My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 44

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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 44

I found myself surrounded by people I’d hardly befriended, clutching juice and cookies, laughing nervously.
“Thank you so much. I’ll enjoy these.”
I thought that was the end of it and hurried into the lab.
But the barrage of encouragement from the mages in the Tower didn’t stop.
“Roze, here’s some juice for you.”
“This must be tiring, right? I prepared Strawberry Juice.”
“By the way, are you and Carlo perhaps… you know…?”
No. Absolutely not.
Each time, I fled into the corridor and hid myself away in the lab.
In less than half a day, the Strawberry Juice they’d pressed on me and the questions numbered in the dozens.
As it turned out, Carlo bore significant responsibility for it all.
During the week of my absence, in every emergency and regular meeting that took place, he’d systematically excluded me from all Field Work assignments.
Frequent field missions, anything requiring hazardous fieldwork—I was categorically ruled out.
Officially, it was because the Tower couldn’t afford to put such a precious talent in danger again.
And that perfect protective treatment had sparked the opposite effect—Reverse Discrimination.
“It sounds absurd when you say it out loud. Who here has a life they wouldn’t miss?”
“Basically, a superior about to lose a junior took protective measures. And did it openly, tenderly.”
The mages in the Tower saw this and, for the first week, went from bewildered to utterly moved.
The work environment had been so barren that Carlo’s affection for his junior felt rare, like a precious romance.
The important part, thinking deeper, was that I seemed increasingly pitiful to them.
“He must like her quite a bit.”
“Isn’t she like a madman’s beloved toy?”
“No, that’s more like slavery….”
The Strawberry Juice my colleagues gave me was ultimately their pity and sympathy wrapped in a gift.
In the end, I was relieved not to be caught up in some bizarre rumor, but the feeling was strange.
“I think I’m developing a Strawberry Juice neurosis.”
“Hang in there, Roze.”
“Those words just make my stomach churn now.”
In just days, I’d aged from the mental labor alone.
‘It’s like, how do I put this.’
Like I’d exceeded my yearly Strawberry Juice quota in a single week.
And because of Carlo’s efforts to exclude me from all Field Work, I’d been grinding away indoors like a machine for the second day.
Someone called this Reverse Discrimination.
In reality, it was buildup for something far worse.
“Elline, I think you were right.”
“Huh?”
“Carlo isn’t human….”
One didn’t casually say that infinite Magical Experiments were better than exploring the Demon Realm.
“The Demon Realm… I’d rather do Field Work….”
“Oh, Roze….”
Get a grip on yourself.
As I lay on the lab table in the middle of the night, muttering, Elline shook her head at me.
“Field Work wouldn’t have been approved anyway. You’re a busy woman these days.”
After finishing her own work, she’d wait for me and check the schedule, saying things like:
“If you work late tonight, you leave early tomorrow afternoon, right?”
“Right. I have an appointment tomorrow.”
“…With Lucas, wasn’t it?”
“You know the details, don’t you.”
As the wedding drew near, Elline had me spend the past few days writing reports in a timely manner.
The Magical Experiments were all low-risk, just assessments of the durability of the completed Barrier Design.
So I sometimes got confused.
Whether this was Carlo’s consideration as rumored, or whether someone higher up had specifically ordered it this way.
‘If I keep working without rest until tomorrow morning, I can finish most of the remaining tasks.’
That way, I could make my next appointment with Lucas.
After returning, strangely enough, my routine days continued without interruption.
At some point, I found myself staring quietly at the Strawberry Juice sitting in the corner of my desk.
‘…My labor compensation.’
And the price of a rumor.
Thanks to the week that Carlo had orchestrated, the Magic Tower had developed a culture of pressing a Strawberry Juice into my hand whenever they saw me.
One day I called him out on it, demanding to know what he intended, but his answer was simple.
“Is there any particular need to set the record straight?”
“What do you…”
“It’s not even a false rumor.”
Just thinking about it sent tremors through my entire body, enough to make me leap to my feet with renewed energy.
“This won’t do. I need to work.”
“Hm?”
I pushed myself up from the table as though wrestling with invisible chains, grabbing the remaining documents from the desk.
‘Just you wait.’
No matter what happened, I was leaving on time tomorrow.
* * *
The next morning.
By the time I’d finished my duties and left the office, Carlo was already gone.
Elline must have noticed me glancing at his empty seat, for she told me he’d clocked out.
“Carlo doesn’t seem to be feeling well. He’s taking a little rest and will be back in the evening, apparently.”
“…I wasn’t asking out of concern.”
“I know, I know—you couldn’t care less. Now that you’re ready, why don’t you head out, Roze?”
Elline waved her hand cheerfully, as though things had worked out perfectly.
Today was the day I’d arranged to meet Lucas.
Just as she had before, she’d braided my hair herself and chosen my outfit, and though her eyes held a sadness, she’d supported me wholeheartedly.
Like someone who truly wished for my marriage to him now.
From the moment I left the Magic Tower until I boarded the carriage heading to the Capital, Elline saw me off.
“Have a good time.”
“…Thank you.”
I never did say, I’m sorry.
To see through the selfishness I’d started, I had to remain shameless from beginning to end.
There was no turning back halfway.
I’d done far too much damage already.
Even now, within the Magic Tower itself, I’d been branded as having an ambiguous relationship with Carlo, one rife with misunderstanding.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
Suppressing one rumor required creating another.
The place where I’d arranged to meet Lucas was in front of the Capital’s finest jewelry shop, not far from the Magic Tower.
Screech.
As the carriage door opened upon arrival, Lucas was standing there, surprisingly.
‘…He came early.’
It was somehow disappointing that he’d managed to arrive on time, contrary to my expectations.
I’d been hoping he’d be late so I could browse the dowry display alone for a while.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
“You’ve been waiting out here long?”
“…It’s been a while.”
“The weather’s still quite warm—my apologies.”
In the merciless sunlight, his golden hair was damp with perspiration.
Rather than taking his offered hand as I stepped down from the carriage, I pulled a Handkerchief from my bag and pressed it into his palm.
I’d never expected the male lead to escort me, so I didn’t want to be close to him.
His blue eyes widened slightly as he looked at me.
Oh. Had I hurt his feelings by rejecting him?
As he stared at the Handkerchief I’d given him, I realized my mistake and asked,
“Did I keep you waiting long?”
“…That’s not the case.”
“You looked quite warm.”
“It’s the heat of the day. I only just arrived, and the sun is indeed intense this afternoon.”
Lucas hesitated, then quickly denied my words.
It was a lie.
Among Fire Magic users, he had an especially strong constitution against heat.
‘Is he playing the sincere romantic today?’
He must have been threatened by Carlo to go to Elline first and wait for her there.
But in any case, today I’d arranged to meet him so I could make use of him.
‘I suppose I should treat him decently.’
Feeling a bit awkward about it, I unfolded the Parasol I’d brought along just in case, spreading it open before me.
I could have wandered the streets and ducked into whatever café caught my eye.
But today’s destination was his choice.
I’d been the one to suggest a second meeting, yet it was he who’d decided the time and place and notified me of them.
Noon sharp, at the Fiancier Jewelry Shop in the Capital of Lepachel.
“Forgive me, but why did you ask to meet in front of a jewelry shop?”
It’s expensive here.

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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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