My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 27

That said, nothing had actually happened.
Carlo and I turned back from the Pond and hurried toward the Mansion.
The same distance it had taken us thirty minutes to walk to the Annex.
Hours later, deep into the night, the conversation continued in its usual vein—only the location had changed.
“Are you close with the Crown Prince?”
Like childhood friends, perhaps.
When I asked, Carlo answered.
“Something like that.”
“That’s vague.”
Either you were close to Lucas or you weren’t—”something like that” was no answer at all.
Once again, I’d failed to pin down his true identity.
In “The Mage’s Romance,” Lucas definitely had a close friend—one whose name I was certain began with the character for ‘kar.’
I remembered reading that he worked in the Special Management Division and was introduced as a talented Fire Mage.
Seven years had passed since I’d first read it, and now my brain balked at dragging through memories so old and hazy.
Carlo.
Carlo’s true nature remained a mystery.
‘What could possibly make him so knowledgeable about the Demon Realm and so quick to respond?’
He hadn’t answered that directly, but he’d said he took a deep interest in the history of the Delpinian Kingdom.
That was the reason, he claimed, for his knowledge of the Demon Realm.
With Carlo’s detailed explanation, I’d grasped this part readily enough.
On the walk back to the Mansion, he’d reeled off the past of the Magician’s Continent as though reciting from a book.
The Primordial Mages, especially.
What had caught my attention was the tale of four mages who spanned both the Demon Realm and the Human Realm.
“There is a legend that Primordial Magic arose when humans made a contract with a god of the Demon Realm,” he explained.
“A god of the Demon Realm? A Demon Deity?”
“Yes. Four beings called the Primordial Mages each entered into contracts with Demon Deities governing four separate regions, and thereby the Attributes of water, fire, wind, and earth were brought into being.”
“Wow—four Demon Deities.”
I didn’t accept legends uncritically, but it struck me as odd that something so implausible could be transmitted unchanged for hundreds of years.
‘Come to think of it, it’s infuriating. If there were four Demon Deities, where did they all go? Why do they keep letting Demon Beasts encroach on the Human Realm?’
Perhaps my displeasure showed in my silence, because Carlo spoke as though defending the Demon Deities.
“The gods of the Demon Realm vanished at some point, leaving only humans who became Mages. That is how this situation has arisen.”
In other words, the Demon Deities and humans no longer maintained contact.
Moreover, this story was merely a legend passed down from ancient times. In the present age, many humans didn’t even know that Demon Deities existed.
As a result, the Demon Realm had no choice but to become an increasingly corrupted land.
“If the exchange between the two realms truly was cut off at some point, might there have been an era when Demon Beasts and humans coexisted peacefully?”
“I couldn’t say. Humans are remarkably fond of drawing lines of division.”
There was something in the way he said it that sounded almost like an accusation against humans.
As Carlo and I walked side by side along that path, I found myself stealing glances at his profile.
In the end, I’d learned nothing new.
‘Just that he takes a keen interest in history.’
But that hardly explained everything that had transpired between us.
Reluctantly, I decided I had to retreat for now.
“The reason Demon Beasts continue to invade the Human Realm is not so complicated. In fact, it is quite straightforward.”
Carlo spoke quietly.
“Power is best kept in check by power.”
Unfortunately, in the Human Realm, the Archmages had not yet awakened, leaving two positions vacant for centuries.
‘Water and earth,’ I thought.
The latter would be filled by Elline eventually, but the former…
I could not accept his words so easily.
Peace in the Human Realm.
An unshakeable shield.
It seemed far more certain to fill the Archmage positions swiftly than to venture into the Demon Realm and reorganize the Demon Beast ecosystem.
He murmured something into the night sky.

“It must be that water’s attribute is the most important, after all….”
I flinched at my own mutter.
‘…why am I breaking into a cold sweat.’
Thank heavens the room was dark.
I had no particular talent for deception.
* * *
My parents were overjoyed simply at the fact that Carlo had spent a night in the guest room.
It wasn’t that they welcomed the visitor himself.
They were simply delighted that I’d brought a man home.
“It’s absurd, really.”
The whole situation of him masquerading as “my guest” left me speechless.
Carlo had only boarded the Steinberg carriage because my parents had pressed him so earnestly to do so.
I hadn’t brought him here of my own volition.
“…forget it.”
I pulled the blanket up over my head and squeezed my eyes shut.
All I wanted was to fall fast asleep.
But I’d been tossing and turning for an hour now.
Even after enjoying home cooking and a walk, even buried in these soft quilts, sleep refused to come tonight—not like this.
My mind was too tangled.
Too many incidents and questions had piled up in a single day.
Some man I’d never cared about before—and now for days straight, he’s been gnawing at my thoughts.
And then there were Mother and Father, watching us both with such hopeful eyes, complicating my feelings further.
‘This won’t do.’
I opened my eyes wide, suddenly alert.
Then I grabbed my pillow and climbed the stairs leading to the upper floor.
I needed to set the record straight.
Knock knock.
“Mother, Father―”
They must still believe I was sacrificing myself for the family’s sake.
“I’m coming in.”
Click.
Even without waiting for a reply, the moment I opened the door, I found them awake, exactly as I’d expected.
On a small table sat a pot of fragrant tea, still steeping.
“You’ve come, dear?”
“Perfect timing—let’s have some tea together.”
As if they’d known all along that I would come.
I pulled over the chair from the vanity and settled naturally before the tea table.
Soon I joined their evening ritual.
“Did you know I was coming?”
“Of course, more or less.”
Mother smiled gently.
“Our daughter always comes to us first whenever something troubles her—never after midnight.”
If they’d been asleep, I would’ve gone to the Library second, and to the Private Study third, she said.
Mother rattled off my wandering routine as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Was I really so transparent?
Having nothing to say, I kept sipping the fragrant tea, my lips barely leaving the rim of the cup.
Father, ever attentive, refilled my cup whenever it grew low.
“Chamomile tea is excellent for sleeplessness. Blow on it first, then drink it slowly once it’s cooled.”
“Tea tastes awful once it’s cold though.”
“Hush now. Don’t you remember last time, when you burned your tongue and had tears streaming down your face?”
“I suppose so.”
With Mother and Father on either side of me, I dredged up the faint memory.
I did remember. I’d been fifteen then.
Exactly six years ago.
Now I was a grown woman with a job, yet their nagging remained just the same.
As we cleared the table and prepared for bed, the three of us shared a warm, gentle conversation.
“I suppose Father will be robbed of Mother again tonight.”
“I’ll just steal the blankets instead. Will that do?”
“You, really. With that fine gentleman staying in the guest room, what will he think if you carry on being so childish?”
“He’ll probably think I hate sleeping alone.”
Carlo would never judge a person based on a single facet of who they were.
He wouldn’t let his feelings get hurt over it, either.
‘That’s precisely why I liked him.’
We had seen each other over time, and that much I could say with certainty.
I set down the pillow I’d been holding and lay back comfortably in the center of the bed.
It had been a long time. Suddenly I thought that now, finally, I might sleep well.
Come to think of it, there was a time in childhood when I couldn’t sleep or suffered nightmares—on mornings like this, dim and early, I’d find myself seeking out my parents.
I craved the warmth of another person’s body, hiding in my small frame, monopolizing their attention. I’d thought that habit had long since faded.
‘I haven’t changed, have I.’
I was still myself.
That realization brought a strange relief.
I was still their daughter.

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