On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 95

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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 95
Clang.
The heavy sound of the iron door closing snapped me back to consciousness.
“……!”
The first thing I did upon seeing the iron bars in the dim light was search for Tris.
“Tris? Are you here? Tris!”
[Squeak…….]
Fortunately, Tris lay motionless in a dark corner.
My lips tightened at the sight of her limp form, too drained even to wag her tail.
It was clearly because of that Crimson Pouch Cho Yun had thrown.
The inspection had confirmed it was nothing but spice—nothing that should have been capable of felling a Magical Beast.
‘What is that spice, really? And where am I?’
I held Tris close and examined the space beyond the bars. The dark, damp, cold air felt exactly like a dungeon.
That’s when a floral pattern carved into the wall outside the cell caught my eye.
‘That pattern…… is it geranium?’
Worn and weathered though it was, it was unmistakably geranium.
This wasn’t a cell in the Imperial Palace or a detention block—it was Geraniumpung.
Once the residence of the 2nd Princess, now left empty save for its symbolic name.
‘I knew I’d meet her eventually, but not like this. Not today.’
It was strangely fitting that such a dungeon existed beneath the outwardly graceful and orderly palace—a perfect match for its master.
I leaned my back against the wall and steadied my breathing. The cold stone sent a chill through me, but it helped clear my mind.
And as clarity returned, my unbound wrists felt as though they were shackled.
The Barrier surrounding the iron bars seemed to constrict my very being.
It didn’t flow like Mana—instead, it felt like the corrupted, suffocating smoke that rises when filth is burned, dark and cloying.
‘This must be the taint of Dark Magic. How do I escape it?’
I was still searching for a way out when a reek so vile it made my stomach turn crept closer.
“Ugh……!”
I reflexively covered my mouth and nose, but it did no good.
“You’re awake.”
A measured, elegant voice echoed through the darkness.
The Grand Duke of Melgote appeared beside a maidservant holding a small lamp.
“……Your Grace, I greet you.”
“Unlike some, you still have the courtesy to bow even in such straits. Very much the Imperial Government’s servant.”
The straightforward tone without mockery somehow made me more uneasy.
The Grand Duke settled into the chair the servants had brought, positioning himself across from me with the bars between us. The direction of this conversation was obvious.
‘He’ll demand I hand over the evidence about his secrets.’
But the moment I thought that, he opened with a question that defied my expectation.
“Do you know that the life force of a single Crystal Whale can substitute for that of hundreds of other Magical Beasts?”
“No life force can truly substitute for another’s existence.”
The way he spoke of life force—as though these were mere commodities to be exchanged—repulsed me.
The terrible presence radiating from him made his words even more sickening.
The Grand Duke, who had been watching me intently, smiled as if amused.
“How fascinating. You were the same when you were my guest. You were always curiously sensitive to the state of myself and the Beasts.”
“…….”
“Other Attune rs and powerful Wizards never even noticed anything. What makes you different?”
It was likely due to my Second Awakening.
But I had no intention of enlightening him.
The way his gaze swept over me was identical to the predator’s gleam in a hunter’s eyes sizing up prey.
‘Whatever he’s thinking, it won’t be in my favor.’
I dropped my pretense and steered the conversation elsewhere, asking something I’d been curious about since earlier.
“Why has Tris…… why has this Beast collapsed without strength?”
“Ah, this.”
The moment I saw the Crimson Pouch the Grand Duke withdrew, I flinched instinctively and drew Tris closer, shielding her with my arm.
That powder had definitely started to spread when Tris began to convulse.
“What is that?”
“Cho Yun showed you this spice regularly, didn’t she?”
“All too often. Is it actually spice?”
“Of course. It’s spice that grows only on the Eastern Continent, as advertised. What remains unknown to the Empire is that frequent exposure to it becomes a fatal poison to Magical Beasts.”
“……!”
I looked Tris over again in alarm.
Her tongue and the whites of her eyes retained their natural color—thankfully, her life didn’t seem to be in danger.
All this time I’d thought Cho Yun’s warnings about being watched were merely a courtesy before she vanished. The real target was never me at all.
‘The inspection results showed only that it was spice. I let my guard down…….’
I felt a sharp sting of reproach for failing to foresee this. That Cho Yun would target Tris, not me.
Cade must have sent Tris to me because he believed I would need her aid.
He trusted me to care for her well.
Even if Tris was a familiar I’d acquired almost by accident, our Mana and emotions had been bound long enough that I couldn’t help but be shaken by her collapse.
As I anxiously stroked Tris’s cheek, the Grand Duke clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“She won’t die, so drop the theatrics and let’s have a ‘conversation.'”
“…….”
The circumstances were far too imbalanced for true dialogue, but that made conversation my advantage.
There was more to gain from talk than from torture or coercion.
“You already know what I’m looking for.”
The Grand Duke struck his fan against his palm, projecting an air of authority.
“Hand it over and I’ll spare your life. A mere Civil Servant’s life hardly matters to anyone, but you have nothing else to offer, do you?”
“…….”
“So tell me. Where is what I seek?”
“I’ve hidden it somewhere no one could ever find.”
“In other words, the moment you die, it dies with you.”
I smiled calmly at his testing remark and answered.
“I don’t want to bury it forever—I want it revealed. I’m not foolish enough to do otherwise.”
I pulled back my sleeve and revealed the Magic Circle inscribed on my arm.
“If I die, that evidence will scatter across the other continents.”
“…….”
The Grand Duke’s expression froze.
I truly had hidden that evidence where no one would ever find it. Along with a Special Magical Artifact.
When my heartbeat stops, the artifact will send the evidence spreading across the other continents.
While rumors within the Empire might be contained, information that reaches beyond would be far harder to suppress.
Though the continents presently maintained a façade of cooperation, if the means to topple the Gaia Empire fell into their hands, none would remain idle.
The Grand Duke, who had been silent, snapped his fan open with a sharp crack.
“You’ve fashioned your own life into a tool, much like a Magical Artifact.”
Elegance laced the words, but displeasure seeped through.
I made a show of adjusting Tris in my arms to hide the alarm in my expression.
‘The same? What does he mean? Did Cade say something similar?’
Before leaving the Magic Tower, Cade had been reluctant to discuss what would happen next.
We had deliberately chosen not to share where or how we would hide the evidence we each possessed.
Whether this concerned what the Grand Duke had said, I couldn’t be sure, but Cade would surely have employed something more drastic.
‘Should I ask when I reach the Second Separate Palace? But if it’s about evidence storage, it’s probably better we don’t know…….’
Bang!
A sharp crash startled me, and I looked up to see the Grand Duke glowering at me with menacing intensity as he brought his fan crashing down against the bars.
“Dare your mind wander elsewhere while I stand before you? How amusing I must seem.”
“That is not the case…….”
I opened my mouth reflexively but had nothing to say. I was just as bewildered that my thoughts had strayed in this moment.
The Grand Duke gathered dark Mana into his palm with lethal intent, giving no indication he would listen to excuses.
His rage seemed to press against my skin like a physical thing.
“You were the one who spurned my attempt at a peaceful resolution.”
“Wait, please!”
Seized by dread, I clutched Tris tightly, shielding her against myself.
Dark, turbid Mana erupted from the Grand Duke’s fingertips.

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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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