On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 21

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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 21
Cade shook his head as the thought reached him.
No—Vivian Solling would not run away regardless.
She hadn’t even returned to the Magic Tower where her ex-boyfriend, the one who’d cast her aside, resided.
Though she appeared at first glance to lack any plan, Vivian was the type to always observe the situation, find a solution, and then act.
Cade had often been surprised by the decisiveness that would suddenly burst forth from what seemed like quiet contemplation.
When she made up her mind about something, she charged forward without hesitation—the audacity was remarkable.
‘Though I did like that about her.’
If it were Vivian, she’d find a way no matter what—even if he barred the entrance to the Magic Tower—and appear with her official documents in hand.
Hadn’t she appeared suddenly before the raging deer Magical Beast just today?
Even now, the thought made his head spin.
‘Vivian has no idea how close to death she came.’
When the excited deer Magical Beast had reared up on its hind legs that day, Cade had been resolved to kill it.
He could have disposed of such a beast with a single movement of his hand—cleanly, swiftly, utterly.
Magic that would cause instant death without excessive bloodshed, without having to watch the beast suffer.
His senses had pinpointed just such a spell in an instant.
As his fingertips gathered magical force and the spell ignited with a crackling spark, Vivian had thrown herself into its path.
While she gathered the magic as if drawing in falling rain, his heart had plummeted to the depths.
It had been a dangerously narrow situation—he could have killed her.
‘No matter what wrongs I’ve done to her, would my own hands killing her not be excessive punishment?’
Bleeding from her nose, she’d blocked the rampaging beast’s path without hesitation.
‘She said she’d calculated everything, that it wasn’t reckless—but no. She didn’t factor in the possibility that my hands could kill her.’
The more he pressed the matter, the more her face flushed red and her hands trembled, but he couldn’t stop.
‘Her appearance was different, but it was definitely that woman who’d left with Vivian at the Third Princess’s reception.’
It had started when the researcher had looked at them suspiciously as he handed her a handkerchief for the nosebleed.
‘If it looks like Vivian keeps having contact with me, it would certainly seem suspicious.’
It would have been better to have no points of contact, but since Vivian was a civil servant dispatched to obtain the Tower Master’s seal, that was unavoidable.
So the only method left was to act as if they were strangers, as Vivian had suggested—
Somehow, it seemed he’d become more distant than even what Vivian had wanted.
Perhaps this was the opportunity to become truly separate from Vivian.
‘That would be far safer.’
As his thoughts reached that point, Cade’s expression hardened.
He’d just realized that, without knowing it himself, he’d been quite pleased by the reunion with Vivian.
‘We’ve already parted ways. Why am I being sentimental now?’
It was an emotion that mattered to no one and could not be revealed to anyone.
Knock, knock.
“Tower Master. It’s Ben.”
Cade, roused from his thoughts by the sound from beyond the door, received his aide.
“I thought you said there was nothing more to report today.”
“Yes, sir. But something urgent has come up that I needed to inform you of—”
Ben unfolded a sea chart and explained the situation in full.
Cade, who had listened in silence, drew the short sword planted on his desk and smiled as if struck by an amusing coincidence.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes, sir. It’s to happen tomorrow. Should we make a preemptive move on our end?”
“No. Let them come. This should be interesting. Let’s give them a good show.”
“Understood, sir.”
Ben felt a chill run down his spine at the Tower Master’s satisfied smile and left the study.
Cade jabbed the short sword point down on a specific location on the sea chart.
It was an important place where much would unfold tomorrow.
***
‘Something feels off.’
After finishing my morning preparations, I cocked my head and smoothed down my hair.
Aster and Rana, along with the innkeeper and the guards who’d come upstairs late after hearing my scream—
There’d been so many people who’d suddenly come to my room yesterday that perhaps I’d dreamed someone was here last night.
For a dream, the warm touch tucking the blanket around me and the gentle voice telling me to sleep well felt far too vivid—but it had to be a dream.
