The man standing at the door was a little taller than me, wearing thin-rimmed silver glasses.
âGasp, gasp. I managed to find itâŠâ
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.
âWhat is your business?â
âAh, Iâm sorry. Is Sir Dante here?â
Was it Danteâs guest? Itâs been a while since Iâve been with Dante, but today was the first time I saw someone looking for him.
I answered after a short pause.
âHe just went out and will be back soon.â
âI seeâŠâ
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.
âAh, my greetings are late. My name is Luke, a magician belonging to the Magic Tower. Sir Dante was supposed to come today, but he didnât come, so I came here even though I knew it was rude.â
He had an appointment today? This is the first time Iâve heard of it.
Of course, I didnât even give Dante a chance to talk, but anyway, that was still what I didnât 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 wouldnât have sent him gone. Even though I didnât do anything wrong, I felt sorry for the person in front of me.
âAre you a colleague of Dante?â
âColleague⊠Rather, Iâm a subordinate of him. A secretary, to be more specific.â
âAha.â
As I nodded, a hand suddenly reached out in front of my eyes.
âYouâre Sir Danteâs lover, right? Iâve always wondered what kind of person you are, and itâs an honor to meet you.â
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.
âYes⊠Hello.â
Is it a bit like, trying to look good to the superiorâs 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 manâs mistake without missing it.
âAh, Iâm not his lover anymore.â
âPardon?â
âWe got married a while ago.â
The man didnât 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 personâs eyes be so round? And itâs 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.
âPardon me?!â
âDidnât Dante tell you?â
âHe didnât! No, I thought the fact that he has a lover would be surprising enough, but marriage, no. No-no. Really? Like, for real?â
âYes.â
I felt awkward listening to him expressing his surprise so loudly. I stood there and scratched my cheek.
âWhat on earth! For some reason, he laughed out loud sometimes! He doesnât even tell me, the secretary, and I donât know what the hell heâs thinking. To think that he, so freelyă Ąâ
ă ĄBang!
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 manâs shoulder with a grin on his face.
âWhat are you doing here, Luke?â
âNo, Iă ĄThat. Long time no see, Towă Ąâ
Suddenly the man shut up. When I turned my eyes to the seemingly unnatural behavior, Dante was staring at him.
âYeah, itâs been a while. I donât know why you came all the way here.â
âI told you that if you donât come by today, I will come and find you⊠Itâs nothing.â
Look at the cold eyes. A man named Luke started to shiver.
I intervened in the middle because I couldnât see the situation as if my husband had become a blackmailer.
âWhy did you catch the man, youâre the one who decided to go today.â
âEi.â
As soon as our eyes met, Danteâs expression softened. In contrast, the expression of Danteâs secretary became somewhat desperate.
Even if you look at me like that, thereâs nothing I can help you with⊠But instead of saying that, I took the cake box from Danteâs hand.
âThanks for the cake. Iâll eat this well.â
âShall we eat together now?â
âNo. You have an appointment today.â
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 doesnât mean we canât 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.
âI like those who work hard.â
Dante laughed as if he had been waiting for that. Iâve used similar words a few times, and now I feel like heâs even waiting for me to say this.
âI will work hard and come back.â
âYeah, have a safe trip. Are you coming home late today?â
âNo, I will be back soon.â
Dante, who said, âLetâs have dinner togetherâ, soon draggedă Ądragged, not broughtă Ąhis 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.
âWhy didnât you tell me?!â
âQuiet.â
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 peopleâs nerves, but now that it was getting on Danteâs nerves, it didnât seem like a good thing.
Whether Dante glared at him or not, Luke was still restless and noisy.
âHow can you not tell me when itâs none other than the news of your marriage?! Youâve had so many chances to talk!â
âIs it because I didnât tell you that you raised your voice this much right now?â
âYes!â
Luke squealed as if he were to be heard. Dante resisted the urge to cover his ears and continued walking.
âYou donât even pretend to listen. Yes, Iâm glad now that I know! Shall we announce the marriage to the Magic Tower right away?â
âNo, not yet.â
âWhy!â
His ears still hurt, yet Dante couldnât tell him to be quiet like before.
âI havenât told Ei that I am the Master of the Magic Tower yet.â
âHo.â
As he had done before in front Ei, Luke slit his jaw open.
âYou said you got married without telling her about that? Does that make sense?â
âI didnât mean to deceive her. Ei just thinks of me as a good magician⊠I was going to tell her more about it later.â
âI think thatâs a deception.â
âShut up, you.â
Dante put on a grim expression, but Luke continued to speak.
âNo, I donât think there is much to hide, so why didnât you tell her? Does the Tower Master not want her to find out that youâre immortal?â
âEi already knows I donât die.â
âThe person who got married to you even after knowing that is quite⊠Iâm sorry. Please donât stare at me like that as if you want to stab me to death. I canât speak because of fear.â
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.
âBut really, why didnât you tell her?â
âThatâŠâ
Dante hesitated for a moment before answering. It was because he remembered what Ei had said after hearing someoneâs 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?]
[Heâs such a genius that he ignores the people below him, keeps hanging out, and, well, his subordinates are having it really hard.]
[âŠ]
[I donât 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 didnât seem to believe it. She, of course, simply had no idea, but it seemed different to Dante, who got stabbed.
âI need to clear up some misunderstandings so I can at least bring it up.â
âPardon? What does that mean?â
âNothing. In any case, the Master of the Magic Tower⊠I was going to tell her that soon.â
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 couldnât always be by her side.
âIâll tell her after Iâve dealt with this matter, so after that, you can do as you like.â
âIf you say so⊠I understand. Youâre really going to tell her, right?â
âYeah.â
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. Heâll have to tell Ei about this tonight.
He was worried because it was the first time heâd be away for so long since he met Ei, but he didnât 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.