Special Side Story Episode 5

Clouds were right outside the window. That alone told me how high up we were.

It was a sight not easily encountered, so I stood by the window for a long while, gazing out. Far below, a landscape whose shapes were indistinguishable stretched out, revealing only faint hues beyond the clouds.

I recalled Xenon’s proud face as he had described the sight of clouds spread beneath one’s feet. I now understood the reason for his confidence. With a view like this, it was only natural to feel proud.

After admiring the scenery outside for a time, I glanced toward the door, noticing Xenon’s prolonged absence as I surveyed the bookshelves in the lounge. A mage stationed in the corner of the lounge to attend to me noticed my look and approached.

“Is there something you require?”

“……Is Xenon very busy?”

“Xenon…… Ah, the Tower Master! I shall go and check for you!”

I don’t know what Xenon had told them beforehand, but the mages of the Magic Tower all reflexively smiled the moment our eyes met. It wasn’t a bad thing, and in truth, being treated with such deference wasn’t unfamiliar to me, yet it still didn’t feel entirely comfortable. Perhaps because their excessively polite attitude created a sense of distance, it only heightened my feeling of being in an unfamiliar place.

Above all, what felt most unfamiliar was Xenon. To me, he was just a comfortable lover, but the mages of the Magic Tower all displayed reverence and awe when facing him. Xenon didn’t seem to notice, but from my perspective beside him, their sparkling, admiring gazes were all too clear.

I had heard that when he inherited the Tower, he didn’t even hold a formal ceremony and hastily carried out the procedures, yet everyone seemed to accept Xenon as the Tower Master quickly. That must mean he was considered a truly remarkable mage in their eyes.

It was a point of great pride that my lover was someone respected by others, yet it also gave me a somewhat strange feeling.

How should I put it? It felt like discovering a side of him I hadn’t known. The problem was that the very existence of ‘a side of him I didn’t know’ was not particularly welcome.

I felt an irrational sense of the Magic Tower stealing Xenon away. Though, strictly speaking, it would be more accurate to say I had snatched away the Tower’s precious talent.

As my thoughts spiraled, my mood sank. I pouted my lips and swept my gaze around the lounge again with a vaguely dissatisfied look.

Now that Xenon had become the Tower Master, he would have to frequent the Magic Tower for the rest of his life, placed in a position where he must serve as a model for all mages. I couldn’t just keep him locked away in my castle, so harboring such possessive feelings wouldn’t do any good……

As I tapped the sofa with my toe, lost in pointless thoughts, fortunately, the mage returned not long after leaving, followed by Xenon. However, the expression on his face as he returned was unusual. He was forcing a smile, but a deeply distressed air was unmistakably evident.

“Did something happen?”

“No, nothing at all.”

But looking at your face, it seems a very serious and grave problem has definitely occurred.

Considering how the mages had been watching Xenon’s demeanor since earlier, it did seem something had happened. Perhaps the cause was the Magic Tower’s exterior, stained as if scorched by fire? Seeing the faint smell of smoke lingering inside the Tower, there might have been an accident during magical research. I’ve heard such cases happen occasionally.

But even so, there was no need for me to press the matter. I was, after all, an outsider, and Xenon, the person involved, didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so it was better to pretend not to notice and let it pass.

“Is this where you rest when you’re here?”

Casually changing the subject, Xenon shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“It serves that purpose, but truthfully, I don’t use it much.”

His words seemed true. If he used it frequently, there would be indentations in specific spots on the sofa, or books would be piled in his preferred manner. Knowing how Xenon sits on a sofa and habitually places books when he’s at Veladia Castle, I couldn’t help but notice.

The neatly arranged furniture and items in the lounge seemed untouched by Xenon’s hand. Looking at the ordinary interior of the lounge, devoid of the owner’s characteristics or habits, I felt anew how well I knew Xenon.

Or perhaps, it showed that we had spent a considerable amount of time together, enough to recognize even minor lifestyle habits at a glance.

“Usually, the room I use in the Magic Tower is the office. Originally, I was mainly in the laboratory, but after becoming Tower Master, there are too many matters requiring my approval.”

“I’m curious.”

In truth, whether it was the Tower Master or anyone else, an office was not a space just anyone could casually enter. Yet, at my words of curiosity, Xenon led the way without hesitation.

Passing through an intermediate room connected to the inner part of the lounge and opening a few more doors, a small office revealed itself.

With several magic circles drawn on the walls, this place felt much more familiar than the lounge earlier. The reason for the familiarity was none other than the traces of Xenon I had grown accustomed to seeing at Veladia Castle, preserved here intact.

Books left open and stacked neatly, documents piled haphazardly in crisscrossing layers, several identical pens, and a thin shawl crumpled carelessly on the chair.

It was all too easy to imagine how Xenon would be here. Xenon always grumbles with his mouth, but when faced with Tower business, he handles it seriously…… He probably complains here too while his eyes and hands move busily.

“A bit messy, isn’t it?”

Xenon hastily tidied the desk. But with no space to organize, touching things couldn’t make it neat.

“It’s the same sight I always see at the castle.”

“I hadn’t anticipated you would come in here, so I didn’t properly tidy up.”

Xenon truly looked embarrassed. His excuse was that there were too many important documents and materials to use magic recklessly.

Certainly, if important data were lost from indiscriminate use of cleaning magic, it would be a big problem. Nodding in agreement with his excuse, Xenon’s expression relaxed a little.

Seeing that look was adorable—a real problem. I really do like Xenon quite a lot, I thought.

“Do you only work at the Tower?”

“Well, yes. Resting is much more comfortable at Veladia Castle. Sometimes I even think about moving the Magic Tower in front of Veladia Castle.”

Xenon, who had been shifting documents here and there, finally shook his head and gave up on tidying. Instead, he guided me to a chair beside a small table nearby and fumbled to take out a tea caddy.

Soon after, the scent of tea I had often smelled at Veladia Castle filled the office. It was a subtle, refreshing aroma that I also liked very much.

“If I could have installed a warp gate inside the Tower, I would have opened a personal warp gate to my office long ago. It’s a shame individuals can’t break the Tower’s internal barriers. If I could, at least I wouldn’t have to catch naps in this cramped office.”

Xenon grumbled in a sulky voice as he prepared the tea.

“So there was a reason your returns home were late.”

“Still, I’m increasing the number of assistant mages to share the workload. So I don’t have to be absent for too long. It still requires a lot of hands as I’m adjusting, but once I get somewhat accustomed, I should be able to leave much earlier than now.”

Soon, a teacup with warm steam gently rising was placed before me. Silently looking down at it, I wrapped my hands around the cup and shook my head.

“Mm, well done. You should sleep at home.”

“Ah, hot!”

Xenon, preparing his own cup, suddenly let out a trivial yelp and flapped his hand exaggeratedly. Startled, I looked at him as he hastily pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the table. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have burned himself.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes, I am. But what about you?”

“Hm?”

Tilting my head at Xenon, who was looking at me with a bewildered expression, the handkerchief still damp in his hand, a natural silence fell.

Unable to understand his reaction, I blinked blankly for a moment before frowning.

“Why? Do you want to stay out longer?”