My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 70
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 70
For the time being, I couldn’t return to Stein and had to remain at the Magic Tower.
‘My resignation was rejected long ago.’
The kingdom was conducting a massive extermination operation, searching for Demon Beasts that still hadn’t been fully dealt with.
There were a staggering twelve holes in the Boundary separating the Demon Realm from the Human Realm.
Even if all twelve holes across the Boundary regions were sealed, processing all the resulting incidents would take at least a week or more.
Which meant my confinement to the Magic Tower would stretch on for at least that long.
They said I had to postpone my resignation because the Demon Beast outbreak was so severe. Unwittingly, I found myself beginning my newlywed life locked in the Magic Tower, no less in the Security Division.
‘Sweet, yet bitter.’
Because Carlo and I had become a couple and husband and wife in the same department and team, we found ourselves together all day long.
Yet for several days, we spoke only about work.
After that came overtime, overtime, and more overtime without fail….
There was nothing sweet about being newlyweds—whenever I managed to close my eyes for a moment and descended to the Delphined residence on the 101st floor, I collapsed into bed and lost consciousness immediately.
“Rose. You need to wake up.”
“…Five more minutes.”
“I’ve prepared a simple meal, so come down at your leisure. I’ll be waiting.”
The one thing that differed from my dormitory life was that I could occasionally feel someone’s presence beside me in bed.
Carlo always went to sleep later than I did, yet he always woke early and tended to me with care.
Thanks to his consideration, I maintained a relatively comfortable routine throughout the extended work period.
Whenever I returned in the early hours, he always had warm tea and a hot bath waiting for me.
In the mornings, he kept the bed warm for me, and in the evenings, he often took me to upscale restaurants to treat me to delicious and elegant meals.
‘…It’s not as though he took some special class in how to make someone’s heart race.’
An ideal husband beyond compare.
Over the course of a week, the version of him I’d observed was truly affectionate—romantic to the point of seeming nearly perfect.
So perfect, in fact, that something felt almost suspicious about it.
While I felt grateful toward Carlo, at the same time my heart grew increasingly uncomfortable.
‘This is too one-sided.’
We hadn’t had enough time for serious conversation, so these thoughts naturally arose.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault—the Magic Tower bore the greater blame for not upholding proper protocol.
Carlo and I had confirmed our feelings for each other only a fortnight ago.
To call ourselves a newlywed couple seemed awkward; we were really nothing more than fledgling lovers who happened to be married.
And between husband and wife, at that….
‘Physical intimacy is still just hand-holding, embraces, and barely, barely kissing.’
Crunch.
“…We have a long road ahead.”
I stared emptily at the crumpled, sticky Energy Drink in my hand.
One day, after finally putting out the urgent fires in Security Magic Design, I was catching my breath when Elline, worn down from days of continuous Mana experiments, approached me from behind and wrapped her arms around me.
“Roseeee…”
“Get your head off. My shoulders are heavy enough.”
“Ugh, you’re so cold. Haven’t you seen your friend in ages? A new bride should be warm!”
Elline had changed her nickname for me from “new bride” to “bride.”
A week ago I had married, and then she’d begun serious wedding preparations with Lucas, so everyone’s schedules became impossibly hectic.
‘Well, you were on the 100th floor, not in the laboratory.’
The reason I hadn’t seen Elline in so long was simple.
She’d been handling her Security Division duties alongside her wedding preparations, all from Lucas’s private study on the 100th floor.
Having received the protagonist’s proposal, the heroine too had found happiness blooming, spending these days grinning foolishly from morning to night.
But perhaps her smile was too much.
“You’re a new bride now too. And you—tone down that gentleness. It’s excessive.”
As Elline’s radiant smile had been radiating everywhere for days on end, sure enough, mages throughout the tower had begun shedding tears of heartbreak.
At this rate, it practically qualified as a killer smile.
“Well, there’s a little time before my shift starts. Shall we go on a date and take a walk?”
“Sure.”
Besides, closing time had long since passed, and overtime was confirmed for today as well.
Carlo happened to have an external schedule come up, so he’d left his desk in a hurry.
Today I had to return to Delphined alone for the first time and retire for the night.
For some reason that fact felt unfamiliar and strange, and I found myself considering whether to simply stay awake through the entire night.
I went out to the Mid-Level Garden with Elline and continued our conversation in the breeze.
“How are the wedding preparations with the Crown Prince going? I haven’t had a chance to congratulate you properly with everything that’s been happening.”
You have to understand—I was truly shocked.
With Carlo and Lucas conspiring to suddenly make me actually get married, there was no way I could spare the attention to worry about her situation.
Honestly, just thinking about it made my anger rise so sharply I’d nearly cursed those two men for eternity.
‘At least they came to apologize a few days ago, so I suppose I should be grateful.’
Whether Carlo pressured him using his authority as a master or not, letters bearing the Crown Prince’s name had been arriving in my mailbox fairly often since a few days prior.
‘Though I haven’t actually read them yet.’
I could roughly guess they were Lucas’s letters of apology.
Carlo, whether out of guilt or something else, had been treating me particularly well lately and watching my every expression.
In conclusion, I decided to turn a blind eye to this shocking turn of events.
It just so happened that my marriage partner turned out to be Carlo, and he’s a man I genuinely love.
“If I’ve made you feel neglected, I’m sorry. You’re right that I haven’t been paying you proper attention.”
“No, it’s fine.”
After I offered her a brief apology, Elline laughed brightly and shook her head.
“There hasn’t been anything particularly difficult about the wedding preparations. Honestly, I don’t even know when we’ll be able to hold the ceremony….”
Her trailing answer was too vague for me to fully grasp her meaning.
Elline, holding a warm cup of cocoa in one hand, gazed absently at a distant mountain as the steam rose from the drink.
What was this? Why was she reacting like that?
Startled, I pressed her further.
“Wait. What do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean, you ask?”
“You’re not saying you won’t get married, are you?”
So you have no plans to do it right away?
Mindful of the eyes around us, I lowered my voice and asked her gently.
But her answer came back far more hollow than I had anticipated.
“Right. I won’t. I’m not going to have a wedding.”
“…What? Why?”
Good heavens. Before any epilogue, the basic development was that you two would get married.
Elline clenched her fist as if to drive the point home, her eyes burning with fierce determination.
“Before that, I’ve realized what I want to do.”
Then she declared boldly.
“I’m going to conduct the Demon Realm Exploration that I couldn’t do last time—myself!”
“What the—”
I furrowed my brow at her words.
Seriously. This is no joke.
Demon Realm Exploration was supposed to happen only in the epilogue.
Moreover, the ending was that the problem of Demon Beast outbreaks would be completely resolved only after Elline awakened as a Great Mage.
At least that’s how I understood it.
“This large-scale incident that just occurred—don’t you think it’s strange, Rose?”
But it seemed the variable that would overturn the future had already set itself in motion.
“…What’s strange about it?”
“Every time Demon Beasts have appeared until now, there’s been a consistent pattern to the cause. It’s always been something like a problem with the Defensive Barrier design created by the Magic Tower, but this outbreak had one cause: large holes torn open in multiple locations.”
And moreover, it wasn’t defensive barriers collapsing in sequence—it was ‘simultaneous breaches across the board.’
“The pattern is far too deliberate.”
This time, Elline wore a confident smile across her lips.
“It’s as if someone intentionally unleashed a horde of Demon Beasts upon the Human Realm.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————