My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 99

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 99

A fortnight ago—or rather, three years ago—eyes I had never seen during our newlywed days gazed toward me, strange and unfamiliar.
Sorrow mixed with joy. And fear, faint as a shattered shard suspended within gladness.
“…Welcome back.”
Carlo grasped me with his hand, yet moved no further than that.
The long, broad fingers interlaced with mine held no force whatsoever.
A warm touch, careful and precious, as if handling something infinitely dear.
His lips curved into the faintest smile, as though the mere sight of my face in his eyes was gift enough.
Carlo welcomed my return in his own quiet way, savoring it in silence.
Suddenly I felt a touch of embarrassment at my earlier self, grieving over three wasted years.
…He could be happy just standing before me, facing me.
How could I mourn lost time before someone who waited for me without complaint or blame?
‘I can’t.’
I managed a stiff smile in return to his downward gaze.
Carlo infused warmth into his hand through Mana, gently caressing my cheek.
He seemed worried I might be cold.
And though he must have spent years searching for me endlessly, he carefully touched my face and said,
“You’ve grown thin these past few days.”
“That can’t be right.”
To me, it had only been days; to him, it had been years.
Besides, I’d spent a fortnight eating the precious delicacies of the Demon Realm without wasting away—I was actually fuller than before.
“If anything, you’re the one who’s grown gaunt in my absence.”
“The water’s still icy in this season—I worry your skin may have suffered.”
“No, I’m fine, but you look worse off than me….”
My clothes had already dried completely, so there was nothing to worry about—truly, what a master of overprotection.
‘As always, he only has eyes for me.’
But do restrain yourself. As I said, I was treated so well in the Demon Realm that I’m perfectly fine.
Once the puppy and the kitten shed their wicked natures and returned to their gentle selves, you wouldn’t believe how lavishly they treated me.
If I ever told this story, everyone would faint.
Only when I frowned quietly did Carlo clear his throat with a soft cough.
“You must be exhausted. Shall we head to the manor?”
“No, not that….”
I shook my head lightly.
Then I immediately set into motion the plan I’d made in my head since a fortnight ago.
“This first.”
With those words, I flung myself at Carlo and wrapped my arms around him tightly.
I hadn’t been able to say it the moment we met.
But I, too, had truly missed him.
“I’m sorry. You waited so long, didn’t you?”
“Not particularly long. Merely three years, after all.”
“Oh… Three years is such a long and precious span of time for us mortals. And even if it weren’t long, it must have been difficult….”
How painful it must have been to wait again, indefinitely, for a beloved who had been longed for so desperately.
“You suffered for it. For waiting.”
As I murmured with my face buried in his chest, I felt at last the careful strength of his arms drawing me close from behind.
Carlo stroked my hair with an unhurried hand, whispering near my ear.
“…In truth, it was difficult.”
I, too, missed you terribly.
Each time warmth touched the crown of my head, joy bubbled up unbidden and laughter spilled from my lips.
Cozy, peaceful, as though I had finally come to where I belonged.
And yet, before I returned here, I remember saying I needed nothing at all.
“Be happy, child chosen by the Demon Realm.”
The Demon God had given me a gift.
‘…Ah.’
It was the memories I had forgotten—all those long-ago days.
Precious memories of past lives spent with the one I loved, unmarred by a single painful recollection.
The precious fragments of memory crowded in my mind stirred a smile with just a moment’s reflection.
All this time, I’d only said I didn’t understand.
‘So this is what that feeling was.’
Now I think I’m beginning to grasp it.
‘That even as the years pass, it’s possible to keep loving….’
The more I turned it over in my mind, the more astonishing and steadfast the promise became.
Was this the feeling that had lived in Carlo’s heart all this time—his devotion to me?
For some reason, my vision blurred.
At the same time, I desperately wanted to tell him this one thing: that he had loved me just the same, no matter what life I lived.
“Carlo.”
I opened my mouth slowly, meeting his gaze.
“Have I ever told you?”
……
“That I love you so much it overwhelms me?”
I don’t know exactly when it began.
But of this one thing I was certain.
“From very, very long ago.”
We had met at the end of a long and distant wait.
“I’m in love with you.”
We are the one and only pair of lovers in this world.
* * *
“I’ve moved the Delphinid Manor from the hundredth floor of the Magic Tower to the nearby territory. I apologize for not mentioning it sooner.”
After I returned, Carlo and I received a Duchy that had been without an owner for ages from the Royal Court.
Lucas had threatened to give us land far larger and more fertile, but we found this more than sufficient.
“In the territory where the manor has been moved, it’s said that long ago a Grand Magician of Water and a Grand Magician of Fire first began their connection.”
This place held precious memories of when Stein and Carlo had their first meeting.
I gripped Carlo’s hand firmly and spoke toward them with a trembling voice.
Not to anyone else, but to my parents.
“And I remember every version of myself across all that time.”
……
“Mother. Father.”
Once I laid bare everything I had known, honestly and completely, I understood we could no longer exist as we had before.
But I didn’t want to hide myself again in secrets we feared to speak, didn’t want to forge another mask.
I had to tell them. To stop the lying.
“In truth, that day I fell from the window, when I was fourteen….”
When I opened eyes that had shut so tightly.
I had lost the Rose Stein they knew, and so at last I offered her parents my sincere apology.
A life lived in another world, eyes opening to this one.
The years I’d staked everything on securing employment to leave their side.
The awakening I’d achieved as a magician had turned out to hold far greater power than I’d expected.
Wanting to live only an ordinary life like everyone else, I’d kept the secret hidden my whole life—yet the danger only grew the more I concealed it.
A secret you create without telling anyone can sometimes become a deception.
To avoid disappointing the other person, one could simply pretend ignorance, hide the truth to the very end—
‘I have to be brave.’
And yet there exist secrets in this world that must eventually be known by someone.
If you hide somewhere out of fear of being hated, the hiding itself becomes habit before long.
Which meant my heart would never grow beyond that place.
At least, I wanted to be different from what I was before.
“I’m sorry.”
So I resolved not to deceive anyone anymore.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————