Wondering whether this was good or bad, Reed glanced at Dolores.
"Well... you stacked a lot more than you used to."
There was no doubt that she was being polite.
Wondering how much others could stack, Reed asked Rosaria, who was sitting across from him.
"How many floors did you build, Rosaria?"
"40 layers! Isn't it amazing? People usually can't stack this much on their first try!"
She spread three fingers on her left hand and clenched her right hand into a fist, showing them while giggling.
"That's impressive."
"Heehee."
He praised Rosaria with a smile mixed with admiration and surprise.
Then, out of the blue, Dolores, who had been sitting next to him, opened her mouth.
"I can stack up to 60 layers."
"...Really?"
"...Yes."
At his hesitant response, Dolores quickly turned her head away.
She cooled her blushing face with the coldness of her hand, as if she was embarrassed by her own words.
'I feel like a fool for competing with a child...'
Reed remained silent, regretting that he should have reacted more kindly.
In such an uncomfortable atmosphere, Rosaria turned to Reed and said,
"Should I show you how I stack them?"
"Yes, please show me."
"Okay!"
It was her time to show off, so Rosaria began to stack the sticks one by one with a determined face.
Dolores and Reed quietly watched her.
After about 10 floors, Rosaria's speed started to slow down.
In the meantime, Dolores started a conversation.
"I thought you were quite busy, but I guess not?"
"I am busy, but I am busier due to other tasks."
"Why? Did you receive a lot of letters?"
That was the correct answer.
Dolores narrowed her eyes slightly and glared at Reed.
"I heard from the tower masters of the Jade Tower and the Greenwood Tower. They said you were amazing at the banquet?"
"I didn't intend to stand out. But things got messed up."
"I'm envious. The Tower Master of Silence is too popular with women."
She said it was envy, but it was closer to sarcasm.
Dolores was on bad terms with Reed.
So, this situation wouldn't be pleasant for her.
"If the Tower Master of Wallin was there, you would definitely have attracted attention."
"Why?"
"Because you're a beauty."
"Of course. As an archmage... B, be, beautiful?"
People looking to expand their network would line up to meet an archmage.
So, it was like a surprise attack for Dolores, who thought he would say something along those lines.
Seeing her reaction, Reed regretted and added.
"I mean you're a woman of many talents. You're proficient in many ways."
"Appearance too?"
Unlike Reed who was trying to step back, Dolores was taking another step closer.
He had no choice but to nod.
"Yes."
"Have you always thought so?"
"......"
"Ahem! I overstepped. Let's forget about this question."
Dolores did not have the confidence to continue this strange atmosphere.
She felt like she would be knocked down before she could corner the other.
So, she quickly ended the conversation, turned her head, and fixed her eyes on Rosaria.
In such an awkward atmosphere, someone knocked on the door like a savior.
Phoebe slightly opened the door and said,
"Master, I'm really sorry to interrupt your play, but someone came to see you."
"Who is it?"
"It's the Third Knight Commander."
"The Third Knight Commander?"
***
It was Adonis Hupper.
When Reed entered the reception room, he saw Adonis.
She was dressed like a knight in plate armor.
"Welcome, Ms. Hupper. Or should I say, the Third Knight Commander?"
At the banquet, she was a princess, but now she came as a knight defending a country.
Considering her status, it seemed inappropriate to address her casually, so he quickly corrected his words.
"......Please feel comfortable, Tower Master of Silence."
A polite greeting.
But her face told a different story.
'Hostility? No, it doesn't seem certain enough to be hostility.'
She looked like she was at a crossroads of choices.
Reed realized that this situation was not light at all.
Cooling his head, he sat opposite her.
"May I ask what brings the commander of a knight division of a country to the tower of magicians?"
"There is one thing... I want to ask."
"What is it?"
"Do you know a man named James Bren?"
"I do."
He was the bomb that Morgan planted to eliminate Adonis.
"James Bren resigned from his knighthood today and left this to me."
Adonis took something out of her pocket and showed it.
The napkin from the banquet, the very napkin that Reed used to lure James.
"When James Bren came to his senses, he said that the Tower Masters were around. So I asked around, and they said this phrase was written by you, the Tower Master of Silence."
The Tower Masters talked about that napkin.
'Well, I didn't explicitly say it was a secret.'
Explaining why they shouldn't tell Adonis would eventually reach not only Freesia but also Morgan Hupper.
So he had to gloss over it, but he never expected to trip over that napkin.
‘Lie?'
There's no doubt it would backfire.
He was already stepping on its tail to some extent.
Trying to escape would only make him sink faster into the swamp.
Reed decided to affirm the letter.
"Yes, I wrote it."
"Then did you also write this?"
This time, what she pulled out was the anonymous letter Reed had written.
The fact that she brought it out meant that Adonis had already compared the handwriting.
Brushing his chest with the affirmation that his decision not to lie was right, he nodded.
"Yes, I wrote that too."
He thought that would be the end of the questions.
But there was one more thing left.
"Then, may I ask why you changed your handwriting when you sent the perfume?"
"Perfume?"
"This."
This time, she showed a small note.
-For your successful debut.
He couldn't recognize whose handwriting it was.
No Tower Master used such handwriting.
But Reed knew who wrote this sentence.
'It's Freesia.'
It was clear that she had subtly adjusted the intensity to avoid being caught.
'There's another problem here.'
Lie.
He could say that Phoebe had written it for him. It would be hard to tell the Tower Master's deputy’s handwriting, even if the Tower Masters' handwriting could be recognized quickly.
But Reed chose the truth again this time.
"The phrase I used when sending the perfume wasn't written by me."
"Then who wrote it?"
"Those who are trying to slander you."
Reed told her the truth with a clear voice.
"The perfume you used was a poison that would lead you to death."
Adonis lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.
James Bren, the napkin, the perfume, and even "Trigger Hypnosis".
When she connected all the situations, Adonis could finally understand.
""Trigger Hypnosis"... The trigger condition was that perfume."
She had no choice but to know now. Someone was targeting her.
And Reed intervened in that situation.
To save her.
Then who would be targeting her?
Knowing the plan, Reed would undoubtedly know the target as well.
However…
"......I won't ask. It will undoubtedly be hard for me to accept. But I would like you to answer this."
Adonis's brow furrowed.
For the first time, the doll-like woman revealed her expression to Reed.
"Why did you help me?"
Their first encounter was merely a minor issue.
And all they did was dance together at the banquet.
On the other hand, Reed knew a lot about her.
He had observed her from afar.
He saw her dedication to the country as a knight, alongside Freesia.
He had seen her perfect debut as a princess.
The things she had done were acts of selfless devotion that could only be done by someone who loved their family.
Such a woman falls into ruin due to the betrayal of the family she loved.
Thus, becoming the third calamity, Adonis, leaving with only despair and eventually meeting her demise.
Reed answered Adonis's question.
"Because you don't deserve to be unhappy."
