On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 97

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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 97
Flicker. Flicker.
Cade repeated the habit of checking the time while creating and dismissing a Sphere of Light at his fingertips.
‘Visiting hours are over.’
He knew he was busy preparing for the Engagement Ceremony while working, but he hadn’t imagined staying this late without leaving.
‘Or maybe she just didn’t want to come see me.’
Cade’s mind was tangled with things to say to Vivian and things left unsaid, his thoughts so scattered that he felt adrift the entire time.
He’d considered countless solutions, but paths that guaranteed Vivian’s safety were few.
Ben and the wizards of the Magic Tower might feel slighted, but ultimately it would be good for them as well.
‘If the faction opposing the Magic Tower weakens, we’ll finally be able to breathe. And even if something happens to me, Ben will be there, so there’s nothing to worry about.’
Cade thought Ben suited the position of Tower Master far better than someone like himself.
He’d watched the wizards for a long time and had a strong sense of responsibility—the kind of person who wouldn’t abandon his post as Tower Master and flee over personal matters.
In every way, he was Cade’s opposite.
‘Though Ben himself didn’t seem particularly pleased about it.’
Cade let out a weary laugh and dismissed the Sphere of Light.
He was loosening his Robe when he suddenly stopped.
The Light Signal he’d been creating at his fingertips just moments ago was now flickering faintly beyond the window, between the leaves of a tree.
‘This is the second floor.’
He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things, then looked again—but the familiar Light Signal was still dancing in the darkness beyond the window.
“……Vivian?”
He called softly, and Vivian’s head peeked out from between the shrubs.
“I’m absolutely exhausted. Could you let me in?”
“……?”
Bewildered, Cade gently lifted Vivian and drew her through the window.
“How did you slip past the guards? And how on earth did you climb the tree?”
“Phew.”
Vivian set her feet on the floor with a relieved sigh and pointed to the tree rising outside the window.
“I had some help.”
Gathered on the branches were small magical beasts, waving their paws at Vivian.
Just as mice, cats, and pigeons move freely in and out of the Imperial Palace, small magical beasts wander throughout its corridors.
The beasts, familiar with the Palace’s layout, seemed to have drawn the attention of the guards posted in front of the 2nd Separate Palace while helping Vivian climb the tree.
Cade let out a bitter laugh and shook his head.
“When I look at you, your Attunement Ability seems omnipotent.”
“Is Magic all you ever think about?”
Vivian answered with a casual shrug, and Tris, curled in her arms, made a small sound.
[Squeak…….]
The creature had sensed its master, connected through the Familiar Contract.
At the sight of Tris’s limp form, Cade stiffened.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Vivian opened her eyes wide as if confused by the question.
“Didn’t you feel that Tris lost consciousness?”
“……I had to block Emotion Sharing a bit because of the situation.”
“Ah. So that’s why Tris couldn’t sense your emotions clearly.”
Now it made sense—Tris had been attacked and knocked down, yet he hadn’t come to the Geranium Palace. Understanding this, Vivian laid Tris down on a soft Cushion.
Then she briefly explained what had just happened.
“I was heading straight here after work, but the 2nd Princess kidnapped me.”
“……What?”
“I just got free.”
“……?”
The icy killing intent that had descended on Cade’s face vanished instantly, replaced by confusion.
Vivian, equally puzzled, shook her head and explained the whole sequence of events.
As she spoke, Cade’s expression cycled through various shades of displeasure.
“―So there’s no way she let me go out of sudden pity, but I can’t figure out what she was thinking either.”
“…….”
He listened in silence, then covered his face with his large hands and rubbed it roughly.
“So you climbed a tree and made it all the way up here.”
“You sent me that Light Signal like something urgent was happening.”
“I did call you because I had something to talk about, but if you need rest, we can see each other again tomorrow.”
“I came because I have something to say too.”
In the awkward silence born of waiting for the other to speak, they exchanged an uncomfortable glance.
“First—what were you doing with that Explosive Monster Feather anyway?”
“You knew the 2nd Princess’s Magic was unstable, and that’s why you agreed to the Oath Binding Spell?”
They opened their mouths simultaneously.
“…….”
“…….”
It was Vivian who broke the strange tension first, looking away.
‘Why has he been staring like that since earlier? It’s so unsettling…….’
There was something familiar in the way Cade was looking at her.
Before he’d announced his departure and disappeared, he’d begun looking at her this way—with eyes that seemed afraid of something yet looked only at her.
Moments when his expression was full of thought, yet his words spoke only of affection.
“Vivi. Would you leave far away with me?”
“Where? Are you asking me to go on a trip?”
“Let’s forget this place and go to the Eastern or Southern Continent.”
“……Forever?”
“In the Free Nation below the Southern Continent, we could live peacefully without worrying about anything. You could open a bookstore and I’d bring back fish.”
“Ha ha. Cade fishing. That would be amusing.”
She’d laughed it off, but he’d seemed quite serious then.
She’d sensed that if she simply nodded her head once, he would immediately abandon the empire and leave.
Vivian genuinely loved Cade, but she couldn’t drop everything and leave the empire on a sudden whim.
All of her life was here, and crossing the sea frightened her, but that wasn’t the deepest reason.
A strong, unspoken conviction had always occupied a corner of her heart—that she needed to find something here.
‘Whether it’s my father’s remains or something else, I’m not sure.’
After they’d parted that way, she’d wondered if Cade might have gone to the Eastern or Southern Continent after all.
‘Perhaps it would have been better if he had…….’
Vivian shook off the chain of thoughts pulling her down and raised her head.
She opened her mouth without quite meeting the eyes that still held that expression.
“I brought the feather because I was invited to a meal with the 2nd Princess and the Imperial Princess, and I wanted to be prepared. I thought I might need it to create a distraction or time to escape.”
“That’s impressive.”
Cade murmured sincerely.
She’d managed to evade the guards at this hour and slip into the Separate Palace no less.
She’d carried an explosive device while knowing full well that an explosion would occur—dropping it right at her own feet if need be to escape the situation.
This wasn’t something just anyone could do.
Seeing her consistent, perhaps even heightened ability to act, he felt he’d made the right choice keeping the truth to himself.
Vivian, gauging his reaction, ventured carefully: “Now tell me. You knew the 2nd Princess’s Magic was unstable, didn’t you? That’s why you agreed to the Oath Binding Spell?”
“That’s about right.”
“But even so, they’ll try to bind the spell no matter what during the Wedding Ceremony. So we need to settle this before that happens.”
Cade responded as if he’d failed to hear something important.
“……Wedding Ceremony?”
“Of course there’s a Wedding Ceremony after an Engagement Ceremony. It has to be resolved before the 2nd Princess captures the Crystal Whale.”
“You speak of such things without hesitation?”
“Cade. Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Confuse me like this.”
“…….”
At Vivian’s firm tone, Cade let out a small sigh.
“In any case, don’t worry about the Oath Binding Spell.”
“How can I not worry?”
“Because I’ll bring the 2nd Princess down before she even tries.”
“That may be true, but I’m still uneasy about something.”
Vivian bit her lip as she replayed the day’s events in her mind.
“It’s strange that she just let me go without getting anything from me, and I have no idea what that Note she received said. It bothers me.”
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
Then a sharp sound suddenly echoed from somewhere deep within the Imperial Palace, prolonged and piercing.

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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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