I Stole The Duke - Chapter 107

“Here you go, Michal. Read the activation phrase on the back.”

Eliana soon pulled out the necessary magic card and placed it in Michalis’s hand.

“Imperial Dispel Magic.”

The coded phrase between them flowed off his tongue with ease.

Fwoosh—!

His nose, which had felt like it was rotting off, finally cleared. The relief was instant.

“How do you feel?”

“You saved my life.”

It was a dreadful day—one where he truly learned a person could die from a smell.

“There’s a chance you could be cursed again. Keep the card with you just in case.”

“Understood.”

Michalis looked like a man who’d just barely escaped death. Curious, Eliana decided to look up more about the curse.

Dream, search for information on the spell ‘Love Smell.’

[Search complete.]

A pop-up window appeared immediately.

Search: Love Smell
Type: Combination Curse Spell (Hypnosis · Curse)
Purpose: Breakup
Grade: A+
Effect: The cursed individual smells the most repulsive scent imaginable from the person they love.
Creator: Caphric Breaker
Note: The deeper the love, the stronger and farther the smell spreads.

What in the world… What kind of absurd spell is this?

If the grade had been any higher, she might not have been able to dispel it at all. This spell basically condemned people to live single for the rest of their lives. It was horrifyingly cruel.

“Michal.”

“Yes?”

Eliana was suddenly curious.

“How far did the smell go?”

“All the way to the outer castle gates.”

“Oh… I see.”

Eliana felt a small sting of disappointment. So the smell hadn’t reached the entire universe, after all.

“Who do you think cast the curse on you?”

The developer, Caphric Breaker, was a name unfamiliar to her. And even if he had created it, that didn’t mean he was the one who used it on Michalis.

You. I’m going to find you.

Eliana was furious. She wanted to see the face of whoever had cast such a vile curse.

It must have been the Tower Master…

Michalis bit back the answer that came to mind.

“I can’t say for certain.”

If he mentioned the Tower Master, Eliana might grow anxious. He would bear this misery alone.

“Michal, can you send a request to the Mage Tower? Ask them to numb your sense of smell.”

If they wanted to lure out the one behind the curse, they needed bait.

“Alright.”

Come to think of it, they absolutely couldn’t let the Mage Tower know the curse had already been lifted. Requesting help was the perfect cover to hide Eliana’s capabilities.

“Then we’ll need to keep up the act for a while.”

“I’ll pretend to keep my distance from you.”

“Should we use separate rooms?”

“No! Why would it come to that?!”

“Then maybe I should move outside the castle and pretend we’ve separated?”

“Wait—do we really need to go that far?”

“If we’re going to act, we might as well do it properly.”

“…Let’s just go with separate rooms.”

I’m going to kill the Tower Master.

Michalis clenched his jaw. This was grounds for war.

The very next day, Olive received a formal request from House Ascher.

Pfft!

Her hand trembled as she clutched the letter. He must’ve been desperate if he was begging to lose his sense of smell.

“Aha… ha ha ha…”

She couldn’t stop laughing. The thought of that arrogant duke suffering filled her with pure joy. The curse had worked perfectly.

“He wants me to come quickly? Oh, absolutely not.”

The longer she delayed, the better. Until he grew so exhausted he’d end up filing for divorce.

Our precious VIP customer needs to suffer a little longer.

For the first time, Olive truly felt like she held the upper hand.

‘Currently, there is no spell developed to numb the sense of smell. I will visit once preparations are complete.’

After a brief pause, she wrote this vague reply. Her plan was to slowly torment the duke with false hope.

And the very next day, a response arrived.

‘The cost doesn’t matter. Please come quickly.’

“Ha. As if.”

Olive scoffed and tossed the request into the trash.

The following day, yet another request arrived.

‘I sincerely beg of you. Please hurry.’

“Wow… he really is in love.”

It had been four days since the curse was activated. And the duke still showed no signs of considering divorce.

Get divorced. Then I’ll lift the curse.

Just as Olive threw that letter into the trash too—

“Disciple.”

Her master, who had been missing for days, stepped into the Tower Master’s office.

“Yes, Master. Are you settling into life at the Mage Tower?”

Olive greeted him warmly. Her master had taken on the appearance of someone in their thirties.

“Is anyone giving you trouble here?”

“You brat. Do you think I’m someone you can mess with?”

Everyone who remembered his younger face had long since died. Karahan had simply returned to his appearance from a hundred years ago and became a member of the Mage Tower once more.

