On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 10

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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 10
Cade let out a shallow laugh amid the small cries of the crowd.
“I suppose that’s why you seem more natural now—passing invitations through a child’s hand.”
Even as the Imperial Family spoke of his life, his bearing suggested a readiness to meet any challenge.
The atmosphere of the banquet hall grew thin as ice.
Security guards had formed a circle around the 3rd Princess and Cade, yet no one dared move hastily.
‘There’s nothing to gain for the Imperial Palace by appearing hostile to the Magic Tower.’
The Magic Tower’s wizards were the empire’s powerful emergency force, but the Imperial Palace had never once succeeded in subjugating them.
An Imperial Court that could not suppress the Magic Tower, nor maintain a smooth relationship with it.
That was Gaia’s Imperial Household’s single flaw.
‘The 3rd Princess must have kept sending invitations to Cade for exactly that reason.’
The 3rd Princess looked as though she wanted to slap Cade across the face that very instant, but all she could do was grip her fan so tightly it creaked.
“Today is a joyful occasion, so I shall show mercy—but I will not forget this matter.”
“I am honored.”
Cade didn’t spare a glance at the shattered glass on the floor, but pulled out his pocket watch to check the time.
“Should you ever visit Melgote, do invite me again. Banquets are more enjoyable than I expected.”
With that, he gave a brief bow and turned to leave.
It was only an instant, but their eyes had seemed to meet.
A trail of crimson footprints marked the path where he had walked.
The 3rd Princess’s face, which had radiated a noble and gentle air, flushed crimson with suppressed rage. The color did not fade.
“Resume the music. Remove every trace of blood from this floor! ……Make it spotless.”
The 3rd Princess barely restrained her raised voice as she issued the command.
The sound of instruments filled the greenhouse again, and the servants scrubbed the floor in haste.
People whispered behind their fans.
“I had no idea the 3rd Princess was still sending invitations to the Magic Tower.”
“Was hosting her birthday banquet in Melgote meant to meet the Tower Master?”
“According to the attendants, the Grand Duke of Melgote was so eager to show off this Magic Greenhouse that he graciously offered the venue to the Princess…….”
“One might wish to see a face that’s become the talk of the town for being so arrogant. Especially since it clings to Melgote so brazenly.”
The 3rd Princess had lost all appetite for the banquet and withdrew to the Terrace with her attendants.
Then the crowd grew even more animated, gossiping about the 3rd Princess and the Tower Master.
I stared blankly at the greenhouse, now disheveled as though a storm had passed through.
‘What is Cade trying to do?’
I understood that the Tower Master’s position was lofty, but could he really get away with such behavior even toward a princess?
Come to think of it, even before I knew Cade was the Tower Master, I’d heard many shocking rumors about him.
‘He’d even sent monster beast carcasses to the Imperial Palace as so-called gifts.’
Then why did he do that just now?
I looked at the large crimson handprint on my sleeve. The sensation of Cade’s grip on my arm was vivid.
The way he’d approached via Teleportation as I was falling, then vanished again, had been fluid and natural as water.
So smooth that I couldn’t tell if he’d come to catch me or simply to take the drink.
‘……Of course he was just taking the drink. Why am I like this? Don’t think strange thoughts.’
As I took a drink to shake off the embarrassing thought, the person I’d been looking for appeared of her own accord.
“Vivian. So it really was you? I was wondering who’d come to a banquet so crudely dressed in a civil servant’s uniform.”
“Well, there’s a person who showed up covered in monster beast blood.”
“Ha, the Tower Master really is something.”
Simona took a sip of water, then gestured toward my arm with her eyes.
“But are you alright? You looked frozen earlier.”
“Ah, yes. I was just a bit startled.”
“I knew it, but seeing it today, he’s not just any lunatic. The Grand Duke must be upset too. She opened the Magic Greenhouse for her beloved sister, and the banquet’s gone to pieces.”
The lord of Melgote had become the 2nd Princess a year ago—now the Grand Duke of Melgote.
Since the Magic Tower is in Melgote, there’s no avoiding her, so I’m not sure what Cade is thinking.
