"The world of magic isn't fair, my daughter."
Clarissa said those words softly, but they landed like a hammer.
She didn't say it with cruelty. She said it like someone reciting a law of nature, like warning a child not to touch fire.
Anna stared up at her with a face too young for the thoughts behind her eyes.
Clarissa hesitated, fingers brushing her messy hair, then continued anyway. Mothers didn't have the luxury of lying when the world itself was hungry.
"Don't build your dreams too high, Anna," she murmured. "You and I… we weren't born with extraordinary mana. Your father wasn't either."
Her gaze turned distant for a moment, as if she had once dreamed too. "In most cases, talent is inherited. So it's… unlikely you'll be blessed."
Anna's chest tightened, but her expression remained calm.
Inside, however, something cold shifted.
Not anger.
Not despair.
Recognition.
So this world has its own caste system.
On Earth, it was wealth.
Here, it was mana.
Same poison, different bottle.
Clarissa cupped her cheeks gently, forcing her attention back to her. "I'm telling you this because I don't want you to suffer later," she said. "Magic can make life easier, yes… but you don't need it to live well."
She smiled, trying to make the words sound like comfort instead of a verdict.
"Focus on becoming a good merchant like your father or choose a merchant as your hus..." Clarissa paused there and then corrected, "Anyway, with money, you'll have freedom. You'll have friends. You'll have a safe life."
Then she pulled her into a hug.
Her arms were warm. Her voice is even warmer.
"You already have everything important. Your family loves you, my little girl."
For a moment, Anna's body relaxed against her.
She could smell clean linen, sun-dried fabric, and the faint scent of herbs in her hair.
She didn't respond with bitterness.
She couldn't.
Because, unlike her previous life… this love was real.
And she was smart enough to know real love was rarer than gold.
Anna kissed her cheek, and she laughed quietly.
But inside her mind, her thoughts were already moving like chess pieces.
Fine. If magic isn't my weapon… I'll use something else.
On Earth, she had survived by joining the Vetrova family.
She had climbed their ranks, bled for them, killed for them…, and in the end, she had been betrayed like a disposable dog.
Her eyes darkened slightly.
This time, I don't join someone's empire.
I will build my own and become a true Queen, not that false queen who can be detroned easily in her past life.
And she would build it the only way she knew how.
With loyalty.
Fear.
Control.
And rules carved deep enough that betrayal became impossible.
I just need to be careful of snakes.
The memory of that worm-like traitor from her old life still felt fresh, like a scar that refused to close.
Anna exhaled slowly.
This world was beautiful.
But beautiful worlds still had ugly people.
*
"Now go play with your sister, Anna," Clarissa said, wiping her cheek like she was still a baby. "Mom has work to do."
Anna nodded obediently and ran off, small feet pattering across the yard.
Clarissa watched her go, her smile lingering even as her eyes softened with worry.
She hated breaking her dreams.
But she would rather hurt her now than watch her shatter later.
And while Anna disappeared around the corner, Clarissa's mind drifted to something else.
Maybe I should make her favorite stew tonight…
*
"Anna!"
Leslie's voice rang out like a bell.
Anna turned and saw her sister sitting with a book on her lap, posture stiff, chin lifted, looking like a miniature noblewoman pretending she wasn't dying of boredom.
The moment she saw her, the act broke.
She grinned widely.
"You're done bothering Mama?" she teased.
Anna crossed her arms. "I wasn't bothering."
Leslie giggled, reaching out and ruffling her hair the way Clarissa did.
In this world, girls have two options. One, if they have talent, they can become whatever they want.
If they don't...
They will be trained in Etiquette. Speech. Proper posture. Proper smiles.
How to pour tea.
How to laugh politely.
Basically, how to grow up to become a Refine "lady."
And later, how to become someone's wife, someone's possession, traded between families like a contract.
Anna understood all of that. That's why she didn't plan on learning them since she was a child, only so that her parents would give up that path for her even when she wasn't blessed with talent.
However, what about Leslie…
As Anna couldn't just decide Leslie's path for her, it only irritated her more than she wanted to admit.
Leslie was too bright for a cage.
But the world didn't care.
The world only cared about tradition. And only the strong have the right to manipulate or break that tradition.
So Anna sat beside her and let her chatter.
