Chapter 19

When I checked the time, it was midnight.

Far too late for an inn employee to be knocking on my door.

I wasn’t expecting any visitors either, so I frowned in confusion. Just then, another knock sounded.

Who could it be? Don’t tell me it’s Kade…

The only person who would show up unannounced regardless of the hour was Kade.

Had humiliating me in front of the observation station staff not been enough?

Or had he actually come to apologize?

Either possibility made my chest feel tight. I had no idea how I was supposed to face him.

Maybe I should pretend to be asleep.

Knock. Knock.

Neither loud nor soft, the knocking continued persistently.

After a moment of hesitation, I threw back the blankets and walked to the door.

I told him not to trespass into my room. I suppose this time he’s at least knocking first.

As if he sensed my presence, a voice came from the other side of the door.

“Vivian Soling. It’s me. I need to talk to you.”

“…”

My hand stopped halfway to the doorknob.

My expression stiffened.

“Tomorrow. It’s late.”

“I’m on field duty tomorrow. Open the door.”

I let out a silent sigh at the relentless insistence.

After throwing on a coat, I opened the door.

The person standing outside was Aster.

He greeted me with an easygoing smile.

“I knew you wouldn’t be asleep.”

“I was just about to go to bed. What are you doing here at this hour?”

My voice came out strained.

I was uncomfortable, irritated, and incapable of sounding polite.

Aster blinked in surprise.

“Are you angry with me? Why? If anyone should be angry, shouldn’t it be me?”

“Just tell me what you came here for.”

“Out here?”

He spread his arms and glanced down the corridor.

The quiet of night.

The perfect time for other people to eavesdrop.

If I leave him standing here, he’ll definitely start talking about the nepotism issue again.

I had already been humiliated more than enough in front of other people.

Reluctantly, I let him into the room.

“Now talk.”

Whatever he wanted to say, I doubted it would be anything pleasant.

Aster slowly looked around the room before smiling gently.

“I want to know exactly what you meant.”

“…?”

“You said that if you succeed this time, I could become a Crystal Whale Investigator.”

“There wasn’t any hidden meaning. I meant exactly what I said.”

“How would that even be possible?”

“If I succeed in obtaining the Magic Tower’s seal, the Director promised to transfer me to another department. Once I leave the Crystal Whale Department, they’ll need an additional investigator. Naturally, the first candidate would be you, since you were originally supposed to become a Crystal Whale Investigator.”

“Ah. Ahahaha!”

Suddenly Aster doubled over laughing as if he’d just heard an excellent joke.

Even when I stared at him strangely, he continued laughing until tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.

Finally, he wiped them away.

“Good heavens, Vivian. I have no intention of transferring to the Crystal Whale Department anymore. No regrets. No interest.”

“What… are you talking about?”

“I’m staying in the Land Beast Department. Sure, transferring to the Crystal Whale Department would have been nice, but it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Aster smiled contentedly, as though savoring the punchline.

I only grew more confused.

Considering everything he had done to me, the claim that he no longer cared about the Crystal Whale Department made absolutely no sense.

“Then why…?”

My voice trembled.

“Why did you torment me all this time?”

I genuinely felt sorry that my appointment had interfered with Aster’s promotion.

But there had been nothing illegal about me becoming a Crystal Whale Ecological Investigator.

“It’s not like I got this job through corruption. I didn’t force my way into the department. Yet you followed me all the way to Melgot just to make me look ridiculous. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been?”

“If it was that difficult, you should’ve quit.”

The answer struck me like a slap.

“Why keep clinging to it?”

“…So that’s what this was about? You wanted me to resign?”

I laughed bitterly.

“Unfortunately, that’s not possible. Some nobles can’t even maintain a single estate unless they work for a living.”

“No.”

Aster shook his head.

“What I mean is that instead of struggling so desperately to earn money, you should just get married.”

My eyes widened.

Then he smirked and added:

“To me.”

“…?”

“You’re pretty. You’re intelligent. You’d be useful in all sorts of ways. Besides, I’ve been good to you all this time.”

The shamelessness of his words left my lips trembling.

A kind of humiliation I had never experienced before rushed straight to my head.

It was true that I was of marriageable age.

