The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Special Side Story 2. The Wedding (2)
It was the story of Lien’s childhood.
“Even as a child, his mind was sharp, but he had zero empathy — making Asil cry was just his daily routine.”
“He genuinely has no capacity for empathy, you know? Your Highness—or rather, Your Imperial Highness, you know that too! When he was ten, there was this incident…….”
Cecilia listened intently to their unbroken stream of stories. They were all the more precious because she could never discuss such things with Duke Dilan She.
How he’d glanced over research she’d spent years worrying about and solved it in an instant, and how the look in his eyes—as if to ask why she was even troubled by it—had dealt her a mortal blow.
After hearing so much of Lien’s personal history,
when it began to be time for something stronger than tea to appear, Cecilia naturally excused herself.
“I’ll head inside now. There’s more liquor in the storehouse, so just ask Lien.”
“Then I should……!”
“Everyone came to see you. Don’t follow me—stay and keep them company.”
Cecilia gently shook off his hand where he’d grasped at her sleeve.
Lien looked at her with pitiful eyes as if asking how she could possibly leave him, but after the wedding was over, they’d be stuck together until they were sick of each other anyway. So wasn’t it fine to let things be rowdy like this on the day before the ceremony?
Besides, she had no energy left to entertain more guests.
Having finally turned away, Cecilia didn’t go straight to her room but instead stepped outside.
She’d only meant to get a breath of air, but unfortunately someone was already there—the Crown Princess, who’d gone inside first.
…….
…….
The moment their eyes met, silence fell.
In her previous life, jokes would have come flying at once—that it wasn’t too late, that she should reconsider.
In the awkward, bitter stillness, Cecilia shifted her body to leave. She’d intended to yield the space as the latecomer.
But she halted before going far. The Crown Princess’s face had looked far too pallid.
‘Could an old ailment be flaring up?’
True enough. Though the Temple had undergone a major upheaval when Johan’s sins came to light, relations between the Imperial Court and the Temple remained strained. In other words, the current Crown Princess likely wasn’t receiving aid from the priests.
Perhaps that was even why she’d come to attend the wedding. The thought suddenly struck her.
Maybe she’d calculated that with the “Former Saint” now at odds with Weberdine through this marriage, she could exploit that.
If as expected, the Crown Princess would maintain composure while probing her intentions with that characteristically twisted aristocratic manner of speech.
But for some reason, Cecilia found she didn’t want to wait through that process.
So she asked outright.
“Would you like me to share some Divine Power with you?”
“……Pardon?”
“You look unwell. You need Divine Power to recover, don’t you?”
“How could you possibly…….”
Regina’s eyes flew wide at the direct hit. She seemed mortified that her weakness was already so transparently exposed.
Instead of offering delicate consideration, Cecilia simply moved. She grasped Regina’s wrist and let Divine Power flow into her.
It must have been quite painful, because the shoulders that had been taut with tension relaxed into ease.
Once Cecilia confirmed the Crown Princess’s complexion had improved dramatically, she withdrew.
“Call it a gift in return for the wedding blessing.”
Truth be told, she owed Regina in many ways. The memory of forcing her to pierce her own heart was still vivid.
So it was simply a gesture of goodwill, but the Crown Princess, who could never remember that erased past, only bristled like a cat and regarded her warily.
“What’s your game?”
“There isn’t one.”
“Kindness with no price?”
The Crown Princess laughed sharply and struck out with an edge.
“Tell me how you know my weakness in the first place. Or never mind—there’s nothing to explain. Your precious man must have told you! Did he give you my weakness so you could use it against me?”
“Your precious man—that’s not a bad way to refer to him.”
Compared to the names she’d used in the past—calling him dark, calling him trash—this was far better, and she’d muttered it without thinking.
Believing herself to have been mocked, Regina’s face flushed as red as her hair.
Before the Crown Princess’s voice could rise beyond redemption, Cecilia answered calmly.
“What could I possibly gain by blackmailing you over your weakness? I already have money, a man, a face—everything.”
…….
