ISMFB 17

CHAPTER 17

“You!”

Magnus grabbed Linaria as she tried to walk away from him.

“If you knew I was looking for traces of Margaret in you, all you had to do was use that to ask me to check on your father! How foolish.”

“You said it yourself. Mother was smart. If it were her, she wouldn’t have asked you.”

“Yes. The real Margaret would have figured out a way on her own. She was much smarter than you.”

Magnus’s expression twisted.

Not a single word he said was wrong.

‘Who have I really been looking at all this time?’

Once he stripped away the lies, all that remained was a senile old man and a girl trying to match his pace.

Only then did Magnus truly see—

The shadowed, wounded face of Linaria.

He felt disgusted with himself.

“You really are nothing like Margaret.”

Margaret had been a girl full of smiles. Once you heard her bright laughter, it was hard to forget.

The gently upturned corners of her eyes and her sparkling green pupils were beautiful.

But Linaria?

He’d never once heard her laugh out loud.

Only a faint smile would occasionally grace her face—and only when she achieved something through study.

Their depth of knowledge was also worlds apart.

Their accomplishments, too.

They could never be the same.

And yet Magnus kept coming back to her.

Maybe it started with his desire to find traces of Margaret.

But now…

Magnus closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again.

“I hate you. You should never have been born as Margaret’s daughter. Especially not when you resemble her so little.”

It was a cruel, cutting insult.

It felt like he was saying that Margaret had died in vain just because a daughter who was nothing like her was born.

“If you had been born the daughter of a porter and lived a normal life, you wouldn’t be putting on this ridiculous act. And I wouldn’t have taken you in as my apprentice with such mixed feelings.”

“Tower Lord.”

“Smart fools like you need to stay close to someone like me. So you don’t get taken advantage of out there.”

He wasn’t blaming Linaria.

If anything, Magnus was acknowledging her now—

Not as Margaret’s daughter, but as Linaria herself.

“If you approached me with a goal, you should’ve been more cunning. You’re too soft. I don’t know who you take after.”

He muttered as if chewing the words, and the papers he hadn’t yet gifted were crumpled in his hand.

“It was probably your birthday recently. That makes you seventeen now.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

It was easy to calculate her age by counting back from the anniversary of Margaret’s death.

“Right, right. It’s been long enough that you’re now much older than I was back then. I suppose it’s time I accepted it.”

That no matter how much you hate someone, it won’t bring back the one you miss.

And that, slowly, someone new has taken root in his heart—someone he’ll end up missing if she’s gone.

“Let’s pretend I never meant to give you this. Not like you accepted it anyway.”

Magnus tucked the heavily crumpled papers into his robe.

He knew exactly what kind of gift Linaria truly needed.

There was only one gift she desperately wanted—one that only he could give.

“I’ll take a look at Duke Obel’s condition.”

That was a statement made not to Margaret’s daughter or her ghost, but to Linaria and Linaria alone.

At that moment, her eyes widened.

“Really…”

As she tried to thank him, Magnus quickly cut her off.

“Don’t go getting excited already. I can’t guarantee I’ll cure him.”

“…”

“You think I can just wave a hand and fix people? I’m not a god. I’ll examine him thoroughly, but you need to be aware that there are countless variables.”

His voice was so cold it could’ve been mistaken for indifference.

As soon as he said it, he worried—what if Linaria was disappointed?

But she was smiling.

“You sound just like my father. He used to say the same thing. That the Tower Lord isn’t omnipotent.”

“Hmph.”

Magnus snorted, clearly irritated.

“What are you doing? Are you slower than this old man? When are you planning to arrive…?”

He acted annoyed, but in truth, he was embarrassed. He tried to storm past her.

But perhaps his eagerness made him stumble forward. Linaria caught him just in time.

“Be careful.”

She naturally held his hand and led the way.

“Do I look like a hundred-year-old man to you?”

“I know you’ve lived twice as long.”

“I’m healthier than kids who’ve lived a quarter of my life. Don’t treat me like a hunchbacked old man just because you know my age.”

He grumbled, but didn’t shake her off. In fact, he adjusted his stride to match hers and then asked in a low voice:

“By the way… since I agreed to look at your father, can I come visit you again sometime?”

