Chapter 3

I snatched the official document and the bag from him.

“I did come here for work, but I also have a ton of questions for you.”

He had been lost in thought, but he looked at me as if telling me to go ahead.

“Where did you bring me?”

“My office.”

Calling this trash heap an office was shocking enough.

“If this is your office… does that mean you’re really the Magic Tower Lord? Not just someone they put there as a joke to mess with the officials?”

“That’s how it turned out.”

“Since when were you a mage?”

“From the beginning.”

“That’s ridiculous. You were a librarian.”

“I never was. I just pretended to be.”

I doubted my ears and stared at him wide-eyed. We met in the library and even dated—what was he talking about?

“We dated for two years and you lied about your job? No, that’s not all, right? Did you lie about your name too? ‘Kay’?”

“Let’s just say that was a nickname. It’s not that different from ‘Kade.’ More importantly, answer me.”

“….”

“You really didn’t know anything about me, did you? You expect me to believe all of this is just a coincidence?”

Kay… no, Kade, seemed distracted the whole time I was angrily questioning him. Either he didn’t take me seriously, or he found me annoying.

“You expect me to believe you’re a crystal whale researcher? Of all things, you—who hated crystal whales?”

At some point, he had taken my ID and was now holding it up.

The bold words Crystal Whale made me flinch. I could almost see that massive fin cutting through rough waves right in front of me.

If a human is born with mana, they’re called a mage. If an animal is born with mana, it’s called a magical beast.

Among them, the largest and most mysterious are whale-shaped magical beasts with crystals growing on their backs—crystal whales.

For me… they were something I could never feel any affection toward.

I shook my head to get rid of the image and snatched my ID back.

“I still can’t believe it myself, but work is work, right?”

“Are you close to the royal family?”

“…?”

What kind of question was that? How could a palace official be “close” to royalty?

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Is there anyone in the palace who knows what kind of relationship we had? Someone with enough authority to know I’m the Magic Tower Lord and send you here with money?”

“…Are you interrogating me right now?”

I muttered in a daze, then realized how intimidating his attitude had been the whole time, and anger surged up.

I wasn’t naïve enough to expect him to ask how I’d been after dumping me.

I didn’t expect a warm reunion either.

But this kind of pressuring, cornering reunion was too much.

“No one knows that! Do you think I’d go around telling people my ex-boyfriend got sick of me and left me?! I have my pride too!”

“That’s…”

“And you’re acting like I’m some fake official or someone trying to take advantage of our past to get things done cheaply. I’ve already been working as an official for a year, and just like you said, I came here because I didn’t want to deal with crystal whales!”

As I fired back nonstop, Kade seemed to ease up a little. I wasn’t sure if he believed me.

I walked over to the messy desk, smoothed out the crumpled document, and slapped it down.

“I can’t believe you’re the Magic Tower Lord either, but as long as you have the seal, it doesn’t matter. Just stamp this already.”

“Do you even know how garbage—how bad—the document you brought is?”

“Of course I know it’s trash. Just stamp the least trashy one.”

Even to me, the palace’s demands to the Magic Tower looked terrible.

[Official Document Excerpt]

To: Magic Tower Lord
From: Imperial Administration Bureau

Title: Agreement Request for Cooperation in Palace Security

1. This document is written to request the Magic Tower’s consent.

…

1. The palace may appoint Magic Tower mages as imperial knights.
2. The Magic Tower is obligated to subdue sea monsters outside Melgot. If it fails and causes losses to the coastal guard, it bears full responsibility.

…

Everything favored the palace. Every time the Magic Tower refused, the palace just sent more agreements.

Honestly, even I wouldn’t agree to this.

But among them, there were a few decent ones.

If I can just get one stamped… I can transfer departments.

Kade probably didn’t want to keep seeing his ex—especially at his workplace and home, the Magic Tower.

He expressionlessly rubbed the back of his neck, then read a key sentence from the document.

“The owner of the Magic Tower shall cooperate with the Grand Duke of Melgot to maintain public order.”

“Sounds reasonable, right? Just stamp it.”

“I can’t.”

At his firm answer, I narrowed my eyes.

“You said you’re the Magic Tower Lord. This is your land—can’t you help protect it?”

“We already do that without needing an official order.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Everything.”

Kade flipped the document and pushed it back toward me, as if he had nothing more to say.

“They’ll just send more documents if you keep refusing. That’s annoying for you too. This one isn’t bad.”

“…Go back.”

I kept trying to persuade him, but he only shook his head.

If he didn’t like this one, he’d hate the others even more.

I felt suffocated, like my insides were burning.

Did he refuse just because I brought it? …No way.

We didn’t even break up that badly. That would be too petty.

Just as I was about to try persuading him again—

Crash!

A stone flew into the office.

Startled, I turned toward the window. It was wide open.

I definitely heard something shatter.

For a moment, magic circles flickered outside like lace before disappearing.

I noticed a crack in one corner of the glass.

Feeling uneasy, I stepped closer to Kade.

“Kade? That just now…”

“The barrier isn’t perfect right now, so strange things sometimes get in.”

“Didn’t someone throw that in?”

“You know the Magic Tower has a lot of enemies.”

As he walked toward the window, I flinched and grabbed him.

“Something’s coming. You said the barrier isn’t stable—going near the window could be dangerous.”

“…?”

He looked at me doubtfully, then stood by the window anyway.

“Kade! I’m serious!”

“When have I ever not believed you?”

“Then why—”

Before I could finish, the outside turned black.

Bat-like magical beasts with sharp horns and long tails filled the sky.

Thud! Thud!

Screeech!

Their wings flapped loudly, emitting eerie high-pitched noises.

Though blocked by the barrier, they kept slamming into the open window.

“…!”

Anger.
Longing.
Attachment.
Fear.

Their emotions pierced into my head like arrows, making my heart race.

I pressed my chest and took deep breaths to calm myself.

This wasn’t a serious situation. I was just caught off guard—after all, I’d been doing this job for a year.

There must be a reason they’re angry. What is it?

As I examined them and the room, Kade suddenly raised his hand toward the beasts.

A glow, like when he had summoned fire above my head before, appeared near his hand.

“W-wait, what are you doing?!”

I quickly pushed him aside and stood in front of the window.

He just stared at me, hand still raised.

“You were too scared to move earlier.”

“I’m not scared.”

“You’re trembling.”

Instead of explaining, I pointed at the stone on the floor.

“I think that stone is covered in magical beast blood. Baby blood. They think it’s one of their young.”

Kade listened silently, then flames ignited in his hand.

“Kade!”

“That won’t change anything.”

“You don’t have to kill them.”

“Excited magical beasts are unpredictable.”

The fire reflected dangerously in his eyes.

What turned you into this?

His unfamiliar expression made my heart grow cold. He was aiming at the beasts—but it felt like I was the one being hunted.

For the first time, I felt afraid of him.

I swallowed hard.

Then Kade frowned and extinguished the flames.

“If you don’t want to see something ugly, leave.”

I forced myself to speak.

“There won’t be anything ugly. I’ll make sure of it.”