It was true even without saying it. Blackmail, after all, only works when there’s something to extract. Using it against someone who already has everything is simply a waste of time.
Recognizing this point, Regina’s fury seemed to subside a little.
“So it really was pity?”
“You won’t believe it, but I owed you something in my previous life. Consider it repayment.”
“……Were you mad too?”
“Well, I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
Cecilia shrugged and turned away without hesitation.
“If you ever need a Charger, just ask. We can’t be friends, but we could manage something less than that, couldn’t we?”
And with that, the conversation ended.
Cecilia rose from her seat, leaving Regina alone.
Regina stared blankly at the closed door for a long while before muttering weakly.
“So what exactly is this charger, anyway…….”
* * *
The day of the wedding.
Aiming for a modest ceremony, the preparations proved neither complicated nor lengthy.
She put on the dress that Kiar had meticulously inspected, wore the lace veil that Melanie had crocheted by hand, and carried the bouquet that Sena had made herself—that was all.
No elaborate makeup, no dazzling jewels adorned her, yet Lien found himself unable to look away.
“It feels like I’m dreaming.”
The words she’d sighed came out of her own lips, though they ought to have been his.
‘Whoever he is, he’s really gorgeous.’
Lien, dressed in his formal white vestments, looked like a work of art. As she gazed at him with quiet pride, she suddenly came to her senses.
The prayer room door had opened—the moment had come for today’s principal couple to enter.
“Shall we go in and see?”
With appropriate anticipation, the two of them walked down the aisle hand in hand.
Past three guests standing against the prayer room wall, past Melanie sniffling as if sending off her own daughter, past Sena with her fists clenched tight, and even past Nox, who made no effort to hide his displeasure despite it being the wedding day itself—they finally reached Kiar.
For the first time dressed not in his dark priestly robes but in a formal blue uniform, Kiar began to recite the vows.
“Under the blessing of the Divine, these two souls have come together to pledge eternity.”
[If you spout any nonsense on a day like this, I really will send you straight to the Divine—or rather, make sure you never get there. Got it?]
She’d issued the warning beforehand, worried he might ramble about how perfect a day like this was for heading to the Divine’s side. Mercifully, her threat seemed to have worked—the opening was far more dignified than she’d feared.
“Do you swear to share henceforth in joy and sorrow alike, to forsake one another in no hardship, to stand at each other’s side for all your days, and to love one another?”
Rather than answer at once, Cecilia looked directly at him.
They said romantic love typically lasted about two years. After that, the stimulus from another person becomes familiar, and the chemical reactions that intoxicate the mind gradually fade.
But somehow, she was certain she could never grow immune to the stimulus this man gave her.
And so Cecilia, who had never believed in forever, gladly pledged eternity to him.
“I swear.”
“I swear.”
“In the name of the Divine, I accept your oath. From this day forward, you shall walk not as two, but as one. May the Divine’s blessing ever illuminate that path.”
The ceremony was now complete, and all that remained was a gentle kiss. Yet instead of reaching for her veil, Cecilia found herself looking around at the white daisies adorning the space.
Lien might not know it, but she had once decided that someday, among these modest flowers, she would confess her heart to him once more.
Though it had taken her a long, roundabout path to arrive here…….
“Lien.”
At the unexpected call, his eyes widened.
Cecilia took his hand firmly and offered the honest confession she had not been able to give in a previous life.
“Thank you for always loving me, in every life and every world.”
In this strange world, the fact that she could genuinely smile, that she could believe herself happy—all of that was because of the vast tenderness he had given her. And it would remain so, she knew, for all the days to come.
“From now on, I’ll love you greatly too.”
No longer would she only receive; she would love him so that he too could be as happy as she was.
As she spoke, his eyes, which had been glistening, grew wet with tears.
“I’ve really turned into a crybaby.”
“……But you said you liked the sight of me crying.”
“That’s…… true.”
Cecilia blinked, and then a clear laugh escaped her.
In the moment when the groom’s lips, brimming with happiness, descended upon the bride’s lips, trembling with joy,

the blessings of the gathered crowd poured down upon them like sunshine.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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