Chapter 36

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Chapter 36 – Do You Want To Go To My Shop?

Ashia smiled faintly and walked to the chair on the other side of the hallway. “Is it because I live proudly without hiding?” Sitting down on the chair, she tilted her head and looked at Lisa, a cold shadow cast over her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“…”

“You’re walking around just fine, so why wouldn’t I?” Ashia’s voice sounded even colder. “You’re disgusting, Lisa Felthran.”

“…What did you say?” Lisa’s gaze gradually filled with anger.

“It looks like you don’t have anything to fear in this world ever since I left the tower without saying anything and started living quietly…”

Unable to bear it, Lisa cut off Ashia’s words and sarcastically told her, “Leave? You need to say it straight, Ashia. You didn’t leave, but you were stripped off of all your rights and kicked out, weren’t you?! The tower and the wizards did! You were kicked out from the tower.”

“…”

Lisa’s face was fuming with anger as if she was about to explode.

Ashia folded her arms. “Lisa… it’s better to do it in moderation.”

“…”

“It’s not for you that I endure such insults.”

“Endure?”

“Yes, I endured a lot.”

Hah! Lisa burst into laughter and stared at Ashia with bloodshot eyes.

“Anyway, maintaining the Magic Tower’s elemental cube means that you have the abilities, but if something goes wrong and the elemental cube breaks, wouldn’t all the barriers connected to each empire also break?”

Lisa’s eyebrows furrowed even more when Ashia started talking about the elemental cube.

Nevertheless, Ashia’s words continued, “Then the power and prestige of the tower will end overnight, right?”

Lisa ground her teeth. “Saying the tower would collapse with that mouth…”

“Because I am one of those people who doesn’t want to see the Magic Tower collapse.”

Seeing Lisa burning with anger, Ashia sighed softly. She got up from the chair and walked towards her cart. “I have no regrets and interest in that place you don’t want to be taken away from you.”

Ashia, who had fixed the handle of the cart, paused for a moment to speak, “By the way.” She looked down at the cart and turned to Lisa again. “Since you act like a child who doesn’t want the candy in their mouth to be taken away… I am curious as to how sweet and delicious it is.”

“What?”

“So, if you want to keep that place, don’t touch those people who are still, Miss Magic Tower’s Master.”

Oil was poured into Lisa’s rage.

“Ashia Bliss!!”

She turned her head towards Lisa’s screaming voice. Lisa then created fireballs with both her hands.

“You’ve gone cr—”

A fireball flew towards Ashia before she could even finish speaking. Surprised, Ashia hastily summoned a water attribute barrier.

Blagsh!

As the barrier vibrated on impact, the surrounding air also shimmered.

‘Has she finally gone crazy to use attack magic inside the Imperial Palace?’

The first fireball that flew towards Ashia disappeared as soon as it touched the water attribute barrier. Lisa threw the next fireball to Ashia without pause.

Boom!

The Imperial Knights might soon arrive if this continued.

This place wasn’t good. Using attack magic inside the Imperial Palace also meant treason. Even though she couldn’t understand Lisa’s actions, maybe the Imperial Palace had some exceptions for the Master of the Magic Tower. Then that would be even worse. It meant that Ashia could overturn everything.

‘I have to end this.’

Ashia clenched her jaw tightly. Mana once again breathed into the water attribute barrier she made from her fingertips. When the fifth fireball hit the water attribute barrier, the mana on the barrier was used to blow the flying fireball back.

“!!” Lisa hurriedly created a water attribute barrier to prevent the fireball from making impact.

Boogsh!.

The two people were strongly pushed back by the magical power. Ashia’s potions were also shattered by the shock wave, and fragments flew here and there.

“Aww.”

Ashia regained her balance and wiped her forearms. As her body was pushed back, her robe was caught and was now hanging on the twigs of the flower bed, and she was wounded in several places. There was a scar on the exposed part of her skin, and blood began to flow, but that wasn’t the part that made Ashia angry.

“Huh?!”

