Chapter 292 - NOT AT FAULT

Ironin's reasonable explanation eased her heart. 

'That's right. It's not that I hadn't suffered even if it was a misunderstanding. If Arthur told me where he was doing and what he planned to do, this misunderstanding would never happen. Moreover, I could've helped him with the work. This way I could have avoided meeting the Head Priest.'

Veronica took a deep breath and calmed herself. 'I shouldn't think of the past. I need to talk to Arthur and come up with something that will make our life smoother. I don't like this break-up relationship when we are living together. It's torture.'

While she was talking to herself, Ironin stared at her. He observed her every move. When her face gave off the 'I made a decision' vibe, he decided to leave her alone. Just how he came here, the same way he left.

"Oh, I have a request," Veronica said and turned around. She was puzzled when she didn't see Ironin. "Where did he go?" She scanned her bedroom and there was no trace of him. 

"So, he left without saying anything. I wanted to ask him about the tower's condition since I want to leave the room. I guess I will go and check for myself."

Veronica used the magic board to go down. The lower she went, the heavier the air was around her. She had a hard time breathing. 

'Oh, my goodness, this place is in terrible condition. How did the people work here up until now?' she wondered while covering her nose.

She spotted black smoke almost on every floor. She could sense evil power from those. She also noticed the wizards working their butt off to clear the smoke. She frowned.

'I cannot let this go on. It'll take months for wizards to clean this mess.' She shut her eyes and put her hand near her chest. A pure white light came out of her chest and brightened up her whole being.

The black smoke created by the evil power couldn't take the purity of the light. Slowly, they perished. 

Veronica used her healing power to purify the whole place. The wizards felt their energy was boosting. No one felt exhausted anymore. Everyone cheered up and praised her.

"Long live the Mistress of the magic Tower!"

"Long live the Mistress of the Magic Power."

"Long live the Mistress of the Magic Power."

"Long live the Mistress of the Magic Power."

They were shouting so loudly that Ovior came out of his room. He saw the bright light and almost got blinded by it. Soon, his body and mind were purified, and all his fatigues washed away.

At first, he looked at himself and his eyes focused on Veronica. He stated, "I was wondering what's the commotion all about and I see your presence gracing our home."

Veronica opened her eyes and noticed him. She stopped the magic board and landed on that floor. She warmly greeted him, "It's good to see you. How are you doing, Ovior?"

Ovior gave her a slight nod. "Thanks to you, I'm doing great. Good to see you too. Are you going down to have your dinner?"

"No, I'm here to meet Arthur. He must be at the office." Veronica's eyes landed on Ovior's back where she could see Arthur's room.

"No, he is not. I'm not sure what you told him. He is sulking right now," Ovior responded.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"In the garden. It was destroyed, and so, he is taking care of it by himself. Let's go. I have something to tell him too."

The two of them went downstairs. At that time, Veronica mentioned, "Catherine, is she working?"

"No, she went on a vacation for a week and didn't come back. She did call me and asked me if you arrived safely. When she didn't find you in the resort, she figured you could be here. She wanted to come back right away, but I told her not to. She had been working hard a lot."

"I see." Veronica didn't comment anymore about this. 'As long as she isn't worried about me going missing, I think it's fine. She indeed looked haggard that day.'

"It must have been tough living in this unholy place."

When they reached the first floor, they were greeted by a wizard. That person had long yellow-blonde hair with a charming face. He was wearing a blue uniform. He was a water mage. His lady-killer face was smiling at them.

Ovior nonchalantly responded, "It was, but not anymore. Go inside and check with your own eyes."

The mage seemed surprised. "Is that so?" he mumbled. His eyes spotted the girl beside Ovior and he became curious, "Who is this lady? I have never seen a wizard without their uniform here. Is this allowed nowadays?"

"No, it's not. That person will be expelled if they break the rules. She is the Mistress of the Magic Tower, Veronica. Mistress, this man is a water mage, Dave Morton." Ovior introduced them.

Dave Morton seemed surprised at first. But then he bowed politely. "Forgive my insolence, Mistress. This is my first time meeting you. I've been out for an assignment. It's a pleasure to be your acquaintance."

"The pleasure is mine," Veronica replied with a smile.

Dave Morton gently held her right hand and placed his lips on the back of her fingers. Then, he said, "I've heard so many rumors about your beauty, Mistress. I'm surprised that one of them is untrue. But you look amazing with your short hair."

"Thank you for the compliment." Veronica was pleased upon hearing the praise. Her impression of him improved a lot. 

"Then, I shall head inside. Please carry on with your work." Dave Morton slightly bowed and then left.

"Isn't he a gentleman?" Veronica muttered as her eyes were on his back. In her journey, she hardly met a man who would talk to women respectfully. Thus, she couldn't help but admire.

"Be careful or your husband will murder this prodigy," Ovior bluntly warned her.

"Oh, this is insane." Veronica helplessly shook her head. 

They walked into the garden which looked like a dead zone. The flowers all died because of the evil power spreading all over the Magic Tower. They noticed Arthur trying to revive the flowers using complicated magic.

'This will take longer. The air is heavy around here,' Veronica thought to herself. Using her healing power, once again, she purified this place. 

The black smoke instantly disappeared from the garden. Arthur's magic worked faster than before. He could feel the presence of the healing power. He turned around and saw those two walking toward her.

Arthur dropped his work and came to meet them. "Why did you come out?" he asked as he worriedly looked at her.

"If I didn't come out, how long were you planning to stay in the unholy place?" Veronica nagged him. "It's even hard to breathe."

"I'm sorry," Arthur's shoulders dropped as he apologized. 

'Oh, my Goddess! Why is he acting like a puppy all of a sudden?' Veronica's heart fluttered. She coughed to hide her embarrassment. 

After that, he quickly said, "It's fine, but I never want to hear anything about Dark Arts or Devil here. You are not allowed to do something forbidden, and no one will follow you. I can't believe you tried to do it despite knowing others might wrongly follow you. The world would be in chaos. Don't ever do something so horrible."

"If you get hurt, I will do it again," Arthur's words were resolute.

"…" Veronica was speechless. She recently calmed down, but her anger rose once again.

"It's always because you hide things from me thinking I'm too weak to handle it and then cause misunderstandings that cannot be resolved. Who told you to hide that you were searching for the traffickers? Who told you to hide the fact that you were staying at Morina's Palace? Weren't you all doing that for me? Was it fun hurting me for the past few months? Actually, I did great in leaving you. I will never regret doing that again if you try hiding things from me."

Arthur grabbed her hands tightly. "No, don't leave me again. Whatever I hid, I did it for good."

Veronica snatched her arms away. "Are you stupid? If you told me back then, this misunderstanding couldn't occur. Moreover, I could help you with papers and so did others. This way, you had less pressure to deal with everything, and I wouldn't be locked up in the palace. It's because of you I suffered."

Arthur lowered his head. "…I know, but I couldn't do that. It's because those papers mentioned so many crimes. You would be hurt if you read them all."

Veronica took a deep breath. "Arthur, I would be slightly hurt and I would be worked up for sure. However, I wouldn't turn insane if I read them. I would have calmed down and dealt with them accordingly."

"That's the very reason I didn't want to bring that up. I don't want you to get hurt."

"But I did end up out there without anyone's protection. I learned about crime, and I was injured. I had to learn how to fight in order to protect myself and innocent people. So, tell me, what is the point of your useless worry? Were you able to stop it?"

Arthur's jaw clenched. He couldn't say a word. 'She is right at this point. I left her all alone. Her body is filled with marks. How much was she hurt when she was injured? There was no one to protect her.. She did everything by herself. If I had told her back then…'