Episode 47
Estelle looked at herself in the mirror.
Her hair was messy from an afternoon nap.
“I’ll just get ready quickly and head down.”
“Yes, I’ll guide the guest to the drawing room.”
Through the window, she could see Glecia and Duren enjoying a walk.
They’d been playing for an hour already, so they would probably keep running around for another hour.
“Oh, right. The Duke is still out, isn’t he?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Lennox was out and wouldn’t be back until late in the evening.
It was the perfect chance to have a private talk with the Tower Master.
After tidying her clothes, Estelle went to meet him —
the man who had taken the bait after just one day.
One hour earlier
Before meeting Estelle, the Tower Master was sitting face-to-face with Lennox.
The test results, which were supposed to take a week, had come out earlier than expected.
“What? You’re on your way to see my wife right now?”
“Yes. I said I’d go myself.”
“Why?”
“Because she offered to pay me!”
As expected from someone obsessed with money —
everything in his life revolved around it.
“She didn’t mention anything about this to me today.”
“Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you share everything. That’s normal.”
Claude shrugged lightly.
Lennox, however, sensed something odd.
“What do you mean by ‘she’s paying you’ exactly?”
Claude explained the situation.
“No one knows magical tools better than I do. There’s no way others could figure it out before me. But I should get there fast and claim my payment first.”
“…”
“The results are right here. Actually, since you’ll be meeting her, maybe it’s better if I tell her in person. Hm-hm.”
Claude hummed happily at the thought of money —
until Lennox made a proposal.
“Wait. Can I be there to hear the conversation?”
“As her husband? Sure.”
“No. Disguised, so she doesn’t know it’s me.”
“Huh?! Do you have any idea how big this deal is? If you’re here to mess it up, get lost!”
The Tower Master sensed trouble.
“I won’t interfere with the trade. I just want to hear what you two talk about.”
“Without you in the room?”
Lennox nodded.
“This is about trust with my client. But since you’re a valued customer, I could record it for you.”
He only planned to check the magical tool anyway.
Claude casually made the offer —
though the price he asked for wasn’t light.
“How do I know you won’t edit the recording?”
Lennox was just as distrustful.
“I could make it a live transmission.”
“No. I’ll be there in person. I’ll hear it with my own ears.”
“Hmm. I guess I could introduce you as my assistant…”
“That works.”
“Hold on.”
Claude rummaged in his desk drawer and pulled out a black robe and a ring.
“Here.”
When Lennox put on the ring, his hair color, eye color, and even face changed.
With the black robe on, he looked just like a mage from the Tower —
or at least he should have.
“Hmm… You don’t look like a normal assistant. Try lowering your intimidating aura.”
“?”
Lennox gave him a puzzled look.
Even with his appearance altered, his natural presence screamed,
“I’m someone important hiding my true identity.”
“This won’t work — people will know right away!”
They tried changing the ring several times, but nothing helped.
“How do I look, exactly?”
“Like someone who would never work under anyone else.”
After thinking for a moment, Claude came up with a solution.
“How about you just pretend to be me? It’ll make sense if a Tower Master has that kind of presence.”
Given how much money Lennox would be paying,
Claude was handling the matter with surprising care.
“You must follow my instructions so you don’t ruin your wife’s deal.”
Claude kept talking beside him, but Lennox barely heard it.
Ever since the day Estelle received that letter from Count Bellonsa,
he’d felt a seed of suspicion take root.
‘She’s had chances to meet the Tower Master before…’
If she didn’t give blood, she could have used the tests as an excuse to meet him —
but she refused right away.
And now she was suddenly arranging a meeting? Suspicious.
‘It’s likely she’s hiding something unrelated to her health.’
The timing with the letter from Bellonsa made him even more certain.
It was something she didn’t want her contract husband to know.
Now, Lennox intended to find out exactly what it was.
‘In the end…’
Estelle was a person of Bellonsa —
someone who cherished Vera and loved her family.
The thought of confronting a truth he had long denied filled him with unease.
Back to the present
Estelle now sat across from “the Tower Master,”
who was actually Lennox in disguise.
“I’d like you to look at this item.”
She pulled out an ordinary-looking ring.
Even though the fake Tower Master’s face was half-hidden by a hood,
his tall, broad build was impossible to conceal.
As he reached for the ring, Estelle stopped him.
“Don’t touch it.”
“…?”
“Just look at it and guess what kind of magical tool it is.
If you’re the Tower Master, you should be able to.”
It was a comment aimed at pricking his pride.
Then Estelle took out a large pouch.
Clink, clink, clink —
Gold coins spilled out, forming a pile.
“If you guess correctly, this will be your payment.”
Gulp.
Claude, pretending to be the assistant, swallowed his saliva.
“Of course, I’ll deduct one coin every second you take.”
Estelle slid some of the coins back toward herself.
Time started ticking from the moment the ring came out.
She didn’t count the seconds aloud —
she just calmly reached to take coins away now and then.
Then—
“A magical tool that changes eye color.”
Lennox, still pretending to be the Tower Master, answered quickly.
The magical tool also changed his voice.
Estelle studied him carefully.
Had she figured it out?
Lennox broke into a cold sweat inside.
“That’s correct — but only half correct.”
When she reached for more coins, he quickly spoke again.
“It’s almost twenty years old. An ancient relic — surprising it still works.”
“…”
“It’s not an officially released product, but clearly made by a skilled magitech engineer.
Still, it’s illegal.”
“Illegal?”
“Ah. Any magical tool made without the Tower Master’s approval is illegal — no matter who made it or why.”
“Can you find out who made it?”
“Give me some time and I can. Is this a personal request?”
“Yes.”
The moment she said it, Lennox pulled the pile of gold toward himself,
guarding it with his arms as if someone might steal it.
It was exactly what the real Tower Master would do.
“Since I’ve solved it, I’ll be going now.”
Not a single coin was left behind.
‘She called me here… just for this?’
Was it just a whim, like sponsoring some eccentric dreamer?
As he was about to leave—
“No, wait.”
He paused.
“There’s something else I want to talk about.”
“What is it?”
“I recently had some blood drawn. Are the results out yet?
This is personal, so I’d like to talk alone without your assistant here.”
She slid a single gold coin toward him.
Lennox, still “the assistant,” left the room without hesitation and sat back down, keeping the coin.
“Has anyone besides you seen my results?”
Another gold coin.
He shook his head.
“Of course. It’s only been a day since the blood test — there’s no way my husband could’ve asked about it yet.”
Flinch.
He had, in fact, gone to ask.
Good thing he hadn’t told her he was going to the Tower today.
“I swear on this coin that the Duke doesn’t know.”
Feeling cornered, Lennox returned the coin to her.
For the Tower Master, this was the most truthful kind of oath.
Estelle, now fully convinced she was speaking to the real Tower Master, got to the point.
“What’s my exact condition? I’d like to hear the opinion of an expert directly.”
She had received the written diagnosis from Claude, but hadn’t read it yet.
Lennox finally took the paper from his pocket —
one he hadn’t looked at himself until now —
and unfolded it.
“….”
For a moment, he was left completely speechless.
