Part 2Sleight of Heart

In my previous life, I was a professional escape artist. I died inside a padlocked water tank under blinding stage lights because of a mechanical failure and a crew member's split-second blunder.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in this world.

Even though I’d been saddled with a mission to pursue the second male lead and secure a happily-ever-after, getting a second shot at life—and getting to perform magic again—was more than enough for me.

The next few days of pursuing Parker were actually quite fun.

The System’s playbook was simple: bring him breakfast every day and shower him with constant, attentive care.

I followed the instructions to the letter.

"Parker, I brought you breakfast."

I sat in the desk right in front of him and placed a single, perfectly smooth hard-boiled egg on his wooden desk.

Parker stared down at the egg. Clearly, his bruised ego from the other day was still smarting. He let out a cold, defensive sneer:

"You bring someone breakfast and it’s a plain, unpeeled egg? Who am I, a shelter case?"

"What do you usually like to eat?" I asked plainly.

Parker threw out the first absurd thing that came to mind: "A New York bagel. Toasted, extra scallion cream cheese."

I swept my right hand lightly over the egg. In a blink, a warm, fragrant sesame bagel materialized directly beside it.

Parker’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"I—I meant an iced latte!" he blurted out.

Another pass of my palm. The bagel vanished, replaced instantly by a sweating plastic cup of iced latte with a straw.

"Holy shit... I meant a warm blueberry muffin! Fresh from the bakery!"

This time, I didn't wave my hand.

Seeing that I’d finally hit a wall, Parker leaned back in his chair with a smug, self-satisfied smirk.

"What's the matter? Can't pull that off with your little street magic tricks?"

I nodded honestly.

"If you really want a warm muffin, Parker, I can run down to the bakery on the corner and buy one for you right now."

The smirk vanished from his face instantly.

He sat up straight, his gaze darting away in flustered embarrassment.

"Bring the bagel back."

With a flick of my wrist, the sesame bagel rested neatly on his desk once more.

"This is plenty. Who told you to go running around buying stuff? You’re annoying."

I looked at the bright red creeping up his ears and smiled.

Host, didn't you actually have an emergency muffin in your backpack?

I answered in my mind:

The soul of magic is to deliver surprise and delight, not to humiliate someone in a battle of petty pride.