One Day, My Dad Showed Up

After realizing that going to the Magic Tower meant being separated from her family for years, Eciel began acting petulant whenever the Tower Master was involved.

However, the Tower Master found Eciel’s sulky attitude amusing.

‘That’s just how he is.’

After all, he had been an internal disciple of the Magic Tower and the direct disciple of the former Tower Master.

No child would have dared to act so freely in front of him.

Thus, the Tower Master, using the excuse that his business wasn’t yet finished, had been lingering for a long time, reluctant to leave.

“Miss Eciel, come with me to the Magic Tower. There’s a lot of fun to be had.”

His real intention was probably just to keep teasing her for fun…

But Eciel, even with a furrowed brow, couldn’t respond.

A few hours earlier, she had been so infuriated that she declared she wouldn’t listen to, see, or speak to Zoe Islay ever again.

I looked at him for a moment, then turned to Eciel.

“Could you take this to Edna for me?”

When I handed her a letter to Lady Sisana, Eciel blinked. She knew that this wasn’t really an errand but an excuse to get her out of the room so I could confront Zoe Islay directly.

But I was better at handling situations like this than she was.

Eciel was already well aware of that.

So, in the end, she squeezed my hand tightly and quickly ran off.

“Oh, do you have something you want to say to me? Or are you going to order me not to take your precious sister with me?”

Zoe Islay murmured leisurely, not looking tense at all.

I shook my head.

“No, you’re the one who has something to say to me.”

“Oh, really? Why do you think that?”

Zoe Islay smiled playfully; his attitude was no different from when he was with Eciel.

But no matter how playful he seemed, I could still tell when someone had hostility or caution in their heart.

I sighed lightly and spoke.

“Then I’ll say it first. No.”

“I haven’t said anything yet, Miss.”

“I’m not going to persuade my mother to hand over any of her magical knowledge—whether it’s potion recipes, magical device designs, or anything else—just to maintain our position.”

Zoe Islay still wore a bright smile.

“Why would I say such a thing? I’m a friend of Charlotte’s, and I know better than anyone what she has done and what she’s capable of.”

So, I smiled too.

“Liar. You don’t know a thing.”

Zoe Islay’s bright, gentle smile stiffened for a moment.

“If you were really my mother’s friend, if you truly knew her and wanted to persuade her, you wouldn’t have acted like you didn’t care about upsetting me right in front of her.”

The Tower Master didn’t deny it.

He just nodded with a sudden kind smile.

“That was my mistake.”

Zoe Islay often seemed innocent and gentle, always smiling and speaking kindly.

He was very friendly to my mother and seemed quite fond of Eciel as well.

But that was the end of it.

He hated my father, and no matter how hard he tried to hide it, he disliked me too.

Maybe it was for the childish, straightforward reason that Eciel resembled my mother, while I looked like my father…

“But I can’t help it, Miss. I have to remember.”

More than anything, he was the Tower Master.

Even if the past had long since faded, someone still had to bear the responsibility of remembering it.

The dead did not return, and history was seldom kind to the living.

The Tower Master represented all wizards.

He had to remember.

The innocents who were murdered, and those responsible for deaths that could never be compensated for.

‘Of course, some personal grudges may have gotten mixed in.’

But I’d never expected everyone to like me in the first place, so I accepted it.

Then I said what I needed to say.

“As long as it doesn’t affect official matters, I don’t mind. I don’t particularly like Lord Isley either.”

“……”

“The original reason you came here was because of my mother, wasn’t it?”

A brief flicker of clarity passed through the man’s eyes.

“If my mother submits her research data, she could maintain her credentials, and it would help the Magic Tower too. But since it doesn’t seem like she’s going to do that, you probably came to persuade her yourself.”

Zoe Islay smiled again, out of habit.

Tap, tap.

The wizard’s fingers drummed on the desk in a lively rhythm. Elegant and beautiful.

“Hmm, you’ve caught me.”

Just as my mother had been unaware of newly invented magic over the past ten years, this person also didn’t know my mother from the past decade.

He probably didn’t even know whether my mother had any research data capable of maintaining her credentials.

Yet, despite knowing that the Duke of Chelsiers wouldn’t welcome him, he stayed here, continuously…

I spoke slowly.

“Did you hear about the magical artifact my mother had from Leah Fawcett?”

It was a question, even though I was sure of the answer.

The Tower Master tilted his head slightly.

