On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 67

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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 67
There were times when rescuing magical beasts without an Attuner required the use of sedatives or anesthetics out of necessity.
‘They look just like those magical beasts drooping from the drugs.’
The 2nd Princess wasn’t a magical beast ecology surveyor or a Monster Sanctuary staff member, yet so many magical beasts were artificially sedated here—it struck Vivian as deeply suspicious.
‘The beasts seem worse off than last time when they were paralyzed with fear.’
After creeping through the residence for several minutes to avoid the servants,
she discovered someone entering through a certain door.
Hiding behind a decorative cabinet to observe carefully, she caught a glimpse of stairs through the gap as the door closed.
‘Found it!’
The stairs clearly descended downward.
Moreover, when that door stood slightly ajar, she felt the magical beasts’ emotions far more vividly.
Thinking she needed to check before anyone arrived, she was about to step toward the door when—
“Have you lost your way?”
“……!”
A kind-voiced servant’s question came from behind her.
Struggling to calm her startled heart, she turned around as naturally as possible.
“Oh, yes. I stopped by the Powder Room, but I couldn’t find the Drawing Room.”
“The Drawing Room is this way. Allow me to show you.”
“Thank you.”
Ultimately, she had no choice but to turn back with the entrance to the underground within sight.
‘What a waste.’
As she glanced back regretfully, the servant—now outside the doorway—stood facing away from the door, staring directly at her with an unsettling gaze.
A chill ran down her spine.
‘Even a haunted house would be cozier than this.’
***
Fortunately, Simona seemed to be enjoying herself just fine without her.
Laughter drifted from the Drawing Room even before she entered.
Vivian straightened her dress and entered, beginning with an apology.
“I’m so sorry for being late. I stopped at the Powder Room and lost my way.”
“This residence is rather labyrinthine. Come, sit.”
The 2nd Princess, who had been laughing thanks to Simona, graciously let her late arrival pass.
Sitting across from the 2nd Princess, the eerie feeling intensified.
Vivian took a sip of tea to mask her awkward smile.
The warmth of the tea soothed her insides, making it easier to endure.
“So you’re trapped in Melgote. They still haven’t figured out why, I see.”
“Yes. The Magic Tower says they’re investigating, but I’m afraid I don’t know the details myself.”
After answering appropriately, the 2nd Princess set down her cup and gazed at her intently.
“Is there anything interesting happening at the Magic Tower?”
“By interesting, you mean……?”
“I’d love to look after my Magic Tower properly, but the Tower Master finds such things so tiresome that I’m reduced to asking separately like this.”
At that moment, the presence of several magical beasts felt in the underground faded.
‘Could they have died? No, they’re being moved somewhere else.’
She sensed that several magical beasts were being taken out of the residence, though she couldn’t determine why.
“You look unwell.”
“Vivian?”
At the bewildered questions from the 2nd Princess and Simona, she quickly spoke up.
“I apologize. The truth is, staying at the Magic Tower has been uncomfortable. There’s nothing particularly interesting about it for me.”
“I see. Well, that figures…….”
The 2nd Princess clicked her tongue unsurprised.
Seeing a hint of disappointment, Vivian was considering what else to say when another question came.
“What makes the Magic Tower so uncomfortable? Speak freely. It can’t be easy staying somewhere where you know no one.”
She searched her memory for an adequate answer.
There were countless inconveniences—but they all stemmed from one person.
Cade.
Remembering that one person’s problems, a sigh escaped unbidden.
“……I simply can’t understand what the Tower Master is thinking.”
“I share that sentiment.”
“Everything he does is on a whim—he makes people’s blood boil with his capriciousness, and then he acts like he has no idea why anyone’s upset. And when you actually confront him about it, he just gets moody and finds some other reason to upset you all over again.”
“…….”
“…….”
Suddenly aware that her response had become far too heated, she studied the expressions of the 2nd Princess and Simona.
Both of them sat with wide eyes, visibly startled.
“……The library and dining hall are probably the best things about the Magic Tower, I’d say.”
She awkwardly added something favorable about the Magic Tower and sipped her tea.
The 2nd Princess chuckled with amusement and nodded.
“I see. Since staying at the Magic Tower must be difficult, I could spare you one of my guest rooms.”
