The World Has Become Kinder to Her - Chapter 21

**Side Story: A Proposal Dedicated to the Deceased**  

It’s fine if you don’t accept my heart.  

It’s okay if you refuse my proposal.  

I resolved to do anything if I could turn back time and see you alive and well again.  

***  

“Frederick.”  

“Yes, Loti?”  

“I have something I’m curious about.”  

“What is it?”  

“Are you… not planning to get married?”  

Frederick stared at Lotus, surprised by the unexpected question. Her face, small and pale, betrayed no particular emotion. It was the same face as always, yet perhaps because of her question, she seemed a little more pouty than usual.  

For a moment, Frederick found her expression incredibly endearing, and he kissed the tips of her red hair. Lotus frowned at him but didn’t push him away.  

“Why? Would you like it if I got married?”  

“I was just asking.”  

“If I marry too quickly, wouldn’t many women in the capital, including you, be heartbroken?”  

“Leave me out of that.”  

Her sharp reply came swiftly. Frederick chuckled softly and continued to play with Lotus’ silky hair, letting the smooth strands slip through his fingers.  

“Loti.”  

“…”  

“Should I get married?”  

“Considering your position, you probably should. But whether you do or not is up to you.”  

Ten days before Lotus’ death, she and Frederick had a casual conversation about marriage.  

One week later—  

The Abran Duchy, where the entire family had gathered for a rare evening meal, grew loud with discussions about marriage.  

“Frederick, how long are you going to keep living like this? You’re already twenty-seven.”  

“What are you talking about?”  

Frederick looked puzzled at the Duchess’ concerned words. Knowing her son well enough to anticipate his usual evasive answers, she got straight to the point.  

“Your younger brother Francis has set his wedding date for this fall. You should also welcome a beautiful bride before the year ends.”  

“Ah, it’s that talk again? You really don’t get tired of this, do you, Mother? Every time I hear your usual complaints, I can’t help but feel reassured that you’re still so full of unnecessary passion. You’ll live a long, long life.”  

“Frederick!”  

“How dare you speak to your mother like that, you rascal!”  

The Duchess’ sharp tone was quickly followed by the Duke’s reprimand. Frederick, as well as Francis, continued drinking their wine, unfazed by the familiar scene. After all, this wasn’t the first time.  

“It’s not me who’s being unreasonable, but you and Father. I handed over the position of head of the Abran family to my brother without any conditions so that I could live freely, without all these constraints. But now you’re talking about marriage? Oh dear.”  

Frederick exaggerated a sigh of exasperation. Francis, finishing his wine, chimed in.  

“Brother, I respect whatever decision you make, so I hope you’ll continue to maintain your position as the Tower Master.”  

“Francis!”  

“See? I get along so well with our future family head, but I don’t understand why conversations with our parents always go in circles.”  

While their parents’ concern was evident, the brothers were perfectly in sync. Frederick, chuckling, poured more wine into his brother’s glass, and Francis returned the favor by filling Frederick’s.  

As the two clinked their glasses lightly in a toast, their parents struggled to calm their rising blood pressure.  

Frederick, the eldest son of the Abran Duchy and an extraordinary mage, was, to put it mildly, free-spirited, and to be blunt, he lived life entirely on his own terms, like the wind.  

After awakening his magical talent, he started wandering all over the place right after his seventeenth birthday. It was behavior unbecoming of the Duke’s heir.  

The Duke and Duchess’ efforts to keep him tied down to their estate had become the talk of high society. But all their attempts had been in vain.  

What good were dozens or even hundreds of knights and mercenaries standing guard when he could simply vanish with teleportation, invisibility, or haste magic?  

Since childhood, Frederick had been more talented than even the elder mages of the Tower. There was no one who could stop him.

“Frederick.”  

When the Duchess finally pulled out a handkerchief and pretended to wipe her tears, Frederick decided to back down, if only a little.  

Despite being the troublesome son who constantly raised his parents’ blood pressure, Frederick fundamentally loved his family and the people he considered his own.  

“Yes, my dear mother.”  

“I thought that since you’ve stayed in the capital for the past three years, you might have finally decided to settle down… Was that just my foolish hope?”  

Frederick reflected on his recent actions.  

He had never liked staying in one place for long, perhaps because of his natural wandering spirit. And yet, as his mother said, he had indeed remained in the capital for the past three years. Why was that?  

“Am I just getting tired now that I’m past my early twenties?”  

If his parents, brother, or the other members of the Tower had heard his thoughts, they would have been utterly exasperated.  

Generally, mages were known for having weak physical stamina, spending all day at their desks doing research or using magic to handle daily tasks, which drained whatever energy they had. But Frederick was different.  

As an expert in wind magic, he was always brimming with energy, as unpredictable and playful as the wind itself. Though he couldn’t quite match a knight, his stamina and strength were far superior to an average person’s.  

And it was that energy and capability he used to raise people’s blood pressure and stir up minor troubles—his favorite hobby and specialty.  

“…Isn’t there a woman you’re seeing?”  

“A woman?”  

At the mention of “woman,” someone immediately came to Frederick’s mind.  

A woman with a name like a lotus, and an appearance to match. Lotus Estelle, the woman who had stayed by his side for the past three years.  

Now that he thought about it, ever since he met her, he hadn’t left the capital.  

