My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 36

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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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Episode 36

As if it were ending.
I couldn’t help but marvel at the lavish feast spread across the table before me.
Even at this late hour, the preparations were extraordinary.
“Lord Carlo, wouldn’t you consider staying one more night in Stein? Hehe.”
“Hmm! To commemorate the occasion, I’ve been thinking of raiding my private wine collection—bottles I’ve been saving for years.”
And my parents’ reaction matched right along.
“…You’ve already stayed one night. Please don’t burden our guest like this.”
I’d anticipated something like this to a degree.
But I was struck by how much more deliberate their smiles seemed—a determination I hadn’t quite expected.
The table was already overflowing with various dishes, yet Mother’s requests for additions kept coming.
The main courses alone were generous enough: seafood soup with baguette, veal steak, salad, and roasted squash pie.
“Oh my, we forgot the roasted turkey.”
“Mother.”
“Bring out all the stews we made—every variety!”
“Mother?”
I was genuinely alarmed.
Father, standing beside her, was humming merrily as he ordered the three-hundred-year-old wine brought out—a bottle he’d treasured so carefully.
All of it, entirely for their guest, Lord Carlo.
“Now, you want to know how precious this wine is—”
“Father. You said that wine was something the first head of our house treasured.”
“Yes, indeed! The founder himself of Stein had distilled it personally!”
But he waved it off as though it didn’t matter.
Where was the care he’d once shown, treating it like a family heirloom? Father simply shrugged, unmoved.
“If I recall correctly, there was a note saying he hoped it would be shared with whoever would become head of house in the future.”
“…What?”
“Haha! Only joking, of course.”
It was a rather clever bit of wordplay.
“You really are something, Father.”
I glanced at Lord Carlo’s expression from my seat beside him, watching quietly how he took it all in.
His face was impassive, but his pupils trembled faintly in a way different from usual.
There seemed to be something almost pallid about his complexion too.
While my overjoyed parents turned their attention elsewhere for a moment, I leaned forward and lowered my voice urgently.
“Lord Carlo.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll bring you something for digestion later.”
I wanted to warn him not to overeat, but I wasn’t confident I could prevent it.
As I leaned in and whispered earnestly to him, Lord Carlo simply nodded obediently.
“That should be fine.”
“Really? Even drinking wine nearly three hundred years old?”
I’d heard it was a premium vintage that had aged for some two hundred and seventy years.
“It’s not really that old.”
“…?”
I blinked at his unexpected answer.
Then perhaps those trembling pupils from before were simply because the situation was awkward.
When Father finally brought out what seemed like Stein’s treasured wine and poured it into Lord Carlo’s glass, he showed no sign of distress.
A fleeting emotion crossed his eyes, though whether it was tension or emotion, I couldn’t tell.
Before I could wonder further, Father’s drunken bombshell left me too bewildered to think straight.
“Stay one more night before you go!”
“That is… Miss Roze wouldn’t welcome that, I suspect.”
Cough-cough!
“I—when did I ever—?”
What is he doing, throwing me under the carriage like that.
Before I could finish swallowing my wine, I sputtered in surprise, and Lord Carlo drew out a handkerchief, offering it to me.
No—rather than offering it, he wiped away the wine staining my lips himself, asking as he did.
“Then you’ll stay?”
“Sleep here….”
“….”
“You could sleep here and….”
I exhaled slowly.
A sigh escaped me.
I turned my head away, desperate to refuse, but my neck and cheeks burned far too sharply to ignore it.
My parents’ meaningful glances were impossible to miss.
“…Very well, then.”
Do as you please. I’ve lost.
I finally resigned myself and accepted Carlo’s hand.
I felt him gently wipe the corner of my mouth.
I was nearly moved to tears by his kindness—the handkerchief against my skin was so soft it nearly melted away my composure.
“Please, just give it to me. I can manage myself.”
“I’ve finished.”
“No, it tickles.”
My face flushed as I snatched the handkerchief from him, and my parents beamed with satisfaction from across the table.
The moment we finished eating, they practically shoved Carlo and me toward the door.
“Won’t you take a walk, Roze?”
“Night walks have been so enjoyable lately.”
Though it was hardly night—closer to midnight.
“At this hour? I’m not inclined to go out.”
“…I see.”
“What I mean is, it’s not that Carlo dislikes the idea….”
I’d nearly gotten myself into trouble there.
In any case, a late-night outing was out of the question.
I managed the situation tactfully and declined the proposal.
Then I went upstairs to my room and finished preparing for bed.
Though eventually I did come back downstairs to the hall.
‘Why is the water pitcher empty at a time like this?’
It was the early hours of morning.
Rather than ring for the servants—who were surely asleep—I decided to fetch water myself.
That’s when I encountered him by chance.
There, at the base of the stairs on the first floor, stood Carlo in his coat, ready to go out.
“Oh?”
“…Where are you going?”
“And what are you doing there?”
It was hardly the hour for anyone to be awake. I tilted my head in confusion, and Carlo hesitated before speaking.
“I was thinking of returning to the tower.”
“Pardon?”
Suddenly? At this hour?
I glanced between the pale moonlight streaming through the window and his face.
I was drowsy enough to wonder if I’d misheard him.
But Carlo’s crimson eyes caught the moonlight, glinting with an unusual brilliance.
‘How striking.’
Hugging the water pitcher to my chest, I hesitated for a moment.
I wondered if perhaps my refusal had something to do with his sudden departure.
Soon I asked him quietly.
“Would you like me to see you off?”
“There’s no need.”
“Are you certain?”
“….”
He looked flustered, offering no response. So I pressed further.
“Do you think I refused because I dislike you?”
That wasn’t why I’d declined at all.
I’d simply wanted to avoid my parents in their romantic fervor.
I set the water pitcher down on a nearby table and stood properly before him.
“Please, don’t misunderstand.”
“….”
“Surely you know that’s not like me.”
I just wanted to draw a line between us. In reality, I’m probably the opposite of what he thinks.
‘How could I tell him that he’s on my mind?’
He has no idea how hard I’m working to keep that hidden.
My decision was made long ago.
I passed Carlo and took hold of the front door again.
“Could you spare about ten minutes?”
The truth was, I wanted to stay with him longer.
* * *
Once tonight passed, I knew it would all end as though nothing had happened.
I hadn’t truly loved the crown prince, nor had I really pined for him in secret, yet soon I would have to marry him.
My wedding to Lucas was a crucial development that would thread the world’s story to its conclusion.
‘That’s how the Original Story ends, and only then will I finally be free.’
I’d acquired a variable by becoming real friends with Elline to become a mage, but that was as far as it went.
I didn’t want to accept any more changes that threatened my peaceful life.
In that sense, the more I interacted with Carlo, the more dangerous he became to me.
‘And besides, what’s also dangerous is….’
For instance, this dawn mood.
A walk like this, in this moment, that conjures the illusion of a date for two.

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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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