A transmigrator's morning started early.
Painfully early.
Honestly, I really just wanted to sleep in—just for once.
But that wasn't going to happen today.
Because someone had decided to visit me at the crack of dawn.
Knock, knock.
The sharp sound dragged me out of my half-asleep daze.
I groaned softly, forcing my heavy eyelids open.
"Ugh... What time is it?"
Still blurry-eyed, I glanced toward the door.
And there she was.
Professor Lena.
Her expression was apologetic, but her eyes were filled with their usual concern.
"I'm sorry for coming here so early. Did I wake you?"
Her voice was gentle, almost sheepish.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and shook my head slightly.
"No, it's alright."
It wasn't.
But I wasn't going to tell her that.
She studied me carefully, her eyes scanning my face as if trying to gauge whether I was lying.
Her worry was so genuine that it was almost suffocating.
Honestly, it was a bit burdensome having such a beautiful woman constantly fretting over me.
Like, seriously—she was too pretty to be making that face.
Then, with a small smile, she held out a small bag.
"It's nothing much... I just brought some things that are good for your health."
Before I could react, she began pulling out a variety of health supplements from the bag.
Magic-infused 10-year-old red ginseng extract.
Invigorating alien turtle extract.
And some unlabeled, sketchy-looking energy drink.
I stared at the assortment in her hands.
...What the hell was I looking at?
I didn't even have to taste them to know that my digestive system would probably stage a violent rebellion against me.
Ugh.
Just imagining it made me queasy.
There was no way in hell I wanted to drink this stuff first thing in the morning.
But... the way Lena was looking at me...
Her soft, expectant eyes were practically begging me to accept it.
I could already feel my resolve crumbling.
"I-I'll drink them later," I muttered, offering the lamest excuse I could muster.
Her expression brightened slightly, but she didn't look entirely convinced.
"Just one for now," she pressed gently.
"It's good for your health."
...She wasn't letting this go, was she?
I barely stifled a sigh.
"I can't. I haven't had breakfast yet. I'll drink it after I eat, I promise."
A perfectly reasonable excuse, right?
Flawless.
Foolproof.
Or so I thought.
"Oh, breakfast?" she repeated, tilting her head slightly.
"There's no need to worry about that. You can drink them without eating. In fact, it's actually more effective on an empty stomach."
...More effective?
Yeah, right.
More effective at making me puke, maybe.
I stared at her, wondering if she was actually being serious.
Her gentle, encouraging smile made it very clear that she was.
I exhaled slowly, feeling my soul wither a little.
There was no escape.
She was too damn persistent.
"Fine..."
Resigning myself to my fate, I steeled my nerves and reluctantly grabbed the red ginseng extract.
I popped the cap open and brought it to my lips.
The moment the liquid hit my tongue, I regretted every single life choice that had led me to this point.
Bitter.
So bitter.
It tasted like someone had ground up dirt, tree bark, and despair into a bottle.
I fought the urge to gag and forced myself to swallow it down.
Barely.
I grimaced as the last drop slid down my throat, the taste lingering like a cruel reminder of my suffering.
Lena's eyes sparkled with satisfaction.
She smiled warmly, clasping her hands together.
"See? It's better than you thought, right?"
I stared at her.
No.
Not at all.
If anything, it was worse.
But I somehow managed a weak smile.
"Y-Yeah... totally."
She beamed, clearly pleased.
Meanwhile, I was dying inside.
At that moment, I decided to be way more forward with Professor Lena for my good health.
She watched me suffer with a cruel sense of satisfaction, a small, almost smug smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
And just when I thought she was done, she dropped the bomb.
"I told you I was an academy professor, right?"
I exhaled sharply through my nose, still wincing from the dull ache in my ribs.
"Yeah," I muttered. "You mentioned it."
Her eyes glimmered faintly with a hint of mischief, and she pressed on with an almost casual air.
"Actually, after seeing you yesterday, Rin..." she drawled, her voice deceptively sweet. "I looked up the academy student records... and contacted your family."
I froze.
"...What?"
For a moment, I just stared at her, unsure if I'd heard her correctly.
Contacted my family?
What nonsense was this?
I didn't have a family.
I was an orphan.
Alone.
No family to contact.
But then it clicked.
Ah.
Right.
My head was still spinning from whatever bitter concoction she'd shoved down my throat earlier, clouding my thoughts.
Of course.
She wasn't talking about my family.
She was talking about Rin Evans' family.
This body's family.
"Oh... shit."
I slumped back slightly, running a hand through my hair.
In fantasy novels, there was always this unspoken rule for transmigrators.
A golden guideline to survive:
"Get rid of the original body's family ties beforehand."
Cut them off.
Make sure they were either dead, missing, or conveniently irrelevant.
Clean slate.
No messy baggage.
And yet, here I was—an exception to that rule.
Lucky me.
She must've noticed my expression shift because she gave me a somewhat apologetic look.
"Yes, that's the reaction I expected," she said softly, her voice a little more hesitant. "I'm sorry for acting on my own. I... didn't know you had such a bad relationship with your family."
I blinked.
Bad relationship?
I wasn't even processing what she was saying properly yet, but she seemed to have misinterpreted my frown as bitterness or resentment.
Her voice grew even gentler, as if she were tiptoeing around the topic.
"Your older sister said you pretended not to know her... and hung up on her."
"Wait, what?"
My brow furrowed.
My older sister?
I hung up on her?
Wait minute so woman who called me yesterday was supposed to be my sister?
I stared at her blankly, but the pieces started falling into place.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, a faint memory stirred—fragments from the original setting I had skimmed over.
I recalled reading that Rin Evans' family was still alive in the original story.
Unlike Rin, who died early, his older sister and father made multiple appearances later on.
His father, once a wealthy merchant, became a semi-villain in the early part of the novel, using economic pressure to squeeze the academy after his son's death.
Bitter.
Grieving.
And dangerous.
Meanwhile, his sister—stricken with guilt—spiraled into regret and obsession, eventually turning into a villain herself.
She had mourned the rift between them.
Wished she had reconciled with him sooner.
But by then, it was too late.
And now, because of my ignorance, I had unknowingly burned that bridge even faster.
I let out a slow, shaky breath, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"Great..." I muttered under my breath. "Just great."
Not only had I inherited Rin's life, but I had apparently also inherited his family drama.
And, by the looks of it, I had already made things worse without even realizing it.