What? A mini-event that wasn’t in “Marino”! I must see this!

Before I could discover what the event entailed, a trembling voice reached my ears.

“This… this can’t be a dream, can it?”

Vice Archmage Marcel stood there, looking more gaunt than when I’d last seen him. “Vice Archmage? What brings you here?”

“I came to… congratulate Noah on his victory… but…”

The half-elf’s pupils shook at the sight of the enormous quantity of fairy mint. Tears welling in his eyes from emotion, he rushed forward to throw himself into the pile of flowers.

“I never thought I’d see paradise in my lifetime!”

“Hold it right there.” 

I blocked the Vice Archmage just three seconds before he could enter his state of ecstasy.

“You’ll need to pay an entrance fee first.”

* * *

After ordering the greenhouse to be carefully organized, Calliphe relocated with Lynen and the Vice Archmage. The celebration party was temporarily suspended.

‘An entrance fee?’

Marcel swallowed hard as he took his seat. 

‘What could she possibly demand?’

The fairy mint that filled the entire greenhouse and burst outward—this sight he’d witnessed upon visiting Calliphe’s annex made his heart pound wildly. Even a surprise kiss from his first love wouldn’t have made him this excited.

‘This is incomparable to those dried petals!’

Marcel had been responsible for safety management at the upcoming Harvest Festival closing ceremony, which had left him extremely tired lately. He frequently had to inhale the scent of dried fairy mint petals that Calliphe had given him, hidden inside a doll.

‘Even that was enough to clear my breathing.’

But the moment he smelled the fresh flowers, he wanted to throw that doll away. His body would never again be satisfied with dried petals.

“Hehehe…” Calliphe chuckled, seemingly having already seen through Marcel’s state.

In the past, his heart would freeze whenever the young lady laughed like that, fearing what trouble she might cause. But now…

‘Life is full of surprises. To think I’d ever look forward to what the young lady might say.’

Indeed, Marcel hadn’t come to Calliphe’s annex solely to congratulate Noah on his victory. He’d come to tell her that he had finally decided on his “small master.”

‘I’ve acknowledged your capabilities for some time now.’

She had drawn in Duke Ortega for protection, made the haughty High Cardinal her sponsor, and even taken the arrogant Crown Princess as her disciple—things the old Calliphe could never have imagined.

Especially when he saw her tame the griffin after borrowing the experimental magical beast from the Magic Tower.

‘Whatever method she used, she’s definitely gained the ability to manipulate mana. Without a doubt.’

When he realized this, he became so excited that he couldn’t sleep at night, considering the possibility of having someone with top-tier golden mana as the Archmage.

Despite this, Marcel hadn’t yet acknowledged Calliphe as his small master.

‘Even with all these achievements, if the young lady still only cares about herself…’

He couldn’t possibly entrust the Magic Tower to her. The Tower housed countless mages, and the Archmage was responsible for all of them.

He realized his concerns were unfounded during the Harvest Festival, when he saw Noah win fair and square despite Viscount Gallard’s unfair tactics.

‘If the young lady only looked out for herself, could she have achieved such results? Absolutely not.’

Children mirror adults. If Calliphe had demanded only high performance from Noah like before, or if the child had pushed himself while constantly worrying about his sponsor’s approval, such a splendid victory would never have happened.

‘Thanks to that, I realized.’

The young lady had changed. She had become someone who valued the people around her.

Once he understood this, there was no reason to delay any longer.

“Young lady, actually I…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t ask for your support.”

“No, that’s not it.”

He wanted to ask if he could serve her as his small master, but when Calliphe frowned slightly in annoyance, Marcel shrank back. Hmph.

Of course, Calliphe couldn’t have known what he was thinking. She immediately got to the point.

“First, I’d like permission to enter the Marquis’s hospital room. I want to see him as soon as possible.”

“Of course. It was already promised, so I should naturally grant it.”

Marcel inscribed a teleportation magic circle on the back of Calliphe’s hand, allowing her to enter the Archmage’s hospital room anytime.

“This magic circle is the key to the pocket dimension being used as the hospital room. However, since I’m the owner of that pocket dimension, I can detect whenever you enter or leave.”

“That’s fine with me.”

“It’s done.”

At that moment, Lynen, who had been sitting beside Calliphe, abruptly extended his hand.

“Inscribe one for me too.”

“Duke? There was no condition about giving one to you.”

“Aren’t husband and wife one body?”

“…Pardon?”

“Pfft, cough!”

Marcel’s eyes widened at those words, and Calliphe choked.

“Y-you’ll say anything!”

Red-faced, Calliphe hit Lynen’s forearm, but he didn’t budge.

‘The Duke has become quite brazen when I wasn’t looking. Or was he always like this?’

Something seemed peculiar about their relationship.

‘…I suddenly feel tired.’

It absolutely wasn’t because he’d been single for a hundred years. His stomach hurt because he’d had coffee that morning. It was the coffee’s fault.

In any case, Lynen also received the magic circle.

Quickly calming her flushed face, Calliphe said, “Good. Thank you, Vice Archmage.”

“Now, please tell me your additional conditions, young lady.”

Marcel steeled himself to accept whatever outrageous demands she might make. He would try to fulfill them if possible.

‘Though I haven’t yet conveyed my decision, this is essentially the first order from my small master.’

He would carry it out no matter what.

Having made this solemn resolution…

“…Is that really all you want?”

Marcel tilted his head, puzzled by her unexpectedly simple request.

* * *

After leaving Calliphe’s annex, Marcel hurried back to his workplace where equipment for the Harvest Festival closing ceremony was being inspected.

“Vice Archmage, perfect timing. We’ve just finished the safety checks on the magical devices.”

The safety officer reported in.

Once Vice Archmage Marcel conducted his inspection, their work would be complete. They could finish their overtime and go home.

However, their trusted Vice Archmage dropped a bombshell.

“Let’s do cross-inspections just to be safe.”

“…Pardon?”

“Switch with someone responsible for a different area. And let’s do it three more times—no, five more times.”

“…What?”

“I’ll be separately creating artifacts for Their Highnesses.”

“But Vice Archmage, why go that far? We’ve already completed all the inspections.”

Marcel gave a bitter smile.

‘Because that was the condition my small master specified.’

To prevent any possible accidents, conduct at least three cross-inspections and provide special safety artifacts to the Crown Princess and Empress.

‘That was unexpected. I understand her concern about accidents, but isn’t she being overly cautious?’

The Crown Princess and Empress would attend the closing ceremony together to extinguish the flames that had burned throughout the Harvest Festival.

The Magic Tower was fully responsible for the safety of the closing ceremony, being the empire’s most skilled group of mages.

This meant that…

‘If any accident occurs, the Magic Tower bears full responsibility.’

If, by any chance, a member of the imperial family were seriously injured…

‘The Magic Tower’s position would be severely compromised.’

They were particularly vulnerable now with the Archmage absent.

He had just decided on Calliphe as his small master and established a direction for the Magic Tower’s future. All of that could collapse in an instant.

‘Yes, my small master’s concerns aren’t unfounded. We must be more thorough.’

Marcel jumped in to personally inspect everything in detail.

In his focus, he failed to notice the man hidden in the shadows, carefully observing him.

The man slightly lowered the collar of his cloak that had been pulled up to his nose, revealing a black tattoo on one cheek—the mark of a member of the “Black Hand,” both the underground market and the organization that managed it.