“Of course.”

It was a cheerful reply.

Just that one sentence seemed to lift a weight from Magnus’s chest.

A lump that had been hardened over years of sorrow like a callus—he finally felt it begin to fade.

‘What a relief.’

As she held Magnus’s small hand, Linaria let out a silent sigh of relief.

He was the one who had coldly turned away when she had once knelt before him.

To gain real recognition, she had no choice but to build trust.

To make it so he couldn’t look away anymore.

‘Because he’s a lonely person.’

Linaria knew because she had once been lonely, too—she knew how warm a small gesture of kindness could feel.

And how anxious you become, fearing that warmth might leave you forever.

“This is the place?”

“Yes.”

Just as Linaria was about to knock—

SLAM!

“I’ll examine him myself.”

Magnus barged into Dante’s room, announcing loudly.

Dante stared in bewilderment at the sudden intruder.

From his perspective, it was as if a young apprentice of magical engineering had just rudely stormed in—someone who’d been associating with his daughter lately.

Even his posture was extremely arrogant.

Linaria quickly stepped in to explain.

“Father. This is the Tower Lord.”

“Yes, that’s me.”

Magnus folded his arms, trying to look imposing.

He still looked like a mere ten-year-old.

“The person you met last time was a proxy. This is the real Tower Lord. At the time, he had his reasons to hide his identity.”

Fortunately, Dante didn’t seem to find this absurd or unbelievable.

After all, Magnus was a man who had long surpassed a normal human lifespan.

So it wasn’t strange that he looked young.

“Then the reason the Tower Lord is now revealing his identity and coming to see me is…”

“Yes. I’ll examine your condition. I’m doing this as a favor to your daughter. For two hundred years, no one has taken your pulse—consider this an honor.”

Normally, if a doctor had zero patients, people would doubt their skill.

But this was the Tower Lord.

He wouldn’t lead the Ivory Tower without good reason.

Even if it was arrogance, it was arrogance with substance. Yet Dante didn’t seem pleased—in fact, he looked more tired.

“I don’t know how you convinced Liri, but I don’t need help. I thought I made myself clear during your last visit. Was my message not delivered?”

“That’s your business.”

Magnus replied curtly and grabbed Dante’s wrist to feel his pulse.

“You really are on the brink. But why do you have a Divine Beast Awakening Elixir nearby?”

“I heard Father has been enduring with the divine beast’s power to supplement his lacking vitality.”

“What?”

Magnus looked at Dante in disbelief.

Dante shook off the hand that held his wrist and refused treatment.

“Liri, go outside for a moment. You’ve been breathing in too much of the incense.”

“Father. You promised we’d live a long life together. Don’t give up before even trying.”

“Who’s worried about who here? That incense won’t affect Liri at all. Lie down. I’ll examine you thoroughly.”

“Tower Lord. There’s no need for this.”

“You sure talk a lot for a sick man when I’m offering to help!”

“No, thank you.”

The two started arguing.

Like a sword and shield, their verbal sparring quickly escalated into an emotional clash.

“Damn you, Obel! I’ve hated you from the start! I secretly opposed your marriage to Margaret because I thought you’d block her future!”

Magnus shouted.

“What do you think will happen to your daughter if you die early? You think I’m doing this for fun? It’s all for her!”

“I understand your concern, Tower Lord. But I’ll handle it.”

“Handle it? Handle what? You can’t even take care of yourself!”

Watching from the side, Linaria realized she needed to intervene before things got out of hand.

She stepped forward—

“Ah…”

A wave of dizziness hit her.

And not just dizziness. Her head felt hot, and breathing became difficult.

Clutching her mouth, Linaria grabbed the doorframe, but her legs gave out beneath her.

“Liri?”

Dante noticed first.

Seeing his pale, trembling daughter, the man who’d just been standing firm in front of Magnus called out in a shaking voice.

Stumble—

Instead of answering, Linaria collapsed, losing her balance.

Dante jumped up and barely managed to catch her in time.

“Liri!”

“F…Father…”

Tears welled up in Linaria’s eyes as she weakly called to him in pain.