Chapter 10

A faint laugh escaped Cade’s lips amidst the crowd’s small gasps.

“Perhaps because you deliver invitations through children’s hands. That look suits you far better.”

Even while a member of the imperial family was speaking of life and death, his attitude seemed to say, Try it if you dare.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall froze over.

Before anyone noticed, guards had already surrounded the Third Princess and Cade, yet not a single one of them moved recklessly.

The Imperial Palace has nothing to gain by openly making an enemy of the Magic Tower.

The mages of the Tower were one of the Empire’s strongest emergency forces, but the Imperial Palace had never once succeeded in bringing them to heel.

A royal family incapable of subduing the Tower, yet equally incapable of maintaining a harmonious relationship with it.

That was the one blemish on the House of Gaiana.

That must be why Her Highness kept sending invitations to Cade.

The Third Princess looked as though she wanted to slap him across the face immediately, but in the end she could only vent her anger by gripping her fan so hard it creaked.

“Today is a joyous occasion, so I shall show mercy. But I will not forget this.”

“I’m honored.”

Without sparing a glance for the shattered glass lying on the floor, Cade pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time.

“If you ever have business in Melgot, feel free to invite me again. Banquets are more entertaining than I expected.”

With that, he gave a brief bow and turned away.

For the briefest moment, it felt as though their eyes met.

Dark crimson footprints remained wherever he walked.

The face of the Third Princess, who normally exuded elegance and gentleness, had turned bright red from suppressing her fury.

“Resume the music. And those bloodstains on the floor—erase every trace of them.”

She barely managed to keep her voice under control as she issued the order.

Soon the sound of instruments once again filled the greenhouse, while maids hurriedly scrubbed the floor clean.

People began whispering behind fans raised to their lips.

“I had no idea Her Highness was still sending invitations to the Magic Tower.”

“Did she hold her birthday banquet in Melgot because she wanted to meet the Tower Master?”

“I heard from a lady-in-waiting that Grand Duke Melgot willingly offered the venue because he wanted Her Highness to see this magical greenhouse…”

“Well, anyone might want to see the face behind all those rumors. Especially since he never leaves Melgot.”

Apparently unable to enjoy the banquet any longer, the Third Princess gathered her attendants and left for the terrace.

That only made everyone even more eager to gossip about her and the Tower Master.

I stared blankly around the greenhouse, now as chaotic as if a storm had swept through.

What exactly is that bastard Cade?

I knew the position of Tower Master was prestigious, but was it really acceptable to treat a princess like that?

Come to think of it, even before I knew Cade was the Tower Master, I had heard countless shocking rumors about him.

He once sent the corpse of a monster to the Imperial Palace as a “tribute gift,” after all.

So why had he acted that way just now?

My gaze fell to the large, dark-red handprint on my sleeve.

The sensation of Cade gripping my arm tightly was still vivid.

In the instant before I fell, he had teleported to me and then away again with such smoothness and speed that it felt completely natural.

So natural that I couldn’t tell whether he had come to catch me—

—or whether he had simply been trying to take the drink.

...Obviously he was just taking the drink. What’s wrong with me? Stop thinking weird things.

Trying to shake off the embarrassing thought, I drank some water.

Then the person I had been looking for appeared on her own.

“Vivian. So it really was you? I was wondering who would show up to a banquet wearing a civil servant’s uniform.”

“There are people who show up covered in monster blood.”

“Ahahaha. The Tower Master was seriously hilarious.”

Simona took a sip of water as well before gesturing toward my arm.

“But are you okay? You looked frozen earlier.”

“Oh, yes. I was just a little surprised.”

“I already knew it, but after seeing him today, he’s not just any lunatic. His Grace must be upset too. He even opened the magical greenhouse for his beloved younger sister, and the banquet ended up like this.”

The ruler of Melgot was the Second Princess, who had become Grand Duke of Melgot a year ago.

Since the Magic Tower was located in Melgot, there was no way she and Cade could avoid crossing paths.

I had no idea how that situation worked.

“Was Her Highness the Second Princess—not, I mean, the Grand Duke—not attending today’s banquet?”

