On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 96

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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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Episode 96
“Kyaaaah!”
The sharp scream hadn’t come from my mouth.
I cracked open the eyes I’d kept shut tight against the commotion.
The 2nd Princess’s hand, wrapped in black magical force, seemed aimed directly at me.
Yet somehow, the maid standing behind her was gripping her own shoulder, her face drained of color.
“Ugh… Your… Your Highness…!”
“…?”
When I lifted my head in confusion, I saw the 2nd Princess—her face as pale as the maid’s.
The 2nd Princess let out a gasp of alarm and shook her hand as if trying to flick away the dark, clotted mana from her fan.
But the mana clung like sticky mud, refusing to fall away.
The bizarre aura, neither vanishing nor dropping, began to eat slowly through the fan itself.
Even as bewilderment clouded her features, irritation seemed to boil over—her movements grew rough.
“What on earth—!”
In the moment she snapped and flung the fan away, shaking her hand desperately,
the mana wrapped around the fan tore through one section of the iron bars with a grinding sound.
The black mana that lingered after corroded the bars slightly, like a virulent poison, before it finally vanished.
“…Your Highness.”
The head maid, holding a lamp, carefully handed the Crystal Necklace from around her neck to the 2nd Princess.
The 2nd Princess snatched the necklace and gripped it in her hand where the fan had been, looking suddenly hurried.
‘What just happened?’
I sat motionless, mind churning fast, careful not to draw attention to the sudden spectacle.
‘From the 2nd Princess’s expression and the maids’ reactions, that wasn’t intentional.’
She’d only been trying to shake off the mana clinging to her fan, but somehow she’d torn through the bars.
And her reaction afterward—it looked exactly like shock at magic suddenly spiraling beyond control.
Now, with a single gesture through empty air, she’d already seized the fallen fan, but still.
I studied the Crystal Necklace the 2nd Princess was gripping tightly in her other hand.
‘It’s a Crystal Whale Crystal, just as I thought.’
When we’d lit Crystal Candlelights in rows throughout the 3rd Princess’s Rose Palace, I’d assumed it was to mask the black magical aura.
But remembering back, she’d been standing in front of the collapsed Central Banquet Hall without any Crystal Candlelights.
Today she was wearing a lot of crystal ornaments on her person.
‘I thought she was hiding the black magical aura in front of the 3rd Princess…’
Lost in thought, I suddenly bit my lip as a realization struck me.
‘What if… from the start, it wasn’t about hiding the black magical aura at all?’
The 2nd Princess hadn’t used Teleportation to reach the Central Banquet Hall—she’d taken a carriage.
She’d said it was dangerous because they didn’t know the scale of the explosion, but that was something Cade would’ve solved by maintaining some distance and using Teleportation.
And she’d ridden by carriage all the way from Melgote to the Imperial Capital.
‘What if the black magical aura wasn’t the problem—but the 2nd Princess herself was?’
My heart raced with the sensation of drawing near to the answer.
Just now, hadn’t she only properly controlled her mana after grasping the Crystal?
It was clear the 2nd Princess was now in a state where she couldn’t regulate her mana without the Crystal’s aid.
‘Ever since Cade and I removed the crystals from the warehouse, they haven’t captured another Crystal Whale.’
I didn’t know if Cade understood what situation the 2nd Princess was in.
If they don’t secure another Crystal before the betrothal ceremony, the Oath Binding Spell won’t be able to be cast on that day.
The Oath Binding Spell performed at Imperial Family weddings has always been conducted by the Grand Duke of Melgote—a wizard—with the assistance of the Imperial Palace wizards.
‘If the Oath Binding Spell gets delayed until after the wedding because of that, we buy time.’
Before the 2nd Princess hunts the Crystal Whale, before the 3rd Princess’s wedding, I need to tear her from that place.
Muttering to myself that everything would be perfect if that happened, a sharp clang sounded again—crack!
It was the sound of the 2nd Princess striking the bars with her fan.
“As you’re a civil servant, you surely have the perceptiveness to know my mood is quite unsettled.”
“…”
“Whether by my mistake or intention, I’d sooner slit your throat right now—or perhaps make you beg me to kill you.”
Sincerity dripped from the 2nd Princess’s words.
My blood ran cold and I swallowed dryly, but nothing more. I showed neither fear nor any sign of producing evidence.
“If you die and your evidence spreads to other continents, you’re still dead—so what good is any of it? Isn’t your life precious?”
On the surface, it sounded like she was coaxing and comforting me, but her expression and atmosphere remained ominous and sharp.
‘She’s testing whether I’m sincere.’
I picked up a sharp fragment of the iron bars that the 2nd Princess’s mana had sliced through and brought it near my throat.
“If I were the type to cave to that kind of threat, I wouldn’t have started this in the first place.”
“Oho.”
The 2nd Princess pulled up one corner of her mouth and furrowed her brow.
“Why go so far?”
“…”
At that question, I found myself slightly taken aback. I’d never doubted my actions or this plan, and I’d never really sought out a reason.
But strangely, as if I’d been contemplating the answer since long ago, the words tumbled out smoothly.
“I saw with these eyes a living being used like a tool and then abandoned. Once I thought something was wrong, I had to set it right.”
“Hmm.”
It seemed a tedious answer, for the 2nd Princess gave a small snort and continued.
“You could’ve become a valued chess piece. What a pity. Then shall we talk about the Tower Master?”
“…”
At those three words—Tower Master—tension flooded through me all at once. I lowered the iron fragment from my throat and spoke.
“I have nothing to say about the Tower Master.”
“Since you don’t seem to value your own life, I thought I might threaten you with the Tower Master’s instead.”
“I’m not sure why you’d use the Tower Master’s life to threaten me.”
“You don’t care whether the Tower Master lives or dies?”
As if surprised by something she’d heard elsewhere, the 2nd Princess asked this while fluttering her fan gently.
I was uneasy, feeling that sharp mana might come flying at any moment, but I forced myself to look away from the fan.
“Rather, isn’t the Tower Master the one with stronger survival instincts between the two of us?”
At my listless reply, the 2nd Princess studied me intently before speaking.
“Do you know whose ring is placed at the Melgote Central Barrier?”
“Isn’t it the Tower Master’s dead fiancée’s ring?”
“It seems you don’t know the conditions under which the ring’s position can be adjusted.”
“…No. I don’t know that.”
“Aha!”
The 2nd Princess, who had been piercing me with her gaze, suddenly burst into laughter. Even the way she laughed freely was elegant.
“You know so much that doesn’t suit your station, yet you don’t know precisely what you ought to. How unfortunate.”
Not understanding the meaning of that laughter, I merely watched carefully as the 2nd Princess clicked her tongue.
“Well then, as for you—”
“Your Highness.”
A maid cut off the 2nd Princess’s words, rushing over with quick steps.
The maid hurried up and handed a small note to the 2nd Princess.
I couldn’t tell what was written on it, but the moment she unfolded the note, the 2nd Princess’s expression brightened noticeably.
She turned to face me with a gentle smile.
“I am a merciful person. Your manner of speech was more presumptuous than I’d expected, but I shall show magnanimity and let you go.”
“…?”
“Tomorrow, Choyun will bring you an Antidote. Once you dissolve it in clear water and have her drink it, she’ll regain her strength, so don’t worry too much.”
Before I could even ask why, the 2nd Princess hurried away from the iron bars.
And the maids promptly released both Tris and me from outside the Geranium Palace.
Suddenly left standing alone in the middle of the Imperial Palace, I looked around in bewilderment. Neither the 2nd Princess’s maids nor Choyun were anywhere to be seen.
‘Why did she let me go? I thought she’d keep us locked up until after the betrothal ceremony, or at least the wedding.’
I stood there suspiciously for a moment, checked the time, and suddenly gasped before breaking into a run.
‘I’m so late!’
Visiting hours for the 2nd Separate Palace had long since ended. The only option was to sneak in.
I wanted to hurry back to the residence and at least catch some sleep, but there were several things I needed to tell Cade.
‘Just hold on a little longer, Tris. Once you drink the Antidote tomorrow, you’ll feel better.’
I readjusted my grip on the whimpering Tris and ran hard.

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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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