On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 88

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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 88
When I entered the reception room, I was startled to sense Tris’s presence hidden in the shadows—but the timing couldn’t have been better. Thanks to her, I was able to drive off the mercenary.
“You didn’t come looking for me on your own initiative. Cade sent you, didn’t he?”
[Chirp. Chirp-chirp!]
Tris pointed her tail in the direction the mercenary had vanished, then lifted her nose proudly.
“You followed that mercenary? Cade sent you to do that?”
I pulled Tris close and gazed back toward Melgote as if entranced.
I had known danger would come.
Once I freed the Crystal Whale that the 2nd Princess had kept bound in her hidden warehouse, they were bound to discover the Dark Magic laboratory—or so she must have reasoned.
It was plain enough that I’d made copies of the research materials and brought them with me.
So it was only natural to expect an attempt to recover evidence of the Dark Magic.
Cade must have thought the same way. As a consultant to the Acquisition Investigation Unit, he couldn’t afford for me to fall into trouble—it would complicate matters for him as well.
But I never imagined he would send Tris.
“Tris. Are you going back to Melgote?”
[Chirp?]
Tris shook her head rapidly, as if to say the idea was absurd.
Seeing that he’d sent her all the way here, I had wondered—but it seemed Cade intended to keep Tris at my side for now.
He had kept Tris with me in Melgote too, but that had only been within the city itself, where the Magic Tower stood.
‘I’ve never read in any ancient text of a wizard sending their summoned familiar to such distant lands.’
I was happy to have Tris here, but I couldn’t fathom what Cade was thinking.
Though I had needed his help desperately, his motives didn’t sit well with me.
He seemed sincere this time around—but wasn’t this just another way to meet two women at once?
Even if that weren’t his intention, what decent person wouldn’t judge him harshly for kissing another’s hand in an embarrassing manner and then promptly announcing his betrothal to someone else?
And after two years of dating him myself, I couldn’t help but know better.
Cade was awkward with people, yes—but he was not the type to kiss a woman’s hand out of innocent affection.
Though admittedly, I had been wrong about him in many ways.
“Tris. Why on earth does your master do these things?”
[Chirp-chirp?]
As I stroked her soft fur and sighed deeply, Tris tilted her head in confusion.
“Never mind. It’s pointless talking to you about this. I’ll take you with me on my commute starting tomorrow—I’m counting on you.”
[Chirp-chirp!]
Tris’s response was cheerful.
‘At least I was right to prepare for the worst without letting my guard down.’
I’d decided that relying on a magical beast’s help would be better than wielding a weapon I couldn’t properly handle, and fortunately, that proved sound.
Since my Second Awakening, the distance at which I could summon magical beasts had extended—they arrived faster than I’d calculated, giving me the perfect opening to catch the mercenary off-guard.
Not to mention Tris’s dramatic entrance.
Of course, this won’t be the end of it.
‘I need to tell them I won’t be receiving visitors for a while. And I should install some protective magical artifacts around the mansion.’
It seemed wise to give the servants magical scrolls they could use to protect themselves as well.
Tris would always be at my side, but I couldn’t know what might happen at the mansion when I’m away.
***
Before long, the betrothal ceremony was upon us.
I was more than busy enough simply preparing the magical beasts to be stationed at the ceremony venue and drafting the necessary documents for the Crystal Whale Acquisition Investigation Unit.
On top of that, Choyun’s blatantly obvious “I’m watching you” signals gave me a headache.
‘Blast that red spice pouch!’
One day it sat on my office desk, another day it appeared in my carriage, yet another on the mansion’s entrance step.
Choyun’s red spice pouch from the Eastern Continent kept materializing without fail.
At first, I immediately had it inspected as contraband, claiming it was classified as illegal in the empire.
But unfortunately, the spice turned out not to be illegal under imperial law, and I only heard that it had medicinal properties if used well and that other continents were attempting to cultivate it.
After that, I threw the red pouch straight into the trash, but it kept returning endlessly.
I almost wished she’d attempt assassination instead.
‘At least then Tris could apprehend her!’
