The Object of your Obsession is Wrong, Lord of the Tower!

CHAPTER 022

"Why are you so surprised?"

"There's no one here, and suddenly I hear a noise. Of course, I'm surprised."

"Really?"

Lewis had no way of understanding the plight of a skittish person.

"I didn't hear that you were coming. When did you arrive?"

"Just now."

Anyway, for the subject of strange rumors, he looked quite normal. His handsome face still held a cynical smile.

Did Lewis know he had become the talk of the town lately?

As I approached him, I noticed something.

Lewis was holding a syringe in one hand.

Though I couldn't see it clearly, the shape protruding from his hand looked familiar.

"A syringe?"

"Oh."

Lewis, either impressed by my keen eye, held it up straight for me to see.

And I was startled. There was something quite suspicious inside the syringe Lewis was holding.

"Blood..."

"Blood?"

Lewis, narrowing his eyes for a moment, checked the syringe and then smirked.

"Why are you so shocked? It's not like you haven't seen it before."

"No, I haven't seen it that often. And I don't want to see it often either..."

Though my face must have gone pale, I still managed to speak.

Maybe I was more shocked because I'd seen bloodstains on Lewis' clothes before.

Why would the Master of the Magic Tower have blood on him!

Charlotte's words from earlier ran through my mind.

"They say there are mysterious bloodstains wherever the Marquis goes."

To think he was walking around with real blood on him with such a composed face!

At that moment, Michael came up from downstairs.

"Lewis? What are you two doing?"

"Michael!"

"Selina? Is something wrong?"

Can't you see?

Even Michael's reaction was unusually calm.

Well, Michael was the kind of person who would laugh and tell the twins to tone it down even if they had hurt someone!

"Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine."

Lewis grinned mischievously and pressed the syringe slightly. A few drops trickled from the needle.

"The Marquis is carrying blood!"

"Huh?"

Seeing the blood on the floor, Michael said nonchalantly.

"Oh, that's not blood."

"Then...?"

"It's a magic potion."

Michael smiled, and Lewis rubbed the red stain on the floor with his shoe.

"You’re so gullible. It’s fun to tease you."

"I guess I was mistaken because it looked so similar."

"What?"

It's not blood but a potion? Were they teasing me...?

I could almost hear the flapping of wings in my mind.

The two walked down the hallway, leaving me behind.

I stared helplessly at Lewis' back as he entered Michael's room.

"I almost believed it because it seemed so plausible..."

But what were they doing together?

Lewis spent a long time in Michael's room before leaving the mansion. Usually, he only spent time in the drawing room or dining room when he visited.

"What were you doing with the Marquis?"

When I asked Michael, who had come back from seeing Lewis off at the front door, he just smiled.

"Secret."

"Huh?"

"I'll tell you if you eat my cookies."

"...Never mind. I'm not that curious anymore."

It's not worth that much curiosity.

After that day, it became hard to see Lewis for a while.

"I have no idea what he's up to. Michael only says Lewis is very busy."

Bella shrugged her shoulders.

So he's in another busy period?

*  *  *

Lewis' research was still ongoing.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Knowing the first potion didn't work at all, he continued developing new ones.

But none of the subsequent potions showed the desired effect.

Lewis' low spirits were due to the lack of progress in his research.

"Master of the Magic Tower!"

"What now?"

Why do they keep calling me? Lewis' cold golden eyes fixed on the wizard who had called him.

The wizard flinched and changed his words.

"No, it's nothing."

Lewis didn't ask further and left the spot.

Once he was completely gone, the wizards of the tower whispered among themselves.

"Has something really bad happened to the Master of the Magic Tower?"

"I don't know. He seems busy, always in his lab, but we can't tell what he's doing."

One of the wizards in the group spoke up.

"There's one thing for sure."

"What?"

"We need to lie low during times like these."

Everyone agreed.

Since Lewis had revealed his true nature and overturned the tower, the subdued wizards tried to keep as quiet as possible.

They didn't want to provoke the temperamental Master of the Magic Tower.

Even though no one in the tower was provoking him, Lewis' nerves were on edge.

"Why isn't it working?"

Making potions wasn't an official task, so he couldn't devote all his working hours to it.

Lewis balanced his duties as the Master of the Magic Tower with his personal research whenever he found time.

In truth, he was the type to see through anything he started to the end. At least when it came to magic.

Failing in magical research was something his pride, renowned as a genius of the century, couldn't tolerate.

"Well, it wouldn't be interesting if it were easy."

To manage his increasingly short temper, Lewis rationalized his situation.

But after dozens of failed attempts, he was getting frustrated.

