Father, I Won’t Do Anything

While the novel didn’t describe in detail the scene of Jaina’s first visit to the Magic Tower, Jaina knew not only the outcome but also what Diamid would say.

Because the father who had killed her in her previous life had said the exact same thing.

-Your relatives entrusted you to me because they wanted to extort something from me! Those cunning bastards!

-How would I know if that woman gave birth to you with another man?

-From face to personality. You resemble your mother to a disgusting degree. My affection for you wanes every time I see you.

In her previous life and in this life, her mother had given her life and a name, but what her father gave her was ridicule, contempt, derision.

And death.

“…”

Jaina’s eyes were calm. Despite being a mere ten years old, there was no hint of wavering.

‘It doesn’t seem like she’s frozen in fear of him?’

Mikael frowned as if he couldn’t understand while looking at Jaina like that, but Jaina paid no mind.

“Come to think of it, I almost forgot to mention something important.”

After some time passed, Mikael opened his mouth again.

“I don’t think you and your relatives were lying. But you haven’t been officially acknowledged as the Tower Lord’s biological daughter yet, right? You’d better be careful.”

He was right. A young child without a guardian was in danger. Especially if they were a dragon. Yes.

Her relatives had been too busy neglecting her to tell her anything, but Jaina, who had read , possessed various knowledge about this world.

“They say dragon blood was mixed into the first potions. The holy sword that descends in the temple is made from dragon bone.”

Mikael looked down at Jaina as if gauging her expression.

“Dragons are a precious ingredient. But adult dragons are strong, so they usually target young dragons who haven’t awakened yet. That’s why adult dragons protect the young until they awaken, but you have no guardian right now, right?”

Jaina nodded with the same indifferent face as before.

“It can’t be helped, I’ll just have to deal with it. Thank you for your concern.”

“…Well, there probably isn’t anyone bold enough to cause trouble without the Tower Lord’s permission.”

“That’s a relief then.”

“But it’s not entirely a joke. There are occasionally crazy bastards in this Magic Tower too.”

This time he thought she would flinch in surprise, but Jaina still had a serene expression.

‘Ha, if someone saw this, they’d think it was someone else, no, some other dragon being threatened with murder by their own kind.’

Fed up with Jaina’s reaction, Mikael unknowingly raised his voice.

“You don’t seem like a ten-year-old? You’re very precocious. I was expecting to get a cute little sister, but it looks like there’s nothing for me to do for you.”

“I’m glad I won’t be a bother.”

A childish voice, a skinny body but a chubby face that hasn’t lost its baby fat, with big round eyes.

No matter how you look at her, she’s a little chick that looks like she would chirp pitifully.

‘But her attitude is totally different from how she looks.’

Even as Mikael sarcastically remarked that she wasn’t as cute as he expected, there wasn’t the slightest disturbance in Jaina’s expression this time either.

‘Is it because she’s too young to understand sarcasm?’

Since there were no young children in the Magic Tower, he may have set his level too high.

‘But if she’s innocent enough to not notice it, that in itself would be hurtful…’

On top of being denied by her biological father, she was told that other magicians were threatening her life. It wouldn’t be strange for her to burst into tears right away.

No, shouldn’t she at least look a bit dejected to be normal?

But Jaina’s calm reaction as if she was used to it was something Mikael had never even considered.

‘It feels like the one who picked a fight is being made a fool instead…’

Mikael narrowed his eyes. It was an unpleasant situation, but he couldn’t think of anything more to say.

“Yeah, well then. I’ll give you a tour of the Magic Tower now.”

In the end, Mikael had no choice but to back down with an unsatisfied heart.

‘What’s with this kid?’

The child the dragon tribe brought, claiming to be the Tower Lord’s daughter.

He had imagined many things about her coming to the Magic Tower, but she was a child far removed from any of his guesses.

‘…Right, it doesn’t matter what her personality is like. Personality isn’t what’s important. Because this little kid is a dragon.’

As he had told the kid earlier, experiments couldn’t be conducted in the Magic Tower without Diamid’s approval.

But even so, research itself wasn’t prohibited. If he observed from the side, he might be able to find out information about the dragon tribe whose ecology was hardly known.

There were no instructions on what to do with this kid either. It probably wouldn’t be a big issue even if he took her.

‘Wouldn’t that be better for this young dragon too?’

She was someone who came all the way to the distant Magic Tower without being able to bring a single relative to protect her.

The way the dragon tribe practically abandoned her, and Diamid’s words about her being proof of impurity. This child was clearly in a position with nowhere else to go.

It didn’t seem like a problem to at least observe her as long as he didn’t make wounds on her body.

‘Let’s have her stay in the Magic Tower without drawing the Tower Lord’s attention.’

