Still frozen with her arm outstretched, Vivian stood there in disbelief until Kaye finally let out a complicated sigh and took the bouquet from her hands.
“I'm sorry, Vivi.”
Without offering any real excuse, he drove the final nail into the coffin of their relationship.
Did I really just get dumped…?
Yes.
She had been dumped.
We didn't even fight. It wasn't like we'd fallen into a rut, either.
Yet he was ending things without warning.
He had spent months claiming he was busy, barely finding time to see her. This was supposed to be their first proper date in ages.
The last time I saw him, he looked exhausted, so I even brought his favorite flowers to cheer him up...
Slowly lowering the arm she had been holding out toward him, she asked,
“Why all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?”
“As if. I was always the problem.”
A bitter smile crossed Kaye's face.
The confusion in her chest gradually turned into anxiety.
She had never seen that expression before.
Panicking, she forced herself to sound cheerful, almost as though she were teasing him.
“What are you talking about? Did you get tired of me or something?”
“...!”
Kaye looked startled, as if he were about to say something, but then he pressed his lips shut.
That reaction made her heart drop.
Without thinking, she grabbed his arm.
“N-No, right? Kaye, why aren't you denying it?”
“......”
Avoiding her gaze, Kaye gently removed her hand from his sleeve.
“Thank you for everything. Take care.”
That was all he said before turning away.
Their two-year relationship, one she had believed was serious, ended just like that.
...That's it?
He really got tired of me?
Vivian stared blankly at his retreating back.
She couldn't even bring herself to reach out and stop him.
For a brief moment, another person's back seemed to overlap with his, making her stomach churn.
Unable to remain standing there any longer, she turned and walked away as well.
As she wandered aimlessly, countless questions flooded her mind.
Did he really get sick of me?
Or was there another woman, and he just needed an excuse?
...And why did he take the bouquet?
We're breaking up, but he still accepted the gift?
Lost in thought, she kept walking until she eventually found herself at a cliff far from the harbor.
The cold wind sliced across her cheeks, yet it all felt unreal.
Everything had happened too suddenly.
Maybe all those times he claimed he was busy and gradually stopped seeing her...
Maybe it had been because he'd already grown tired of her.
I trusted him completely.
I believed he still loved me.
How could he do this?
Embarrassed by the realization that she had been happily imagining a future alone while remaining oblivious to his changed feelings, she buried her face in her hands and leaned against the railing.
Then—
Crack!
The support behind her suddenly gave way.
“Huh...?”
Before she could even process what was happening, her body tilted backward over the cliff.
Below her stretched a vast black sea beneath the darkening sky.
“W-Wait!”
She reached out desperately for something—anything—to grab.
But the only thing her fingers caught was the fluttering hem of her skirt.
Splash!
The impact slammed into her entire body.
“Gah! H-Help—!”
Saltwater rushed into her mouth.
Heavy waves crashed over her and dragged her down.
She fought desperately toward the surface, but the dark, freezing sea swallowed her whole.
As the last of her breath escaped in bubbling gasps, one person came to mind.
Kaye.
It was unfair, but there was no one else she could cling to.
Please save me, Kaye.
Appear like a miracle and rescue me... and I'll forgive everything that happened today...!
Feeling for the ring he had given her, she silently pleaded to someone who could no longer hear her.
Then she suddenly felt something wrong.
Huh?
It wasn't her imagination.
The ring was gone.
The ring Kaye had personally placed on her finger.
The ring she had never once taken off.
Her mind flashed back to his final farewell, when he had briefly held her hand.
A sharp pain shot through her head.
Don't tell me...
He took the ring because we broke up?
...Was he planning to sell it?
Suddenly, anger surged through her.
Her body, which had been growing colder by the second, found new strength through pure fury.
What kind of bastard does that?
I'm too angry to die like this!
What if people start spreading rumors that I threw myself off a cliff because I got dumped by that jerk?
At that moment, she made a vow.
She would never again be fooled by a handsome face.
She would forget him completely, without regret.
And she would never, ever see a man like him again.
Unfortunately, life had no intention of following her wishes.
Somehow, she had miraculously survived the sea and gone on to become an imperial civil servant.
Then fate played a cruel joke on her.
She ran into Kaye again.
At the Magic Tower.