Because there was no one left in my life who would come to me while I slept and cover me with blankets.
‘Strangely, it sounded like Cade’s voice—’
If that were true, then it could be nothing but a dream. I felt indignant and wronged at dreaming of the time when I was still dating him.
The man now looked at me as if I were less than a stranger, so why would I dream such things?
‘This is all because Cade sent that strange letter yesterday.’
I grumbled resentfully, blaming Cade for no good reason.
At any rate, with morning came a considerable lightening of yesterday’s melancholy.
Perhaps it was because discovering that Aster was far more cunning and malicious than he appeared had eased my sense of debt to him.
Or perhaps it was the rest I’d managed to get, however restlessly, that had worn away some of the exhaustion.
Of course, that alone would not banish all of it.
“Excuse me. Let me through.”
“This is external documentation. You can’t just bring it directly here.”
“Please take a look at this. There’s been a change in the abnormal climate we reported last time—”
The moment I arrived at the observation station, I was swept up in a whirlwind of activity, and exhaustion began accumulating anew.
As I hurried between the research lab, the records room, and the office, Simona appeared beside me at some point.
Though she was surely as busy as anyone else, I couldn’t understand what she was doing here—she kept looking me over with a strange expression.
Eventually, my senior followed me all the way to my desk in the office and watched intently as I compiled materials on “Magical Beast Vocalizations in Response to Abnormal Climate.”
At first, since she seemed to be the type who enjoyed wandering about and striking up conversations, I’d tried making casual small talk with her a few times—but it now seemed clear that wasn’t her purpose.
She was observing me closely, as if some sort of investigation were underway.
‘Is it really an investigation? But why is she following only me?’
Uneasy about this suspicion I couldn’t dismiss, I finally set down my papers and asked carefully.
“Senior Simona, what’s going on?”
“Hmm. My suspicion wasn’t wrong. You really are strange.”
Simona murmured to herself, then suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Yukel! I’m borrowing this girl!”
And with that, she dragged me out of the office.
I heard an angry voice calling out to Simona from the administrative manager, but she quickly ushered me into an empty conference room.
With an expression of seriousness I’d never seen from her before, my senior spoke directly.
“I’m curious about something.”
“W-what is it?”
“Was it really just luck that you calmed the Magical Beast faster than Aster did, just as he said?”
“Is that what he said?”
“Yeah. He said you were just lucky enough to resonate with a Magical Beast that didn’t have unstable emotional patterns.”
“That must be how Aster perceived it.”
“Why does your expression look like that? Well, never mind. Let’s say Attunement Ability falls under the realm of talent. But why do you work so well? Are you really a political appointee?”
“Ah—”
I evaded my senior’s persistent gaze and answered carefully.
“Strictly speaking, no. There’s no law against a new hire being assigned to the Crystal Whale Department.”
“But why didn’t you deny the political appointee comment? That makes it even stranger.”
At first, I had tried to deny it actively and explain myself. Even though no one would listen to me properly, even though the helplessness and frustration were overwhelming, I’d wanted to clear up the misunderstanding.
After much deliberation, I’d mentioned to my supervisor and department head that I was being suspected of being a political appointee, but all I got back was that they were probably just envious.
I knew how unreasonable it would be for the entire Imperial Government to make some kind of proclamation for the sake of a single new hire barely finished with her probation period.
Still, I’d hoped that someone would know the truth about me.
But—
“When I thought about the situation, it turned out that I’m not not a political appointee either.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not an amusing story.”
“Those tend to be the most interesting ones.”
My senior’s expression showed she was dying of curiosity.
‘If it’s Simona—’
I hadn’t known her long, but at least she didn’t seem like a bad person.
Though she’d gossip with me when I felt down because of Yukel and the other clerks, she didn’t spread rumors about their private affairs.
And in the Imperial Capital, there wasn’t a single person who’d approached me like this.
So perhaps I could risk showing her a glimpse of this frustration that had been building up inside me.
After deliberating, I decided to open up about my situation.
“So the thing is—”

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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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