He was working through meal times and sleep, trying to get quick results!

The result of his hard work was just this?

Lewis frowned and poured the red liquid down the sink.

"What’s the problem..."

He began to wonder if he was being stubborn for no reason.

At the same time, he thought of Selina, whom he hadn't seen in a while.

Being engrossed in work had put a halt to his visits to her. Though he was dealing with noise, it was bearable.

Without her, his every moment was filled with noise.

Ignoring the buzzing sound as best as he could, Lewis resumed his work.

*  *  *

- Lewis didn't come to the Magic Tower today.

Michael contacted Bella through the communication orb.

"The Marquis?"

- Yes.

Michael's voice conveyed a mix of curiosity and slight concern.

- If he was going to take a day off, he would've told his aide at least. But even his aide didn't know.

Lewis absent from work?

For someone who worked so diligently, why didn't he show up?

- Actually, he's most likely at home.

Michael seemed to know something.

- Lewis usually stays at his mansion on his days off.

He returns to his mansion right after work, and if it's a day off, he either comes to the Duke's residence or stays at his mansion to rest.

His routine was so predictable that he was likely at his mansion now.

He used to be eager to visit Charlotte. The secondary male lead's movements were incredibly simple.

Michael sounded troubled.

- If I didn't have so much work today, I'd go check on him, but I can't leave right now.

"How about sending the Marquis' aide?"

- I suggested it, but they didn't want to go.

"Is that okay?"

- Apparently, Lewis has been quite scary lately.

Oh... scary? How frightening must he be for his aide to refuse?

I didn't know exactly, but it seemed he was giving the wizards a hard time.

Since Michael was telling us this, it was clear he wanted us to check on Lewis.

Can't be helped!

I looked at Bella. She seemed disinterested, though she had heard the whole conversation.

"Bella, do you want to come with me to check on the Marquis?"

"Us?"

Bella looked reluctant. Her expression asked if it was necessary.

"We're free today, so let's go together."

"It's a hassle..."

After some persuasion, Bella reluctantly agreed to come along.

We headed straight to Lewis' mansion.

After moving out of the Duke's residence, Lewis lived alone in his mansion.

His mansion wasn't far, but it had a more eerie atmosphere compared to the Duke's residence.

"Though he doesn't look like it, once he starts something, he sticks to it until it's done. Sometimes he doesn't come to the mansion at all because he's working."

"Still, he's likely at his mansion now."

When we got out of the carriage, the Marquis' butler, who came out hurriedly to greet us, looked bewildered.

"Miss, what brings you here without notice?"

"We heard Lewis skipped work."

"Pardon?"

No further explanation was needed.

Bella entered the mansion and called out loudly.

"Lewis, are you here? We came to see you!"

"Miss! Please keep it down...!"

The butler hastily tried to stop us.

"The Marquis is not feeling well today."

He was indeed at the mansion, but in a bad state, so he requested us to be quiet.

"The Marquis is sick?"

Lewis being sick was hard to believe.

Whether the butler's words were true, Lewis was lying in bed.

"What’s going on..."

He wasn't asleep; he was looking at Bella with an annoyed expression.

"He’s not asleep? I thought he was because they said he was sick."

"Yes, I woke up because someone was making so much noise."

Oh, he had woken up. His cold expression was because his sleep had been disturbed.

But since we were here, we couldn't just leave without checking on him! I quickly asked Lewis how he was.

"Marquis, are you alright? What happened that made you sick all of a sudden?"

"It's nothing serious. Just a bit of a fever."

Lewis seemed to be having a hard time even speaking briefly.

"Is it a fake illness?"

Unconvinced, Bella touched his forehead. She immediately recoiled and exclaimed.

"Your forehead is burning up!"

Gosh, he really must be sick.

"Did you catch a cold in this weather?"

"It's not a cold... Stop yelling."

"Is she? She's worried about you."

"Has the doctor been here?"

I asked cautiously, wanting to know more about his condition and what had happened.

Lewis pointed to some medicine on the table,

 saying the doctor had already visited.

"They prescribed something to bring the fever down. They insisted I take it, so I had one in the morning. Though, it’s probably ineffective."

He raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

"This is from working too hard."

So it was overwork. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy, given how hard he worked.

"How much did you work... You've pushed yourself too much, haven't you?"

"I had no choice. I wanted to do it."

Admitting that he was overworked because he wanted to, Lewis looked very tired. His complexion was pale, and his voice slower than usual.

If even Bella was worried, he must be in bad shape.

Lewis sat up and leaned against the bed's headboard, looking at us.

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