Like that, Mikael easily decided on Jaina’s disposition.

* * *

Jaina was lost in thought as she followed Mikael.

‘Well, in the novel too, it seemed she died while in the Magic Tower.’

She had been a bit worried about what would happen to her now, but Mikael, who hadn’t been very favorable to her, was walking ahead of her as if doing her a favor by offering to guide her around the Magic Tower.

But the process wasn’t very pleasant.

‘Are cousins usually all like this?’

In the dragon village, Taylor couldn’t wait to tear her apart, and in the Magic Tower, Mikael was outright rude to her.

She wondered why they were all so eager to pick fights with her. They would get tired of her lack of reaction and leave eventually anyway.

For now, it seemed they were interested because she was the Tower Lord’s daughter and a dragon, but in the novel, Mikael wasn’t the type to maintain interest in a ‘living being’ for long.

‘If I didn’t have memories of my past life, I would have been thoroughly strung along, thinking I gained a nice family…’

In fact, it wasn’t just a problem with cousins.

There was no one who would love a miserable bastard. None of those related to her by blood were fond of her.

‘At this point, should I say I have no luck with people? But that’s tiring too…’

On top of that, as if adding insult to injury, the place she came to was the Magic Tower.

A place where magicians obsessed with magic didn’t hesitate to use any means necessary for their research.

Magicians were people who had been captivated by power from the beginning. Moreover, having been separated from their families at a young age and only focused on results, it was hard to find anything like a decent character among the magicians of the Magic Tower.

It wasn’t for nothing that the Tower Lord Diamid and the magicians under him became the evil axis in the novel.

With their broken personalities and power on top of that, it was a place that could explode at any time and it wouldn’t be strange.

Nevertheless, Jaina wasn’t trembling with anxiety in the slightest.

Because thanks to reading the original work, she knew exactly who the dangerous ones were and what to be wary of.

And above all, she had no intention of doing anything.

She had no desire to gain recognition from her father, nor any will to struggle to survive. So unless she made the first move, there was no reason for her to fall into danger.

‘Ordinary magicians would find it difficult to cause trouble because of the Magic Tower’s rules.’

Famous evil villain candidates aside, most magicians weren’t the type to actively mess with a child first.

It wasn’t that they had a strong sense of protectiveness towards children, but rather they were lunatics who felt no interest in weaklings.

Seeing even Mikael, who was notorious for his warped heart in the Magic Tower, not reacting much and backing off, as long as she didn’t reveal herself to be a dragon, there was no reason for her to become a target.

‘My only goal is just some small luxury.’

By the time Jaina finished sorting things out in her head like that, the two had arrived at the dining hall.

Mikael looked at Jaina and lifted his chin arrogantly.

“This is the dining hall.”

It seemed to be dinner time, as food was being brought out in full swing. A fragrant smell assailed her nose.

‘Is it a system where you can just take food and eat as you please?’

Even though it was the peak of meal time, the dining hall was quiet. Only a few magicians were sitting at the wide table, picking at their food.

‘Just as I read in the novel. The magicians have no interest in food.’

Even with food laid out, they were listlessly eating.

Some shoved simple food into their mouths while reading research texts, while others looked drowsy as if they didn’t even know what they were eating.

The magicians here were all unable to taste the flavor of the food.

‘Well, this much is good, I guess.’

Because there were many cases of them not coming to the dining hall at all because their day and night were flipped, or sustaining themselves with potions and such because eating interfered with their research.

Jaina, who had been surreptitiously observing the magicians, soon turned her head and focused her gaze on the food.

“Why is there a little kid in the Magic Tower?”

“That sir Mikael is with a tiny child? What’s going on?”

Surprised by Jaina’s sudden appearance, whispers could be heard from the magicians in the dining hall.

Though small, Jaina with dragon blood flowing in her and Mikael with strong magical power could pick up on even those faint mutters.

Unlike Jaina who seemed unconcerned whether those around her were gossiping or not, Mikael seemed displeased about something and sent a chilly gaze towards the group of magicians.

“You lot are awfully interested in other people’s business.”

Plop.

The moment he spat that out, the magicians couldn’t even let out a breath.

After glaring at the magicians like that for a while, Mikael finally seemed to have calmed down and turned his gaze to Jaina.

Just then, Jaina was picking up food.

“Hey. Why are you cradling bread with your hands? Can’t you see that?”

“Ah.”

Mikael yelled in disgust as he saw Jaina hugging an armful of bread with her small body.

“There are plates and tongs right there. Look at all the bread crumbs on your clothes. Filthy, really.”

Contrary to Jaina’s expectation that they would part ways at the dining hall, Mikael took a seat in front of her.

Though it didn’t seem to be out of goodwill.