“……”

Olive wisely kept her mouth shut. If her master’s short temper flared up, the tower might’ve flipped upside down several times already.

“Now that the combination spell is complete, let’s give it a try.”

“What? It’s finished already?”

“Heh… ‘already’? I’d say it’s about time.”

He had been so preoccupied researching Sardis runes from the ruins that this spell had been put on the back burner.

“Come, lie down on the sofa for a bit.”

“Ah… yes, Master.”

Still a bit dazed, Olive got up and made her way to the sofa.

“You won’t be able to endure this awake, so sleep for a while.”

“Uh… yes, Master.”

“Absolute Sleep.”

If he attempted it while she was conscious, the pain might drive her mad. The moment Olive settled on the sofa, Karahan cast a powerful sleep spell.

“Three Years of Balanced Growth.”

Crack—crack.
For the next thirty minutes, the sound of shifting bones echoed nonstop.

.
.
.

“Wake up, disciple.”

Karahan lightly tapped Olive’s cheek, but she didn’t stir. The sleep spell had been too strong for a mere tap to break.

“Absolute Wake Up.”

“Ugh… is it over?”

With the forced awakening spell, Olive’s eyes shot open.

“Ugh… it hurts like hell.”

The moment she woke, she was consumed by searing pain. For once, the phrase ‘even my bones hurt’ made perfect sense.

“Did I grow a lot?”

“Check the mirror for yourself.”

“……”

Groaning, Olive forced her aching body up and walked to the mirror.

“Well? Satisfied?”

“……”

She stared, wide-eyed, at the reflection—seeing the full effect of three years’ worth of growth packed into a single spell.

“I love you, Master!”

I think I look even better than the Duke now!

Still stunned by her appearance, Olive suddenly hugged Karahan beside her. She’d grown significantly taller, and her facial features—eyes, nose, and lips—were now in perfect harmony.

“Hah! Did your strength grow too?! That hurts, you little rascal! Let go—gross!”

The small, cute apprentice from before was gone without a trace.

{If I don’t get a reply this time either, I’ll come to the Mage Tower myself.}

Michalis finished writing his tenth request letter.

Next time we meet, I’m really going to kill him.

And he wasn’t joking. It had been eleven days since he lost permission to share a room with Eliana. Even when he did sleep, it didn’t feel restful, and his fatigue never seemed to lift.

I need some sort of answer just to plan my next steps.

The Tower Master was outright ignoring him. Michalis was fuming once again over the fact that, after that very first reply, not a single word had come back.

“Sir Iadis, send this immediately by magic express delivery.”

As soon as Michalis sealed the envelope, he threw open the door to the adjutant’s office.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Iadis stood promptly.

“And still no word from Viscount Martin? Tell him to speed up production on the prototype.”

“As soon as the express courier departs, I’ll personally go check the production status.”

“Ah, would you?”

“Yes, Your Grace. I’ll be away from the office this morning to visit the facility.”

“No need to rush back. Make sure everything outside the estate is taken care of thoroughly.”

“Yes, Your Grace. I’ll head out immediately.”

“Understood.”

Just as Michalis turned back toward his office— Flap.

A familiar messenger dove swooped in through the wide-open window. The white ribbon tied to its leg signaled that the message came from one of the Mage Tower’s informants.

“……”

Without hesitation, Michalis untied the message scroll attached to the bird’s leg.

<Weekly Report on the Tower Master>

Name: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Place of Origin: Unknown
Appearance: Green (olive-toned) hair, golden eyes, small mole beneath the left eye
Disposition: Ambitious, emotional
Spouse: None (assumed)
Children: None (assumed)

※ Recently, their outward appearance changed from that of a teenage boy to someone in their twenties. Known as a time magic user, making age estimation impossible.

※ A new individual registered at the Mage Tower under the name Karahan—the same name as Karahan Espensen, whom you previously asked us to investigate.
He was registered under the Tower Master’s recommendation, despite being of common birth. Rumors suggest he shares a particularly close relationship with the Tower Master.

Karahan?

Michalis’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected detail in the report.

If this “Karahan” is the same person Eliana once mentioned—Karahan Espensen…

The Tower Master, who seized control of the Mage Tower almost instantly despite not being born into it… and someone named Karahan, now appearing at his side.

A logical and troubling suspicion began to form.

The real mastermind might be this one—and the youthful Tower Master is just a front.

Things were finally starting to come together.

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