The cart containing the potion was shattered by Lisa’s attack. Naturally, the ruins of the broken potion also ruined the Imperial Palace’s corridor.

“Do you know how much all of this?! Are you crazy?!”

“Yeah… I’m crazy.” Lisa’s voice trembled with anger. Her green eyes were cloudy and murky. “I will kill you.”

“What?”

’Ho! This is amazing. Who should be the one angry?’

Ashia’s hatred for Lisa was so deep that she thought whether she should or shouldn’t forgive her even if she suddenly begged for her forgiveness after meeting her.

Lisa wouldn’t back down quietly either. Therefore, it was a fight between the Magic Tower’s Master and an expelled wizard from the Magic Tower. But anyone who would see it as a fight against Ashia who was kicked out from the Magic Tower because of an accident. Staggering due to the shock, Lisa got up and looked at Ashia.

“Are you attacking without knowing our subject?”

“Please speak straight. You were the one who attacked and I just defended.”

“You’re amazing. You must’ve been ignorant enough to use attack magic inside the Imperial Palace,” Ashia said as she remove the leaves and branches on her clothes.

“I am Magic Tower’s Master. Do you think you can catch me just because I used a little magic?”

“…”

“The location doesn’t matter. This is a world where the Magic Tower, wizards, and the imperial families of other empires only see me.”

“So the Magic Tower… was under the management of a Master like you.”

“You… from the beginning…”

If this went on like this, it looked like Lisa was going to reveal her white teeth and bite her.

’I think I need to leave sooner.’

“Don’t lose any more energy here, go back to the tower and take good care of the element cube, Magic Tower’s Master.”

“…”

“Did you forget already that you were there for that purpose?”

Thinking that it should only be right to avoid this place before Lisa could shoot another fireball, Ashia slipped away from her and walked away from the ruined floor. But unlike Ashia who was struggling to control her emotions, Lisa didn’t seem to have any intention of sending Ashia away peacefully.

“You didn’t die that day.”

’What? What the hell is she talking about now?’

Ashia burst into dumbfounded laughter. “I wanted to give you back those words as it is. Who said that it was unfair that someone had to die?”

“If you can do it now, try it.”

“…There’s nothing I can’t do, but I don’t think that’s the case here.”

“What about it, who will see it?”

“You’re crazy, Lisa Felthran.”

Their hostility towards each other was revealed clearly in their eyes. Lisa put out her hand from inside her robe after staring at each other without saying anything. Ashia’s brows narrowed at her actions.

‘No way…’

White energy soon rushed into Lisa’s fingertips.

Noticing what she was going to do with that power, Ashia’s jaw tensed again, “Are you going to use attack magic again? This is the Imperial Palace.”

“What do you know?”

The energy gathered at her fingertips immediately created sharp and pointed ice picks. Through the air in front of Lisa, without a gap, full of sight…

This was the second attack magic inside the Imperial Palace, after the fire attribute magic. Soon, Imperial Knights or Imperial Wizards would surely come. She shouldn’t be entangled with her anymore; she was in such a disadvantageous situation. Before she could even turn away from Lisa, the ice picks left Lisa’s hand and flew in Ashia’s direction.

‘Ah! Really! Are you really wasting your mana on a thing that barely even affects the elemental cube?’

The ice picks mercilessly flew towards Ashia with a loud sound cutting through the wind.

Sizzle.

As soon as the ice picks hit the barrier of heat that was suddenly erected, they melted in an instant and fell to the floor in puddles.

“Oh…”

It was similar to the magic circle, but the texture of the energy felt was different.

‘…Aura?’

Ashia turned her head at the energy she felt behind her back. “…Kaligo?”

Looking up, she saw Kaligo staring right ahead with a fierce expression on his face. He then opened his mouth while controlling his aurora, “It’s nice to meet you, but the situation isn’t very pleasant.”

Whether she was surprised that her magic was blocked or that she was startled by someone else’s presence, Lisa hurriedly put back her hood, stepped back, and ran away.

