CH 25

Curly green hair swayed in the wind.

The man standing at the door was a little taller than me, wearing thin-rimmed silver glasses.

“Gasp, gasp. I managed to find it…”

The man who was breathing heavily in his breath quickly raised his head. Seeing the gray eyes rolling around, I blinked a few times before asking.

“What is your business?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Is Sir Dante here?”

Was it Dante’s guest? It’s been a while since I’ve been with Dante, but today was the first time I saw someone looking for him.

I answered after a short pause.

“He just went out and will be back soon.”

“I see…”

He let out a big sigh with a relieved look on his face, as if he was glad he had come to the right place.

“Ah, my greetings are late. My name is Luke, a magician belonging to the Magic Tower. Sir Dante was supposed to come today, but he didn’t come, so I came here even though I knew it was rude.”

He had an appointment today? This is the first time I’ve heard of it.

Of course, I didn’t even give Dante a chance to talk, but anyway, that was still what I didn’t hear. I should have asked him if he had an appointment today before I sent him on an errand.

If I had known that there was such an urgent schedule that a person would come to visit him, I wouldn’t have sent him gone. Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I felt sorry for the person in front of me.

“Are you a colleague of Dante?”

“Colleague… Rather, I’m a subordinate of him. A secretary, to be more specific.”

“Aha.”

As I nodded, a hand suddenly reached out in front of my eyes.

“You’re Sir Dante’s lover, right? I’ve always wondered what kind of person you are, and it’s an honor to meet you.”

The manner in which he held out his hand as if he wanted to shake hands was polite. If only he lowered his head and bowed slightly, he would be ready to bow.

“Yes… Hello.”

Is it a bit like, trying to look good to the superior’s family in order to maintain the position? The feelings got a little weird, so I roughly grabbed his hand and shook it.

And I corrected the man’s mistake without missing it.

“Ah, I’m not his lover anymore.”

“Pardon?”

“We got married a while ago.”

The man didn’t seem to understand what I was saying for a moment. He frowned as if he had heard the wrong thing, yet he opened his eyes wide. As if the pupils would pop out at any moment.

No, how can a person’s eyes be so round? And it’s amazing that he can make such a surprised expression.

It felt like his first impression of being intelligent and calm was blown away when he opened his mouth as if he was in shock.

“Pardon me?!”

“Didn’t Dante tell you?”

“He didn’t! No, I thought the fact that he has a lover would be surprising enough, but marriage, no. No-no. Really? Like, for real?”

“Yes.”

I felt awkward listening to him expressing his surprise so loudly. I stood there and scratched my cheek.

“What on earth! For some reason, he laughed out loud sometimes! He doesn’t even tell me, the secretary, and I don’t know what the hell he’s thinking. To think that he, so freelyㅡ”

ㅡBang!

The man who was talking with a rapid-fire gun shut his mouth at the sudden sound. And I waved at Dante who appeared from behind the man.

Dante appeared, breaking down the door of awkwardness and grabbed the man’s shoulder with a grin on his face.

“What are you doing here, Luke?”

“No, IㅡThat. Long time no see, Towㅡ”

Suddenly the man shut up. When I turned my eyes to the seemingly unnatural behavior, Dante was staring at him.

“Yeah, it’s been a while. I don’t know why you came all the way here.”

“I told you that if you don’t come by today, I will come and find you… It’s nothing.”

Look at the cold eyes. A man named Luke started to shiver.

I intervened in the middle because I couldn’t see the situation as if my husband had become a blackmailer.

“Why did you catch the man, you’re the one who decided to go today.”

“Ei.”

As soon as our eyes met, Dante’s expression softened. In contrast, the expression of Dante’s secretary became somewhat desperate.

Even if you look at me like that, there’s nothing I can help you with… But instead of saying that, I took the cake box from Dante’s hand.

“Thanks for the cake. I’ll eat this well.”

“Shall we eat together now?”

“No. You have an appointment today.”

Saying that, I glanced at the secretary, and Dante put on a sad expression. He just went and came back, so it must mean me kicking him out again.

However, that doesn’t mean we can’t make the person who came here wait any longer.

I looked at the two alternately, checked the expression of the secretary who was desperate and pitiful, and finally sighed once and said.

“I like those who work hard.”

Dante laughed as if he had been waiting for that. I’ve used similar words a few times, and now I feel like he’s even waiting for me to say this.

“I will work hard and come back.”

“Yeah, have a safe trip. Are you coming home late today?”

“No, I will be back soon.”

Dante, who said, “Let’s have dinner together”, soon draggedㅡdragged, not broughtㅡhis secretary and gone. 

I was wondering what the man was going to say earlier in front of the door, but then I shrugged my shoulders once and went into the house to write the letter again.

***

D6.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Quiet.”

Dante frowned as he walked away from the house.

His own secretary had this problem. Once excited, instead of being calm as usual, he became talkative and noisy. Up until now, he had thought that this habit of a secretary was an advantage in that it could get on other people’s nerves, but now that it was getting on Dante’s nerves, it didn’t seem like a good thing.

Whether Dante glared at him or not, Luke was still restless and noisy.

“How can you not tell me when it’s none other than the news of your marriage?! You’ve had so many chances to talk!”

“Is it because I didn’t tell you that you raised your voice this much right now?”

“Yes!”

Luke squealed as if he were to be heard. Dante resisted the urge to cover his ears and continued walking.

“You don’t even pretend to listen. Yes, I’m glad now that I know! Shall we announce the marriage to the Magic Tower right away?”

“No, not yet.”

“Why!”

His ears still hurt, yet Dante couldn’t tell him to be quiet like before.

“I haven’t told Ei that I am the Master of the Magic Tower yet.”

“Ho.”

As he had done before in front Ei, Luke slit his jaw open.

“You said you got married without telling her about that? Does that make sense?”

“I didn’t mean to deceive her. Ei just thinks of me as a good magician… I was going to tell her more about it later.”

“I think that’s a deception.”

“Shut up, you.”

Dante put on a grim expression, but Luke continued to speak.

“No, I don’t think there is much to hide, so why didn’t you tell her? Does the Tower Master not want her to find out that you’re immortal?”

“Ei already knows I don’t die.”

“The person who got married to you even after knowing that is quite… I’m sorry. Please don’t stare at me like that as if you want to stab me to death. I can’t speak because of fear.”

However, for such a person, he spoke very well.

Luke seemed to have come to his senses belatedly after having his life being threatened several times by Dante, then he asked when he was barely returning to his usual calm self.

“But really, why didn’t you tell her?”

“That…”

Dante hesitated for a moment before answering. It was because he remembered what Ei had said after hearing someone’s lament that she had applied for the Magic Tower.

That night, she spoke in her usual calm voice.

[I heard that the Master of the Magic Tower Master is so cold-blooded?]

[Huh?]

[He’s such a genius that he ignores the people below him, keeps hanging out, and, well, his subordinates are having it really hard.]

[…]

[I don’t know why he works like that. Is it because the Magic Tower is his, so he can leave anyway?]

Immediately after hearing that, he made a defense that was close to an excuse, but Ei didn’t seem to believe it. She, of course, simply had no idea, but it seemed different to Dante, who got stabbed.

“I need to clear up some misunderstandings so I can at least bring it up.”

“Pardon? What does that mean?”

“Nothing. In any case, the Master of the Magic Tower… I was going to tell her that soon.”

He had to do that, all the more because he knew the identity of those who attacked him. After Dante informed her that he was the Master of the Mage Tower, he planned to go to a safer place with Ei.

No matter how peaceful this place was, since it was far from the Magic Tower, he couldn’t always be by her side.

“I’ll tell her after I’ve dealt with this matter, so after that, you can do as you like.”

“If you say so… I understand. You’re really going to tell her, right?”

“Yeah.”

Because of a pact with the Crown Prince he had held quite a while ago, although he was reluctant to do so, he was going to be away for about three days soon. He’ll have to tell Ei about this tonight.

He was worried because it was the first time he’d be away for so long since he met Ei, but he didn’t think anything could happen in a rural village like this.

Even if anything happens, it would be fine if he gives Ei something to contact him.

Dante thought he should organize what to say in the evening in advance.