In the Kingdom of Estain, the mage Siara was diligently researching dimensional transfer magic in her tower, as she did every day.

Today too, after sealing off her magic tower, she continued her research on dimensional magic. Unlike other spells, this one had complex formulas and limited reference materials, making progress seem endless.

Siara slumped to the floor with a thud.

“It’s been 200 years already! How is it possible that I haven’t completed this even after four kings have come and gone?”

Despite being the kingdom’s greatest mage, dimensional transfer remained unfamiliar and challenging.

Two hundred years ago, Jensen, a talented astrologer, had urgently visited her tower with news that the country might cease to exist.

“If an asteroid strikes here, not just this country but everyone will die!”

“When?”

“In 210 years?”

Since Jensen’s star readings were famously accurate, Siara temporarily suspended her ongoing research.

Jensen looked at Siara and made a curious remark.

“But isn’t this good news for you?”

“What?”

“Your parents, family, siblings. They’re all dead. You want to die too, but you’re still alive because of your magical power.”

That was true. Having lived for a thousand years, Siara didn’t age due to the magic within her. She had skin whiter than ordinary women and long, silky black hair. Her appearance was so captivating that anyone who saw her couldn’t help but fall for her.

She never married, so her only blood relation—though distant—was the king of this country, who was the son of her brother’s son’s son… Her nephew’s nephew. Even that blood connection had grown quite thin.

Still, she had briefly stayed at the palace because they shared the same bloodline, but after witnessing those youngsters plotting and killing each other to become king, Siara left the palace and confined herself to her magic tower. They all gossiped about each other and wanted Siara on their side, but she had no desire to be used politically.

Moreover, Owen, the current king, had fallen for Siara and even proposed to her, but despite their diluted blood relation, Owen was still her kin. This situation made their family seem like a complete mess.

‘Should I just use dimensional transfer to leave for another country?’

Owen had threatened to destroy her tower if she didn’t marry him. But Siara didn’t even blink. How dare he speak such nonsense to the person who raised and cared for him?

“I’ve known you since you were in your mother’s womb, you fool! Should I put you on my knee and spank you like when you were little to make you listen?”

“In bed? I’d like that…”

Owen’s face flushed with shyness, clearly imagining something inappropriate. He must have had something wrong with his head.

Jensen laughed like someone watching drama unfold from a safe distance.

“Well, there’s no rule that only those with decent personalities can become king. Sometimes madmen take the throne too… But would you fall ill if you married? Honestly, even if everyone here is your blood relation, it wouldn’t matter.”

“I won’t marry. I’ve named all these children as their godmother and watched them grow up. How could I marry them? They’re like my own children. Besides… this planet itself might disappear in ten years.”

“It may disappear or it may not.”

“You’re so carefree.”

Jensen shrugged. Perhaps from living so long, he seemed to have no attachments to the world.

“If you use dimensional transfer, you could meet someone who isn’t your blood relation. Would you marry then?”

“What? Jensen, why are you so fixated on my marriage? I’ve lived perfectly fine without marrying!”

“The stars show… no, never mind.”

“…?”

Only ten years remained. If she completed the dimensional transfer spell, she could send the asteroid to an uninhabited place. Then the Kingdom of Estain would continue to exist, and her bloodline could live without worry.

“Hmm, but with only ten years left…”

‘Marriage, huh.’

Living eternally meant living with loneliness. She didn’t know how her children would turn out, but she didn’t want to pass on this condition. So she had vowed to live alone forever, despite the loneliness.

Siara looked out the window while sipping her tea.

She didn’t mind dying herself, but she wanted to prevent her bloodline from perishing. To Siara, who had no husband or children, her bloodline was like family she needed to care for. Without them, there would be no one to hold her funeral when she died.

RUMBLE.

The sound of thunder filled the sky. Sensing an imminent downpour, Siara hurried outside to bring in the laundry.

She used to have a maid, but after the woman died of old age, Siara hadn’t hired anyone else and did everything herself.

She climbed the stairs to her room, spread the laundry over the sofa, and dusted off her hands.

