The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 2

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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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Episode 2
“…….”
“…….”
She’d known that the wall connected to the Neighboring Mansion, but she’d never imagined she’d actually run into someone there.
And why would she? The owner of the Neighboring Mansion kept a residence in the Capital City, so the place was nearly abandoned.
Caught red-handed at an illegal trespass, Cecilia hesitated before opening her mouth.
“……Um, hello?”
The man across from her, visibly tense, simply nodded in silence.
‘Is he so startled he can’t find words?’
Cecilia, jumping to conclusions, hurried to explain herself.
“The thing is, I’m not a suspicious person—I live next door. My cat ran over here with my bracelet, and I was chasing after her, and before I knew it…….”
“Ah……. I see.”
His voice was so faint it sounded like he was talking to himself. Yet the obvious sweetness of his tone scattered her embarrassment like dandelion seeds on the wind.
Only then did Cecilia take a proper look at him.
The man—if he was a man—had his shoulders hunched in a stooped posture, yet his height and build were impressively large. But that was all.
His gaze fixed on the ground, the hem of his Robe caked with soil, and finally, a Garden Spade gripped in one hand.
He was unmistakably a shy gardener—a supporting character.
‘In romance novels, an encounter this unusual always leads to something miraculous.’
Meeting a hidden crown prince fleeing political turmoil, or stumbling upon a cursed duke—that sort of dramatic plot twist.
But reality, as always, was harsher than fiction.
Over three months, she’d encountered no man other than priests devoted to the divine, household servants, or the elderly marquis’s aging guests. So Cecilia quickly lost interest and hope.
“Have you seen a white cat? She should have come this way.”
“I, I did see one heading toward the Western Garden…….”
The man pointed one stiff finger toward some distant, unmarked direction.
Whatever Western Garden he meant, it surely couldn’t be so far that the cat had managed to escape entirely.
“Then would it be all right if I looked for just a moment? Once I find the cat, I’ll leave right away.”
“W, would it be all right if I showed you the way? If it wouldn’t be too much trouble?”
Cecilia revised her first impression slightly.
Instead of turning away an intruder, he was offering to help. He was definitely a shy, kind-hearted gardener.
“Then thank you.”
She nodded with a bright smile, and the man’s shoulders flinched. Then he began to lead her hesitantly forward.
They crossed what could barely be called a path—just overgrown grass—and soon the garden he’d mentioned came into view.
And there, in the very center of it, sat the white cat, bold as you please.
Rolling about in ruins across a flower bed that had clearly been tended with great care.
“Good heavens.”
Cecilia gasped, covering her mouth at the tragic scene.
Those flowers, now splayed across the earth, would clearly never rise again.
“What do we do about the cat destroying the garden?”
The cat wasn’t even hers, yet seeing the man’s back slump in what looked like gloom, she found herself troubled.
‘I wonder if his employer will scold him severely for this.’
“S, still, if it’s the owner’s cat…….”
“……I’ve never seen that cat before.”
‘Oh no.’
His broad shoulders shrank down further.
Cecilia, sensing the shift in atmosphere, quickly scooped up the cat, which was still rolling about without a care.
“W, well, the thing is, the cat isn’t exactly mine either. In any case, I’ll explain the damaged garden to the owner myself and take full responsibility……. Ah!”
Before she could finish, the small bundle of trouble in her arms caused yet another disaster.
Apparently displeased with her grip, it thrashed about—then made a beeline straight for the man’s face.
He reflexively caught the cat, lost his balance, and tumbled backward onto the grass. The soiled Garden Spade rolled across the ground, and his worn Robe slipped away.
“Ah.”
The gasp that escaped wasn’t from him.
Cecilia, facing his bare face, went utterly rigid.
‘Found him. My leading man!’
Black hair in stark contrast to skin so white and transparent it seemed flawless, features so perfect they looked like they belonged to a two-dimensional illustration, and behind Silver-Rimmed Glasses, eyes of a wisteria-purple that held her gaze captive.
She’d read novels with dark-haired handsome leads more than once, so she still wasn’t certain which book this world belonged to.
But one thing was clear: a man with such radiant beauty could never be a mere supporting character.
‘He must be someone hiding his true station.’
Whoever he was, Cecilia decided in that instant to make him her male lead.
It didn’t matter if this wasn’t a romantic fantasy novel, or if she herself wasn’t the protagonist.
‘From this moment on, I object to any and all objections.’
With her resolve hardened, Cecilia reached out toward the man without hesitation.
“Are you alright?”
The man’s eyes widened as if moved simply by her offer of a hand, and his cheeks flushed crimson.
“I—thank you so much.”
That sorrowful beauty paired with such an endearing manner. The aura that had seemed so damp and suffocating when he wore the Robe transformed instantly—a spell of pure magic unfolded before her eyes.
‘I could go without food and be satisfied just looking at that face.’