“Oh, no! I couldn’t possibly accept such kindness from you. The Government Authority has ordered me to stay at the Magic Tower, so I can’t move my quarters as I wish.”
“Well, then there’s nothing to be done.”
Thankfully, the 2nd Princess abandoned the suggestion readily.
Vivian exhaled with relief and made an effort to maintain a pleasant expression until the tea time ended.
‘It really is an unsettling place.’
After tea time ended, Simona drove her by carriage to the shopping district.
When Vivian insisted she wanted to walk a bit rather than go directly to the Magic Tower, they stopped near the commercial area.
Wanting to shake off the stifling air she’d inhaled at the Grand Duke Residence, she walked through the streets, breathing deeply.
On her first visit, she’d been so startled by the 2nd Princess’s murky magical power that she hadn’t dared observe the residence’s atmosphere, but returning now, she sensed a pervading gloom hanging over the entire estate.
‘What on earth is happening in the underground of that residence?’
Rubbing her arms—which bristled at just the thought—she suddenly paused.
Something in the wind caught her attention, and she slowly turned around.
‘This sensation……?’
A subtle vibration rode on the breeze.
So thin and faint that she wondered if she’d mistaken the brush of her own hair for the sensation.
She stood still, concentrating on the pattern of vibrations woven into the cold air.
‘A Crystal Whale?’
The aura unique to Crystal Whales was something she’d rarely misidentified, so the confusion unsettled her.
But the direction the wind came from wasn’t toward the Sea.
‘It’s coming from inland. So it’s not a Crystal Whale?’
When the wind ceased abruptly, the Crystal Whale’s faint presence faded with it.
Not only was the direction of the aura strange, but the aura itself felt similar to the screams of the magical beasts she’d sensed at the Grand Duke Residence.
‘It almost feels like it’s calling to me…….’
Was she simply haunted by the gloom and unease lingering from the Grand Duke Residence?
She stared in the direction the wind had come from for a moment, then turned away.
Like a paused performance resuming, the vitality of the shopping district spread before her eyes.
“…….”
Perhaps because she had just felt something like the cries of magical beasts,
the bustling energy of the crowded streets felt alien to her.
She’d planned to explore Melgote properly today, something she hadn’t really managed before.
But instead, she found herself heading toward the carriage rental station.
‘We parted awkwardly at the Mirror Library recently, but they wouldn’t have locked me out entirely, would they?’
The moment she arrived at the Magic Tower, she climbed to the office.
[Beep.]
Tris, positioned beside her as if waiting, wagged her tail happily.
Cade was gone, of course.
Either he’d noticed her arrival and fled, or he was planning to stay away from the office until late into the night.
The thought made irritation spike again, so she decided not to dwell on it.
“Let’s go, Tris.”
She lifted Tris into her arms and stepped through the mirror, heading toward the Ancient Language section where she usually searched for materials.
As she dug through books until they towered as high as her head and scattered haphazardly across the floor with no room for Tris to tread,
“……!”
she found what looked like a crucial reference.
She opened another book atop the scattered volumes and began copying long, complex passages into her notebook without thinking.
‘So in Ancient Language—difficult as the phrasing is—the more sensitive one becomes to a magical beast’s emotions, the more acutely one can sense what the beasts fear?’
And it was known that magical beasts feared Monster Beasts and Dark Magic above all else.
‘Those two would terrify humans as well.’
Then what was happening in the underground of the Grand Duke Residence that had left the magical beasts so trembling with terror?
Dark Magic had already become obsolete, so perhaps they were collecting Monster Beast blood. The 2nd Princess did subjugate Monster Beasts, if not quite as frequently as the Magic Tower.
‘Could that unsettling aura I felt from the 2nd Princess also be a trace of a Monster Beast?’
She’d heard that when deeply wounded by a Monster Beast, corrupted magical power would seep out like pus.
She remembered the sensation from when she’d attempted Empathy with a Monster Beast. Just as when she’d entered the Grand Duke Residence today, she’d felt nauseous, with horror crawling across her entire scalp.
‘Could it really be because of a Monster Beast?’
Reviewing the calculations in her notebook, it made sense.
But for some reason, an intuition that this was the right answer never came.

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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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