Chapter 54
‘…Wait. Maybe he would be.’
If it had been before, she would have scoffed and denied it outright. But now, things were different. She had already shared all kinds of intimate acts with Cassius.
Could he really have no feelings for her at all? If she suddenly announced she was quitting the Thousand Dog Tower, would he not even try to stop her?
At that thought, she remembered a conversation they’d once had. The situation had been different, but the words still came back clearly.
‘The truth will come out eventually, no matter how much you hide it. This just moved up the timeline.’
‘And if I freaked out and ran away?’
‘…Then I’d have to let you go.’
He had said that after revealing he was a dragon that if she ran away after learning the truth, he would let her go without resistance.
At the time, she hadn’t thought much of it. But now, that memory made her feel strangely unsettled. It was proof that Cassius trusted her deeply, but it was also a sign that he wouldn’t cling to her if she chose to leave.
‘No, that’s not the same thing. That was about him being a dragon, and this would be about me changing jobs.’
She knew logically that they were different. Yet a vague sense of disappointment filled her chest. Before she knew it, she was sulking because of nothing more than the thought of her master not trying to stop her in two entirely hypothetical situations.
“…Was I really working at the Thousand Dog Tower all this time because of my master?”
“I’m not sure either, but it probably wasn’t just for the money. You’re not in debt to anyone, so who would willingly live like a servant just for money?”
“Oh, gods…”
Eki took a weary sip of beer. After draining the glass, she ordered another Alber Mountain brew and dropped her forehead onto the table with a dull thud, thud.
‘So that’s why the luck potion’s effect tied me to him. It wasn’t random at all. I was just full of unspoken feelings for him!’
Without realizing it, she had been drawn to Cassius. Whether it was because of his face, his body, or simply the twisted attachment that came from years of friction, the truth was undeniable.
She likes him.
“Here’s your beer!”
“Thank you…”
Eki rubbed her reddened forehead and lifted her head. She took another long gulp and muttered,
“He’s been scolding me for years… How could I possibly end up liking him?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
“Maybe I’m a masochist or something.”
“Could be.”
“Damn…”
Her head began to ache. She popped another potato wedge into her mouth and tried to sort her thoughts.
‘Alright. I’ve liked my master from the start, the potion just made us… act on it, and now I have to decide what to do next. That’s all it is, right?’
After all that mental circling, she had come back to square one. What should she do from here?
“Why not just date him?”
Milla came to that conclusion easily.
“You haven’t gone all the way yet, right? That’s why you’re overthinking it. It’s obvious.”
“M-Milla!”
“Just sleep with him already. End the master-disciple thing and start over as lovers.”
“Ahhh! Keep your voice down!”
All of Milla’s remarks were the kind that would make bystanders’ ears perk up in curiosity. Panicking, Eki quickly covered her friend’s mouth and whispered,
“There are a lot of people from the Mage Association here. What if someone hears you?”
“Oh, come on. Who’d ever imagine you and Lord Cassius together? They’ll just think you’re talking about some normal love problem.”
“…Well, that’s true.”
Cassius’s difficult personality was infamous throughout Gaillard’s mage community. Before she had joined the Thousand Dog Tower, no apprentice had lasted more than a month under him.
That was why the idea of him dating anyone seemed absurd, let alone with her. Eki Provanet, his disciple.
Her cheeks slowly turned red. She cleared her throat and took another sip or two of beer.
‘Even I can’t picture it.’
Dating Cassius. Not just touching him during those heated moments, but actually going on dates, holding hands, kissing.
‘…It doesn’t sound that bad, though.’
But then she imagined Cassius snapping, “I do not consort with lower beings!” and rejecting her completely. Her expression immediately soured.
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