Master, I Swear I Didn’t Mean To! - Chapter 137

Cassius did not answer and looked down at Eki. It wasn’t that he was asking her permission because she was his lover.

Just as Cassius had stepped forward as the acting head of the Gailard Mage Association, his one and only disciple, Eki, had also ended up advancing in status, whether she meant to or not.

Eki was Cassius’s disciple and his adjutant. And an adjutant managed even their superior’s schedule.

“L-Let’s see. This evening you have an association meeting, and after dinner you have a brief meeting with His Highness the Prince…”

“That’s enough. I’m an idiot for begging.”

“…You did say we could meet if you had time.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t have time. Cassius, don’t you think you’re even busier than when I was the association head?”

Eki thought that was the problem too.

Cassius had taken Ikelid’s place as the head of the association, but only as an acting head, a temporary post. Given the circumstances, the royal family kept calling Cassius in because they wanted to seat one of their own as the next official head, and the Mage Association hounded him endlessly to verify the abilities of a man who had spent so long in seclusion.

The latter could be handled more or less with the extension spell for the lifespan extension spell, but the former could not. Even though several months had passed since Cassius left the Thousand Tower, he had been dragged around everywhere and hadn’t even properly seen the capital.

Eki found that frustrating.

“Master, when are we going to be able to go on a date?”

“Sometime soon.”

“When is ‘sometime soon’? My parents also want to meet you, Master.”

“T-That’s, um… wait a little longer.”

Cassius answered stiffly. But Eki’s puffed cheeks showed no sign of deflating.

Watching them, Ikelid let out a snort of laughter.

“What’s the point of officially dating if you can’t even spend time with Eki?”

“Shut up. You’re the one who put me in this position.”

“But you were happy too, weren’t you? You thought with your skills you could easily become the association head.”

He didn’t answer, but sometimes silence was a powerful affirmation. When Cassius crossed his arms arrogantly without a word, Ikelid shook his head side to side.

“Anyway, I get it. It’s not happening today either. The lifespan magic experiments are wrapped up for now, so I’ll be going. Contact me if anything comes up.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, and if you want good restaurants in the capital, I can tell you plenty. I’ve lived here for a few hundred years, after all.”

“That’s enough. Just go.”

“All right. See you next time.”

Ikelid hopped lightly out the window and flew off using the magical tool he always rode. Cassius clicked his tongue.

The relationship between Cassius and Ikelid was better than before. They no longer bristled at each other, you could say. But they weren’t especially close either, so an awkward sort of familiarity remained. Still, no one found it uncomfortable.

Eki knew. Because Cassius and Ikelid had lived at odds for such a long time, it would just take a little time for them to grow closer. Before long, the two of them would become as close as she and her friends.

Well… Master was very shy, so he probably wouldn’t express it well.

It had been like that earlier too. The extension spell for the lifespan extension spell had been for her sake, but it wasn’t something that needed to be rushed. As she had said before, she was still in her prime twenties.

And yet the reason Cassius had set everything else aside to focus on it was probably because of Ikelid. Perhaps Ikelid even knew that himself.

‘I hope the two of them become close soon.’

But watching the two of them made her suddenly miss her friends. More specifically, Milla.

‘I wonder how she’s doing there.’

Milla and Giyote had requested to be dispatched to a branch near the Pinon Forest for Eki’s sake. And the association headquarters had approved it. So what did that mean?

‘I came to the headquarters, and they went there!’

What a twist of fate. Eki had never imagined, not even in her dreams, that Cassius would become acting head and take her with him, so it couldn’t be helped. Still, she felt terribly sorry toward her friends. They had given up a comfortable place and chosen a rural branch office in the countryside for her sake.

“Master, Master.”

“What.”

After Ikelid left, Cassius returned to his work. At his side, Eki spoke up in a coaxing voice.

“About Milla and Giyote.”

“They have to work there for at least a year. I told you that’s the rule.”

“…Yes.”

As expected, there was nothing to be done. Eki pouted. Only then did Cassius lift his gaze from the paperwork and turn it toward her.

“Are you that disappointed?”

“It’s not so much disappointment as feeling sorry.”

“Whatever the intent, it was their choice in the end. Why are you feeling sorry?”

“Still. Our Milla prefers the city. She said that if we ever lived in the capital together, we’d meet every night and go to Mansandro… ah, no. I mean, we’d talk while eating something delicious.”