“Hmm… if that’s what you think, Leah might feel a bit wronged. Technically speaking, I didn’t anything.”

“Right. You must have guessed.”

Zoe Islay deliberately caught onto every word and then smiled brightly, as if to say, ‘Did you just figure that out?’

He had an exhausting personality.

“Charlotte doesn’t tell me much about the field of magic potions, so I don’t know how far along her research is. If she presents that blueprint, she could probably maintain her credentials.”

“I see.”

“By keeping her research credentials, she’d be able to access all the new papers that come out every year, get research funding, and also…”

I cut him off firmly.

“I understand. But I still don’t like it.”

The Tower Master sighed lightly.

“Miss, you can’t feel it now, but Charlotte was and still can be a truly great wizard. If you would just help her…”

“My mother, refusing to meet you is something you brought upon yourself, Lord Islay. Everyone should handle their own affairs.”

At last, the man fell silent.

This time, he couldn’t skillfully refute with a phrase like, ‘Technically, she’s not exactly refusing to meet me.’

“The reason my mother won’t give you her personal time or treat you as a friend is your fault.”

“……”

“No one wants to have a pleasant conversation with someone who dislikes one of their daughters while trying to take away the other.”

I believed in the Tower Master when he said he was once very close friends with my mother.

At one time, my mother must have shared her joy over her research and achievements with him.

Even at a young age, she would have willingly supported philosophy to know and resent the Astariol of Judgement.

But Zoe Islay became the Master of the Magic Tower, and Charlotte Yerim gave birth to Astariol of Judgement.

To the child she loved more than anything, even though that child caused countless trials.

I spoke calmly.

“Lord Islay must think it’s an honor for Eciel to be taken into the Magic Tower as an apprentice. He probably believes wizards should naturally feel uneasy about Astariol of Judgement.”

“All wizards do.”

“Then do you think my mother is not a wizard?”

His voice, slightly suppressed, flowed out after a pause.

“…… Charlotte is a wizard, Miss.”

Of course, I thought so too.

“Yes. So, it’s Lord Islay who needs to change his thinking.”

From that first day, my mother only met Zoe Islay if my father was present or if Louis was accompanying them.

The Tower Master, who had to make a proposal that outsiders couldn’t easily interfere with, remained cautious with his words. My mother, perhaps out of lingering affection, feared she might say something contrary to her current beliefs, so she didn’t dare to meet him alone.

That was the extent of their current relationship.

“If you truly want to persuade my mother, stop following Eciel around, teasing her about joining the Magic Tower. The more you do that, the more you’ll be met with caution, not goodwill.”

Zoe Islay wore a slightly stunned expression.

He finally seemed to fully realize that his longtime friend was no longer the person she once was.

I looked at him with a small amount of sympathy as the cool and loose breeze of early autumn blew around us.

For someone who had remained unchanged, waiting in the same place, yet only now acknowledged that the person he waited for had changed a great deal.

Zoe Islay whispered in a faint, bitter tone.

“…… I’ve troubled Miss Eciel too much, haven’t I?”

When I nodded slightly, the Tower Master gave a small smile.

“I’m sorry. Charlotte used to talk about magic with me all day when she was about Miss Eciel’s age.”

“……”

“I was so happy that the princess—so beautiful, so smart, and the most outstanding of her peers—was willing to talk to me.”

Charlotte Yerim as a young girl.

A girl everyone believed would live a future brimming with magic, just as much as her extraordinary talent.

…… to Zoe Islay back then, she must have been as distant and beautiful as the stars.

Zoe Islay spoke with regret.

“But Charlotte grew up and… left the Magic Tower…”

A brief silence.

I lowered my gaze out of social courtesy.

“…… Miss Eciel is not Charlotte, and Charlotte is no longer the person I once knew. I suppose I was the only one who hadn’t been able to accept that.”

Did this man have feelings for my mother?

I knew it wasn’t a fitting question, but I couldn’t help but wonder.

Had he liked my mother not just as an old friend or a wizard worthy of respect, but in the way one person desires another?

I glanced up slightly.

Zoe Islay was looking at me.

…… but could I really say that gaze was truly directed at ?

“Why did Duke Chelsiers meet Charlotte?”

“……”

“I met her long before Duke Chelsiers, knew her longer, and knew more about her.”

Zoe Islay liked Eciel, who resembled my mother, and disliked me, who resembled my father…

Perhaps it wasn’t for the shallow and childish reasons I had originally thought.