My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 53
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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 53
“I didn’t propose this meeting hoping for your affection, nor the wedding itself—that’s the family’s will, after all.”
“….”
“So if a moment comes when things can still be undone, even late, I hope you’ll tell your dear friend what you truly feel.”
“Are you telling me to call off a wedding that’s less than four days away?”
“Well, I suppose there are plenty of ways to manage it even inside the ceremony hall.”
I reconnected the Teleportation Magic I’d held in abeyance and gave him a casual shrug.
“You won’t know who your partner is until the ring goes on, will you?”
I was hinting at it, hoping he’d make the right choice.
“…the ring’s partner, you say….”
Lucas’s expression shifted strangely at my words.
As the magic pulled him away, swallowing him deeper into the shimmer of light, I smiled and answered.
“Yes. Do as your heart wishes.”
“….”
“Ah, did I mention I have no affection for you at all? The unfortunate truth is, I already have a man I like.”
Having shared secrets neither of us could voice elsewhere, I spoke without hesitation.
Once the ending was written, I’d be ready to move on.
Even as his body faded into the glow of light, his eyes widened noticeably.
“What…?”
“Be careful on your way.”
Why did his expression look like that? His eyes had grown quite wide.
I didn’t wait to hear the rest of what he had to say—I turned back toward the manor with the fading magic.
“I need to write my Resignation Letter.”
There was so much to do.
* * *
The next morning, I submitted the Resignation Letter I’d prepared in advance to the Magic Tower.
Just in case my resignation wasn’t accepted, I also filed a transfer request to the farthest branch from the Capital.
‘No one knows what will happen.’
Who could say?
On the wedding day, if the Crown Prince showed me even a shred of mercy, perhaps I could prevent my family’s destruction.
That was the one thread of hope I’d managed to spin.
But hope was always just a hypothetical, at best.
I finished every preparation I could manage before the ending, imagining the worst-case scenarios in meticulous detail.
First, the moment I arrived at work, I completed the transfer documentation for all research reports assigned to me.
I handed over the new projects to Elline and Carlo, who fortunately shared overlapping areas of expertise with my team.
Once I’d delivered the stack of neatly organized experimental documents to them, their reactions diverged sharply.
“My goodness. You’ve already finished everything you could do after the wedding?”
Elline flipped through the files quickly and hurried into the experiments themselves.
As my upcoming marriage drew near, she’d been doing her best to seem unaffected day after day.
Unlike Elline, who’d exchanged a few pleasantries and turned away, only one person truly saw through me.
Of course—Carlo.
“…You look like someone saying goodbye. The way you are right now.”
“I suppose I’m showing it.”
“Because you’ve been avoiding me.”
“Caught red-handed, it seems.”
I laughed dryly, looking up at him as he blocked my path.
Interest and observation really were proportional, weren’t they.
Perhaps noticing that I’d been deliberately averting my gaze to hide my expression, Carlo pointedly blocked the Research Lab door and then, careful to stay out of sight of the others, gently took hold of my wrist and drew me closer.
“…Why are you doing this?”
“Because this way, you’ll look at my face.”
“What—”
I barely had time to be flustered by the sudden closeness before Carlo trapped my body between his two legs and spoke in measured tones.
“Taking you to an enclosed space would be worse for you than this.”
“Come to think of it, you’re probably right.”
I nodded slowly at words that made an odd sort of sense.
Carlo pushed up the glasses hidden beneath his long hair and let out a soft laugh.
In that moment as his body trembled slightly, a small vibration traveled through me just the same.
I flinched and took a step back, and I felt his hand supporting my back tighten with firmer pressure than before.
At that, I narrowed my eyes a little.
“There are already several people watching here. Is there something you wanted to say to me in private?”
“Elline has already caught on, one person has stepped away, and the last one won’t notice anything—she’s too busy sleeping.”
As it happened, it was early morning.
About two hours before the usual start time.
Ena from the same department had gone to eat, and Denan, worn out from overtime, lay dead asleep with his robe draped over his face.
The only remaining witness, Elline, seemed preoccupied elsewhere, unfortunately.
‘So this is why he can be so bold….’
With the wedding just two days away, no less.
I could only sigh, trapped and immobile in Carlo’s embrace.
It wasn’t that I disliked him like this.
The problem was simply that it was too soon for this.
“Let me go.”
“You wrote a resignation letter.”
“Yes. Since I’m becoming Crown Prince’s Consort anyway, I might as well enjoy the idle life.”
…What was that about.
Obviously a lie.
The truth was, I’d come from Stein last night and carefully siphoned away a considerable portion of my assets to make my escape.
I’d exchanged all my jewels for cash and buried them in a desolate place where no one would find them.
On top of that, for the purpose of money laundering, I’d recently placed a substantial investment in the Magic Workshop of the Brother’s Company.
It was an anonymous investment, but I could withdraw the full amount whenever I wished.
‘Of course, even if I don’t withdraw it, I hold the exclusive operating rights to Magic Workshop Branch Two.’
It was more than enough of a foundation to begin a second life in obscurity, starting fresh.
Today’s resignation letter was merely the finale adorning the end.
Just a performance piece, that’s all.
“Ah. Please don’t try to hold me back as my superior. You have no right to, and we’re not that kind of relationship.”
‘Not yet,’ anyway.
Any major change between us would come only after the wedding—if at all.
Though it wouldn’t matter if it happened during the ceremony itself.
According to plan, the male lead would flee partway through and choose the female lead instead of me.
I cleared my throat and added:
“If you really wish… you could even confess again after the wedding.”
I thought I’d give him at least this much leeway, just in case.
“…I see.”
When I looked up at Carlo’s face, it bore not just a downturned expression but a palpable sense of disappointment.
He clearly hadn’t understood my meaning correctly.
He worked his lips silently for a long time, hesitating, before finally bringing up a different subject.
“…When will you make your Palace Entry?”
“This afternoon.”
“If it’s acceptable, I’d like to see you off.”
“I’m sorry?”
I blinked and asked him to repeat himself.
“You mean… you personally, Carlo?”
“The Crown Prince and I are not simply close friends, after all.”
Yes, and that’s precisely why I had reservations about this.
If I refused now, Carlo seemed determined not to let go of my hand.
How could anyone have the courage to tell his beloved that he’d take her to her fiancé?
‘It’s quite a love.’
Altogether, an unusual man.
I had little time to deliberate.
“All right.”
I noticed my wrist, which had been loosely held all this time, and simply agreed.
“Yes.”
I could have pulled free at any moment.
‘Was I the one who had been holding on?’
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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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