Chapter 13
When our eyes met, I felt awkward and quickly looked away.
“W-why are you here, Gonja?”
“I came to see Your Highness. Because we are friends.”
“Ah… right. We’re friends. Welcome.”
“May I visit like this in the future as well?”
Caligo asked cautiously, lowering his gaze.
“Mm, it’s fine. Come anytime.”
At my reply, Caligo gave a bright, gentle smile.
A word I had seen in books for commoners in my past life came to mind—“welfare.” There was a phrase that fit Caligo perfectly.
Face welfare.
If I could see that face often, the stress Lucas gave me would melt away on its own.
On the other hand, Lucas glared at Caligo as if he might shoot flames from his eyes.
From that day on, Caligo began visiting the princess’s palace and the playroom almost every other day.
“Today, let’s go to the west tower.”
Because Caligo kept coming to the palace every day, a full month had already passed since my first visit to the West Tower.
So today, I planned to finish breakfast and head to the West Tower before Caligo came to visit.
“Now that I think about it, I wanted to ask Your Highness—how exactly did you end up going to the West Tower?”
“Umm, well…”
How could I explain that I had ended up there while hiding and running away from Lucas?
“I-I got there while playing hide-and-seek with Luka.”
“Hide-and-seek?”
“Mm! But I hid too far away, so Luka couldn’t find me.”
I glanced at Leni while making up an excuse that I wasn’t even sure she would believe.
“From now on, you must never go too far. Understood?”
“Mm-hmm, okay. Hehe.”
My clumsy excuse seemed to pass—Leni nodded and let it go.
Feeling a bit guilty, I suddenly hugged Leni, and she hugged me back, gently patting my back.
“By the way, Leni, I saw an old man there.”
“An old man?”
“Mm, he told me to come back again to eat snacks.”
“Oh. You must have met that person. He’s not someone easy to see.”
Leni seemed to immediately understand who I was talking about.
“The Master of the Mage Tower resides in the imperial West Tower. That’s why there’s an illusion spell set up around the tower.”
“Illusion magic?”
“Yes. Only those permitted by the tower master can enter. When I saw Your Highness coming out of there that day, I was truly shocked.”
“The tower master? That old man was the tower master?”
“Yes. Rumor has it he is as skilled as the founding tower master.”
“I see…”
I had thought he wasn’t an ordinary person when I saw his research room—but he was the tower master.
They said no one could just enter that place, and it seemed true that no one had ever come and gone except me.
Was it the same in my previous life? Why do I have no memory of ever meeting him back then?
Ah… could it be…!
I began to think that in this life, not only Lucas but other things might also be different from before.
“For the past few years, he’s apparently been conducting research and hasn’t left the West Tower at all.”
“What kind of research?”
Were the papers scattered on the floor filled with formulas for that research?
“I’m not sure. It seems no one knows what it is, since he hasn’t told anyone.”
“And….”
Leni suddenly stopped mid-sentence, glancing at me as if hesitating.
“Is it okay if I say this…?”
“I’m curious! Tell me!”
“Because the tower master has been so out of sight, and not many people have actually seen his face, there have been unsettling rumors that he might have died in the West Tower.”
“… …”
Sometimes I wondered if Leni forgot that I was a child.
She spoke so fluently about things that would normally make a child tilt their head in confusion.
But how did Leni know all of this? Once again, I felt that keeping her by my side was the right decision.
“I saw him! The tower master is alive!”
“Yes, since Your Highness met him in person, it seems the rumors were false.”
Even if it seemed somewhat unreliable, it was better than knowing nothing at all.
“And he’s very good-looking!”
“Pardon?”
Leni asked back, not immediately understanding what I had added.
“Are you referring to his face?”
“Mm! Let’s hurry and go see the tower master!”
Thinking about his face, I quickened my pace.
“Your Highness, come with me! You’ll get lost again!”
“Leni! Hurry up!”
Back then, I had wandered around after entering without knowing anything—but today, since I had been invited, I expected it would be easier to get in.
I want snacks quickly!
I couldn’t help but wiggle my hips in excitement.
“Your Highness, is this the place where you parted with the tower master?”
“Right here! We met here!”
“I-is that so? It was already a month ago…”
“This place was definitely here…!”
This is troublesome! He told me to come often, didn’t he? Or he shouldn’t have said that at all!
I had confidently brought Leni and the maids along, but now we were lost again in the forest near the West Tower—and it made me angry.
“Ugh!”
Whoosh.
