On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 101

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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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Episode 101
“No! Be careful!”
At my scream, Cade, who had been casting something at Aster, finally turned his head.
He reflexively threw up a Protective Barrier against the Magical Beasts diving at him aggressively.
Thanks to it, the beasts were driven toward the 3rd Princess’s head before scattering, but it had been a harrowing moment.
“Ahhhhh!”
The 3rd Princess crumpled, shielding her head from the beaks and claws of the beasts pouring down inches from her face.
Both Their Majesties and the guests jumped to their feet in shock.
“What on earth is happening! How could Magical Beasts……!”
Cade clicked his tongue and checked the 3rd Princess’s condition.
But she was trembling violently, cold sweat pouring down as though struck by tremendous shock.
“S-sir Tower Master. My sister……. My brother…….”
“Your sister? You mean the 2nd Princess?”
The 2nd Princess, who had been observing the situation, startled and cried out.
“Tower Master! Get away from the princess at once!”
She shoved Cade aside and rushed to the 3rd Princess.
Cade seized the opportunity and advanced on Aster.
The moment the 3rd Princess saw the 2nd Princess, she trembled violently and let out anguished sounds.
“S-sister did……! She did something to my brother……!”
“Rubia!”
The 2nd Princess pulled the 3rd Princess into her arms, shielding her face with a hand that had gone deathly pale.
The 3rd Princess screamed intermittently and struggled to escape, but the 2nd Princess only held her tighter.
“Attempted Regicide! Escort His and Her Imperial Majesties to a safe location and seize that woman at once!”
At the 2nd Princess’s cry, all eyes in the Banquet Hall turned to me.
As the guards drew their swords and advanced toward me, the Banquet Hall descended into chaos.
While guests screamed and fled, I felt the blood drain from my entire body at the sudden realization that I had become an attempted regicide suspect.
“That wasn’t me! There’s another Attuner over there——!”
I pointed desperately to where Aster had been standing, but he had already vanished.
‘It looked like Cade went after Aster. What happened?’
My heart sank when I saw translucent chains wound around Cade’s limbs as he stood with an expression of bitter frustration.
A Red Magic Circle that had materialized near his hand was fading away.
What Ben had worried about was coming to pass.
‘Is that the Red Oath?’
“In case of emergency, hide this near where the Tower Master will stand. It should stop one attempt at wrongdoing.”
“……Wrongdoing? It only stops one attempt? What if they try twice?”
“That’s precisely why I’ve come to you, Investigator. I hope no such thing will happen.”
“What could I possibly do?”
“This request may seem absurd, but I beg of you. If things go wrong, tomorrow…… the Tower Master may lose his life.”
“What on earth…… Why are you saying such things to me?”
“I know what kind of relationship the two of you share.”
“That’s……!”
“How much do you know about the Central Barrier Stone Ring?”
“……?”
“Once things are settled, ask Cade about it. For that to be possible, he’ll need to survive intact.”
The wrongdoing Ben spoke of—it was an act where Cade would sacrifice his own life to harm someone.
Even if he survived, his mana would be depleted, he’d said, leaving him in a defenseless state.
In that case, even the Imperial Government’s wizards would be enough to subdue him without needing the 2nd Princess to intervene.
What Ben had entrusted to me was setting up a Restraint Binding in advance—one that would activate if he tried to expend a certain amount of mana at once.
I had to stop him before he could break free of the Restraint Binding.
‘He just committed that “wrongdoing” while restraining Aster. His target wasn’t meant to be Aster, though.’
But I couldn’t even approach Cade.
“Investigator Vivian Solling. Come forward peacefully and kneel!”
A guard who had stepped closer to me swung his sword at the fluttering Magical Beasts.
Startled by the sudden attack, the beasts scattered and dodged, but several fell to the floor, sliced by the blade.
“No! Stop! They didn’t act of their own will!”
I hurriedly sent the small bird-like beasts through the open ceiling of the Banquet Hall and let them escape.
It was different from what I’d planned with Rene, but this way, the beasts were at least set free.
‘Rene. I’m sorry. I promised we’d release them all safely…….’
The guards thought I was trying to attack them using the beasts and closed in rapidly.
“Tris!”
Tris, who had been waiting on the Banquet Hall’s roof, leaped down through the open ceiling.
[Grrrrrowl!]
While Tris held back the guards, I rushed toward Cade.
With the Restraint Binding fully broken, Cade’s cold gaze fixed solely on the 2nd Princess.
His distant expression came not merely from being dragged around by people.
A Red Magic Circle glowed faintly on the Banquet Hall floor—whether laid out in advance or just then, I couldn’t say. It was clear he meant to use the Red Oath magic.
‘No. There’s something I need to ask you about that Ring. We have so much to settle, so much to talk about……!’
I reached out and tried to call Cade’s name.
In that moment, I felt an invisible force seize my ankle.
“Ugh!”
I fell hard and squeezed my eyes shut at the pain in my ankle, then opened them again.
“How dare you, an attempted regicide suspect, try to flee?”
It was the 2nd Princess who had knocked me down. She was casting magic.
Through the white robes’ hem, crystals wound tightly gleamed with weight.
‘She captured a Crystal Whale by using Aster.’
All this time, the Investigators had carefully monitored the attunement guilds’ Attuners, yet Aster had never even crossed our minds. Who would have thought he’d return like this?
As I grabbed my throbbing ankle and tried to stand, the 2nd Princess seized my throat with magic and lifted me into the air.
“Gasp!”
“Don’t vent your frustrations carelessly elsewhere.”
In the next instant, Cade sent forth a sharp bolt of mana that severed the 2nd Princess’s magic holding my throat.
I barely landed on my feet without falling and could only stare in disbelief.
The moment Cade’s mana turned toward the 2nd Princess, the bracelet wound around his arm erupted in tremendous sparks.
“Tower Master. Tower Master! ……Cade! Stop!”
Even though I called out loudly, the enraged Cade would not abandon his resolve.
The Red Magic Circle on the Banquet Hall floor burned more vividly.
“I suspected you’d come prepared with something.”
The 2nd Princess showed no surprise even seeing magic she’d never encountered before.
She seemed only supremely confident, as if she’d brought an abundance of crystals and mana with her.
With those two as the center, whirlwinds seemed to tear through the room, and I had no courage to try to calm the situation.
The bracelet wound around Cade’s arm shattered like it had been struck by lightning, unable to withstand his mana.
The 2nd Princess rose into the air as if that were a signal and drew her mana even higher.
Knowing somehow that I was trying to draw near, Cade immediately threw up a Protective Barrier right in front of me.
And just before the barrier was completely sealed, Tris bounded toward Cade.
“Tris! That’s your beloved master’s mana. Go on and devour all you like.”
[Chirp-chirp! Chirp!]
Tris absorbed some of Cade’s mana and channeled it back to him, but even that wasn’t enough.
Cade was truly wringing out every last drop of his mana, determined to kill the 2nd Princess at any cost.
The 2nd Princess fired lethal bolts of mana at him, powered by crystals and Dark Magic.
Even as she unleashed a large-scale spell, she simultaneously blocked his attacks and struck back.
The mana expenditure was already substantial—blood trickled from her ears and nose.
…….
What unfolded outside the barrier felt like a matter entirely separate from me.
I could see what was happening, yet there was nothing I could do.
In my downturned gaze, two dead Magical Beasts came into view.
‘……I’m sorry.’
I gently stroked the beasts that could never be brought back to life. If I didn’t do at least this much, I felt I would collapse under the weight of helplessness.
[Rumble.]
Then I heard a soft cry from one of the surviving beasts.

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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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