For now.
*
Time didn't slow down just because she was thinking.
The months passed, and her life stopped feeling like a prison sentence.
At four years old, Anna finally got what she had been nagging for.
Books.
Not children's books.
Real books.
Philip had made her earn them.
"Learn to write properly," her father had said with a firm tone. "Then we'll talk."
Anna had spent weeks grinding letters like a prisoner carving marks into stone.
And when Philip finally handed her those books, Anna felt a thrill sharper than any toy could ever give her.
Knowledge was power.
It had always been power.
She devoured everything.
Mana.
Magic.
Bloodlines.
The Volgrad Kingdom.
The provinces.
The laws.
The monsters in the forest.
The basic structure of the world.
Mana was the fuel.
Magic was the method.
Heredity was the curse.
And the cruelest part was simple: your ceiling was decided before you ever began climbing.
Most people spent their lives trapped in the tier they were born into.
And Anna? She wasn't stupid.
Her parents weren't magicians.
So her chances were low.
She didn't cry about it.
She simply adjusted her plans.
Because Anna had never been the type of woman to depend on luck.
*
Then she learned about the Awakening.
At fourteen, youths were taken to a ceremony and given something called a Magic Gem.
A catalyst.
A trigger.
A divine lottery ticket.
It didn't matter how much potential you had. The Magic Gem could shape your entire future.
Anna found it interesting.
But not exciting.
Fourteen was too far away.
And for someone like her, who had already lived one full life, waiting nine more years felt like waiting for death.
So instead, Anna focused on something closer.
Something practical.
Something immediate.
Her father's trade.
At five years old, her "real" education began.
Philip started taking her seriously.
Not as a child.
As an heir.
As a successor instead.
Philip could see that Anna wasn't like her older sister, Leslie. And since he didn't have any sons, he wanted her to take over his profession by the time she grew up.
Women Merchants aren't rare either way, and moreover, women merchants also have a high chance to get into the eyes of the Noble heirs. If his daughter is lucky, she could perhaps marry a Baron.
However, Anna didn't plan to become a merchant like Philip. She was a fighter, not a businesswoman.
But she did plan to learn everything Philip knew.
Because merchants understood routes, goods, prices, bribes, and human weakness.
And that knowledge could build something far more dangerous than a shop.
It could build an organization.
A family.
A mafia.
A kingdom in the shadows.
So when the year 867 of the Magical Age arrived…
Anna entered the local academy.
And her life finally began to move.
*
That morning, she woke before the sun fully rose.
Her heart was beating faster than usual.
Not from fear.
From anticipation.
She dressed quickly, washed up, and practically inhaled breakfast at the table.
Philip watched her with amusement, sipping her drink slowly.
Leslie yawned, still half asleep.
Clarissa, however, looked tired.
Her belly had grown noticeably.
Six months pregnant.
Another child on the way.
Anna noticed it immediately.
More pieces on the board.
Her family was expanding.
And expansion meant new responsibilities.
New leverage.
New weakness too.
She filed it away silently.
Then, unable to contain herself, Anna jumped down from her chair and bolted toward the front door.
"I'm going!" she shouted.
Clarissa's voice followed her instantly. "Where do you think you're going, young woman?"
Anna froze.
Slowly, she turned.
Clarissa was standing with one hand on her belly and the other on her hip, eyebrow raised like a judge ready to sentence her.
Anna blinked innocently.
"Academy," she said, like it was obvious.
Clarissa sighed as if the heavens had cursed her with too much energy in one child. "You're not going alone."
Anna's mouth opened to protest.
Clarissa cut her off immediately. "You're five, Anna."
Philip chuckled behind her cup.
Leslie covered her mouth, laughing.
Anna glared at both of them like they were traitors.
Clarissa shook her head, smiling despite herself.
"Wait for me."
She stood up carefully, adjusting her dress, her movements slower now.
Anna watched her for a second.
Then her gaze sharpened.
Not with impatience.
With awareness.
Pregnancy meant vulnerability.
And in a world filled with monsters and nobles, vulnerability could become tragedy.
She didn't say anything.
She simply walked back to her side.
"Okay," she said.
Clarissa smiled warmly, satisfied.
And together, mother and daughter stepped out of the household.