1: (Before Disaster Strikes) It All Begins at the Monthly Dinner Party

“You are a disgrace to House Robur! As if it weren’t enough that you’re barely scraping by at school, you can’t even wield magic properly! Do you know how many times I’ve wished you had never been born?”

My mother, Luciana, slammed her knife and fork against the table with a bang, unleashing her fury. She was my mother in this life, at least. Her features were sharp, but beautiful nonetheless. Her violet eyes and black hair reminded me of the world of my previous life. As I watched her, I was struck by the thought that the expression of fury she wore was such a waste of her beauty.

I swallowed a perfectly cut bite of steak, maintaining my ladylike smile. The rich aroma of meat and spices filled my senses, and I let out a sigh of bliss. Perfection. The steak was cooked just right: Today’s chef must have been the one who liked me.

“Mother, we are in the middle of dinner,” scolded my brother, Mihail, who sat to my left, across from our mother. Then he turned to me and muttered, “That said, it is true that you neglect your studies and rank among the lowest in your class. You bring shame not just to yourself and your family, but to your fiancé. A low capacity for magical energy may be forgivable, but willful ignorance is not. That someone so devoid of shame is my sister is a burden I find most regrettable.”

Mihail’s rebuke wasn’t loud; it remained within the bounds of etiquette. His voice, though cold, was smooth and pleasant—so much so that I hardly paid attention to his words.

He had inherited our father’s golden hair and our mother’s eyes, and his face was the type that would have fit right into an otome game from my previous life. He was the archetypal cool, aloof, almond-eyed love interest. He was nearly nineteen, two years my senior, and was set to graduate next spring from the Royal Academy, a prestigious four-year institution attended by nobles and families from the highest tax brackets.

For commoners, there existed another academy where children could enroll from the age of ten. There, they learned not only basic literacy but also technical skills. They were something like the vocational schools I knew so well from