“Phew. This should dry now.”

WHOOSH.

The rain poured heavily, accompanied by thunder so loud it hurt her ears. It sounded like an enemy invasion.

As she hurried to close the window, CRACK! The large tree in front of the tower was struck by lightning and instantly shattered to pieces.

“Tsk. That tree was as old as I am…”

When she was very young and confined to the tower for research, a maid who pitied her had brought a small tree. The sapling grew rapidly with Siara’s magic and developed lush foliage.

When the weather was cool, she would spread a cloth under the tree’s shade and enjoy picnics with her maid. Sometimes she read books there. The tree was a thousand years old, just like her.

Siara shook her head, thinking she should focus on completing the dimensional transfer spell. Time was short, and she couldn’t afford delays.

As she channeled magical power through her hands to complete the formula, lightning suddenly struck the tower.

“Ahhh!”

This was the first time lightning had hit the tower. The tower had basic protective barriers, but the lightning had penetrated them.

“Is something wrong with the barrier…?”

If the magic stone had reached the end of its lifespan, it would need replacement.

A third lightning bolt quickly approached Siara through the gap in the broken wall. She opened her eyes wide in surprise. The lightning was clearly visible to her.

‘Was today meant to be my death day?’

She wanted to cast a protection barrier, but her hands were already engaged in the dimensional transfer spell. In a situation where she could do nothing, death seemed inevitable.

Siara decided that rather than dying, she would attempt the incomplete dimensional transfer spell, despite the gamble.

As she chanted the incantation, the dimensional transfer magic activated from her hands and quickly enveloped her.

But at that moment, lightning struck directly above her head.

“Oh no…!”

Everything went dark before Siara’s eyes.

* * *

Nothing but fog was visible in all directions.

‘Why am I here…?’

Siara waved her hand and touched her leg, but her hand passed through it. Since the dimensional transfer formula was incomplete, it seemed her soul had passed through while her body remained behind.

‘Could my body have…!’

It must have taken the full brunt of the lightning.

Siara bit her lip firmly. Rather than despair, she needed to find a way out of this situation.

She walked through the fog, pushing it aside with her hands, but no matter how far she went, no path appeared.

‘Huff… huff.’

It seemed her body had been burned by the lightning, and only her soul had transferred dimensions. Siara sighed as she looked at her faint hands.

Unfortunately, with the incomplete formula, she couldn’t predict where she was or how to return.

Black vortices swirled all around her. They looked like rifts in space.

Rather than floating aimlessly, it seemed better to exit through one of these openings. Without a body, she couldn’t cast the dimensional transfer spell again.

‘This one looks good.’

While other areas churned like storms, one spot remained unusually calm. When Siara’s hand touched it, her soul was sucked into the black vortex.

“Annie, Annie Light!”

A middle-aged man’s voice rang out.

Siara lifted her face from where she had sprawled across the desk. Before her stood a middle-aged man with a protruding belly, glaring at her while holding a switch.

“Annie Light! How dare you take a nap during class with your current grades?”

Laughter erupted from the other students in the classroom. Siara frowned at the middle-aged man.

“Class? I…”

Siara briefly looked around. On the blackboard, a piece of chalk was moving on its own, writing magical formulas. The brats—no, the uniformed students around her were giggling at her.

Siara looked at her hands.

Her famously milk-white hands were nowhere to be seen; instead, she saw tanned brown skin.

‘It seems I’ve entered someone else’s body.’

If so, where had the real owner of this body gone? Most likely, when Siara’s soul entered, the original owner had been pushed out.

Just then, the middle-aged man hit her head with the book he was holding.

“Annie Light! Stand in the hallway right now! And don’t come to my class anymore.”

Siara touched her painful head and briefly glanced at the blackboard. Seeing the very basic formulas, she smirked.

“Whatever.”

The middle-aged man’s face turned red with anger.

Siara casually walked out to the hallway. As she left with a smile, the surrounding children whispered among themselves.

“What’s going on? Why is she acting like that?”