But as the daughter of a ruined baronial family, I was practically worthless on the marriage market.

Most people preferred wealthy commoners over impoverished noble families that couldn’t even support themselves.

And Aster came from exactly that kind of wealthy commoner family.

All this time, I had found it strange.

The way he humiliated me one day, then quietly gave me expensive snacks the next.

The way he suddenly approached me and acted friendly at the most random moments.

No matter the reason, I had never imagined that those confusing acts of kindness were his attempt at courting me.

Does he pity me?

If he wanted a noble bride, he could have aimed for a family with much higher status.

I sat there opening and closing my mouth without finding words.

Aster chuckled.

“Speechless? I understand how you feel. You’re too nervous to talk, right?”

“What exactly do you think you understand?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“Right now I’m so angry I could violate Imperial law and kill someone.”

“Now that’s a joke.”

Aster shrugged.

“You no longer have to worry about money. I get a bride I’m not embarrassed to introduce to people. It’s a perfect arrangement for both of us. I don’t understand why you’re reacting like this.”

“Get out.”

At this rate, I really might end up committing a serious crime.

I shoved him toward the door.

Aster spun around effortlessly and caught my wrist.

“Stop being so emotional and think calmly for a moment, Vivian Soling. You’re a smart woman. Let’s make good use of each other’s reputations.”

“As if you’d need my reputation. Let go of me. Let go!”

The moment I raised my voice and tried to wrench my hand free—

The tightly shut window suddenly burst open.

A violent gust of wind roared into the room.

“Ugh—what, what is this?!”

Aster staggered backward after being struck in the face by a stone that flew through the open window.

Freed from his grip, I jumped against the wall in shock.

“Is it a typhoon?”

“What in the—agh!”

CRACK!

A bolt of lightning shot through the window.

Aster nearly jumped out of his skin.

I’d heard that Melgot’s weather was rough, but surely not this rough.

A soaked newspaper.

A blunt tree branch.

A broken fishing rod.

Chunks of brick.

A broom.

An endless assortment of objects came flying through the window, accompanied by thin streaks of lightning.

Aster stumbled around in terror.

At one point he tripped over his own feet and crashed to the floor before scrambling upright again.

Completely disheveled and panting, he finally bolted for the door.

“Let’s leave it here for tonight. Ugh—I have to report to the Magic Tower tomorrow. I’d better get going. This insane weather…!”

Even while shielding his head and fleeing, he couldn’t resist reminding me that he alone had been selected as the empath the Magic Tower required.

The wind was so strong that the objects blown into my room rolled all the way into the hallway.

The moment the door slammed shut behind him, silence returned.

You’re telling me that was a natural phenomenon? No way.

Still stunned, I stood there for a moment.

Then, on a hunch, I looked out the window.

The wind was blowing hard, and no one was visible outside.

Yet none of it felt like enough of an explanation.

A name escaped my lips.

“Kade?”

“Looking for our Tower Lord?”

“Eek—!”

I barely managed to stop myself from screaming.

A figure had suddenly appeared upside down outside the window.

“L-Lana?”

“Hello, Investigator!”

Like an acrobat, Lana flipped gracefully through the air and slipped into the room.

Completely bewildered, I looked outside again.

There was no sign of any other adult mage.

Since she was still young and shouldn’t be standing around in the cold night air, I hurriedly closed the window and drew the curtains.

“Lana, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me all those stones and things flying through the window were your doing?”

“He deserved it. He was saying ridiculous nonsense.”

Lana puffed out her cheeks.

“…I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?”

“Of course not. Thank you for getting revenge on my behalf. Though I suppose I showed you a rather embarrassing side of myself.”

Honestly, watching Aster panic had been immensely satisfying.

I did feel a little guilty that someone as young as Lana had ended up handling it.

But judging by her expression, she’d had plenty of fun.

I decided not to dwell on it.

“So why did you come all the way here?”

“Oh! I’m running an errand for the Tower Lord.”

“…At this hour?”

“He said that since it was so late, you’d feel less uncomfortable if I came instead. And I wanted to do it too.”

Beaming, Lana held out a paper envelope.

The envelope was sealed with wax.

Stamped clearly into the seal was the unmistakable crest of the Tower Lord.

Is he trying to make fun of me, or what?