"I'm Jaewon."
"I'M JAEWON."
Staring at his own reflection in the mirror, Jaewon repeated the words like a mantra. The face that stared back at him was alien—no, everything was alien. This wasn't just a different face; it was an entirely different body.
Only one month had passed since his reincarnation, yet he still couldn't shake the overwhelming dissonance. Being killed and reborn in another world was already too much to process, but none of that mattered now. Because at this moment, he was in a situation far worse than his own death.
His gaze traced the unfamiliar features in the mirror. He was handsome—just not in a conventionally masculine way. His face seemed sculpted with a delicate balance of feminine and masculine traits: light green hair framing soft, almost ethereal features, big azure-blue eyes, and thin lips. If not for the subtle sharpness in his jawline, he could easily be mistaken for a woman.
"Why did I have to reincarnate into a body like this?"
He stepped back, letting the small towel around his waist slip slightly as he examined himself fully. His tanned skin was smooth, untouched by the roughness of his past life. His chest lacked muscle, his arms were slender, and his hips and thighs were—
Wider than they should be.
Worst of all, he was small, standing at 1,70 meters, his height didn't help his case
A groan escaped him as he covered his face with his hands.
"This is the worst."
Suddenly, the door to his room swung open, making Jaewon squeak in surprise. Standing in the doorway was a boy slightly shorter than him, with even more delicate, feminine features—large green eyes, short blue hair, and a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, fresh from the bath.
"Still acting like that?" Ostred sighed, shaking his head. He didn't understand what had gotten into his new roommate lately. The guy seemed to be having some kind of identity crisis.
"I already told you to knock before opening the door!" Jaewon snapped, instinctively covering his chest.
"First of all, I also sleep here," Ostred replied, rolling his eyes.
"Second, don't bother hiding—there's nothing there that interests me."
Ignoring his roomate strange behavior, Ostred strode past him and rummaged through the wardrobe for fresh clothes.
Unlike Jaewon, who had only been in this world for three days, Ostred had lived here his entire life. He was accustomed to its reality—one where it wasn't uncommon for men to look androgynous. And the reason for that was simple:
Magic.
Unlike the fantasy worlds Jaewon had read about, magic in this realm wasn't something that had always existed. It was a sudden, cataclysmic change that had reshaped society eons ago. The energy known as mana affected its users differently depending on their gender.
For women, it was a blessing—invigorating their bodies, making them stronger, taller, and even more beautiful. But men weren't so lucky.
It was rare for men to awaken mana at all, and those who did paid a price. Their testosterone levels plummeted, as if magic demanded an exchange: power in return for their masculinity. They gained the same abilities as women but lost the physical traits that once defined them as men.
And that meant losing a lot of things men once took for granted.
'And that also means losing...' Jaewon thought, staring down at his crotch with horrified realization.
"Are you still obsessing over that?" Ostred's voice snapped Jaewon from his spiraling thoughts. His roommate had already dressed and was now lounging on his bed, flipping through a book.
"Of course I am!"
It had been exactly one week since Jaewon awakened as a mage - one week since his body began its rapid transformation. Ostred had been kind enough to explain exactly what changes to expect. The gradual loss of some masculine traits was disturbing enough, but the true horror came when he learned that some male mages could lose their virility entirely.
"Aren't you even slightly worried about losing your manhood?" Jaewon demanded, struggling into his clothes.
Ostred shrugged without looking up from his book. "Mine wasn't big to begin with. Besides, it's not like I was getting chances to use it anyway."
Jaewon gaped at his roommate's casual indifference. With one last mournful glance at his little brother, he finished dressing, bitterly noting how soft his body had become.
"You should be happy to be in the situation you're in right now, Jaewon, most men would kill to have the chance of becoming a protége of a high witch."
"It feels more like being kept as a pet to be experimented with."
"Either is good, she got a roof above your head and food in your plate"
A knock on the door drew their attention. The door swung open again, revealing a beautiful, dark-haired maid with her hair tied up and round glasses perched on her nose. Her pearly-white skin glowed softly, and her towering height of 180 centimeters (or 1.8 meters) made her an imposing figure. Her ample chest strained slightly against her all-black uniform.
As usual, Behtriz had no notion of privacy barging into their rooms whenever she had to make an announcement.
"Jaewon, Matron Selene is wating for you"
***
Jaewon still couldn't shake his awe at how women now towered over him. As he walked beside the maid, her height forced him to tilt his head up just to meet her gaze. She guided him through the Flying ship's grand corridors, her polished heels clicking against the metal floors,
More impressive than the woman beside him was the flying ship they had been traveling in; it was truly a wonder of magic.
He drifted toward the window, pressing a hand against the cool glass. Far below, the land stretched out like a patchwork quilt, distant and dreamlike. The ship itself was a leviathan of enchanted steel and shimmering runes, its size made the ship practically a floating mansion.
Magic here wasn't just a force; it was a spectacle, bending reality in ways that defied logic. Flying ships, towering women—this new world made the impossible seen mundane.
Before he could notice, they arrived at the Matron's Office, as she was instructed. Behtriz led the way and stayed at the door while Jaewon entered to have a conversation with the matron.
The sweet, floral scent of tea enveloped Jaewon as he stepped into the office. There, seated serenely in a high-backed chair, was Matron Selene—her figure draped in a long, black nightgown that clung to her curves, a luxurious black fur shawl resting around her shoulders like a shadow given form.
