CH 65

The face of the Master of the Magic Tower was full of anticipation and shimmering. As if he was already curious about the reaction, his eye smile that seemed to brighten up the surroundings was a bonus.

Seeing that laugh, Ivan quietly rubbed the goosebumps on his arm. The Master of the Magic Tower tearing down space and fixing it in hopes of making someone happy. Truly, it was an act that didn’t fit at all with his reputation of tearing people to death.

Isn’t this just a level where people have changed? He glanced at the Master of the Magic Tower with eyes that were half absurd and half astonished, and then his eyes met with the lord of the Master of the Magic Tower.

A stare staring at him as if he was asking why he didn’t answer.

Feeling the silent pressure in his eyes, Ivan hurriedly nodded his head.

“Yes! I’m sure Sister will really like it too!”

“Right?”

When the Master of the Magic Tower once again put out a lazy smile as if he was satisfied with his answer.

There was, click, and the sound of the door opening behind Ivan.

“What is this place?”

A small murmur was heard, and someone slowly stepped inside. The sunlight that flooded the room made the ends of the wheat-colored hair rustle softly.

As soon as she stepped into the space, Ei, who had been dazzled with a faltered expression, immediately checked the people inside and opened her eyes wide.

To put it in more detail, she looked at the face of the Master of the Magic Tower and made an expression of enlightenment.

“What, why is it so dazzling?”

What did she say?

Before Ivan could even doubt his own ears, Ei spoke with a calm expression.

“Did you two do something?”

At the question, Ivan forgot what he had been thinking right beforeㅡI should get a hearing testㅡand fell silent. He couldn’t answer that he didn’t know what he was doing here either.

I watched the Master of the Magic Tower use magic for Sister? Hm, something is weird.

But whether or not Ivan was contemplating an answer, Ei didn’t seem to care much. Soon after, the eyes looking at the two of them naturally turned to the surroundings, and Ei, who seemed to be looking inside for a while, opened her mouth slightly.

A scene where the residual dust glistened, and the books that filled it up. Sunlit brown eyes captured the tall bookshelves. Ei, who had an unusually surprised expression on her face, slowly walked inside.

As if trying to check the books that seemed to reach the end of the ceiling, she continued to look high. Seeing her attitude of not paying attention to the two in front and only looking up, Ivan glanced at her and looked at the Master of the Magic Tower.

After checking the expression of the Master of the Magic Tower, he thought as he returned his gaze to its original state. He shouldn’t have seen it.

She approached them only after some time, when she seemed to be walking lightly inside and looking around.

“Everywhere else was upside down, but only this one is fine.”

Knock, knock. Ei’s hand tapped on the book on the bookshelf as if knocking.

“Has it originally been like this, or did it just happen?”

Transparent amber eyes turned to the Master of the Magic Tower. For a person who asked, the tone sounded like she already knew the answer, yet the Master of the Magic Tower gave the answer obediently nonetheless.

While he still smiled like the happiest man in the world.

“It just happened like this.”

“Were they all broken before?”

“Mm.”

“It must have been worth seeing. To think that something like this was broken.”

As Ei’s head turned upwards once more, the Master of the Magic Tower’s expression changed.

“…Shall I break it again?”

“What? It’s not like that. Why would you destroy something that was fine at best?”

“Then do you like it this way?”

“Yeah, I like it the way it is.”

After that, there was silence for a while. Ei kept her mouth shut and put on a dazzling expression again, and with that expression close to a frown, Ivan distorted his face as well. It was an inevitable reaction for them.

“…Dante. Why do you look like that?”

“Hm?”

Because the Master of the Magic Tower had a brighter smile than one had ever seen.

“Such, you’re smiling like you have the whole world.”

Before Ivan could express his strong sympathy for Ei’s sour tone, unexpected words were heard.

“I like it when you say you like it.”

Ivan thought again. As expected, I should get a hearing test.

“It would be nice to hear that word a thousand times all day long.”

And he thought again. I’ll have to take it twice.

In the end, he drew a conclusion in my head—a rationalization close to that—that the Master of the Magic Tower he saw during the war and the Master of the Magic Tower in front of me were different personalities, but he heard Ei’s quiet voice.

It was a queasy tone.

“What’s wrong with him?”

There was another silence.

***

I couldn’t even try to fix my expression.

What Dante himself said… No matter how I understood it, it was beyond my understanding for him to say such a thing in the presence of other people.