“The 2nd Princess—or rather, the Grand Duke. She didn’t attend today’s banquet?”
“From what I heard, she’s been away from the ducal castle because of the monster beasts. She probably won’t move with the Tower Master given how strained things are.”
True enough. The Magic Tower couldn’t possibly protect every coastline of the Northern Continent.
When I worked at the Imperial Palace, I once saw the 2nd Princess from a distance.
She wore a beautiful dress with a pristine, delicate Robe draped over it, emanating an almost mythical presence.
Recalling that mysterious and graceful figure, I whispered softly.
“I thought the Grand Duke would become the new Tower Master.”
“Everyone thought so, didn’t they? They said it was the first time the Imperial Family had produced such a powerful wizard.”
Simona nodded in agreement as if it were obvious.
The Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower had long been locked in a power struggle.
‘If a member of the Imperial Family had become Tower Master, that long conflict might have ended.’
The Imperial Palace wanted to keep the Magic Tower as a vassal and maintain its strength and imperial authority to protect the empire, but the wizards were largely disinterested in palace affairs.
Long ago, magic was unfamiliar and wizards faced rejection; many inside and outside the palace sought to exploit them.
So a great wizard founded the Magic Tower and gathered wizards there to protect them. That was how the Tower began.
The wizards gathered in one place gradually became more insular, and now they devoted themselves solely to researching Magical Power and magic.
‘After the monster beasts multiplied, they had no choice but to venture outside the Tower.’
Now it seemed the Imperial Palace had enacted a law requiring all wizards to register with the Magic Tower, keeping them under surveillance.
The Tower Masters were the ones who could mediate the relationship between the palace and the wizards.
‘If he’s already being called a lunatic, Cade must be very different from his predecessors. If the 2nd Princess had actually become Tower Master, a Department Transfer would have been so much easier…….’
The moment I thought that far, I felt disheartened.
‘No. If that had happened, I wouldn’t have had the chance to obtain the Tower Master’s Seal for a transfer in the first place.’
I checked the time and told Simona why I’d come before it got any later.
“But Simona. Yukel said tomorrow I should report to the Harbor.”
“Huh? I already know. I talked to Yukel earlier, didn’t I?”
“……?”
What was she saying?
I froze like a broken doll, and Simona let out a snort of laughter.
“You didn’t seriously come all the way here just to relay that message? In your civil servant uniform?”
As I stood blinking, trying to comprehend what was happening, a wave of disappointment and irritation gradually washed over me.
‘She’s flexing her territory with something this unproductive? I’m already tired enough……!’
We work together anyway, and if I’m too worn out to do my job properly, it’ll be her problem too. I couldn’t understand why she’d pull something like this.
Unable to hide my displeasure, Simona laughed loudly and threw an arm around my shoulders—an action that clashed with her elegant outfit.
“Shall we go? Nothing more entertaining than the Tower Master’s entrance seems likely to happen.”
Yet even as she said this, she looked regretful, and all the way out of the banquet hall she kept casting eager glances at the gathered guests, hoping something interesting would unfold.
As I pulled her toward the exit, the guard’s expression looked troubled.
There were sticky bloodstains on his shoulders and gloves. Apparently Cade had greeted him with malicious cheer on his way out.
‘Is Cade really……just a madman……?’
I moved forward with a sour feeling when a coachman approached and bowed.
“Are you Inspector Vivian Solling? Your carriage has arrived.”
I started to say there must be some mistake, then closed my mouth. Both the coachman and the carriage he indicated were familiar.
This was certainly the same coachman I’d ridden with at the Magic Tower.
“You called a carriage ahead of time? Typical Imperial Capital schemer.”
“I forgot as well. Please get in the carriage quickly.”
I sent Simona off in a different carriage first, then followed the coachman.
“I never called for a carriage.”
“Yes, I know. Someone else requested it.”
The coachman chuckled and opened the carriage door, and all at once my body was sucked into the dark interior by an invisible force.
“……!”
As the carriage door snapped shut and began to move, a finger-snap sounded and the interior lit up.
Across from me sat Cade, immaculate and bloodless, with his legs crossed.

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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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