On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 85

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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 85
The uneasy peace that had hung over the Magic Tower shattered the moment the 2nd Princess arrived.
Cade decided to face her in his office rather than the lobby—a first.
He must have known long ago that the warehouse where the Crystal Whale had been hidden was empty, yet she came seeking him out so boldly.
Unable to predict what she might do, he’d felt unsafe meeting her in the lobby crowded with wizards.
As a precaution, he’d ordered Tris to guard the location where he kept evidence of the 2nd Princess’s secret warehouse.
Should anything go wrong, the evidence would need to be moved immediately, and he’d need a magical beast to protect Vivian Solling.
The moment the Grand Duke of Melgote crossed the threshold into the office, a sharp pulse of magical power tore through the air.
“How dare you. How discourteous.”
The 2nd Princess sidestepped Cade’s attack magic, unfurling her fan.
“Uninvited or not, I am a princess of this empire and the Grand Duke of Melgote. Ought I not be received with proper courtesy?”
As Cade merely observed her with a cold stare, black magical power coiled around her like a serpent.
The magic circle etched into the office floor groaned in warning, its lines vibrating in response.
Cade immediately inscribed a Defense Formula above the circle, sealed the office, and activated the hidden spells he’d prepared.
The 2nd Princess, studying the intricate magic circle, recognized what it was and sighed.
“Ruthless beyond measure. You’ve even thought to use your own corpse as a tool.”
The first thing Cade had done upon becoming Tower Master was to inscribe a spell in his office that would turn his own body into a barrier should he fall here—one that would imprison his killer forever in this place.
“It was not an easy spell to craft, but nothing is beyond me. Unlike a certain imposter.”
……
A dark aura rippled outward from the 2nd Princess, swelling with her presence.
Her quiet rage made his skin prickle, yet Cade only smirked.
“It seems Your Highness no longer troubles herself to hide her Black Magic.”
At his barbed words, the 2nd Princess fanned herself, letting her irritation subside.
“It seems your ties to Black Magic run deep—you recognized it at once. Does that please you?”
“State your business.”
“We’ve dwelled in the same domain for some time now. Surely you can afford to speak candidly with me?”
……
Cade regarded the 2nd Princess with suspicion as she lounged with such ease.
In a moment when she should be anxious or angry, she seemed almost pleased.
Had she decided she had no choice but to kill him today, now that everything was exposed?
‘She doesn’t seem to be viewing me so lightly. There’s no murderous intent in the air.’
As Cade grew more wary, the 2nd Princess smiled elegantly and spoke.
“The civil servant who was stationed here seems to have left Melgote. Her name was Vivian Solling, if I recall?”
……!
The moment Vivian was mentioned, Cade’s heart seized and anxiety flooded through him.
He’d been careful to leave no trace of her in the warehouse—could he have made a mistake?
Cade swallowed quietly and thought through it carefully.
If the 2nd Princess had known about Vivian, she would have seized her as a hostage long ago and used any means to bring him to heel.
The mercenaries sent to intercept the Official Document, the kidnapping at that shabby inn—all of it had to have been mere coincidence, the pieces falling into place by chance.
It had to be. Every moment from when Vivian became an auction item to when she was packed into a box and shipped away had to be accident.
The Grand Duke of Melgote could not afford to take an interest in Vivian.
‘Unless she’s already heard news of the Crystal Whale retrieval investigation team—there’s no reason for her to care.’
Cade responded with composure that matched hers.
“Your Highness, dwelling in such elevated circles, would surely extend mercy even to a stray magical beast, but this one is base-born with a small measure. I could hardly be the same.”
“How excessive your humility is.”
“Humility? A mere civil servant sent by the Imperial Government—how could I keep such a person at my side without shame?”
His words dripped with sarcasm from beginning to end, and the 2nd Princess’s smile twisted.
“You still haven’t grasped the situation. Make no mistake—I haven’t come to negotiate. I’ve come to inform you.”
“Should the world learn that you, who were never even a wizard, have wielded Black Magic—”
“That woman will be destroyed first.”
“I’m not sure which woman you mean.”
“Good. Play dumb like that. Otherwise, there would be no point in fabricating a fiancée out of nothing.”
……
Cade’s hair stood on end, and he couldn’t find words. Any sound that escaped would betray the tremor in his voice.
‘Does she know it all already? Or is she fishing for information?’
Just as he was trying desperately to keep his expression calm and hide his panic—
The jewel set in a Ring that Cade wore suddenly flashed with rapid light.
‘This……!’
His breath caught mid-inhale, then released a beat too late. The pounding of his heart rang in his ears.
He was losing his composure to the point of not knowing what to say, but he forced himself not to unleash his magical power.
The 2nd Princess relished the look in his eyes—sharp vigilance mingled with murderous intent, anxiety, and fear.
“Yes, I thought you would have placed a spell on the grave of that fiancée you hold so dear.”
……
The glowing Ring was a magical device connected to the false fiancée’s grave, enchanted to shine when an intruder disturbed it. Someone had touched the tomb.
“Then whose hands does the true owner of that Ring rest in?”
……!
Words fell like burning coals onto his fragile composure, and Cade’s mind went white. Without thinking, he pulled his magical power up with crushing force.
The furnishings in the office trembled and rose into the air.
In the next instant, Cade closed the distance and his fingertips reached toward the 2nd Princess’s throat.
Honed magical power glinted with a pale, lethal edge, ready to strike at any moment.
His mind held only one thought: kill the 2nd Princess here and now, then go deal with whoever had touched the grave.
But his hand could not follow his will.
It was not because he lacked strength, nor did the 2nd Princess resist.
She smiled with indulgent warmth and produced a round magical device—it was the magical device that forced him to stop the surge of his power.
Within it, like a crystal orb, the familiar image of a carriage appeared.
“As it happens, my capable mercenary has finally caught up to that carriage. It seems you’ve placed a protective barrier around it—I wonder if it would hold against a blade?”
“……Damn.”
Watching him lower his hand despite the murderous hunger in his eyes, the 2nd Princess savored a surge of exhilarating victory.
Her prediction had been correct. Even a Tower Master, swayed by emotion, was no more than a common magical beast.
“My mercenary stands ready to draw their blade at a signal. No one will question the report of a civil servant killed by bandits on the way back from an assignment.”
“Lay a single finger on Vivian, and I will end you.”
Cade growled through gritted teeth.
The 2nd Princess only smiled with contempt and slipped the magical device back into her robes.
“I’ll say something you’ve grown accustomed to hearing. There is an Official Document that requires your seal.”
She drew forth a document from thin air and slid it across the desk to him.
“It would be wise to deliver it to the Imperial Government before the carriage reaches the Imperial Capital. I’m certain you can manage it.”
Her gaze carried unmistakable superiority.
Cade stared at her as though he would kill her, then snatched the Official Document.
“Ah, one more thing.”
The 2nd Princess clapped her hands as though remembering something she’d forgotten, then produced a gold-worked Bracelet.
“A gift should not be omitted from such an auspicious occasion in the imperial family.”
“……You’re putting a leash on me?”
Cade set the Bracelet floating in the air to examine it, then let out a bitter, humorless laugh.
It was a magical device inscribed with Location Tracking Magic and Electric Current Magic. The crystal embedded within was subtle, but the creeping taint of Black Magic hung faintly about it as well.
“Would it not have been better to give it to the hardworking civil servant lady as a gift?”
……
He made no reply to her shameless question and fastened the Bracelet around his own wrist with his own hands.
The beautiful shackle sent his heart plummeting into darkness.
Yet his eyes alone blazed with such bitter, consuming vengeance that it would have incinerated even the depths themselves.

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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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