On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 92

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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 92
Cade teleported Vivian Solling to the interior of a carriage.
He asked before she could even register where they were.
“How long does it take to suppress the explosion and flames at the Imperial Palace?”
“What? If the magical artifacts that were deployed remain intact… it varies depending on the scale, but on average about twenty minutes.”
“And how long from the 3rd Princess’s palace to the Central Banquet Hall by carriage?”
“Just over five minutes.”
“Then I’ll finish in under ten.”
“……?”
Vivian, who had answered readily enough, now peered around the carriage interior with a bewildered expression.
“What are you planning to do here?”
“Talk.”
Vivian’s face soured instantly, and she shot him a sharp look.
He’d left her confused and distressed on purpose, and now he wanted to talk? It made no sense.
It was like giving her poison then offering medicine, except he was just making her feel worse. She pouted and shot back, “I don’t think we’re the sort of people who should have a private conversation in a place as desolate as this. You shouldn’t behave this way—not when you’re betrothed to a princess.”
“I don’t think we’re the sort of people who should have a private conversation in a place as desolate as this. You shouldn’t behave this way—not when you’re betrothed to a princess.”
Cade let out a soft, hollow laugh and opened his mouth.
“Was all that sarcasm? You’re cute, and I wouldn’t mind listening more, but the explosion isn’t that large, so we need to hurry.”
“Calling me cute at a time like this? What kind of…”
As she was launching into her protest, a sudden thought made her glance out the carriage window.
The carriage was parked near Rose Palace. The Teleportation had moved them only a few steps.
“Why here……?”
“If our position changes too much, there’s a problem.”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
That was strange enough, but she couldn’t even see how damaged the banquet hall was from here. How could he possibly know the scale of the explosion?
“Cade. You didn’t… blow up the banquet hall yourself, did you?”
“Is that really what you want to ask me right now?”
“…….”
“Really?”
His piercing gaze made Vivian’s heart flutter with unease.
Caught off guard, she looked down and spoke again, her voice quieter.
“……Why did you accept the betrothal to the princess?”
Once she’d asked, shame at her own words made her hurry to add more. “I’m—I’m not asking anything strange. I was just wondering if you’d been coerced. You always hated the Imperial Family, and there’s what happened with the 2nd Princess. And I still don’t understand what happened with the Crystal Whale seizure investigation, and besides……”
“I’m—I’m not asking anything strange. I was just wondering if you’d been coerced. You always hated the Imperial Family, and there’s what happened with the 2nd Princess. And I still don’t understand what happened with the Crystal Whale seizure investigation, and besides……”
Cade watched in silence as Vivian rambled on.
“I needed a reason to move in and out of the Imperial Capital.”
“……!”
Vivian’s eyes widened and she looked up.
“So you weren’t coerced?”
Instead of answering, he looked away toward the window.
That brief silence felt neither like agreement nor denial, so Vivian asked a different question.
“You seem to have gained something substantial in exchange for betrothing yourself to the princess. What is it?”
Cade’s lips, which had been moving, closed instead, and he swallowed the words he’d been about to say.
‘Your life.’
If he told her the truth, she would rush headlong into danger without question.
It wouldn’t surprise him if she tore up the acceptance document and demanded an annulment on the spot, even before the ceremony was held.
She might resent him for making such a grave decision alone.
If her choices and actions contained even a hint of feeling for him, that would be one thing.
‘Whether it’s justice or compassion, she’ll do something dangerous. It’s better she doesn’t know.’
Cade swallowed a sigh and spoke with an indifferent expression.
“I obtained a promise from the 2nd Princess: the Magic Tower’s independence. We won’t be subordinate to the Empire, and we won’t pay taxes to her as lord.”
“……!”
Vivian gasped, her hand covering her mouth as she whispered.
“The 2nd Princess has her eye on your position. She’s trying to become a Tower Master independent of the Empire herself.”
“…….”
“Then it’ll be harder to punish you for the Crystal Whale seizure, won’t it? Cade. You absolutely cannot let your position be taken. You have to protect it, no matter what.”
Cade decided to redirect the attention of his annoyingly sharp-minded companion elsewhere.
“The timing is odd, but I wasn’t lying to you. Things just happened to turn out this way.”
“That doesn’t matter now.”