At first glance, Selene appeared to be a woman in her early thirties, yet she carried the effortless radiance of youth, as if time had graced her without leaving its usual marks. Her wheat-blonde hair cascaded to her shoulders, its golden hues a striking contrast against her piercing pale blue eyes.
Every line of her body seemed carved by an artist's hand—flawless olive skin, the teasing plunge of her gown's V-neckline drawing attention to the generous swell of her bosom, which given their size seemed to have their own gravitational pull.
She exuded the confidence of a mature woman who had mastered her allure, yet there was something undeniably warm in her gaze, a quiet, motherly charm that softened her commanding presence.
"It's been a while, Jaewon. Care to join me for tea?"
Selene took a slow sip from her cup, then gestured for him to sit. He obeyed without hesitation. Though they had spoken a few times before, Jaewon still found her impossible to read—her expressions as inscrutable as the steam curling from her tea.
"Remember when we first met?" A faint smile touched her lips.
Jaewon nodded.
"Just a boy in rags, unconscious on the side of the road, barely clinging to life."
Her words dragged him back to that day—his first waking moments in this world, trapped in a body he didn't recognize, too weak from hunger to even stand. He had been on the brink of death when Selene appeared. But what struck him most wasn't her kindness, nor the mercy of her intervention. It was the look in her eyes. Not pity. Curiosity.
"The only thing you had was this book."
She lifted it from her desk—an unremarkable thing, bound in worn, reddish-brown leather, its cover devoid of any markings. Jaewon had no memory of the boy he'd once been or why he'd carried it. He'd assumed the original owner was just another homeless wretch. But the way Selene's fingers lingered on the cover, the way her gaze sharpened when she spoke of it… There was something more. Something hidden.
"Sometimes destiny works in strange ways—mysterious even to those as old as me." She tilted her head, studying him.
"And yet, it brought you to me. I like to think of that as a sign. That's why I decided to bring you with me in this travel."
"I'm grateful you decided to bring me with you, Matron."
Jaewon bowed his head. If not for this woman, he would have starved to death on the streets—just another nameless corpse forgotten by the world.
"No need to thank me for that."
She waved a dismissive hand, then took another sip of tea. Crossing her legs with practiced grace, she turned toward the window. Sunlight streamed through the glass, catching in her crystalline eyes like shards of ice. For a moment, her expression shifted—thoughtful, distant, as if weighing her next words.
"We'll arrive in the Empire in eighteen hours."
Her voice was calm.
"And as the Empire's laws dictate, there's a limit to how many disciples I can take—just the usual bureaucratic nonsense designed to keep High Witches like me from gaining too much influence."
Selene wasn't merely a matron; she was one of the Empire's High Witches, a position that meant her power far exceeded her elegant appearance.
"That's part of why I'm traveling now—to scout for talented individuals who might become mages. I've already taken Ostred as my final disciple."
As her gaze settled on him again, Jaewon understood her unspoken message: there was no place for him. He was just an orphan who had barely awakened his magic. Once they reached the Empire, he would be exactly what he'd always been—another nameless street rat.
Yet Selene remained his best chance at a decent life in this world. He would gladly serve as her butler or servant if it meant furthering his own plans and growing stronger.
"Matron, I would be willing—"
"That's why I decided to adopt you. In fact, I already have."
Selene's casual tone made Jaewon doubt his own ears—until she handed him the documents. The crisp parchment bore the official seal of the Dracothorn family, irrevocably binding his name to hers.
"I meant to tell you sooner," she continued, "but between your basic training and recovery, the timing never seemed right. You've been my son for a few weeks now."
A playful smirk undermined the gravity of her words. Jaewon's initial shock faded into wary calculation as he searched for the catch in this situation.
"Why?" The single word carried the weight of his suspicion.
"Before your imagination runs wild with assumptions," Selene said, raising a hand, "let me clarify my intentions." She leaned forward, the amusement fading from her eyes.
"No one knows about your adoption—not even my family. We'll keep this between us for now. Announcing I'd taken in an heir would cause... complications. And make you a target."
Selene rose from her seat, the flowing fabric of her robe swaying with the deliberate grace of her movements. As she circled behind Jaewon, the scent of jasmine and something darker—spiced ink, perhaps—lingered in her wake. Her arms slid around his shoulders in an almost motherly gesture.
"I'd like to keep you close and watch you grow," she murmured.
"Like my other disciples. But you... You've a unique talent. So you can consider this a more... personal investment." She paused, her lips curving into a smirk he felt more than saw. "Though I suppose you'll have to call me 'Mom' now?"
Her tone was a labyrinth of amusement and something sharper, as inscrutable as the runes in his book. Jaewon exhaled through his nose and twisted free of her embrace, the heat of her touch lingering like a brand.
"Don't push it," he muttered, snatching the book from the table. The leather binding creaked as he flipped to a random page, the once-indecipherable runes now swimming into clarity.
"So. I assume you've read it all?"
"Yes." She drifted back to her chair, the fur-trimmed hem of her robe whispering against the floor. "And I think you'll find it quite... enlightening, now that you can understand it."
Jaewon studied her for a beat—the too-innocent tilt of her head, the way her nails tapped rhythmically against the armrest. "Then I guess we'll be working together, Matron," he said, emphasizing the title. "I'll choose to believe this is an act of goodwill. For now."
He extended his hand. Being adopted by a High Witch was a bargain, even if the cost remained hidden.
"That's no way to speak to your mother, you rascal." A playful slap sent his hand aside, her giggle echoing in the room. "But we'll work on your manners."