The Innocent Mage's Spellbinding Nights - Chapter 8
“Tower Master! It seems like you’ve been having trouble sleeping these past few days. Is something good happening?”
Even Celsia, the aide who seemed to be mostly focused on Hesed, was curious about the reason.
“It’s not that. It’s true that I’m tired because I haven’t been sleeping well at night, but I can’t just go around crying, can I?”
“Now that you mention it, Tower Master, you haven’t been able to concentrate on the documents lately. Even if it’s tough, try to focus during the day and rest well at night. Don’t work on the documents late into the night.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Despite her obedient reply, Irina couldn’t concentrate on the documents that morning either. She had lost sleep the previous night, too, trying to calm her excited body with her hands.
“Tower Master, there seems to be a numerical error in this part… Oh dear.”
Before heading to lunch, Celsia, who was about to give a mid-morning report, shook her head as she saw Irina asleep with a pile of documents as her pillow.
“Being diligent was one of her strengths. Why is she like this lately?”
She murmured as she looked at Irina with a slight pout, then found another of the Tower Master’s strengths.
A face as beautiful as if the spirit of snow had descended.
Irina originally had a pure appearance that men would find attractive, but recently she had added a subtle allure to her charm, making her irresistibly beautiful to people of all ages. Even Celsia had just thought about stroking her luscious silver hair.
‘No wonder the Vice Tower Master can’t help but like her.’
Celsia sighed with a sulky expression. As someone who paid close attention to Hesed’s every move, she knew that he had liked Irina for quite some time.
It wasn’t just Celsia, really. Any mage with a bit of perceptiveness couldn’t help but notice.
The usually composed and arrogant Hesed would get flustered or embarrassed only in front of Irina, sometimes acting like an inexperienced boy.
‘Even the lofty Vice Tower Master is just a man after all. He likes pretty-faced women.’
Celsia lightly bit her lip.
In fact, Irina had many good qualities besides her looks.
Her extensive knowledge, including in pharmacology, her stable magical skills, her gentle and kind nature, which was hard to find among the rough and tough people of the western regions.
However, as a rival, she didn’t want to easily acknowledge those points.
‘I wish I had met you as a mage of the Red Tower, Blue Tower, or Black Tower.’
Someone completely unrelated to Hesed Clarke.
With a complicated look at Irina, Celsia turned off the lights and quietly left the office.
***
‘Ah, I dozed off.’
When Irina opened her eyes, she checked the time in her half-awake state. It was about 30 minutes past the usual lunchtime.
‘Looks like Celsia hasn’t returned yet.’
If she had been here, she would have delivered a mildly irritating nag by now.
‘Should I sleep for just 10 more minutes?’
Before succumbing to the sweet temptation, Irina habitually glanced at Celsia’s seat on her left. But to her surprise, someone was sitting in the seat she thought would be empty.
“Hesed, why are you here…!”
Startled, Irina jumped up from her seat, stumbling.
“Senior Sister!”
Hesed quickly approached and supported her, as if he had anticipated it, preventing her from falling clumsily.
“Ah, th-thank you…”
Hesed, unlike others, shared Irina’s fondness for sweet fruity scents. The mix of a sweet and tangy aroma, like oranges, combined with his unique body scent, created quite an alluring atmosphere.
No, what am I thinking… Calm down, Irina. This is all because of that damn potion.
“You need to be careful, Senior Sister. I heard you haven’t been sleeping well lately. Skipping meals like this, you might be experiencing anemia.”
Despite being clothed in a robe and other garments, his voice, as he spoke softly while supporting her, seemed unusually sexy rather than annoying, as if he was her superior. The thought sent shivers down her spine.
Moreover,
‘The more I see, the more alluring your brxxsts are.’
Recalling the lewd words spoken by him in her fantasies made her face flush with heat.
I-Irina, you crazy girl!
Embarrassed, she pushed herself away from Hesed’s arms. With a slightly prickly tone, she asked,
“What brings you to the office?”
“…Didn’t I make you uncomfortable a few days ago? I went to town today and saw they were selling a limited edition roll cake at the Berry Berry dessert shop that you like. I thought it would be a suitable gift to ask for your forgiveness for my foolishness, but it seems I’ve upset you again. What did I do this time?”
Hesed sighed dramatically. On the desk where he had been sitting was a neatly wrapped cake box.
‘Oh, strawberries.’
Suddenly, her forgotten hunger surged, and her appetite returned.
Strawberries were quite a rare fruit in the West. And the Berry Berry roll cake was so popular that you couldn’t get it without lining up early in the morning.
Due to the baker’s stubborn personality, persuasion or shortcuts rarely worked. Irina usually had to make a reservation and wait 1-2 weeks to taste the cake from there.