Vivian tossed out words she didn’t really mean and grumbled. “You keep changing your story. Either way, you’re becoming the princess’s betrothed.”
“You keep changing your story. Either way, you’re becoming the princess’s betrothed.”
“So it seems.”
“……?”
His cryptic answer left her speechless.
Cade checked the time, then extended his hand. “Once things are settled, give me some time, like I mentioned before.”
“……That’s something we’ll talk about when the time comes.”
Vivian struggled to steady her unsettled heart and took the hand he offered.
“I’ll move us near the banquet hall.”
“All right.”
And just before Cade was about to activate Teleportation—
“Wait! Hold on!”
She pulled away from his hand and spoke urgently.
“Cade. I have a favor to ask.”
“I nearly left without you.”
He sighed, visibly startled.
“A favor? What is it?”
“Well, you see……”
Vivian’s face brightened with a good idea, and she whispered.
***
When Cade’s Teleportation brought them to their destination, they were near the Central Banquet Hall.
The suppression effort was still incomplete; through billows of smoke, guards could be seen rushing about in confusion.
“Find the culprit at once! How dare someone attack the banquet hall for the Imperial Family’s betrothal ceremony……!”
“Your Highness. Please calm yourself. If you go any closer, it will be dangerous.”
The maids were struggling to soothe an enraged 3rd Princess, perspiration beading their foreheads.
The 2nd Princess was also listening to reports from the guards, trying to grasp the situation.
“If there was an explosion, there must be a cause. If there are no signs of terrorism, then we must find some other trace!”
I slipped quietly toward Simona, careful not to catch their attention, and asked cautiously.
“Simona. How bad is the banquet hall?”
“Vivian. Where have you been all this time?”
“I ended up walking here because I happened to coincide with the coachman’s break.”
“Bad luck.”
Simona clicked her tongue, then answered my question. “One wall and the ceiling of the banquet hall have collapsed. The debris has scattered far, so no one knows how much of it can be restored by magic.”
“Were there any injuries?”
“Fortunately, the explosion happened when no one was nearby. No one knows what detonated.”
“The guards must be frustrated.”
I nodded and used my foot to quickly push a shimmering fragment that had fallen near me into the undergrowth.
It looked like packaging that had blown in from somewhere by chance, but it was definitely a Box Fragment I’d seen before at the Magic Tower.
‘Is this one of Rana’s toys? Did Rana use one of her creations to cause an explosion like this?’
Feeling guilty for hiding evidence, I desperately averted my eyes from where I’d concealed the fragment. Then Simona let out a long sigh.
“Even so, there are no signs of terrorism, so the betrothal ceremony won’t be delayed. The venue might need to be changed because of the state of the banquet hall, but that’s all.”
“Tower Master.”
At that moment, the 2nd Princess, who had been speaking with the 3rd Princess, called out to Cade sharply.
Something must have been said to the guards, because suspicion suddenly focused entirely on him.
“How curious. The day the Tower Master enters the Imperial Palace, such an unfortunate incident occurs. Rather suspicious, wouldn’t you say?”
“If you know anything, you should speak now.”
The 3rd Princess glared at Cade, gritting her teeth.
It was inevitable that he’d be suspected. If this was caused by magic, a Tower Master would be the prime suspect—someone skilled enough to cause an explosion without leaving a trace.
‘What are you doing? Did you blow up the banquet hall without any plan?’
As I held my breath in anxiety, Cade answered with shameless composure.
“I beg your pardon, Your Highness. At the moment of the explosion, I was seated beside you.”
“Then you have no suspicions?”
The 2nd Princess regarded him coolly and spoke as if issuing a warning. “Then I suppose we must interrogate and punish all of the Imperial Palace’s Wizards and magical researchers.”
“What fault could those insufficient ones possibly bear? If I am suspected, then interrogate me instead.”
His subtly disparaging remarks about the Imperial Palace’s Wizards made the 3rd Princess’s expression darken further.
At this rate, Cade would either suffer a beating disguised as an investigation, or the Imperial Palace Wizards would face severe hardship.
‘This wasn’t how I meant to use it.’
I reached into my pocket, pulled out a Feather, snapped it, and let it fall into a corner. Then I pressed it gently into the dust and ashes.
Smoke soon rose from the soil-covered spot, and a small explosion erupted.
Bang!

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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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