Gerard's eye twitched beneath his gaze as he stared down at his teacup.
"...I saw the name tag."
Unlike mages or healers, lowly civil servants were required to wear name tags.
Eloise bowed her head to check her uniform.
Engraved prominently on the gold plate were the words 'Eloise Luvellia'.
"You saw the name tag, huh."
Eloise gave an awkward smile.
She had nearly caused a ridiculous misunderstanding.
'I thought Gerard remembered his past life like I did.'
No way that could be true.
'What happened after I died? He looked so desperate at the end... Did the Purple Hole get cleared safely?'
The fact that she was only now wondering if the continent was safe showed how little patriotism or love for humanity she had.
"Does it bother you if I use your name?"
"No! Not at all. Usually, people ask for your name even with the tag there."
Like that troublesome complainer who had come to the Support Team earlier.
Eloise added with a bright smile,
"And most call you by your family name anyway."
It was a rigid bureaucratic organization, after all.
Using someone's given name only felt natural after getting somewhat close or familiar.
"That's true, usually. You seem startled, so I apologize. It's just a habit of mine to use first names."
Eloise tilted her head at Gerard's excuse.
In her past life, he had only ever called her by her given name.
Not even his closest mage aide, Bern, or his older brother the Crown Prince Noah.
Even with those close and long-term relationships, he always used family names without fail.
And if they ever seemed upset about it, Gerard would just smile and draw the line.
'At first, he only called me Luvellia too. Then one night, after I asked him to, he started using my name.'
He only called her Eloise during their healing sessions, in the heat of those ecstatic nights when their bodies intertwined.
Afterward, once the healing was done, he would politely revert to her family name.
That had hurt so much.
"Could you call me by my name even normally?"
He had looked so flustered, his lips parting soundlessly before he finally agreed.
After that, he never once called her Luvellia again.
'It made me feel special.'
In reality, he had simply granted her request.
"If it's alright with you, could I keep using your name from now on?"
This time around, he was the one asking her permission.
"Sure. That's fine."
Eloise answered for now.
But with one situation after another unfolding differently from her past life, she felt increasingly confused.
'If things keep changing like this, the advantage of knowing the future will disappear!'
Eloise grew anxious that the information she knew might turn into worthless scraps.
That she might die in the Purple Hole all over again.
That she might see Gerard's despairing face once more before death.
'I don't want that.'
"You're trembling. Do mages make you that uncomfortable?"
Gerard reached for Eloise's hand but hesitated midway.
Something similar had happened in her past life too.
In the past, Gerard had constantly maintained stage 7 of magic poisoning—the high-risk level out of the ten stages.
Normally, anything beyond stage 7 made normal activities impossible.
Yet Gerard endured the pain with incredible perseverance and carried on with life.
But beneath that, his instinct craved healing.
That was why he avoided sudden physical contact with Eloise.
He reacted with oversensitive precision, like someone with OCD, whenever he unconsciously reached out.
All to avoid ever taking her healing power against her will.
Eloise stared intently at Gerard.
His reactions had been nagging at her from earlier.
What was this uneasy feeling, like he hadn't washed his hands after using the bathroom?
"Is there something on my face?"
Gerard touched his cheek.
Straight, upright eyes and softly curved lips.
His innocent expression made her drop her suspicions.
'If Gerard were living a second life like me, he wouldn't just leave me alone.'
She was an S-Rank Healer. She hadn't awakened yet, but she would become one soon enough.
And the two had already shared an exclusive healing contract in the past.
Yet nothing had happened in the past week.
He hadn't even mentioned the word "healing" now.
If he were in the same situation as her, he would have come to check if she was safe at least once.
In the past, he had always been genuine about her meals and health.
'Gerard doesn't remember his past life like I do. This is his first time in this life.'
Confirming with her own eyes that they had become strangers again brought relief that he didn't recall that horrific past—yet a sharp pain spread in her chest.
That was when it happened.
"Eloise, have you eaten?"
Eloise's eyebrows shot up.
"The mages aren't harassing you to the point you can't even take lunch breaks, are they?"
"They do sometimes come filing complaints even during lunch."
Eloise spoke before realizing her mistake.
'That sounds like tattling!'
For a brief moment, Gerard's expression turned icy.
"I see. They even visit during lunch hours... You must have been put through a lot because of the mages."
Fearing more complaints about mages might spill out, Eloise clamped her lips shut tight.
"Speak freely. I came here to hear the Support Team's grievances in the first place. I've heard plenty before with my own ears—how the Support Team suffers because of mages."
Did the Tower Master's position really allow him the leisure to hear about a minor department like the Support Team?
The only ones who even knew about the Support Team's issues were probably a few team members and low-rank healers.
Low-rank healers and Support Team staff tended to stick together out of shared suffering from mage tyranny.
But neither group had any connection to the Tower Master.
The more she talked with Gerard, the more question marks piled up in her mind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A week had passed since that not-quite-interview with Gerard.
Eloise continued diligently going to work, pondering how she could achieve her goal.
But she couldn't calmly plan for the future.
"Good morning."
It was because of that man punching in his attendance at the Support Team every day with a refreshing smile.
"He's here again."
Merlin leaned her chair toward Eloise and whispered, their shoulders touching.
It was Gerard's seventh day straight coming to the Support Team.
"Yeah."
"Thanks to him, mages aren't showing up to cause trouble anymore, but now it's starting to feel burdensome."
Gerard had stayed at the Support Team under the pretext of personally verifying the mages' misdeeds.
But once word spread that he was there, mage visits dried up completely.
"Merlin, why don't you go tell him? Ask him not to come."
"Hey! How could I say that to the Tower Master of all people? You know this—he can go anywhere on the continent. He's the Emperor's son and the Tower Master."
True enough.
Gerard's greatness wasn't just because he was a once-in-a-century genius mage.
He was the Emperor's second son who had stepped away from the throne race early to head to the Magic Tower.
Renouncing many imperial privileges in the process.
People had been thrilled by his unconventional path.
'A handsome guy with no ambition, and it turns out he's a magic genius too. How could anyone not like him?'
Guilty as charged.
As Eloise pouted her lips, her eyes met Gerard's.
She quickly hid her face behind a stack of documents.
Feeling his gaze, Merlin shoved her head into her papers too.
It wasn't gossip, but they both knew discussing the person right in front of them wasn't polite.
"Is he still staring?"
Merlin asked while flipping through pages rapidly.
Eloise lowered her document stack just below her eyes and peeked up cautiously.
"...!"
Gerard was right in front of her.
"Am I bothering you?"
"It's not comfortable."
Merlin jabbed Eloise's side hard at her blunt words.
I was too honest.
Eloise bit her lips.
"Today is the last day. I can't leave the Tower empty any longer."
Read More Chapter on Our Website:
- noveldex.io
New chapters released daily —don't miss out!