Anyway, his explanation made her understand roughly. If there was a problem, it was the mindset that proposed such a thing to an unmarried lady from a noble family.

Well, for her who had lived in Korea, it wasn’t that embarrassing, but the typical romance fantasy setting was like that, wasn’t it?

When Lysith sighed again, Ashites’s face turned dark.

Will she tell me to turn the carriage around? To get lost? To never see each other again? What if she looks at me with truly hateful eyes?

Engulfed in all sorts of negative thoughts, his complexion darkened in an instant. Lysith, who was staring at the man’s dark expression, opened her mouth.

“What form does the magical device take?”

“Uh, what? A necklace form. If I explain in detail, it’s a bit complicated and……”

After blinking a few times while listening to his explanation, Lysith eventually helped the man who was still kneeling on the carriage floor to stand up.

“……Don’t act like that ever again.”

“……! Of course. I’ll never say such things again.”

“Not just to me. To others too.”

Lysith was letting it go because she understood his explanation, because he seemed to know his mistake, and decisively, because her essence wasn’t that of a noble lady, so she didn’t feel much aversion.

She remembered that even in the 21st century, there were actually such medicines.

If she had been a typical noble lady, she might have slapped this man the moment she heard his words……

‘And if he were truly trash, he probably wouldn’t be apologizing so desperately.’

Perhaps interpreting her silence somehow, Ashites, who had sat down beside her, showed signs of anxiety.

Judging from what he had said earlier, Ashites seemed to have quite a strong aversion to nobles. His nasty proposal to her also seemed to stem from that sentiment.

“Can I ask why you hate nobles?”

At Lysith’s careful question, Ashites opened and closed his mouth for a moment before revealing the story of his childhood. It was a story that, by now, no one knew except himself.

“……I was an adopted child in a noble family. Originally, I was just an insignificant commoner, but when I first used magic, it happened to be in front of those bastards.”

“……”

“What happened after that, well, it’s as you’d expect. Normally, one would go to the Magic Tower or the imperial palace, but back then, I didn’t know much about that.”

His deep-seated hatred for nobles began there. He was adopted at nine years old, exploited for about five years, and the one who happened to save him was the previous Tower Master.

“Nobles will do anything if it benefits them. Regardless of how others might perceive it.”

The expression he wore as he uttered those words was one Lysith hadn’t seen in a very long time. A face with a small sneer rising on an expressionless countenance, one that sent chills down her spine. It was also a face he had never shown her recently.

“……Does that mean I’ve never acted like that?”

“Honestly, if you had been like typical nobles, I probably wouldn’t be acting like this now.”

Ashites knew himself well. No matter how good his first experience with her had been, if she had subsequently acted like someone obsessed with self-interest, his feelings would have quickly faded.

After staring at his cold face for a moment, Lysith raised her hand and gently stroked his soft cheek. He naturally nuzzled his face against her hand.

As she continued to stroke his face that was leaning gently against her, a thought suddenly occurred to her. Why am I not that angry? Normally, it would be right to be angry.

She wasn’t a magnanimous person with a heart as wide as the Pacific Ocean, and although she had lived in the 21st century, right now she was like an observer……

‘Ah.’

She was indeed acting like an observer. She was a transmigrator who had suddenly dropped into this world, so it was just a game world, which was why she could not get angry as if it were someone else’s story.

She certainly cared for the individual people around her, but the sudden realization hit her that she wasn’t ready to accept this world itself.

As Lysith remained silent, lost in thought, the man’s eyes, which had been quietly closed, opened.

As their gazes met, she somehow felt like she was deceiving him.

To prevent the perceptive man from noticing her mood, Lysith slightly changed the subject.

“By the way, if I hadn’t brought this up, were you planning to bury it forever?”

“……Well, not really.”

“Did I do wrong, or not?”

“You did wrong.”

He doesn’t know that he almost got the ‘regretful boyfriend’ keyword attached to himself……

Deliberately putting aside her complicated feelings, she closed her mouth.