“Oh, yes. There is someone.”  

“I knew it!”  

The Duchess’ face lit up at Frederick’s nonchalant response.  

“Who is she? What noble lady has captured the heart of my brilliant eldest son?”  

Frederick furrowed his brow at the word “captured.” According to his mother, he was completely infatuated with Lotus.  

“…No way.”  

Frederick knew better than anyone that he wasn’t the type of person to settle down with one person or in one place. There was no special reason for it—it was simply his nature.  

He didn’t want to be tied to anything or anyone. Yet, Lotus was an odd exception for him.  

She was beautiful, but not to the extent of a legendary beauty who could bring nations to ruin. Still, he never tired of looking at her.  

Her intelligent, gleaming green eyes seemed to draw people in like a swamp, and her red hair was so soft and silky it made him want to keep stroking it.  

And that wasn’t all. When something displeased her, she would purse her lips, an expression that was as endearing as a cat’s. Her rare, genuine smiles were as beautiful as the light of the setting sun.  

“Wait, what? At this rate, I’m going to end up writing a poem in praise of Lotus.”  

Suddenly feeling strange, a sharp pang hit Frederick’s chest. He looked around at his family and asked:  

“If you keep wanting to see someone, and never get tired of them, that means they’re like a rare magical artifact uncovered after hundreds of years, right? Like a fascinating new toy?”  

His voice, somehow filled with unease, sounded strange.  

The Duke, Duchess, and Francis exchanged glances. The Duchess then broke into a smile reminiscent of a teenage girl.  

“Oh dear. I thought my eldest son knew everything and was good at everything, but it turns out he’s clueless about love. That woman has clearly stolen your heart. So, who is she? I’m dying of curiosity!”  

What?  

At that moment, Frederick felt as though he heard a hallucination.  

It was the sound of his love life and potential marriage being drowned in cold water.  

“Ahhh! Wait! Wait a minute!”  

Suddenly, Frederick shouted like a madman and disappeared from the spot, using teleportation magic.  

“Do I… really like Loti? For real?”  

Frederick arrived in his office within the Tower.  

Thanks to the pre-registered biometric information, he could come and go from this place freely. In fact, it was surrounded by intricate wards that blocked intrusion and resisted magic, making it the perfect place to think without interruption.  

“Aaaagh! This makes no sense!”

Frederick clutched the edge of his desk, causing a commotion. Even though the protective wards dispersed his magical energy, vibrations reverberated throughout the Tower, shaking the office and beyond.

Ten minutes later, a knock echoed from the door.

“Tower Master, you’re not using magic in there, are you?”

“I’m not! I told you, I’m not!”

“Then why is the whole tower shaking? I nearly lost that expensive bottle of wine I just bought!”

“Oh, should I break your neck instead of the wine bottle?”

“What’s got you throwing a fit again?”

“You’re really running your mouth, aren’t you?”

“That’s exactly why I’m the Vice Tower Master under you. You should be grateful.”

The Vice Tower Master’s voice was blunt as he assessed the situation. He wasn’t wrong. Traditionally, the Tower Master and Vice Tower Master were appointed based on magical prowess, with the most skilled mage assuming the role of Tower Master and the second most skilled as their deputy. However, Frederick’s personality was so difficult to manage that the original second and third-ranked mages had adamantly refused the role of Vice Tower Master.  

Thus, Manores, ranked fourth in the Tower and possessing a firm disposition, unexpectedly became the Vice Tower Master.

“You should be thanking me. You wouldn’t be Vice Tower Master if it weren’t for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave. Try to keep your tantrums in check.”

“Wait!”

Frederick called out to Manores, who was about to descend the stairs. Besides his family and Lotus, Manores was the person Frederick found easiest to talk to. Frederick snapped his fingers, and the tightly shut door swung open.

Standing in the doorway was a young man in his mid-twenties with unruly brown curls and glasses. Despite being born a common orphan, Manores had been taken in by the former Tower Master and raised to become one of the most skilled mages, now ranking fourth in the Tower’s hierarchy.

“Why are you so cold? At least ask why I’m upset before you leave.”

Manores entered the office with a shrug, looking as if he’d rather be anywhere else.

“I did ask earlier.”

“And I didn’t answer!”

“Well, I figured it couldn’t be anything important. Surely nothing is more important than me enjoying my precious wine.”

“Wow, look at your character.”

Frederick muttered in disbelief and pulled a bottle of wine from the cabinet. With a flick of his wrist, he cast a summoning spell, and two glass cups floated through the air and landed perfectly on the desk.  

The wine bottle moved on its own, pouring the rich liquid into the empty glasses. To an ordinary person, this would have been mildly fascinating, but to a fellow mage, it was something else entirely.

‘The gods must have taken away his decency and given him ten times the talent instead,’ thought Manores. Frederick’s control over mana was so precise that he used summoning and manipulation magic as easily as breathing.

Once both glasses were filled with high-quality wine, Manores finally took a seat across from Frederick.

“I’ll stay only until I finish this glass.”

“I wasn’t planning to keep you any longer than that!”

“So, what’s the issue?”

“I just heard something that left me speechless.”

“Something like, ‘The Tower Master has a great personality,’ maybe?”

“Hey!”

“Alright, go ahead.”

“They said I’m in love with Loti.”

Frederick spoke as if revealing some monumental secret.