* * *

“Now, now, welcome, welcome.”

The Tower Master greeted us alone. Her blazing red hair was twisted up, and she wore large horn-rimmed glasses.

“To think we’d meet again like this. Isn’t the power of fate incredible?”

“You believe in the power of fate even at the Magic Tower?”

“Actually, I don’t. Hmm, let’s take off those masks first. Why are you hiding that cute face?”

The Tower Master quickly pulled off my mask.

I accepted the mask she removed. Only then did I see the large purple gem attached to it.

“Oh my, I thought it was an amethyst, but now that I look closely, it’s a purple sapphire? That’s super rare. As expected of the Noart Count Family’s wealth—this size of gem probably has a name, doesn’t it?”

The Tower Master made a big fuss.

In truth, it wasn’t something I got from the Noart Count Family—it was from Zahid…

I nodded and answered gloomily.

“Yes… Its name is ‘Territorial Marking.’”

“What a unique name.”

The Tower Master tilted her head, then gently cupped my cheek and smiled brightly.

“Anyway, welcome, Lady Rosie. But there’s something you must keep in mind while you stay here.”

Her eyes flashed sharply.

“I’ve driven out all the Temple-aligned people, but… you know, right? The Temple’s eyes are everywhere. Even this place isn’t completely safe. Don’t ever let your guard down.”

I nodded with a tense expression.

The Tower Master knew the whole situation and was sheltering me. So I had to make sure not to be a burden.

There could be no recklessness—like contacting my family or Zahid and putting them in danger.

“The Temple… really is a difficult opponent.”

The Tower Master sighed and muttered.

“That man who’s lived for over a hundred years… how thoroughly do you think he’s spread his net, everywhere and anywhere?”

“…I’ll be in your care for a while, Tower Master. Just until Ethan becomes a great archmage.”

“No need to worry.”

Ethan dramatically pulled off his mask and declared:

“Teo said he’s definitely going to craft a magic tool infused with my amazing mana. Once Rosie has that, she’ll be able to move freely even without me. It’ll be soon. I’m a genius, after all.”

Watching him strut around bragging reminded me of Julian somehow—and that only made it sting more.

“Um, Ethan.”

The Tower Master chimed in awkwardly.

“I didn’t actually ask you to take off your mask.”

“Didn’t you say, ‘Why hide a cute face’?”

“Well, yes…”

“…”

“Anyway, come this way, Lady Rosie.”

The Tower Master took my hand and led me up the stairs.

“I’ll show you where you’ll be staying until Ethan awakens as a great archmage.”

I had heard it was somewhere near the top of the tower.

And when we reached the top of the tower—I was stunned.

This place looked less like the inside of a tower and more like a small village of its own.

“This space was created entirely using Ethan’s sealed mana. Isn’t magic incredible?”

The Tower Master grinned as she spoke.

“The mages here love it so much that many moved in permanently and spend their days researching. Their lives and yours, Lady Rosie, will be pretty much the same.”

“Research, you mean…”

“Just sit at a desk muttering nonsense. Flip through some magic books now and then.”

There were cozy little houses, dining spots, and even small animals wandering around.

At this point, it felt more like moving house than being imprisoned…

“All you have to do is act like a regular mage obsessed with research. It won’t be hard. Everyone here lives pretty much the same.”

“Now, this is our house.”

Ethan pointed to a quaint two-story house with a smile.

“We’ll be staying over there.”

I slowly nodded.

“Forget the outside world for a while. Now you just need to grow up worry-free.”

“I hope you grow up soon, Ethan.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Please… soon.

That night, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ I lay in a strange bed in a new room, worrying for a long time about whether I could really pull off pretending to be a crazy mage—and then I fell asleep.

The next morning, I sat on a swing in the garden, hiding a novel inside a magic book and reading with great effort.

Not long after, the mages living on the top floor came jogging by and acknowledged me.

“Ah, are you Sir Ethan’s younger sister?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’ve come to like magic too…”

As I gave a vague excuse, I tensed, thinking, ‘What if they ask me a question about magic?’

But the mage continued the conversation seriously.

“Thanks to Sir Ethan’s mana, the top floor has become such a livable place. Did you know it was constructed using the ‘Odatrio Formula’?”

“Um, I don’t know that much about magic yet…”

“Oh, that swing appears to be made using the Tefalov Principle! Fascinating.”

I blinked.

I think I was starting to get a sense of how they talked. So I rolled my eyes once and replied:

“Gasp… I don’t remember the name, but your excellent hat seems to be related to some such principle.”

At my vague response, the mage seemed to think we were connecting well and excitedly continued.

“Speaking of hats, that reminds me—do you know what kind of magic was cast on the famous mage Keddler’s hat?”

Yeah. I was beginning to understand how to communicate with mages.

The mages of the Magic Tower’s top floor had come here because they disliked the outside world. They didn’t really listen to others. They just talked and thought about their own ideas. They were completely lacking in social skills and trapped in their own heads.

Come to think of it, the Tower Master was probably chosen for her excellent social skills on top of her magical prowess—since she had to interact with the outside world.

The key to talking with a mage was this: whatever you talked about, the conversation would always end up circling back to their own research topic.

So I did the same. No matter what we were talking about, I always ended with something about myself. Not that anyone was listening anyway.

And contrary to my worries, as time passed, no one in the tower thought I was strange.

“Hmm, someone just like us has arrived!”

It didn’t quite feel like a compliment, but still.

* * *

Time at the Magic Tower passed with startling speed.

There was nothing I could do here, and I couldn’t get involved with the outside world. If I got ahead of myself, I might end up hurting others.

Ending this life isn’t something I can decide. It all depends on Ethan.

So I just lazed around.

I tucked novels between magic books and read, or tested out the magic tools Ethan developed.

News about my family or Zahid came only through the newspaper.

When I really got curious, I would ask the Tower Master—but since she wasn’t that in touch with the world either, her answers always came late.

Even so, each day passed like a breeze. It was true: the days of an unemployed person pass the fastest.

“Oh! Sir Ethan has already reached the 5th Circle, they say?”

“That’s the highest rank ever achieved at that age! But I’ll be reaching the 3rd Circle soon. That’s fast too, right?”

“Soon Sir Ethan will be the new Tower Master. But did you hear? The Tower Master’s latest research field is so fascinating—let me tell you how similar it is to my own topic.”

“They say otherwise. I asked Ethan directly, and he said he doesn’t want to become Tower Master. He just wants to become a great archmage and continue his magical studies. Speaking of which, the current progress of my own research is…”

“Oh, I totally get that kind of single-minded decision. I’ve been researching the completely overlooked Rule of Luluz for years…”

One year, then another, then another.

“Sir Ethan has reached the 7th Circle! If I reach the 7th Circle, there’s something I really want to research…”

One year, then another, then another.

“Sir Ethan succeeded in reaching the 8th Circle! By the way, did you know the number 8 has been showing up a lot in my research lately?”

One year, then another, then another.

“Have you heard? Sir Ethan has finally reached the realm of the Great Archmage! But if I became one too, do you think I could finally break through this one part of my research?”

And then—nine years later, when I had turned twenty-one—

Ethan finally became a Great Archmage.

<End of Part 1>

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep