My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 48

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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 48

‘Please, no.’
What was this?
I trembled visibly at a situation anyone would misconstrue, seized by panic.
And then one misunderstanding bred another.
“Are you… cold?”
Carlo applied a gentle Heat Generation Magic to his hands, which had been supporting my head and back.
He could be brisk and businesslike, but his actions now were anything but.
The magic wasn’t enough—he bent his knees, lowering his gaze to meet mine, then slowly closed the distance between us.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, his face grew distinct, and I could see what I needed to see.
This was not a normal distance.
“What are you—”
“Forgive the intrusion.”
Tap.
The hand at the back of my head pressed forward, and our foreheads met directly.
The sudden closeness made me lose my grip on reality, and I blinked vacantly.
The slightest movement would bring his lips to mine, our breath already beginning to mingle.
“You have more than a mild fever. You’re burning up.”
“…”
“You cannot push yourself further. Someone else will need to handle your duties, or I can help you with—”
Carlo pulled away, removing his Glasses, and gave a low laugh.
“For whose sake, exactly?”
His eyes remained fixed on me.
* * *
By the time I realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Carlo didn’t give me a chance to refuse—he simply took my hand and led me to my quarters.
I thought that would be the end of it, a proper goodbye at the door.
“I need to see you fall asleep before I go.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I beg your pardon for the impropriety.”
“No, I—”
His entry into my quarters was swift and decisive.
The man moved like a bulldozer.
No apologies, no courtesy—he gave me no time to process a single emotion before he was already finding every opening, pressing forward relentlessly.
With one gesture came a simple Cleansing Magic; with the next, he had somehow already laid me down on the bed.
‘Ah.’
I lay there quietly, thinking.
My head was spinning so badly I couldn’t tell what was happening anymore. The room just kept turning.
My body was in no condition to properly parse where magic ended and reality began.
As the scene before me began to fragment and stutter in my memory, I stopped trying to think altogether.
“This will be a bit cool.”
“…Ugh.”
Carlo had placed a Wet Cloth on my forehead.
Next, he was using Diagnosis Magic—his hands glowed with shimmering power.
But was his Magical Power always that silver color?
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
‘…It’s red. I must have been seeing things.’
A simple fever, and now I was hallucinating.
Maybe that explained why he’d offered to nurse me back to health.
The one small mercy was that this was not a bedroom in the Stein Mansion, but a Magic Tower residence.
The interiors of mage quarters were nearly identical unless you held the rank of senior elder.
A modest kitchen and living area, a small private study, and a separate bedroom—a reasonable amount of space.
Departments with frequent overtime could request more spacious and comfortable quarters, which made it relatively common to invite colleagues over.
When work was urgent, we’d often gather in the Senior’s quarters for emergency meetings.
But the important thing was, I had never brought anyone here to my quarters except Elynes.
The lodgings themselves are cleaned with Cleansing Magic every morning, so they ought to be pristine enough.
But if the visitor is Carlo, that changes everything.
I fought through the drowsiness pressing in on me, barely managing to ask through the throb in my head.
“…How did you think it was all right to come into my quarters?”
No matter how close two people are, entering someone’s private lodgings without permission is a clear breach of propriety.
And Carlo and I weren’t even the same gender, on top of which we had a professional relationship as senior and junior.
His answer, meanwhile, was spare and direct.
“I’ve seen you in your nightclothes at the Stein Mansion before. Why would it be different here?”
“…That was a house, and besides, this is my workplace.”
Home and work were worlds apart.
If anyone saw me like this, it could easily give rise to misunderstandings.
Unlike my anxious protests, Carlo spoke with perfect calm.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Then he pressed his hand against my forehead once more, beside the bed.
“There will be no misunderstanding. As your senior, I’m simply nursing you out of pure concern.”
“Still…”
But could his feelings toward me truly be that pure?
‘That would never be the case.’
What supervisor would travel all the way to a junior’s private quarters and lavish such care on them purely out of worry?
This had to be self-interest, no matter how anyone looked at it.
While I was quietly smirking to myself, he offered me another, more convincing explanation.
“Because you covered my duties for two days, rumors have begun spreading throughout the Magic Tower.”
“…What rumors?”
“Apparently I’ve become a heartless supervisor who torments junior mages day and night.”
“…I see.”
If that was the rumor, much of the blame was mine.
I nodded quickly, stripping away any room for objection.
The truth was, I’d acted kindly only to ease my own conscience—hardly a proper apology.
After all, Carlo had searched for me so earnestly over those two days.
No doubt his reason for finding me was to ask what I was trying to accomplish, or perhaps to stop me from overextending myself with work.
Besides, the rumors about Carlo and me had mostly formed in a way that pitied me.
A heartless supervisor who torments junior mages day and night.
‘Though some of it is true enough.’
Many descriptions might have attached themselves to him over time, but I doubted his ears had ever caught them directly.
If these rumors were the first he was hearing of, it could well have been quite shocking.
I closed my eyes quietly.
“…I’m sorry. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“Why apologize? Handling my work too must have made your burden so much heavier.”
“Because I rejected your feelings.”
“…”
“I want to make clear—I have no intention of calling off this marriage. If it’s possible, I’d like to…”
No, that wasn’t right.
“…It’s the other party who insists on seeing it through.”
If there was anything I needed to say to him, it was only one thing: a clear and certain refusal wrapped in an apology.
And this would be my final refusal.
‘If I sleep and wake tomorrow… the wedding will be only three days away.’
I gazed slowly up at the ceiling, blinking.
One more day would pass, and then—two days from now—I would enter the Royal Palace to begin Crown Princess training in earnest alongside preparations for the State Wedding Ceremony.
It meant there was precious little time left with Carlo.
‘And…’
I’d reached my limit.
I didn’t fight the weight settling over my eyes and let my lids close gently.
I could still feel Carlo’s hand resting on my forehead, but I had no strength left to push him away.
Truth was, I didn’t even try.
‘…It’s so cool.’
His touch was strangely soothing, and I found myself wishing it would linger.
And stranger still—I could feel Water Magic emanating from him. It had been a truly odd day.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“…”
“…Thank you.”
“That would be enough, wouldn’t it.”
As his eyes closed completely, I caught sight of Carlo’s lips moving softly.
I couldn’t answer him.
Sleep claimed me before I’d even finished hearing his question.
* * *
“To conduct the wedding without incident.”
“….”
“That would be enough, wouldn’t it.”
“….”
“…Even if the other party changed?”
Carlo gazed down at sleeping Roze, his murmur barely audible.
She had said her goodbye to him long ago and now lay deep in slumber.
Neither of them knew they would meet again in half a day’s time, not tomorrow.
Carlo straightened the disheveled strands of her hair and drew a quiet smile.
“See you later, Roze.”

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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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