But whether or not Choyun knew I was carrying Tris, unlike my hopes, she seemed to have no intention of direct attack.
Eventually, just the sight of red made my blood boil.
I’d even told Tris to bite her if she sensed Choyun’s presence, but Choyun was so careful about keeping a safe distance that I got nothing for it.
She simply continued, with remarkable persistence, leaving that red pouch in my space and vanishing.
I was so embarrassed by the red spice pouch that I couldn’t even tell anyone, and the stress gave me headaches.
‘The worry keeps me exhausted and I can’t recover properly—I feel like my stamina is draining.’
Time slipped away without my noticing how the days were passing.
And now the moment had come when I could no longer hide a certain problem and had to speak of it.
Cade would appear as scheduled at the betrothal ceremony at the Imperial Palace, and his appearance would be printed directly in the newspapers.
People outside Melgote had been looking forward to this day.
At last they would see the face of the new Tower Master, who was rumored to be so accomplished.
‘Tali was looking forward to it too.’
Not just Tali—all the servants had been pestering me to let them see the Tower Master as soon as possible.
“Would you call everyone to the Dining Room?”
“Yes, Miss.”
I instructed Tali, who had just finished cleaning, and went to the Dining Room to sit first.
Soon the servants filed in one by one, and last came Yani and Tris together.
“Come now, Tris. Try this too.”
[Chirp-chirp-ing!]
Yani dabbed a bit of Fruit Jam on Tris’s nose, and she licked eagerly at it with delight.
Fascinated by the tart and sweet flavor, she rolled across the floor, tumbling about happily.
Now that I let her roam freely around the mansion, she got along well with the servants.
‘More precisely, the servants doted on her.’
Having seen her help me through dangerous moments several times over, they all adored her like one would cherish a mystical creature—a beloved little dog.
“Miss. You said you had something to tell us…….”
As I stared blankly at Tris’s antics, Jack ventured a gentle prompt.
I nodded and looked around at the servants.
“This may sound outrageous, but listen.”
“Please, go ahead.”
Yani slipped a piece of Jerky into Tris’s mouth and turned her full attention to me.
Everyone seemed curious about what I was going to say.
“I was dispatched to Melgote, remember?”
“You were, to that place with the disreputable Tower Master.”
“That disreputable Tower Master was actually…….”
I hesitated, unable to find the words, and Tali rolled up her sleeves with indignation.
“Goodness! Did that ruffian threaten you? You scoundrel—”
“Cade.”
“……?”
Tali’s expression went blank as she glanced at the other servants.
It was a name she hadn’t heard in so long, and she certainly never imagined hearing it from my lips first.
The servants exchanged glances quietly before asking, their voices trembling with disbelief.
“Did you just say Cade?”
“Yes. The Tower Master’s true identity was Cade.”
“……’That’ Cade?”
“Yes. ‘That’ Cade.”
“Oh, Miss, surely you’re joking——”
The servants, who had laughed uncertainly, gradually grew bewildered as they realized I was serious.
They couldn’t seem to tell whether my words were truth or jest.
But I understood their confusion. I’d worn that same expression when I first encountered Cade at the Tower Master’s residence.
“I didn’t know it either—that Cade was a wizard. He’s the Tower Master now. His real name is Cade.”
“……?”
Tali, who had leaped with joy at learning I’d been entrusted with preparing the imperial princess’s betrothal ceremony, pressed her hand to her forehead and swayed.
“Oh. My. Heavens.”
“T-Tali!”
Jack rushed to steady her, helping her back into her seat.
I held my hand over my mouth and gently patted the head of Tali, who looked up at me in astonishment.
“I’m telling you now so you don’t get a shock when you see his face in the newspaper.”
“How could this be…….”
“Tris is also Cade’s summoned familiar. I didn’t bring her—she came with him.”
“……!”
Yani’s face went pale with shock as she swiftly snatched the Jerky from Tris’s mouth.
[Chirp……?!]
Tris, equally shocked, opened her now-empty mouth and turned to look at me in bewilderment.

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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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