Chapter 48
The conclusion was clear:
Estelle didn’t have long to live.
The mandrake medicine had no effect at all.
Claude decided Estelle must have a rare constitution.
“I had a feeling this would happen… but still, not even a little effect.”
In his written diagnosis, Claude suggested trying a different recipe for the mandrake medicine — though even that couldn’t guarantee a complete cure.
“Tower Master?”
When Lennox stayed silent for too long, Estelle called him again.
Ah, right. He was pretending to be the Tower Master.
“You have at most nine months left,” he said at last. “You’re officially terminally ill.”
“As I thought,” Estelle replied calmly.
“Can you cure me?”
“Possibly.”
The report said her condition was so bad that only the Tower Master himself could attempt treatment — and this wasn’t just ego talking.
“I can’t give you 100% certainty,” Lennox added, “but I also can’t say it’s impossible. There’s never truly a zero percent chance.”
He paused, then said, “One thing I am sure of: if you take the medicine I make, your chances of recovery will rise.”
“Alright. Let’s be business partners.”
“Partners?” Lennox frowned.
“Read this.”
She handed him a contract.
Contract:
Claude Barnes (Party B) will provide Estelle Winterlen (Party A) with a shell company.
The company will be run entirely with Party A’s assets…
“Tax evasion, money laundering… all illegal,” Lennox muttered.
Estelle’s plan was to set up a company in the Raven Islands — a place with no corporate tax — under Claude’s name but unrelated to the Magic Tower.
“You won’t lose anything,” Estelle said. “The company’s registered owner won’t be connected to the Tower at all.”
“I don’t do illegal work,” Lennox replied, flipping the contract face-down.
“Why not? You’d get a share of the cleaned money. If it’s ever discovered, you can just deny everything.”
“No. The Tower earns money cleanly. I’ll pretend I never heard this.”
He stood up to leave.
“Ten billion gold fine,” Estelle said suddenly.
“…What?”
“If you can handle that, go ahead and walk out. I’ll find another partner.”
Even for the Tower Master, ten billion gold was a massive amount.
“That’ll never happen,” Lennox said. “The Tower runs clean.”
“Do you think you’re the only one tempted by money? Not everyone in the Tower is the same.”
She hinted there was an insider who would cause such a loss — and she’d report it to the Imperial family anonymously if he refused.
“…So this is blackmail.”
“Of course I need some protection for myself.” She smiled. “If you leave now, I’ll never make this offer again.”
Lennox had no choice.
“Fine. But add a clause — if the fine information is false, the contract is void.”
“Fair enough.”
He asked, “But why? It’s already your money — why go through all this trouble?”
He assumed she was doing it for Bellonsa, since the family was struggling financially without her.
If she dies before the one-year contract marriage ends, all her assets go to him — meaning Bellonsa gets nothing.
“For myself,” Estelle answered simply.
“I want money that belongs to me — not as Lady Winterlen or Bellonsa’s daughter.”
He didn’t fully understand, but before he could ask more, she placed a single gold coin on the table.
“Please make the cure in secret.”
Lennox took it without hesitation.
“Does ‘in secret’ include your husband?”
“Yes. And if he asks about my test results, tell him the mandrake worked.”
“Why hide it from the Duke? He’d help make the new medicine if you told him.”
“I don’t want the people around me to worry. If he knew the mandrake failed…”
Her golden eyes shimmered as she bit her lip.
“He’d worry. And I don’t want to be a burden on his heart.”
For the first time, Lennox saw her true, sincere feelings.
Lennox left the mansion in a daze — until Claude slapped his hand out.
“The gold coin.”
“…What?”
“The coin my partner gave you! Hand it over!”
Now Claude was calling Estelle his partner. He counted the coins carefully.
“She’s smart. How’d she even think of dodging taxes like that? I just tried to make more money directly.”
Lennox ignored the praise and pulled a small magic device from his ear — it was like a tiny insect, letting Claude hear and see what he did as the Tower Master.
“You just rip that out?” Claude asked, shocked. The device overheated and burned the ear after a short time, but Lennox seemed unaffected.
“So… you’re partnering with her now?”
“That’s the contract.”
Claude had even given Lennox the Tower Master’s seal so the deal would seem legitimate if his disguise was discovered.
“The problem is,” Lennox said, “her condition was supposed to stay secret — but I already told you. That breaks the contract.”
“Then I can just pretend to be the Tower Master from now on,” Claude offered.
“…What?”
“It’s only when you two meet. How often would you personally visit her anyway?”
“It’s a hassle,” Claude grumbled.
Lennox tossed him a gold coin.
“Not a hassle anymore!” Claude beamed.
Then Claude suddenly frowned.
“That ring… the one she wanted to know the origin of… I think I made it.”
“…What?”
“But I don’t remember making it. I remember every invention I make. Still, it feels exactly like my work.”
Lennox dismissed it casually. “Probably just not important.”
“…Maybe.” Claude scratched his head, looking back at Estelle’s mansion.
“No… I don’t think so.”
After Estelle’s deal with the Tower Master, time passed.
One day, close to the princess’s birthday banquet—
Bang!
“Damn it!” Count Bellonsa slammed his desk in anger.