She had thought Cecilia’s face was the finest in this cramped territory, but she had been a frog in a well.
‘Wait—could it be that faces like his are common in the Capital City?’
Yet when she recalled the noble guests and merchants who occasionally visited her father, she doubted it.
In any case, Cecilia had no intention of letting slip this perfect opportunity to make Plan D a reality.
“I’m sorry. I should have held the cat more firmly.”
“It’s no trouble at all.”
The man shook his head hastily and offered the cat back to her with care.
As Cecilia took the limp cat from him, she added her words with deliberate gentleness.
“Thank you for your help. The Neighboring Mansion has been empty for so long that I thought no one was there. Have you just moved in?”
“Yes. My master found that life in the Capital City didn’t suit him, so he sent me down here.”
“Then you’ll be staying for a while?”
“If you would permit it…….”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, no, forgive me.”
‘So he’ll be staying at the Neighboring Mansion for some time, at least.’
His evasiveness was curious, but what mattered was that she would have many opportunities to see this man again.
Having made her assessment quickly, she brought forth the name that had become familiar to her.
“I’m Cecilia Weberdin. And you?”
“……My name is Lien.”
‘Yes, an alias.’
The subtle pause before he spoke, the awkward way he handled her gaze—it was all there.
She could have wagered her wrists that it wasn’t his real name, but she pretended not to know and extended her hand to him.
“Then let’s get along well. As neighbors.”
Lien hesitantly clasped her hand. The warmth and size of his palm transmitted his tension directly to her, and Cecilia found herself breaking into laughter once more.
* * *
Could a person’s mood really shift as quickly as the flip of a palm?
She had been in despair over the failure of her Plans just this morning.
Now she could gladly cherish this world without tteokbokki, without ramyeon, without iced americanos—Another World and all.
In the all-white Bedroom, with walls, window frames, tapestries, and furniture bathed in pale tones.
Cecilia lay on her all-white bed and raised one hand languidly into the air.
The Sapphire Bracelet on her wrist glinted beneath the light.
As she had turned to leave after their greeting, the man had found it among the flower debris and fastened it around her wrist himself.
He had smiled faintly and said, “I’m glad we found your bracelet.”
That face as he smiled.
It was surely only his consideration for her, who couldn’t use her hands while holding the cat.
Yet when the memory of his careful touch came back to her, a smile spilled out unbidden.
‘Before the cat stole it, it was nothing but an unnecessarily expensive mineral.’
Now it felt like it would become a symbol of good fortune.
‘Or perhaps the symbol of good fortune is the cat itself?’
The cat that had led her to this remarkable encounter now loafed like a slice of bread on the plush cushion beneath the bed.
Where on earth had the creature come from?
Upon her return to the mansion, she had asked the steward to search for any servants who had lost a cat, but there had been no word since.
“It couldn’t have fallen from the sky.”
Until its owner appeared, she had decided to take responsibility for it and keep it safe.
With a newfound generosity of spirit, she was gently scratching the sleeping cat between its ears when a knock sounded at the door.
It was Melanie, her personal maid.
“Miss, your bath is prepared.”
Melanie, alarmed at the sight of her mistress vanishing suddenly only to return covered in dirt, had rushed off to the bath without even waiting to ask what had happened, and had just returned.
Her initial alarm had subsided somewhat in the meantime, and she now helped Cecilia rise from the bed with measured composure.
“First, let’s get those clothes off you. Arms up, please.”
Cecilia raised both arms without a word and soon found herself immersed in warm, fragrant water.
Drowsiness began to settle over her, but only for a moment.
As Melanie rubbed Cecilia’s skin with a soft cloth, she suddenly spoke.
“I was too rushed to ask earlier, but I trust you’ll explain how exactly you managed to get so covered in dirt?”
Her lips had curved upward, and now they seemed to tremble slightly—though that was probably just her imagination.
“Of—of course.”
She hadn’t planned to hide it in the first place. Since she intended to keep slipping through that gap in the fence, there was no way she could continue deceiving Melanie, who stuck to her side all day long.
“Well, what happened was…….”
Cecilia confessed everything to her maid—the strange white cat and the story of the man from the Neighboring Mansion.
“I ended up going into the Neighboring Mansion while chasing the cat.”
“I see, miss.”
“And that’s where I met this man, and when we started talking…….”
“Wait! A man? You mean you actually had a conversation with a complete stranger?”
Melanie, who had been listening to the account far more calmly than expected, gasped and let the soap-covered cloth drop from her hands.
Her face seemed to have grown paler than it had been when Cecilia first appeared covered in dirt.
“Yes.”
“What if you’d been abducted!”
Melanie launched into an impassioned speech about all the dangers lurking in the world, and she seemed genuinely concerned for her mistress.
It wasn’t an unusual reaction, really.
And little wonder—
‘Cecilia is a Saint.’

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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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