On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 62

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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 62
“I have no intention of dating you.”
“I have no intention of dating you…….”
“No intention of dating…….”
Cade’s voice echoed through the dense forest, splintering and fading.
“…….”
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to rein in the fury climbing my chest.
“I have none…….”
“No intention of dating…….”
But his maddening answer, drifting calmly from all directions, snapped whatever patience remained.
“Then…….”
Heat crawled across my face and up to my scalp, making stillness impossible.
I grabbed the cushion from the chair and swung it without restraint.
“Then! What! Are! You! Doing!”
“Ah, Vivian. Wait……!”
Cade flinched and raised his arms to shield himself, but he didn’t dodge using Teleportation or slip away.
The way he simply accepted the blows infuriated me all the more.
“Vivian. Whatever misunderstanding there is, please calm down.”
“Why! Would! You! Make! Me! Like! This!”
I hurled the cushion at him after battering his arms and back, then turned and walked away as fast as I could.
“Vivian. Where are you going?”
“Don’t follow me!”
“There’s no path here. Unless you want to get lost, you need to stop.”
Looking ahead, I saw nothing but towering trees—no path at all.
I halted with a huff, and Cade stepped into my way.
“I was only trying to treat you well. You were angry because I was cold, weren’t you? Why are you upset even though I’m being kind to you?”
“I’m angry!”
“You hate that I’m being kind to you?”
“I do! Stop being kind to me! Who asked for kindness? What kind of lunatic would want kindness in a situation like this?”
He dragged his hand through his hair, bewildered.
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t understand your moods either.”
“You’re the one being moody right now, Vivian.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“…….”
Even after I shouted, the frustration and helplessness didn’t fade—if anything, my strength drained away.
Did Cade truly not see that he was the one being inconsistent?
“I have nothing more to say. We’ve already broken up.”
He’d done the same shameless dance when I’d caught him cheating with me while his sick fiancée waited elsewhere.
There was no way we could share the same space peacefully now.
I’d entertained desperate fantasies once, yes—but they’d come to nothing, exactly as I’d known they would.
“Vivian. What is the real problem?”
“What’s the problem? Do you really expect me to forget what we are? I have no desire to see you again either, but unlike you—you who poke and prod like a coward—people in the real world call that betrayal.”
“Poke and prod? What are you——I just want us to get along until you leave Melgote. That’s all.”
“Get along? How absurd. You haven’t changed. To pull that act on someone you don’t even care about——!”
“Is it so difficult to simply get along?”
“That’s exactly the problem! What’s the point of getting along?”
“There is no point to it. I simply…….”
He couldn’t find the words. His mouth moved soundlessly before he suddenly gestured toward where the meal was laid out.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore. Eat first. We haven’t rested together in a long time.”
“What?”
The absurdity of it made me laugh bitterly.
‘He’s always like this.’
Cade had always been this way.
“Wow. Cade. How did you find this? These spoil within a day of harvest, yet it’s perfectly fine here?”
“……Do you know what this is?”
“I’ve read about them. It’s a rare fruit that only grows at the far southern edge of the continent. How did you manage to bring it all the way to the Imperial Capital?”
“Who knows. Just try it. It’s best when it’s freshest.”
“Did the Wizards start a transport business or something? Where did you buy this?”
“Let’s not talk about that. Here, let me peel it nicely for you.”
“Have you been here before? You seem familiar with the place?”
“Hmm. Do I?”
“There you go again. You never tell me anything about yourself.”
“My past isn’t interesting.”
“I’m curious. When were you here?”
“Let’s not talk about that. Want to walk over there? It looks nice for a stroll.”
Even normally he was reluctant to share his history or his feelings, but during arguments it became far worse.
When flustered, he’d redirect the conversation blatantly and try to erase whatever conflict had just occurred.
Even when I’d pressed him, demanding answers, he’d never told me.
Back then it had frustrated me, but I’d charmed myself into thinking it was endearing—that he was simply awkward with people and had trouble opening up.
Now I understood: he’d only been guarding himself to hide his infidelity.
Perhaps he’d deemed me not even worth an explanation.
“The food will get cold. Let’s eat.”
I recoiled and shook off his hand as he tried to slip it around my arm.
“Do you think I want to sit across from you and eat right now? Are you sane? You’ve always been like this. Your words make no sense. Something’s wrong with you—broken, even!”
“……!”
My ragged breathing.
The wind sighing through the branches.
Fallen leaves crunching underfoot.
When those small sounds faded, silence settled between us.
My breath slowed and returned to normal, but Cade said nothing.
‘Did he really just teleport away on his own?’
Troubled, I looked up. Cade stood frozen, his face drained of color, staring blankly.
It wasn’t such a devastating thing to say—I couldn’t understand why he looked so shattered.
Was this a new ploy to avoid continuing the conversation?
“Cade? Say something.”
I studied him suspiciously as I called his name. He flinched and staggered backward.
Leaves crumbled beneath his feet with a soft crackle.
“I am…….”
“……?”
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut immediately, his throat working as if someone were strangling him.
“……Are you hurt? Why are you suddenly like this?”
“Go to the tent.”
“Not this again——”
“Ben will come pick you up.”
Then he vanished in a flash of Teleportation, fleeing as if from a burning building.
“…….”
The shock left me rooted to the spot, my mind reeling.
‘What? He ran away in the middle of our fight? Actually ran?’
Until now, whenever Cade wanted to avoid something, he’d either play dumb or redirect smoothly.
This was the first time he’d actually left mid-argument.
And with such a frightened look on his face…….
As I stood there trying to make sense of it all,
Ben appeared at the tent, glancing around before spotting me and approaching.
“Inspector? It’s cold out here. Why aren’t you in the tent where it’s warm?”
“……Ben. Where is the Tower Master?”
“He had an urgent matter come up, so he sent me to fetch you instead.”
I took Ben’s offered hand numbly.
I had to return to the Magic Tower with my mind still churning, unable to sort through what had happened.
‘You hurt me. So why do you look like you’ve been stabbed? Why do you wear that wounded face?’
Something felt wrong, but I couldn’t grasp what. The unease clung to me,
***
the next day, after a night of insomnia and confusion.
I set my muddled feelings aside and had to find Cade first.
‘Right now I can’t bear to look at him, but work is work.’
Coming back to the Magic Tower, I realized we’d left without ever checking on the original reason for venturing into the forest—the Rodent-type Monsters and their relocation problem.
The clearing, stripped down to stumps, was no ideal habitat for them.
They’d likely decided to relocate because they thought food was plentiful—which was only because I’d scattered nuts throughout the area. The place itself was barren.
It would be fortunate if they discovered the lack of sustenance and left on their own, but we couldn’t count on that. We had to handle it properly.
‘If they start stripping bark from every tree hunting for nuts, that’s a problem.’
I resented having to seek Cade out first after yesterday’s absurdity.
As I walked to the office door, I kept rehearsing the rational reasons why those monsters shouldn’t settle there.
But my preparation was in vain.
“The Tower Master has left the Magic Tower at the moment.”
Ben, his aide, delivered the news with an awkward smile.

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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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