Why the hell is this bastard... here...?
And hadn't the other mages just called him Tower Master?
The Kaye she knew had been an ordinary librarian.
An average man who knew nothing about magic, let alone ruled over a Magic Tower.
Because Kaye had wrapped an arm around her waist, his face was only inches away, but she didn't even have time to question it.
She stared at him in stunned disbelief.
He stared back with the exact same expression.
Around them, the mages erupted into shocked murmurs.
“W-What's going on? Why did the Tower Master suddenly do that?”
“Did he almost kill her by accident?”
“Wait, do those two know each other?”
As the whispers spread, Kaye seemed to snap back to reality.
He lifted his head and glanced around at the gathered mages.
Then he frowned and spoke in an irritated tone.
“I'm tired of watching you idiots scare government officials. Get back to work.”
The moment the words left his mouth—
The world suddenly shifted.
“Ugh...!”
The sensation was unlike anything Vivian had ever experienced.
She squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed onto the first thing she could touch.
It felt like falling from a great height in a dream.
Or missing a step on a staircase and nearly tumbling.
A dizzying, nauseating sensation.
A large hand awkwardly patted her shoulder.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
The scenery around her had completely changed.
Only then did she realize—
They had teleported.
Looking up, she found herself clutching Kaye's robes like a lifeline.
Meanwhile, Kaye was practically holding her in his arms, staring down at her with a grave expression.
Far too close.
“...!”
Startled, she shoved his chest and quickly backed away.
Though the push wasn't particularly strong, he yielded without resistance.
Now that she had some distance, there was no doubt.
It was Kaye.
There was no way she could mistake that face.
“You—”
The moment she opened her mouth, his hand clamped over it.
“Mmph!”
Vivian glared at him and tried to pry his hand away.
He didn't budge.
Instead, he casually moved his other hand.
A flash of white light flickered.
An invisible force swept over her body before disappearing.
Only then did he remove his hand.
“You can talk now.”
“W-What was that?”
She rubbed her mouth with her uniform sleeve and instinctively took a step back.
Whatever he'd done, he had definitely used magic on her.
“I was checking whether you'd brought anything attached to you.”
He paused.
“You've always been a little naïve.”
“...What?”
“Do you have any idea where you've come?”
His reprimanding tone instantly irritated her.
Her fists clenched.
What had she done wrong?
Anyone listening would think she'd chased him all the way here.
“You think I came because I wanted to?”
She shot back.
“I was officially assigned here through proper procedures! I'm here for work!”
“Then why are you—”
Kaye raised his voice before abruptly gritting his teeth.
Snatching her bag away, he pulled out the official documents inside.
“Hey!”
“Doesn't look forged. And that uniform is genuine.”
His eyes scanned the papers.
“Who sent you?”
“What are you even talking ab—”
“Vivi.”
His voice turned sharp.
“Who was the one who sent you here of all places?”
“......”
Shock.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Countless emotions collided at once, and what came out was a furious shout.
“Don't call me that!”
She glared at him.
The affectionate nickname sounded wrong coming from his cold, detached voice.
“My name is Vivian Soling.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You have no right to use my nickname when we're complete strangers.”
Kaye murmured as though he had suddenly realized something obvious.
“Complete strangers...”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“Right.”
Vivian continued staring at him, unable to make sense of the situation.
I knew relations between the Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower were bad, but does that really justify this kind of interrogation?
The man standing before her felt unfamiliar.
And not simply because he was wearing a mage's robe.
Whatever had happened over the past year, Kaye was completely different from the person she remembered.
Despite the obvious discomfort in his expression, his face and voice remained cold, almost angry.
His eyes were dark and razor-sharp.
The kind of gaze that felt wrong.
The kind that made him seem dangerous.
Unstable.
As though caring about another person was beyond his capabilities.
Is this really Kaye?
It didn't feel like she had reunited with an ex-lover.
It felt like she had come face-to-face with a monster that couldn't be reasoned with.
The Kaye I knew was a little sensitive and eccentric, sure...
But he was kind.
Her gaze wandered around the room.
The place he had teleported her to was a chaotic mess that looked somewhere between a study and a storage room.
Yet strangely enough, it suited him perfectly.
As though he had always belonged here.
As though this place had been his from the very beginning.