometimes, she’d even let me know in advance that she wouldn’t be able to pick me up.

However, it was a bit bothersome that the teacher asked about Inha again today.

But Auntie Suna did invite me to come over today.

I wonder if it would be too much for Mom in her current exhausted state.

While I was debating whether to tell Auntie Suna I couldn’t come, Mom’s phone rang.

Bzzzz─.

“…?”

I thought about hanging up if it was a number I didn’t recognize, but it was ‘Suna’ on the screen.

I took the phone outside and answered the call.

A video popped up on the screen.

It was in video call mode.

[Mirae, you! You said to come over today…! Oh? Eunha?]

[Huh? Why is it you, Eunha?]

“Uh, Mom’s exhausted and sleeping…”

When I said that, Auntie Suna widened her eyes.

Her expression was like that of someone speaking freely with a close friend.

[Ohhh~ I see? Alright, wait there!]

Click.

I stared blankly at the phone after the call was abruptly cut off.

The video was already gone.

Frowning slightly, I went back inside and shook Mom awake.

“Mom.”

“Mmm… Eunha… Mom’s really tired today…”

“No, Mom. Auntie Suna just said to wait and then hung up. She might come to wake you up.”

That was definitely the vibe I got.

Yeah, for sure.

Mom, who had been responding groggily, suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

A moment later, she shot up from the bed.

“What?!”

“…!”

I was startled by Mom’s reaction.

She looked at me and sighed in relief.

“Phew, thank goodness. I almost got caught in a mess…”

“Mom…?”

“Thanks for waking me up, Eunha. You’re Mom’s lifesaver!”

She thanked me profusely and rushed to the bathroom, washed her face, and combed her bed-messed hair neatly.

After tying up her hair and changing clothes in record time, she came out.

The whole process took less than two minutes.

“Mirae, you!”

Contrary to my expectations, Auntie Suna didn’t come through the front door.

Instead, she teleported directly into the house.

Since she wasn’t blocked by the security system, she could enter our home at will without needing the front door.

Appearing with an angry expression, Auntie Suna was surprised to see Mom standing there, fully prepared.

“…Oh, you’re up?”

“Phew. Eunha’s my lifesaver.”

“Tch, you’re lucky to have such a perceptive daughter.”

With a slightly regretful expression, Auntie Suna approached us and took both mine and Mom’s hands.

I looked up at her.

“Eunha, is it okay if we leave now?”

“Huh? Yes…”

From the moment she held my hand, I knew she was about to teleport.

I could feel her magic energy surging.

My hair was neat, and my clothes were simple, so there was nothing to hold us back.

As I nodded, Auntie Suna’s magic energy flared up, wrapping around my body.

I opened my eyes wide and took in the sight of her silver magic moving actively.

So, this is how the magic flow looks when someone teleports. It felt strange.

Auntie Suna’s magic quickly enveloped the three of us.

Because of the color of the magic, my vision turned white for a moment.

When I blinked, the white light that had covered my view scattered, and a completely different scene unfolded in front of me.

There stood Inha, wearing a yellow dress.

“Hello, Inha. You look pretty today too. Huh? But where’s Mr. Jungmin?”

“He’s busy with something else today. I’m free. Haha, I actually made time on purpose.”

“What? Another task right after a three-day business trip? That’s too much.”

“It’s fine. He promised to take five days off once it’s done.”

“Well then…”

“I also cleared my schedule for the next week. But if something urgent comes up, they’ll call me again.”

“…Hmm.”

“When that happens, I’ll squeeze it out of them again.”

“Yeah! That’s the Suna I know!”

“What did you say~?”

Mom and Auntie Suna, like the old friends they were, playfully bickered.

Their banter didn’t seem like something you’d expect from two mothers.

I smiled, watching them fondly.

Just then, Inha tugged at the hem of my clothes from behind.

“…Huh?”

“Hello.”

“Yeah, hi.”

When I smiled and greeted her back, Inha gave a soft smile.

…Huh? What?

I was slightly flustered.

I had noticed that something about Inha seemed different ever since she first smiled at me yesterday.

I thought we’d gotten a bit closer, that she was less reserved… But now that I think about it, this isn’t a misunderstanding, is it?

The distance between us had definitely changed.

I hadn’t fully realized it yesterday because I was too surprised, but now I could feel it clearly.

Her attitude was entirely different from before.

Inha was smiling at me so easily, showing the expression I’d longed to see.

Honestly, it made my heart race.

I unconsciously placed a hand on my chest.

It had been a long time since someone’s smile made my heart flutter like this.

Inha’s smile was just that beautiful.

“Inha, would you show Eunha around the house? Including the ‘basement’ too.”

“Sure, I will.”

Inha Auntie’s words snapped me out of my thoughts.

I regained my focus and looked at Inha.

I saw her nodding towards Auntie Suna.

Soon, Auntie Suna returned to chatting, seemingly arguing with Mom again.

Feeling dazed, my curiosity shifted to the ‘basement’ Auntie Suna had mentioned.

So, there’s a basement here too.

As I was thinking about it, Inha led me away.

Inha started showing me around the house, beginning from the entrance.

She pointed out her parents’ room, a guest room, a storage room, and finally, her own room.

I looked around Inha’s room with interest.

Her room, surprisingly, was very pretty and brightly decorated, not quite matching her personality.

Most of it had a light, white tone.

“Wow, there are so many cute things! These curtains are totally princess-like!”

“I don’t like them much.”

“Huh?”

“My mom decorated it all.”

“Oh, I see.”

No wonder it didn’t seem like Inha’s style.

I nodded in understanding.

By the way, I had decorated my own room.

That’s why most of the furniture and decorations are to my taste.

I think the color combinations are pretty good.

My desk is a smooth brown, the bedspread is white lace with blue fabric, and the ceiling has glow-in-the-dark star and moon stickers.

The wardrobe is also brown, and the curtains are a light orange.

The curtain ties are made of beads, pink beads, to be exact.

The blanket is a white and pink down comforter.

Even now, I think I did a good job decorating my room to my liking.

But I hadn’t realized that Inha had her own room until now.

It was a bit surprising.

At her age, it’s more common to still sleep with your parents.

After looking around Inha’s room, she led me to the very last room.

It was a stark, barren room.

The only furniture was some shelves, and various magical tools were neatly arranged.

Unlike the storage room we’d seen earlier, this place seemed to be mainly for storing magical tools.

So, they had two storage rooms in this house.

I looked at the magical tools with interest.

My eyes sparkled as I examined the magic flowing through them.

From one of the items, I could feel a magical presence similar to Inha’s attribute.

I pointed at it and asked.

“Is that a light magic tool?”

“It’s a lightning magic tool.”

Ah, right, Inha had a strong affinity for lightning too.

I nodded in understanding.

Then, I noticed something strange while observing the magic’s color.

The color of the magic in the item was golden, which puzzled me.

I hadn’t seen other light magic before, but at least the light and lightning magic I used were silver.

Now that I thought about it, Inha’s magic was golden too.

As far as I knew, neither light nor lightning had a natural color.

Lightning, in particular, didn’t have a fixed color; its appearance depended on temperature.

But Inha’s magic and the magic in this lightning tool were golden, or to be more precise, a yellow close to gold.

It made me curious.

“…You can check that later.”

Inha grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the magical items.

She felt around near the wall, then pressed something like a switch.

The floor of the storage room opened up, revealing a staircase.