“Shall I catch her for you?”

She shook her head in response to his question as he lifted the barrier. “…No need, just let her go. She’s an ignorant human being who doesn’t pay attention to the fact that this is the Imperial Palace.”

Only then did Kaligo’s gaze, which was looking at the place where Lisa disappeared, fall to Ashia in front of his chest. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

“But you’re still gonna meet—” Kaligo’s eyes widened as he looked at her. “Are you hurt? Because of that wizard earlier?!” With wrinkled brows, Kaligo lowered his head and checked her face.

“I-I’m okay.” Ashia’s eyes lost their way and wandered on his face as he suddenly approached her, embarrassed.

“What do you mean you’re okay when you’re bleeding?” Kaligo took out a handkerchief from his inner pocket and wiped her wounds gently on her cheek, neck, and the back of her hand.

“…”

They were, in fact, very small wounds, and the blood that came out of them was already dry so there was no need to wipe it. However, Kaligo was wiping Ashia’s face diligently and carefully with such an upset expression. His face was still so handsome even if he was frowning and the corners of his eyes were lowered.

She heard Kaligo’s low voice at that moment, “Who was that person?”

“…”

His eyes that were examining her wounds turned to Ashia when she didn’t respond. “Ashia.”

She met his gaze silently..

“Is this one of those private things you can’t tell me?”

“…”

A faint wrinkle was drawn on his forehead. “If that privacy is a threat to you, I can’t afford to just sit around and watch it any longer.” Kaligo lowered his eyebrows and again brought the handkerchief to the wound on her face.

“…”

He showed her a new side of him every time.

’Was he such a sweet person? Was he such an honest person in expressing his emotions?’

– I’ve always wanted to hug you but I was afraid that you might die! Every night! I was just thinking of holding you like a beast whether the sun is up or the moon is up! How could I tell you such a thing!

She knew that what he said was true. His cry at that time was like a confession that he saw Ashia as a woman.

Was she not an attractive woman when she was still living as Renna, or did that man buy her and thought that she was just an ornament? She used to stay up all night with so many doubts and misunderstandings.

‘Why weren’t you as courageous a little earlier…?’

Ashia rested her face in his hands and looked at him quietly. Watching his face, folding the handkerchief, and wiping the blood from the wound with a clean part, made her heart pound with numbness.

“I feel like you’re getting more handsome each time I see you.”

His hand, which had been running back and forth on Ashia’s cheek, stopped.

“I don’t think I had ever told you that.”

“….”

“Since you didn’t want me to find out about you… I was just the same.”

Quietly listening to Ashia speaking, Kaligo bowed his slender eyes and smiled faintly. His red eyes were visible through the black hair disappearing through his softly curved eyelids. The harsh and murderous atmosphere of the man earlier was dispersed in an instant with just one smile.

Ashia then spoke again, “You smiled…”

“…”

“You smiled again. I really can’t get used to it… your smile.”

“…”

“I don’t hate it. I rather… like it.” Ashia’s hand reached his cheek involuntarily. She just thought to herself that she wanted to touch his face once, but her hand was somehow already touching his face.

“…”

“…”

Ashia was really surprised by her actions, but it seems that Kaligo was also just as surprised as her. The smile on his face disappeared with a single touch He was just staring at Ashia with a shocked look.

Despite Kaligo’s hot gaze, Ashia’s slender and white fingers gently stroked his chin. Her hand that started from his cheek trailed down his face and reached straight to his lips. His neck muscles tightened, and she saw his throat bob.

‘Ah… look at how nervous you are.’

In response to his reaction, Ashia slowly raised her gaze and looked into his red eyes. “Are you busy now?”

Kaligo, who had his eyes fixed on her small lips, answered with blank eyes as if possessed, “I’m not busy.”

Opening her eyes slowly at Kaligo’s reply, she looked up at him and said, “Then, do you want to go to my shop?”

(T/N: I think I need to prepare my popcorn for the next chapter [runs in bunny mode])

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