A Magic to Dull Romantic Feelings

I possessed a character inside a low-budget romance fantasy novel. The reason I realized it was nothing special. The world matched the setting of the romance fantasy book I’d once read. Familiar noble houses, familiar names, and even the familiar flow of events. But realizing it didn’t change anything. The point at which I’d been isekai’d was roughly twelve years before the original story truly began.

I liked my current life. More than that, I burned with a fierce desire to become a mage and build my own magic tower. Original plot? Who cares? I would walk my own path. And so I did—I became a mage.

Time flew by. Twelve years later, on a certain day after I had fulfilled that childhood dream of becoming the master of the Empire’s most prosperous magic tower, I stood at the top floor of the tower, savoring a cup of coffee while gazing at the scenery outside. This moment, more than any other, made me truly feel that I had succeeded.

“Hmm. It’s already this late.”

I still loved magic. A life where every single day was poured into it, where I would live and die by it—the perfect existence of a true mage. Whether I succeeded or not, my daily routine never changed.

“Time to go do some research.”

Just research. Today, as always, I headed to my laboratory for the sake of research.

Typical romance fantasy novels usually center on the female lead’s point of view, with the plot revolving around her romantic narrative with the male lead. Depending on the story’s premise, the development varies, but if we look at the clichés, the heroine suffers through all kinds of schemes, the male lead rescues and helps her, and romance blooms from there.

Other elements differ according to the novel’s tone, but in the standard flow, the heroine claims she only wanted to help the male lead and had no ulterior motives, yet she completely steals his heart. Later they confess their feelings and reach a happy ending. It’s undeniably trite, and some might even call it boring or dull. But honestly? That’s exactly what makes it delicious.

That was the story we wanted. When we read web novels, we don’t expect some grand, revolutionary masterpiece. If we did, we wouldn’t be reading web novels in the first place. We read them for the familiar stories, the familiar character archetypes, and the subtle flavors that emerge when those familiar developments shift slightly according to each novel’s unique traits.

I used to be one of those readers. But after possessing this body and falling headfirst into magic, thoughts of the original plot had faded into the back of my mind like vague childhood memories. I was that obsessed. A human who had gone mad for magic. Even now, as the original story’s timeline approached, I remained completely absorbed in it.

Still, today I found myself unusually lost in old memories. Had a sudden wave of nostalgia hit me? I’d drowned myself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in pointless sentimentality.

Maybe I should research some other magic that’s been on my mind?

I was pondering that when someone entered my office.

“Tower Master. A letter has arrived.”

It was Riel, the deputy tower master.

“A letter? From whom?”

“It bears the imperial seal.”

“Obviously from the Emperor, then.”

I took the letter from Riel and unfolded it.

The first sentence already filled me with dread. If this guy was starting a letter with “my dear friend,” nine times out of ten it meant something troublesome was coming.

Should I burn it right now?

I hadn’t read the contents yet. There was still time. If I threw it away now…!

…No, I can’t.

Once I faced reality, I resigned myself and read the entire letter. By the time I finished, I could only click my tongue.

What? Create a magic that dulls romantic feelings? It wasn’t impossible, but did he have any idea how many things I already had on my plate? Since I was the Empire’s only archmage and the Blue Magic Tower was the only one in existence, I was swamped with work from every direction. Most importantly, I had founded this tower to research magic, not to waste time inventing meaningless spells like this.

Besides, there was nothing strange about boys liking girls. They’d sort it out themselves eventually. Asking me to dull those feelings with magic? It was so absurd I was beyond speechless.

Obviously I should refuse.

My relationship with the Emperor was close to a symbiotic one. No matter how much he asked, I had zero intention of pouring effort into a time-wasting spell like this. He probably knew he was making an unreasonable request. I continued thinking as I reread the remaining lines.

I’ll have Riel send a refusal letter…

“…”

For a brief moment, my brain seemed to freeze. I turned to Riel, who was still standing beside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me.

“Riel. Send a letter to the Emperor immediately. Tell him two days will be enough.”

Two days later.

“Fuck… I actually made it.”

After devoting myself to creating the magic without a single break for two full days, I let out a long, exhausted sigh.

“Ughhh… Tower Master. I feel like I’m going to die…”

Riel, who had been helping me, was also groaning in misery. Those two days had been brutal.

“Still, we finished it… so that’s what matters…”

I looked down at the completed magic circle. I had successfully created the spell the Emperor had requested.

Magic was incredibly precise. Creating an entirely new spell usually required a considerable amount of time. Of course, for simple spells I could instantly come up with new circuits and formulas, recombining them in the blink of an eye. But this one wasn’t so easy.

First, magic that interfered with the mind already had a high baseline difficulty. Though honestly, that wasn’t the real problem. As the world’s first archmage, there was almost no magic I couldn’t create. The true difficulty this time lay in the spell’s effect itself.

The Emperor had asked for magic that would temporarily dull romantic feelings—to the point where the target essentially couldn’t feel them at all. Not simply making emotions numb, but specifically dulling only the feelings related to the category called ‘romance.’ That was what had tormented both me and Riel for two days straight.

You’d have to have experienced romance to understand it…

To Riel and me, who had spent nearly our entire lives buried in magic, the emotion called romance itself felt like just another research subject. Since neither of us had ever felt it, creating an effect that could temporarily dull it proved extremely difficult.

That was why, for the past two days, we had awkwardly imitated lovers, doing our best to simulate the feeling before finally managing to complete the magic. Even thinking about it now made me squeeze my eyes shut in embarrassment.

“That damn Emperor… If he thinks I’m doing something like this again, he can forget it.”

“Even though you say that, if he offered to increase the tower’s budget again, you’d do it immediately, wouldn’t you?”

Riel’s words left me momentarily speechless. Because she was right—I could already picture myself jumping at the chance if the budget was on the line.

But there was a very sad reason behind it.

“…Can’t be helped. No matter how much money the tower gets, the budget is always lacking.”

The only magic tower in the Empire was the Blue Magic Tower with me as its master. I was also the only archmage. That meant I had to handle everything related to magic. We were expanding into various businesses that utilized magic, so no matter how much we had, we were always short on funds.

But he was offering to double the tower’s budget? If the Emperor told me to lick his feet, I would have done it without hesitation.

“In the end, the world runs on money…”

Of course, some hot-blooded fool might shout “Feel the difference in power!” and go on a rampage, but unfortunately for me, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic research was far more interesting than that. So even as an archmage, I had no choice but to bow before the almighty power of money.

“Ugh… I’ll deliver it to the Emperor myself.”

“Why not just send the magic circle and formula through transfer magic? Court mages should be able to use it.”

“That’s true, but… he’s doubling the tower’s budget. How could I stay still? Of course I have to go personally and explain it with utmost care.”

From the Emperor’s perspective, this was quite a large expenditure. The budget allocated to the Magic Tower was no small amount. So the least I could do was show this much sincerity by going myself.

“Keep the tower safe while I’m gone.”

“Yes…”

“When I get back, let’s go eat something good.”

“Sounds good… In that case, I’d like steak.”

“Sure, sure.”

I moved immediately. All for the sake of the Magic Tower’s budget.