Unable to hold it in, I huffed and grabbed a pebble from the ground and threw it into the air.
“… …”
“… …”
But the pebble that should have fallen to the ground simply disappeared into thin air.
“Wh-what?”
“The pebble just now…”
“It disappeared.”
“Into thin air?”
The maids beside me muttered in confusion.
Should I go that way?
I walked step by step toward where the pebble had vanished and reached my hand out.
“Your Highness! It’s dangerous!”
“Leni, wait!”
At that moment, it felt as if someone pulled my hand, and I was suddenly drawn into the space where the pebble had disappeared.
“You came?”
“Ahjussi!”
The moment I stepped inside the empty space, the scenery before my eyes changed, and I saw the mage tower master standing there.
“I came to see you!”
And also eat snacks while seeing your face!
“Haha. I see, you’ve come well. I was waiting for you. I almost thought you had forgotten about me since you hadn’t come for a while.”
“No, it’s just that I was a bit busy…”
I let out a small sigh.
Lucas and Caligo had been visiting the palace so frequently that avoiding them kept me quite busy.
“I wonder what our little lady has been so busy with.”
The tower master smiled as if amused, then naturally knelt slightly and opened his arms toward me.
“… …”
“Walking must be difficult. Shall I carry you to the tower? Or do you not like that?”
When I just stared blankly, he smiled gently as if to reassure me.
“No! I like it!”
I smiled brightly and leapt into his arms.
“Haha. How can you be this adorable? Then, let’s go eat snacks.”
“Yes!”
I answered excitedly while being held in his arms.
The tower master adjusted his hold to make me comfortable and moved toward the top of the tower.
In an instant, we arrived at his research room—and, as always, it was a complete mess.
It was astonishing that it hadn’t changed at all since a month ago.
No—if anything, it looked even messier.
“Um…”
I climbed down from his arms and looked around the room before speaking.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“On my way here… I got lost again.”
“Ah… I hadn’t considered that.”
As I spoke with a disappointed tone, the tower master seemed to fall into thought.
“Wait here while you eat snacks.”
“Yes, okay.”
He brought out various desserts from subspace and arranged them on the table before leaving the room.
Munch, munch.
“W-when is he coming…”
Thinking he would return soon, I was already finishing the desserts.
“You seem to like it.”
“Pffk!”
Startled by a voice suddenly coming from behind me, I choked on the cookie I had been swallowing.
“Oh dear, are you alright?”
The tower master gently patted my back and handed me some milk.
“Ahh, you scared me.”
I gulped down the milk and exhaled.
“Why were you so late?”
“Sorry. Could you hold out your hand for a moment?”
Though confused, I extended my left hand.
“From now on, wear this on your wrist.”
He placed something in my hand.
It was a thin string bracelet with a teal gemstone set in the center.
“What is this?”
“If you tap this gem, you can enter the tower directly.”
He demonstrated by tapping the teal gem twice with his finger.
“Oh? With this? Then can I come here directly from my room?”
“Haha. Not quite. It’s short-range. You’ll need to come to this forest area first.”
“I see.”
A little disappointed, I examined the bracelet.
The teal gem—was it turquoise?
I stared closely at it.
“No one else can use it, so don’t worry. It only responds to you.”
As I looked it over, the tower master took it and fastened it around my wrist.
Once it was on, the bracelet adjusted itself to fit perfectly.
“Hm.”
He looked at my wrist, turning it slightly as if satisfied.
“It suits you better than I expected.”
I fiddled with the bracelet.
Something made just for me—mine alone.
For the first time across both my past and present lives, something existed solely for me.
My heart pounded with happiness.
“Hehe. Thank you.”
I said, blushing.
“No need to thank me. Want more snacks?”
“Yes!”
As I responded excitedly, the tower master tapped my cheek playfully and opened his subspace again.
Soon, he returned with more desserts than before—seemingly more varied than what I usually ate at the palace.
“Wow, can I really eat all of this?”
“Of course. I prepared them for you.”
“Hehe, thank you!”
Without even realizing how full I was, I grabbed items with both hands and began eating eagerly.
“Eat slowly.”
“It’s delicious.”
After eating for a while, I realized he hadn’t touched any of the food.
“Why aren’t you eating, ahjussi?”
“Just watching you eat is enough to fill me.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Haha. No, really.”
The tower master smiled and gently wiped the corner of my mouth with a handkerchief.
“But ahjussi.”
I suddenly remembered something and called out to the tower master.
