My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 77

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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 77

“The crown prince—or rather, Lucas knows nothing about this situation whatsoever.”
“What could you possibly gain by keeping me in the dark?”
I couldn’t fathom it. What was he protecting me from by hiding all this?
A moment’s peace? The calm before the storm?
Or some hollow reassurance that things were still safe?
Carlo should have laid everything bare that night when he wound those strange magical incantations into the Wrist Bracelet he fastened around my wrist.
If he truly wanted to grow closer to me, if he wanted to earn my real trust.
“I can’t do this twice over. How many more times will I have to shatter a bracelet full of intricate spells before you finally tell me what’s really going on?”
“…It’s not time yet.”
“If we wait any longer, it will be too late. I can’t wait.”
“You must wait nonetheless.”
“Why? Why should I have to?”
This time, I was the one who tore my hand from his grip and shouted.
My chest felt so tight I could scarcely breathe.
But I had been naive to think such a display would move him.
“For now, I’m afraid you have no choice but to wait.”
Carlo turned to face me with perfect composure.
Like someone who had something he needed to say.
“Because you’re keeping secrets from me too.”
“What….”
“I’ve been waiting.”
Just moments before, I’d been certain—absolutely certain—that Carlo was the one who owed me honesty.
But then I caught the sudden coldness in his eyes, and my stomach dropped.
“You understand, don’t you?”
“….”
“That I already know.”
The disappointment lay in what he hadn’t said. What he was waiting for me to tell him.
* * *
My mind went blank in an instant.
I wanted to say something—anything—but my jaw had locked shut as though frozen.
‘How….’
I stared at Carlo, blinking stupidly. The air around us seemed to grow colder, pressing down.
Since when did he know?
‘How much? How far back does it go?’
I didn’t know where to begin asking him, and so my lips wouldn’t move.
Then some formless dread crashed over me, and my thoughts spiraled into chaos once more.
It was in that moment.
That dark crimson blood spilled from my mouth instead of words.
“Ugh—”
“…!”
Carlo’s shock was brief. He caught me as I crumpled and steadied me with practiced calm.
Then, seeing me in pain, he moved urgently to cast the Mana Stabilization Incantation.
The moment the temporary measure ended, the Magic Tower’s alarm shrieked to life as though it had been waiting.
Wee-wee-wee-wee!
[Emergency alert. Emergency alert. Demon Invasion Level 3. Demon Invasion Level 3.]
Again. Of course.
‘I’m so sick of this.’
The throbbing headache. The sickening sensation coiling through my body once more.
I was exhausted by it all.
As I dragged myself upright, half-supported by Carlo, he murmured softly.
“You were right. There’s no such thing as a secret that lasts forever.”
“….”
“And keeping your eyes closed won’t make the world ordinary. It certainly won’t.”
I couldn’t tell if he was speaking to me or simply thinking aloud, in resignation.
I looked up at him without a word, and Carlo brushed the disheveled hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear before he spoke.
“There is an Experimental Medicine in Delfinid that can stabilize Mana.”
My rigid lips curved into the faintest of smiles.
“Let’s return to the Mansion, my lady.”
As always, smoothing over the moment with practiced ease.
* * *
I couldn’t remember what state of mind had brought me back to the Magic Tower.
The clearest memory remaining was the Tower’s alarm announcing Stage 3 of the Demon Invasion, followed by my husband’s hurried parting words as he rushed to the research wing.
‘Under normal circumstances, I should have gone with him.’
Unfortunately, my current condition bordered on utter exhaustion—my Mana completely depleted.
Somewhere inside the Royal Palace, I’d coughed up considerable blood, the Demon Invasion had begun, and my internal Mana churned violently in my core.
On top of that, my fragile mental state—threatening to scatter at any moment—was merely a cruel bonus.
“Sigh…”
Each step felt unbearably heavy.
Looking back, Carlo’s parting words—that I should go rest in the Mansion—were the last thing I clearly remembered.
I’d stood motionless for a long while, watching his silhouette recede further and further into the distance.
With each step forward, my thoughts multiplied, and eventually I stopped in the middle of the corridor.
Regret and sorrow that I hadn’t spoken properly with Carlo, the sense of betrayal I felt from him, sharp and jagged emotions—they all tangled together, clouding my vision.
Most tormenting of all was a single phrase Carlo had thrown at me.
That you already knew.
“That I knew all along.”
When had he found out?
And was my understanding of what he meant even correct in the first place?
‘That he knew I was secretly hiding the power of an Archmage.’
My fingers trembled just thinking about it. For the first time, I was afraid of Carlo.
Perhaps we had been unstable from the beginning.
A marriage I’d entered into almost haphazardly had proven to be nothing but a hollow shell, and the time we’d spent in romance after confessing our feelings was painfully brief.
We had yet to offer each other certainty of a future, of happiness, of anything at all—we simply buried everything beneath silence.
Only because the situation at the Magic Tower was deteriorating, or because we were too busy falling in love to postpone serious conversations for later.
As anxiety gnawed away at my heart, cowardly thoughts flickered through my mind.
‘Do I…’
regret everything that happened with Carlo all this time?
Such utterly selfish thoughts, truly.
Yet I couldn’t even convince myself of that.
‘How foolish.’
I pressed my throbbing temples hard with both hands, as if I could squeeze the pain away.
Focus. Self-recrimination wouldn’t help in a moment like this.
It wasn’t as though I’d embarked on this knowing how it would unfold.
There was no point now in regretting that I shouldn’t have married Carlo so easily.
The milk had been spilled, and I had officially become both his lover and his wife.
Then it was time to stop thinking of escape and take on the responsibility that came with that choice.
“For now, let’s go home.”
Life was meant to be walked alone, and loneliness was the natural state—or so they said.
But I had a home where I lived with the man I loved, and in that place was the emergency medicine he’d prepared for me.
The situation at the Magic Tower was already strained because of me; I needed to get to Delfinid quickly, recover my Mana, and return as fast as possible.
And then, piece by piece, I would set right what had gone wrong.
‘Marriage, conversation, secrets.’
First, I would talk with Carlo more.
“Ugh. I think I’m going to be sick.”
After a brief attempt to splash water on my face, I slowly made my way toward the elevator.
As my nausea intensified and my vision began to blur, panic seized me.
I stumbled forward as best I could, but my strength finally gave out, and I had to lean against the nearby wall—only then did genuine regret wash over me.
‘If this was going to happen, I should’ve just swallowed my pride and asked him to drive me to the Mansion entrance.’

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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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