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Chapter 17
“Inside the dining hall!”
“Let’s keep it quiet!”
“When eating!”
“Just eat!”
The rainbow-haired wizards stood up and sat down, chanting in unison.
Across from them, Kyen Kreutz lounged lazily in his chair, flipping through a stack of papers with a bored expression.
When he slightly lifted his head to glance down at them, the air in the room froze—so sharp and suffocating that even breathing felt dangerous.
“If you idiots have had enough fun, maybe those decorative heads of yours finally managed to attach some sense to those ugly skulls.”
Wow. He actually said that out loud…
I quickly took out my notebook and jotted that down. The insult level was high, but it might come in handy someday.
I also studied his cold gaze and the wicked curl of his lips, determined to absorb everything about this man like a sponge.
I would master that icy charisma!
Just then, Kyen turned his head—and our eyes met.
“…Why are you staring at me like that?”
“S-sorry!”
Oh no. Maybe I was too obvious!
I quickly lowered my gaze.
“…No, hm.”
His voice sounded strangely awkward.
“I didn’t mean you had to apologize. Look up.”
Ah, so he wasn’t angry. What a relief.
When I lifted my head again, I saw Kyen quickly turn away—his ear tips faintly glowing like candlelight.
Was he… hot?
“…?”
“?!”
The wizards were staring at him with wide eyes, as if they’d just witnessed something unthinkable.
A moment later, Kyen’s handsome face twisted in irritation as he glared at them.
“What are you looking at? Want me to gouge your eyes out so they point straight?”
“W-why are you yelling at us all of a sudden…!”
“Shut up.”
Kyen’s low growl made them tremble.
“Get those ugly faces out of my sight. You’ve got three seconds. Stay longer, and I’ll personally toss you out the window.”
“Eeeek!”
The wizards bolted, swallowing their sobs.
A satisfying sight, considering these were the same guys who had mocked me in the cafeteria just the other day.
Serves you right.
Once the room fell silent again—
“…Hah. Useless maggots.”
Kyen ran a hand through his hair, then turned to look at me.
Okay, this might not be the best time to think this, but…
He really was ridiculously handsome.
I used to think Felix was the most handsome man alive, but next to this guy, Felix looked like an underdeveloped ape.
Golden eyes glowed mysteriously beneath sharply defined brows, paired with a perfectly sculpted nose and a chiseled jawline—he looked like a masterpiece carved by the gods themselves.
Add to that his title as the empire’s greatest swordsman and a duke? If not for his legendarily bad personality, he’d be the most sought-after bachelor in the empire.
Even at the Academy, he was famous. Aspiring mages and knights alike said their life’s dream was to see Duke Kreutz in person at least once.
I’d been too busy cleaning up after Felix to care back then, though.
As I drifted in thought, his perfectly shaped lips parted.
“So, rookie. You volunteered for the night shift?”
“Eh? Oh, yes! That’s right!”
“Why?”
The sudden double-question attack threw me off, but I quickly composed myself.
“It’s a rare opportunity to serve and learn directly from a duke I deeply respect! I couldn’t possibly pass that up!”
“A rare opportunity, huh?”
His low voice sounded almost like he was murmuring to himself.
“…You want to stay by my side that much?”
Huh?
That phrasing sounded… odd. But not exactly wrong, so I nodded firmly.
“Yes! The chance to work with you overnight—I couldn’t resist! I even went directly to Senior Aaron to ask for permission!”
“…You went that far?”
He seemed a bit startled and brushed a finger across his lips.
Why does he look like that?
And were his ears turning red again? His lips seemed to twitch slightly, too.
“Um, Duke Kreutz,” I asked nervously.
Tonight’s task was to simulate the magic distribution that would power the Mage Tower for an entire year—an incredibly delicate process. If the calculations were off, the tower could shut down completely.
“How should I assist you today?”
“Ah.”
He gave a short response, his face returning to its usual impassive look. Then he gestured toward a desk.
“Sit there and calculate the formulas I pass to you.”
“Yes, sir!”
Thankfully, the formulas he handed me weren’t too difficult.
I was busy crunching numbers like his personal calculator when my neck started to ache.
How long have we been at this…?
When I lifted my head to check the clock, I froze.
Whoa…
A brilliant blue magic circle shimmered in the air, filling the dark room with radiant light.
With each flick of Kyen’s hand, the enormous circle shifted like intricate clockwork, gears turning smoothly in perfect synchrony.
The precision of his casting, the complexity of the computation, the flawless control of his mana—it was mesmerizing.
Seeing such mastery up close, I finally understood what a true genius looked like.
Those rainbow-haired mages from earlier? Compared to this man, they were like fireflies before the sun.
So all the magic that powers the tower is contained in that circle…
If the Mage Tower failed, countless facilities across the empire would stop functioning.
The entire empire was, in a way, indebted to him.
And yet, he handled this monumental task with the expression of someone doing tedious homework.
He’s amazing…
My mouth hung open in awe.
Then, unbidden, an old memory surfaced—the one I’d buried deep, the tragedy I never wanted to relive.
If only I’d had even a fraction of his mana back then…
I sighed without realizing it.
“Something wrong, rookie?”
Ah—
Startled, I turned to find Kyen watching me intently.
He heard that?
I forced a shaky smile.
“N-no, sir. It’s just… since I can’t use magic, I feel bad that solving equations is the only way I can help.”
“You can’t use magic? Why?”
There it was.
The classic, brutally innocent question from a genius to a mere mortal.
I gave an awkward laugh and told him the truth.
No point in hiding it—it would come out eventually.
“My mana channels are blocked.”
Cold sweat trickled down my neck.
He wouldn’t fire me for that… right?
I-it’s fine. If the job required magic, they would’ve tested that at the interview!
Please don’t fire me! I still have a fake future husband to feed!
“What do you mean?”
He frowned, as if I’d said something absurd.
Was he actually going to fire me?! My stomach turned to stone—
“They’re not blocked.”
“…Excuse me?”
I blinked and looked up at him.
“What… what did you say?”
“They’re open. Perfectly fine.”
What?
My mana channels?
That couldn’t be right.
After the accident, I’d lost all sensation of mana—the doctors confirmed it. They said my channels were permanently sealed, and there had never been a single case of recovery.
So I should just give up…
Kyen beckoned to me with a flick of his hand.
“Come here.”
Still frozen in confusion, I couldn’t disobey a superior’s order.
When I awkwardly approached, he held out his palm toward me.