“Apparently she’s been away from the ducal castle because of the monsters. Since she and the Tower don’t get along, they probably aren’t working together.”

That made sense.

The Magic Tower couldn’t protect every coastline of the Northern Continent by itself.

Back when I worked in the Imperial Palace, I had once seen the Second Princess from afar.

A pure white, delicate robe draped over a beautiful dress, giving her the aura of something out of a myth.

Remembering that mysterious and elegant figure, I murmured softly,

“I thought the Grand Duke would become the next Tower Master.”

“Everyone did, didn’t they? They said it was the first time someone from the imperial family had shown such powerful magical talent.”

Simona nodded as though it were obvious.

The Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower had been locked in a tug-of-war for generations.

If a royal had become Tower Master, that long struggle would have ended.

The Palace wanted to keep the Magic Tower like a vassal, protecting the Empire while strengthening imperial authority.

The mages, however, generally had little interest in the affairs of the Palace.

Long ago, magic had been unfamiliar and feared. Mages were often persecuted, and many people sought to exploit them.

According to history, the Magic Tower began when an archmage gathered mages together and created a sanctuary to protect them.

Over time, those mages became increasingly isolated.

Now they devoted themselves solely to researching mana and magic.

Though the rise of monsters eventually forced them out into the wider world.

These days, the Palace seemed to monitor them through laws requiring every mage within the Empire to register with the Magic Tower.

The only people capable of mediating between the Palace and the mages were the Tower Masters.

And considering Cade is already being called a delinquent, he’s clearly very different from previous Tower Masters. If the Second Princess had become Tower Master instead, transferring departments would probably have been much easier...

The thought immediately soured my mood.

No. If that had happened, I probably never would have gotten the Tower Master’s seal in the first place, let alone the chance to transfer departments.

Checking the time, I decided not to delay any longer and finally told Simona why I had come.

“More importantly, Senior. Officer Yukel said we’re supposed to report to the docks tomorrow.”

“Hm? I know. I already talked with Yukel earlier.”

“...What?”

What was she talking about?

As I stood there frozen like a broken machine, Simona burst out laughing.

“Wait, don’t tell me you came all the way here just to deliver that message? In your civil servant uniform?”

As the situation sank in, disbelief quickly gave way to irritation.

He made me do something this pointless just to haze me? I’m already exhausted!

We worked together anyway.

If I was too tired to do my job properly, it would only make things inconvenient for him as well.

Why would he even bother?

Perhaps my displeasure showed on my face, because Simona threw an arm around my shoulders and laughed loudly. It was a gesture that didn’t suit her glamorous appearance at all.

“Want to head back? I doubt anything more entertaining than the Tower Master’s appearance is going to happen.”

She said that, yet all the way to the exit she kept scanning groups of people, clearly hoping some new excitement would break out.

As I dragged her toward the entrance, one of the guards caught my attention.

His expression looked uncomfortable.

Sticky bloodstains marked his shoulder and gloves.

Apparently Cade had greeted him in his own uniquely malicious way.

Is Cade really... completely insane...?

Feeling thoroughly drained, I continued walking when a coachman approached and bowed.

“Investigator Vivian Solling, correct? Your carriage has arrived.”

I was about to explain that there must be some mistake, but then stopped.

The coachman was familiar.

And so was the carriage he indicated.

It was undoubtedly the same carriage I had ridden from the Magic Tower.

“Don’t tell me you called a carriage in advance too? Typical imperial-city snob.”

“I forgot about it myself. Just get in already.”

After sending Simona off in another carriage, I followed the coachman.

“But I never called for a carriage.”

“Yes, I know.”

The coachman chuckled.

“Someone else called it for you.”

As he opened the carriage door, an invisible force suddenly seized my body and yanked me into the dark interior.

“...!”

The door slammed shut behind me.

The carriage immediately started moving.

A snap of fingers echoed through the cabin, and the interior brightened.

Sitting across from me, legs crossed leisurely, was Cade.

Not a single trace of blood remained on him. He looked perfectly immaculate,,,