Look at Ivan’s face. It felt unbearable for a child who seemed to be awkward to hear such a thing. Hey, even I, who have gotten used to it, wondered why he was like that, but what about people hearing it for the first time?

However, the person who threw Ivan also me into confusion and absurdity in turn remained calm.

“You’re not really asking out of curiosity, are you?”

Rather, it was the same as a smile without a single change in expression.

“Mm. I just said it because I wanted you to be quiet.”

“How can I be quiet? Other times, unknowingly, you’re in front of me…”

“Stop! I understand so stop for a while. Please.”

I put my hand over Dante’s mouth, only to realize that he was standing close enough for me to touch him with an outstretched hand.

Since when has he been in front of me? Wasn’t he originally standing in front of the window?

But now wasn’t the time to question that. It was too, too embarrassing to keep listening to this over and over again. I’m not even talking about it, so why is all the shame on me?

“Ivan! Kade was looking for you earlier, you know?”

“Ah, really?”

Though very much obvious, it’s a lie. A white lie to save someone. The effect appeared immediately, and Ivan’s face, which was making an expression that he wanted to escape from here, suddenly brightened.

“Why is he looking for me! I’m going to see Brother Kade! Goodbye!”

“Yeah, bye.”

I couldn’t help but feel a subtle feeling as he walked out quickly with a plump bouncing step. Did he want to run away that much?

Click. There was the sound of the door closing, and soon the interior was quiet. Feeling better now, I removed my hand from covering Dante’s mouth,

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you shy.”

And I blocked it again.

However, this time, it was to no avail. As if he knew it, his purple eyes folded neatly, and his warm lips touched the palm of my hand. It was a warmth that really tickled me.

My fingers twitched reflexively, yet Dante didn’t mind my movements. While my hand was weak, Dante gently removed and kissed the back of my hand this time.

It was only after I closed my eyes and saw him laughing that I realized that I couldn’t keep Dante’s mouth shut any longer, but luckily Dante said something quite different from what he had just said.

At least, it wasn’t something I would shout out to him to stop talking about because I would die of shame.

“How did you get here?”

“Lisa told me.”

Instead of telling me where the library was, she gave me the location of Dante. I have a question for Dante, that’s why I wanted her to let me know.

Dante, who heard me, shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“I thought she left this morning, turns out she has been playing with you.”

Left? It was something I had never heard from Lisa, so I looked at Dante with doubts. Where could Lisa be going?

But before I could ask more about him, Dante pulled my hand slowly.

“Now that you’re here, would you like to take a look inside? It’s a place you’ll love. For sure.”

“What do you believe in that you’re so sure about?”

“You like books. Then you will like a place with lots of books.”

It’s true that I like books, and it’s also true that I like a place full of books. In fact, one of the few places that gave me a sense of security was the bookstore.

Yeah, that’s certainly not wrong, but…

I tilted my head for a moment at the sense of incongruity felt in Dante’s words. Then Dante, who was looking at me, asked in a low voice.

“…You like it, right?”

Instead of disappearing, the sense of incongruity deepened at the carefully asked words.

It’s like saying that he’s going to destroy what he has fixed, or he’s inviting me to look around together if I like it.

Not to mention him being delighted with each and every one of my reactions…

Why does it feel like he’s trying so hard to look good to me today?

As if I’m looking in between after I’ve noticed Dante’s feelings and before I’ve accepted him. I shook my head and held his hand tightly, then he put on a puzzled expression.

“Are you doing this because you want something?”

“Something I want?”

“You’re like someone who keeps looking at me.”

“There’s no such…”

Dante, who answered without hesitation, stopped talking in the middle. Did I just get it wrong? A hunch that I might have said something unnecessary raised my head.

And, as expected.

“Then can you say that you like me one more time?”

As if he wouldn’ miss the time, Dante looked at me with subtle anticipation.

For some reason, the face in front of my eyes turned ugly. I pinched his cheek lightly with my other hand that wasn’t holding it, and even the pinched face was so handsome that I let out a sigh. Ah, for real.

“Do you really need to hear that?”

“Mm.”

“Really?”

Again, unreasonably funny.

It’s obvious, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t say even if I died. Rather, it was closer to what I could say with sincerity.

Besides, you, not anyone else, say you want to hear it, what am I going to do?

“Alright.”

The latter words were whispered into his ear in a small voice. Once again, Dante smiled broadly, as if it was enough to understand even though it was a very small voice.

With a face that didn’t hide that he was overjoyed at every word I said.

The reason I ended up laughing was probably because you looked so happy in front of me.