My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 19

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 19

“…Come to think of it. It’s almost been a full year since Rozé arrived at the Tower.”
“You’re sighing like you’ve been here a decade.”
“Time has a way of shifting how we feel its weight.”
“Sounds like you don’t want me getting heavier, Carlo.”
“If anything, I’m fond of it—that’s the problem.”
“….”
“One day you’ll want to leave this place. I should be ready to let you go gracefully.”
I wonder if I’ll be able to.
“…Because you’re a rare colleague who’s willing to stay late with me?”
“There’s truth in that.”
“I see.”
Carlo and I had grown comfortable with each other through our late-night camaraderie, the bond of those who shared the grind.
On nights when Elline couldn’t fight off sleep and left early, he and I would stay behind in the lab, continuing our work side by side.
So when he knew me this well, there were moments when it was genuinely confusing.
“We’re here.”
“Thanks to you bringing me.”
“It’s always a pity that our time is limited.”
Moments whose meaning I’d once let pass without understanding now hung thick between us.
Carlo was far friendlier to me than any other colleague.
Even Elline, oblivious as she could be, had once hinted to me that the atmosphere between Carlo and me seemed to share certain similarities.
At first I’d thought nothing of it—just that we worked well together, our methods meshing smoothly.
Though he was admittedly a workaholic, notorious for throwing his own team under the carriage, and had a gift for draining people’s spirits with endless report rejections.
And yet I’d gained something from it all the same.
‘My Mana Control has improved lately.’
Night after night spent on Magic Design work in the lab, touching every hair-thin line of mana, I’d gradually developed a knack for it.
That mysterious power—once volatile after the massive tidal catastrophe at the Estate during my mage exams—no longer frightened me.
In a strange twist of misfortune, Carlo had inflicted pain on me in one sense and given me the chance to grow in another.
That didn’t make me grateful to him.
I wanted to quit now.
Though I’d developed a personal curiosity about him before I could.
* * *
“Carlo, may I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“We haven’t met anywhere else before, have we?”
“….”
“Don’t misunderstand—I’m asking genuinely. You know I’m already promised to someone in marriage.”
It was the conclusion I’d reached after turning things over in my mind.
Could we possibly have known each other before?
“Don’t let go of my hand.”
On the outskirts of Stein Territory, in the midst of an expedition.
We were draping the completed Security Design Magic of the Base Camp across the entire ridge like a dome, Carlo and I working in tandem.
And now, after extensive preparation, we stood before the dense Magical Barrier that divided the Demon Realm from the Human Realm.
Hand in hand with him, I spoke with a contemplative expression.
“I think I’ve figured it out.”
“…What is it?”
“The feeling and emotion I have toward you.”
Familiarity.
And with it, an emptiness—a sense that I would miss him if he were no longer beside me.
‘Now I understand.’
I could see clearly now what his kindness toward me had always been—the shape of it, the truth of it.
And I realized.
“It’s friendship.”
I need to keep this hidden.
“…Friendship?”
Before you become a variable in my equation.
There was nothing left for me to do now.
At twenty years old, with the Crown Prince Lucas and barely a month before our wedding.
I had to behave like a proper bride-to-be if I wanted to follow the original ending.
In truth, what I’d said earlier held weight—I really did have a fiancé waiting for me.
Regrettable as it was, I had to learn which things to protect and which to surrender.
‘I made up my mind about this long ago. When I was fourteen.’
I owed Elline an apology, but the engagement with Lucas was something I’d forced through at nineteen, stubbornly insisting to my parents that it happen.
It was the only path I was allowed to take.
In the end, what Elline had done was for her own happiness.
‘And for mine as well.’
Or rather, for my ‘freedom’—which amounted to saying it was for everyone’s sake.
There could be no variables in between.
No loose threads, no man hovering at the edge of my vision, making himself impossible to ignore.
“…Is that what people typically call friendship?”
“There are a few similar names for it.”
Camaraderie, companionship, poignancy, compassion.
Just after completing the magical barrier to shield the Base Camp from Demon Beasts, Carlo and I still held each other’s hands.
But the more I listed words similar to friendship, the tighter my grip on his hand became, for reasons I couldn’t quite explain.
I glanced down, watching our joined hands.
They were trembling slightly.
Still, I had no intention of taking back what I’d said.
One major upheaval in my life was Elline—and that was quite enough.
‘I’m sorry, Carlo.’
There was no room for him to fit in.
What I felt was nothing more than a light emotion, something easy enough to hide.
And within the Magic Tower’s endless chaos, this moment with him would be just another fleeting breeze, passing through in an instant.
I decided to keep Carlo at a distance—a relationship no heavier than that.
“It’s good we came out together on this field assignment. Things are moving along much faster this way.”
That was my conclusion.
Carlo’s eyebrows twitched slightly at my detached response, but only for a moment; then he nodded with his usual composure.
He offered no particular objection.
He simply refused to release the hand he held, gripping it firmly.
“Now that we’ve finished all the security designs, let’s go measure the Mana Resistance beyond the boundary line.”
As the advance team, once our preliminary investigation of the Demon Realm was complete, the Exploration Department would begin their full-scale survey.
So the Security Department’s field work was only one night, two days.
Considering we’d get a full week of compensatory leave afterward, it wasn’t terribly bad.
The real gamble was whether we’d make it back alive and whole from our brief time in the Demon Realm.
I’d volunteered partly because I was prepared to use ‘that’ power if things went south.
Elline wasn’t an Archmage yet.
It was a hundred times better for me—someone who could fend for herself—to throw myself into danger than for an unknowing, future Archmage-to-be to do it.
Carlo and I matched our pace as we approached the Boundary Line between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm.
We overlapped our mana and locked eyes.
Wrapped in waves of familiar violet light, he and I offered one last goodbye to the Human Realm.
“I’m telling you again—absolutely do not let go of this hand.”
“That goes for you too. I have no intention of becoming lost in another dimension.”
I offered him a faint smile.
Suddenly, I was grateful I’d come here with Carlo.
Because today would be our last moments alone together.
“It’s better if you keep your eyes closed.”
Before we crossed the Boundary Line, Carlo gently covered my eyes with one hand.
“…If your presence is revealed, things will become very difficult.”
I gathered he meant we couldn’t afford to be spotted by the Demon Beasts.
My vision faded to darkness, and then came a strange sensation of floating, as though I were being drawn into a vast, hollow space.
The meaning of Carlo’s warning only became clear once we’d crossed over.
Why we couldn’t open our eyes during the crossing, and why having our presence detected would be so dangerous.
“One minute in the Demon Realm is roughly one hour in the Human Realm. We should measure the resistance as quickly as possible and get out of here in the shortest time we can.”
Carlo spoke casually, as though it were nothing, about how staying too long would taint us.
“…Understood.”
So I answered just as casually.
Carlo seemed so adept even in this absurd situation that I suspected he knew something more.
“Your complexion looks quite pale. Did something happen on your way here?”
“Nothing at all.”
I drew my wrist down slowly and shook my head. Nothing too serious had occurred.
Instead, fingerprints remained on my body where something had gripped me with a powerful, vicious grip.
Bruises darkened past red into black, yet somehow they were starkly clear to my eyes.
And then…
‘What was it that thing said?’
“How much longer will you torment us?”
It had spoken in halting human speech.
Asking why I had come back here again.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————