My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 96

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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 96

It was a time of chaos and turmoil.
Elline Rose had awakened her Destruction Ability and nearly triggered a Mana Rampage.
In that tumult, a portal to the Demon Realm had swallowed the sky whole, and Rose Stein vanished from the human realm as though she had never existed at all.
As if, from the very beginning, she had never belonged to this world.
A full year passed before the trembling land—unmoored and reeling—could be steadied, and the wavering disturbances left by her absence set right.
Carlo, as before, governed Delfinia in the king’s stead and kept it safe.
Until Prince Lucas awoke from his long slumber and regained consciousness unharmed.
And then….
“Come now, look at this. Am I not skilled enough?”
Until he had seized his father’s Possession Ability for himself and learned to wield the power entirely in his own hands.
“…You still seem lacking.”
“Oh, come on. Master, you didn’t always look at me that way, did you?”
“I suppose.”
“There you go again, teasing me like that.”
The moment Lucas recovered, he awakened his own Innate Ability as promised.
Soon after, the Wind Magic that Lekio had forcibly seized gradually returned to its rightful owner, accumulating day by day, and the king’s breath grew fainter and fainter.
The body that had clung to life by sheer force of the stolen ability crumbled to ash in an instant, leaving nothing but form.
For all the years he had lived, his end was nothing if not hollow.
“…That’s what karma is, I suppose.”
Carlo murmured, watching the king wither away in the span of a heartbeat.
A death of indescribable loneliness.
In the long years he had lived, this was perhaps the second most grueling parting he had ever witnessed.
Such a death was surely the province of a master of Dark Magic, following in the footsteps of Delpheid, the first king.
On the way back from the late king’s funeral, Lucas stopped in his tracks and gazed up at the sky, lost in thought.
“…What if you had been my father instead, Master?”
“I’ve never had a son like you.”
“Oh, you know what I mean. I’m asking hypothetically, really.”
Well, forget it—
His energy flagging, Lucas resumed walking with a petulant huff.
Though he said nothing, his disappointment hung in the air, and Carlo whispered his reply so softly that only he could hear.
“…Does blood truly have to be mixed?”
Those who matter deserve to be treasured and cherished simply by virtue of their existence.
Lucas understood perfectly, yet sometimes he would ask like this, as if testing the measure of Carlo’s heart.
Every so often, once the ache of his father’s absence had begun to fade.
Or half a year later, and then again.
“Isn’t it remarkable, though?”
Early afternoon in the royal palace of Delfinia.
Amidst the lavishly prepared tea service meant to welcome an honored guest, Lucas propped his chin on the table and spoke with a mischievous smile.
“Just two years ago, I felt certain—desperately certain—that this wretched world would finally crumble and fall apart….”
That day, now distant, felt like an old tale from ages past.
The flow of Mana across the continent gradually stabilized, and another year passed beyond that.
Two years had slipped away since that day when Delfinia had teetered on the brink of collapse.
And in that time, much had changed for Lucas.
“What. Are you dissatisfied with your place as king?”
“Not exactly… I just can’t quite feel it as real, if I’m honest.”
So much has changed, after all.
Lucas replied with a wry smile.
“Doesn’t the same hold true for you, Master?”
“…Within time, all are equal. As much as is lost, so too is something new gained.”
A year ago, Lucas had ascended to the throne of Delfinia in place of his deposed father.
And as was natural, he had undergone a Royal Marriage with his beloved, Elline Rose.
Half a year past that, the two had come to expect a child between them.
Some three or four months remained before a new heir would be born to the royal house.
He had gained the strength to protect someone, had seized the love he had so long desired, and now possessed a cherished family to walk through life beside.
Lucas said he was truly happy.
Everything seemed to flow as smoothly and easily as water downstream.
Except for one person.
“Well, it’s fair, I suppose….”
“Why?”
Lucas answered Carlo’s question at once.
“I’m afraid I can’t entirely agree. It doesn’t seem to apply to my teacher standing before me right now.”
“…So you think I’m old and past my prime.”
“Ahem. Surely I’m now a proper father to a child, am I not?”
The two of them would sit facing each other like this from time to time, exchanging trivial conversation.
And every time they did, Lucas always wore an expression of apology.
Toward his father, who had lived a lifetime of unhappiness, and toward Carlo, his teacher, who had yet to achieve complete happiness.
“…Who’s worried about whom? That’s presumptuous.”
As if his feelings were plain to see without words, Carlo would occasionally ruffle his quiet, bowed disciple’s hair in silence.
And then, as habit dictated, he would tell him:
“I pray with all my heart that your father will be born in the next life as a child without wrinkles, just like you.”
“…Pardon?”
“That’s all you need.”
Carlo smiled faintly as he spoke.
“You just have to live well, as you are.”
As always, with sincerity.
* * *
The worst tyrant in history, who had once nearly brought the human realm to the brink of annihilation.
Even at the satisfying death of such a villain, they had erected a small, modest tomb under the name “Former King,” more for propriety’s sake.
It was at Carlo’s direct order.
“…Rest well, Lekio.”
A tomb as small and unremarkable as his deeds deserved.
Yet as one who had witnessed his entire life unfold, Carlo offered him a quiet farewell.
‘You too will be born again somewhere.’
Carlo placed a single flower before the tomb in silence.
He then returned to the Delpheid Residence and made his way to the bedchamber with familiar steps.
He tidied the bedding that had been shared with someone for a brief time, then slowly turned the calendar on the nightstand to the next page.
“…Autumn already.”
Carlo gazed out the window, as habit dictated.
Three o’clock in the afternoon, when the sunlight burned most fiercely.
At this hour, Rose would sit in the Glass Greenhouse within the Garden, gazing at the sky while she drank her tea.
“Carlo, I always think—I wish this peaceful day could last forever.”
Carlo’s today was not peaceful.
She, who should have been at his side, had vanished somewhere.
He had wandered somewhere in the Garden without knowing it himself, and now, gazing into the distance, he opened his mouth with difficulty.
“When will you return―?”
Perhaps she was lost on the way.
If so, he should go and find her.
He wanted to go to where Rose was, but he could no longer enter the Demon Realm.
The gates of the Demon Realm had closed that day.
Two years ago, the Portal created by the Former King vanished, and with it, the Boundary that had linked the human realm and the Demon Realm disappeared.
So Carlo could only wait here for her to return someday.
He could wait.
For it was the thing he had done best all his life.
Carlo closed his eyes gently beneath the pouring sunlight.
“…I miss you.”
Even if today were not peaceful, he wished only to see tomorrow safely arrive.

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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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