My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 35

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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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35

I gazed out at the landscape passing beyond the carriage window, drawing steadily closer to our destination. “I suppose hunger was getting to me. I should ask them to make something delicious once we get there.”
And it was true—evening had long since passed, and night had crept in close enough that the hours felt stretched thin.
My stomach, bloated with various desserts just hours ago, had finally settled. The hollow feeling was returning.
When I mentioned wanting to get home quickly, Carlo’s voice dropped lower.
“Actually, I was thinking we might look for a restaurant nearby.”
I felt a pang of guilt toward Carlo, but dining out was entirely out of the question.
“There are restaurants all around, of course, but my parents would be quite disappointed if they found out.”
It didn’t matter whether we ate out before heading home or skipped the meal altogether.
Mother had already prepared the evening menu based on Carlo’s tastes, which she’d gleaned from last night’s dinner.
I’d chosen to return to the estate hungry so we could dine there instead.
‘…But I already have a fiancé. All this effort is just going to the wrong place.’
I wondered if I’d end up weeping at the wedding ceremony itself.
If Mother were like Father—lucky enough to have met him before any marriage negotiations with the Royal Family had solidified—then perhaps. But with the wedding mere days away, there was nothing I could do to escape it anymore.
‘Even though I know all this, I feel utterly powerless.’
I leaned my head against the window once more, drowning in self-pity.
At my unsteady movement, Carlo reached out again and caught the window frame, but I deliberately didn’t lean on him.
Instead, I rested my head on the wall just beyond the window—in that narrow gap between frame and glass—and began softly thumping it against the hard surface of my own accord.
“…Does that not hurt?”
“It’s fine. It’s not the bumping that bothers me—it’s the fact that I have to go home at all.”
My heart just kept growing heavier.
I’d agreed to share dinner with Carlo at his request, but that was where things between us would end.
After today, in what felt like the blink of an eye, would come the wedding. There would be no aftermath between us, no lingering connection—nothing at all.
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents the truth, and that weight sat heavy in my chest.
“You seem to have a good relationship with Count Stein and his wife,” Carlo said carefully.
“Watching you, it certainly feels that way.”
“Then wouldn’t you say the same holds true for you and your own parents?”
“…I suppose. Though I’ve spent so much time locked away in the Magic Tower.”
“Never mind, then.”
…What was I supposed to say to that?
I lifted my head from where it rested against the wall and straightened up properly in my seat.
His answer had left me feeling somewhat awkward.
I’d heard rumors that Carlo was a nobleman of considerable standing.
But I didn’t know exactly which house he came from, and it struck me that I’d been rather simple-minded in thinking of him merely as a mage favored by the Royal Family.
‘I shouldn’t have asked him that.’
He had such an agreeable personality that I’d simply assumed he’d grown up in a warm, harmonious household.
After a stretch of silence, I stepped down from the Carriage as it pulled up to the estate.
Just as he’d helped me up the steps before, Carlo now extended his shoulder to me and slowly lowered me to the ground.
“From the entrance on, we can manage on our own. It’s late—thank you for your trouble, David.”
“Yes, the night road is very dark, so please keep a firm grip on each other’s hand as you walk!”
David’s face was aglow with contentment as he drove the empty carriage away into the darkness.
Carlo was quiet for a long while, and only when we reached the path that opened onto the Garden did he finally speak to me softly.
“There’s no need to feel so embarrassed.”
“…I’m not embarrassed. I just feel as though I was rude to you.”
“That’s not true. You see, I have been moving between the Royal Family and the Magic Tower since I was young.”
“…Is that so?”
That made sense.
Carlo had always been known at the Magic Tower as someone on the direct Royal Family line.
‘Perhaps he comes from a branch of the Royal Family itself.’
Or else from one of the great houses of loyal retainers.
There was so much mystery shrouding him that speculation had to stop somewhere.
And there was no point in wondering further anyway.
I didn’t think it was necessary to press him for more details, so I simply fell silent and chose not to reply to Carlo any further.

I had a vague understanding that Carlo was Lucas’s childhood friend.
Strictly speaking, as someone soon to marry the heir to the Royal Family, family matters weren’t exactly the right topic for the two of us to discuss.
But the last time I’d asked if he and the Crown Prince were close friends, he’d only said they were similar and dodged the question.
‘So he really was a childhood friend, just as I thought.’
I gazed silently toward the garden in the distance, turning the thought over in my mind.
This was a catastrophe if there ever was one.
The Crown Prince, and his fiancée who didn’t love him at all.
And his childhood friend, who’d ended up spending a night at that very fiancée’s estate.
Even setting aside the fact that this was happening within a novel, the dramatic irony was exactly the kind that would make a story leap off the page—and I found myself shaking my head without thinking.
As I hurried across the garden toward the entrance, the cold wind made my shoulders shiver at the same moment.
Carlo, who’d been walking on the inside, immediately shifted his direction outward and swapped positions with me.
It was the kind of small, thoughtful gesture I’d always appreciated about him.
I cleared my throat and quickly changed the subject.
“It got quite late. Has the Magic Tower reached out about anything?”
“Nothing. It’s my vacation, after all.”
“Still, you said earlier that I should have called you back.”
“At first, I did want to return because I felt like the rest time was being wasted.
Carlo’s words made me pause mid-step.
For a moment, I couldn’t quite tell what exactly he meant by “wasted.”
But he continued right away.
“Until you suggested I stay in Stein.”
“…Ah.”
I blinked slowly.
It hadn’t been my idea, exactly, but somehow my memories had been reshaped, and I couldn’t find the right words to correct him—so I simply nodded quietly.
“…I’m glad the conversation with you lasted so long.”
“I feel the same way.”
If we went back to the lab, we’d likely spend the entire night discussing nothing but work-related matters, research processes, and nothing else.
Our professional direction was well-aligned, and our temperaments matched well.
Because of that, he and I could get along well despite acting like rivals, but at the same time, there was always a lingering sense of incompleteness.
“This kind of genuine conversation is a first for me.”
“You felt the same way, it seems. I’m in complete agreement.”
This time, I didn’t draw a line with him and smiled comfortably.
By the time we reached the estate’s entrance, a faint smile was beginning to curl at the corners of Carlo’s mouth as well.
“Honestly, we’re always so busy exchanging research feedback that we’d never think to take walks outside like this if it weren’t for the vacation.”
“That’s true.”
“We barely walk past the dormitory on the way home, and even that’s questionable.”
“There were many days when even leaving work was difficult.”
“Well, thanks to all that night-long talk, we’ve probably built up more camaraderie in the meantime. You’ll miss me when I resign.”
“Are you thinking of resigning?”
“No. I’m far too fond of money.”
At my carelessly spoken words, I shrugged as if it were nothing.
Until things were perfectly finished, nothing was truly finished.
No matter how relaxed the boundary had become, Carlo was still one of my superiors at work.
He was someone I had affection for, but someone I could become distant from at any time.
I looked down at Carlo’s jacket draped over my shoulders and exhaled quietly.
‘…It’s warm.’
It would be a shame to let this go.
But if I let go of the life in front of me for this, I’d be the real loser.
After a firm resolution, I grasped the door handle.
“You’re just staying for dinner before you leave, right?”
“…Yes, likely.”
“Good.”
Standing at the door facing him, I smiled at him with a faint expression.
“I’ll treat you to the finest meal Stein has to offer.”
I meant every word.
After all, I knew this night would be the end.

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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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