On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 78

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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 78
“Is that… the Magic Tower Master’s Seal?”
A note of surprise escaped my lips before I could help it.
How many civil servants had actually laid eyes on this?
Since Cade became Tower Master, I’d be the first.
“M-may I touch it?”
“Unfortunately, only the Tower Master and his deputy can lay hands on this seal.”
He spun it idly in his palm as he spoke, and curiosity stirred in me.
“What happens if someone else touches it?”
“Hmm. I’ll just tell you this much—there are over twenty spells woven into this seal. Still want to try?”
“…No.”
I shook my head in alarm, and Cade chuckled.
Then he pressed the seal firmly onto the official document.
A white aura bloomed around the seal as if infused with mana, then faded.
It had taken quite a while for an Imperial Government civil servant to receive the Tower Master’s first seal.
As I watched the scene unfold, transfixed, Cade held up the seal and smiled loosely.
“That preserves the Tower’s honor.”
***
The official document I’d drafted using Emergency Authority and sent to the director passed through Imperial Government approval without incident.
Fortunately, the Crystal Whale’s capture appeared to be the 2nd Princess and the Imperial Government acting separately, not in collusion.
Which meant the Imperial Government had no knowledge of Dark Magic either.
‘Of course. If His Majesty had orchestrated this together with her, he’d never have agreed to send the 2nd Princess off as a foreign prince’s bride in the first place.’
Now that the Magic Tower was officially assembling an investigation team for the Crystal Whale capture, there was no reason for me to linger in Melgote.
Rather, my presence in the Imperial Capital as a volunteer “consultant” would be more useful in several ways.
I would take copies of the Dark Magic research evidence that Cade had duplicated, just in case, but it was too early to thrust them into the Imperial Government’s hands outright.
I looked around my room, cluttered with baggage and somehow both chaotic and empty.
Preparing to leave for the Imperial Capital wouldn’t take long.
‘Tomorrow morning, I’ll be gone from here.’
I’d ended up staying in a place I’d never meant to call home, and the brick walls and aging lamps had always felt unfamiliar, desolate.
While my emotions swung back and forth like this, this room had been my only refuge.
It was only natural that this space had become the one cozy corner of the Magic Tower for me.
I’d stormed in here in a rage, then hidden away in shame, then wept in sorrow, then harbored near-delusional fantasies alone…
I never knew I could be so indecisive, so wishy-washy.
Cade was utterly detestable, an insufferable man.
Yet even as I built my walls high and kept my guard up, spending time with him made me speak to him naturally.
Perhaps it was because he acted suspiciously kind, as if he had no intention of ever seeing me again.
I’d spent quite an eventful time uncertain whether he or I was the fickle one.
Knowing this room had witnessed all my emotional turbulence made me feel embarrassed.
‘Whether it amused him to disturb my peace or not, this is really the end now.’
The thought that my Magic Tower life would end after today brought a strange sense of perspective.
Feeling restless, I ran my hand across the window frame.
Despite the room’s proximity to the sea, not a drop of seawater was visible from this window.
Perhaps that’s why the room felt all the cozier.
At first, I was certain that couldn’t be the case, but now I suspected Cade had deliberately given me this room.
I couldn’t fathom why.
I’d glimpsed fragments of his hidden past, but that didn’t mean I understood him any better.
Watching him move through the Magic Tower with such composure left me bewildered, unable to guess his thoughts.
Remembering the painful emotions he must have felt, he hardly seemed in a place where he could afford easy comfort.
‘…He must not want to discuss that, then.’
Since the day we’d been to the warehouse where the Crystal Whale was imprisoned, Cade hadn’t uttered a single word about Dark Magic.
The uncanny presence of the Dark Sorcerer made me shudder just thinking of it, and I didn’t want to speak of it either.
But it seemed Cade refrained from mentioning it for different reasons than I did.
It would have been good to touch base briefly on what came next, now that the official document had gone through, but it was hard to broach the subject carelessly.
‘He’s recovering in his own way. What if I just reopen old wounds?’
Yet I wondered if it was right to simply stay silent and wait for Cade and the Magic Tower to handle the rest.
In the end, after much deliberation, I found myself knocking on the study door.
Cade greeted me with a genuinely surprised expression.
“Why so startled?”
“I figured you’d leave without saying goodbye.”
‘…How did he know?’
Caught completely off guard, my eyes simply darted sideways.
Perhaps because we’d endured something so significant, my usually turbulent emotions had finally calmed in his presence.
I’d decided to slip away quietly tomorrow morning, not wanting to throw stones into his now-placid lake.
‘We’re not the sort to exchange farewells and see each other off.’
I began speaking while stroking Tris, who was nuzzling against my leg.
“I was curious about what you’re planning. About what we found in that warehouse.”
Just the thought of the Dark Sorcerer made Cade furrow his brow in discomfort.
“Do I need a plan?”
“Then what? Are you just going to aimlessly hunt for whaling ships out on the ocean?”
“I’ve thought of something, but honestly, we have everything we need right now.”
That much was true.
We’d already found the warehouse’s concealed location, the whaling ships hidden inside, and all the Dark Magic research materials and records.
Looking at the cards in our hand, we seemed to hold a decisive advantage, yet this nagging unease refused to fade—was it merely my anxiety?
When I didn’t respond with ready enthusiasm, he shrugged casually and continued.
“Thanks to you, the Magic Tower can now officially investigate the Crystal Whale’s capture. That means we’ll be able to uncover evidence to tie the 2nd Princess to it.”
“…You’re right. If anything comes up during the investigation, do send me word.”
“I will.”
I wanted to ask what he’d thought of, but I was an outsider to the Magic Tower.
Even if he had a concrete plan, he had no obligation to share the details with me, and there were likely strategies better left unknown to me.
Just as I decided not to press further and turned to leave his study—
“Wait.”
Cade rose from his desk and stopped me.
I’d hoped he meant to share the Tower’s plans, but what came from his lips was utterly unexpected.
“If you don’t have anything else to do today, would you like to finish the meal we didn’t get to before?”
“…Suddenly?”
My puzzled question made him pause mid-word.
“You’ve helped me so much, and I feel like I never gave you a proper reception.”
“You know I hate being treated nicely.”
The words tumbled out reflexively, and Cade flinched.
“…Is treating someone to a meal being nice?”
I wanted to keep the lake of my heart calm and undisturbed. I was afraid that if I sat across from him and became unsettled, I’d hate myself for it.
‘But if today is the last time I see Cade…’
Perhaps a proper farewell could happen after all.
It was, as he said, just a meal.
“Well, thinking about it, I suppose one meal together wouldn’t be impossible.”
“…!”
Cade’s expression brightened noticeably.
This time, it was I who flinched. A small stone seemed to roll across my chest.
***
Using Teleportation, Cade brought me to the Coniferous Forest that belonged to the Magic Tower.
It was where he’d once tried and failed to treat me to a meal.
I sat beneath the tent at the dining table just as before, looking down at the plates of food and asked,
“Is this always laid out like this?”
“Of course not. The kitchen prepared this fresh today. Look—the menu’s different.”
“Ah. I suppose it is…”
Back then, I hadn’t been in any state to notice what dishes were on the plates.
Looking around now, I was relieved to see no new Magical Beasts had made their home here, and the tree stumps cut down for the Dock’s reconstruction looked healthy.
Though a cold wind surely blew, Cade’s magic kept the area around the table warm.
‘…Why does this feel so comfortingly warm?’

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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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