‘……Just like usual, just like usual.’

Her goal hadn’t changed yet.

* * *

“Hey, they’re here.”

“No, Tower Master! What are we supposed to do if you arrive now……”

Lysith learned belatedly that the carriage Ashites had brought was one that only the Tower Master could ride. And the Magic Tower mages who spotted the carriage from afar came out to greet it, milling around in front of the carriage door in confusion.

But as always, Ashites didn’t care. He abruptly flung open the carriage door, jumped out, and then helped Lysith descend with extremely careful hands.

Whether his subordinates were shocked to see his sudden companion, their jaws dropping, he didn’t care at all, and spoke kindly to her.

“I was going to prepare a separate room for you, Noona, but then I thought there was no need, so I didn’t.”

“Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

“You can sleep in my room.”

While Lysith’s voice was quiet enough that only he could hear it, considering others nearby, Ashites’s voice remained at his normal volume.

The mages of the Magic Tower, who were used to hearing his voice that always felt about -20 degrees, exchanged glances when they heard the completely opposite tone that was unimaginable to them.

Hey, did you hear that?

I think my ears have gone crazy.

What is this warm voice that could melt even eternal snow?

And in that moment, they all realized at once who this elegant woman before them was.

“You really have no filter when other people are around……”

Despite her glaring look, their leader was busy grinning with satisfaction. If that look had come from someone else, he would have glared back and asked what they were staring at.

“Gasp. Then……”

“Lady?”

“Madam?”

The voices of the dozen or so mages who had come out weren’t particularly loud, but when that many people whispered together, it was impossible not to hear.

Among the words she just heard, she was sure “Madam” was one of them.

Her gaze shifted from Ashites to the dozen mages. And the moment their eyes met, as if confirming what she had heard, all the mages hurriedly bowed their heads.

No, right? Tell me that’s not it.

Lysith grabbed Ashites’s clothes, who was standing quietly beside her, and whispered softly.

“Ash.”

“Yes?”

“Why, why are those people saying such things?”

“Ah~ I told them to mention it, didn’t I?”

As expected, his answer hit Lysith’s prediction without the slightest error.

Despite her shocked expression, mouth agape and hand on her forehead in disbelief, Ashites maintained his composed face.

“Why? What’s the problem? Don’t you like it? Should I tell them all to get lost?”

Your fearless actions and boundless imagination are the problem……

Judging by his behavior, he had probably already named their grandchildren in his head, which was terrifying.

Come to think of it, a memory suddenly surfaced. Yes, definitely. When they went out to the street together and visited that problematic store, he had told the employee to say something at the end.

‘So that’s what it was.’

Though she didn’t know the exact content, it seemed this man had been planning to have her treated as a madam since then.

“No, first. First…… let’s go inside.”

“Right, I’ve prepared all sorts of things for you, Noona.”

At Lysith’s words, Ashites silently interlocked his fingers with hers and took a step forward.

Naturally, all the mages who had come out widened their eyes to the point of popping out at the sight of him acting like a puppy with a tail.

The Magic Tower they entered while holding his hand was more splendid than she had expected. It made sense considering how they raked in money like a rake. Still, everyone has their own vague image of such places.

But there were almost no gray-scale decorations, and the interior, which was clearly furnished with top-quality items, welcomed her.

“It’s more splendid than I thought.”

“This is just the entrance. Same with the reception room for guests. But the living quarters can’t be decorated like this because you never know what might happen.”

“I see……”

There were no objects flying around or strangely shaped dolls walking about. It was so quiet that it felt puzzling.

As Lysith looked around and Ashites explained things to her, an aide who had approached them at some point opened his mouth.

“Welcome to the Magic Tower, Ma… Lady.”

You were about to say Madam just now, weren’t you? Right?

Wondering what to say, she eventually gave up. Since he tried to say Madam and hastily changed his words, it was awkward to call him out directly.

“It’s a bit different from what I expected, so I’m surprised.”