The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 58

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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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Chapter 58
Inside the lavish Greenhouse Garden, where a warm breeze stirred unseasonably and the scent of flowers drifted thick and heavy, Cecilia gazed down absently at a yellow chrysanthemum blooming in her teacup before raising her head slowly.
“I took considerable care with the preparations. Doesn’t it suit your taste?”
Across from her sat Regina, holding her own teacup with elegant poise—the Crown Princess herself.
The day after the tournament ended, Cecilia had received an invitation from the Imperial Palace.
The sender was the Crown Princess.
It was an ordinary invitation to tea, much like before. Yet this time, Cecilia found she could not refuse.

How could she turn away after reading that postscript? The woman was a masterful angler.
Of course, she’d briefly worried it might be a sinister trap from someone who knew her weaknesses.
But the newly appointed successor had no reason to backstab her, now that Cecilia held the formal title of Saint.
‘This is paranoia in its final stage.’
Shaking her head at herself, Cecilia had promptly sent an affirmative reply.
And so, with scarcely time to compose herself, she found herself face to face with the Crown Princess—the former Crown Princess, now elevated to the heir apparent.
“How’s your condition? Any lingering effects?”
“That’s what I should be asking you.”
“Well, as you can see—thanks to the gracious aid of our Saint here, I’m managing splendidly.”
Her red lips curved into a smile.
“I expected you’d be resting longer.”
“The injured are the knights, after all. I’ve given them three months of paid leave and a monetary reward besides. They should be resting comfortably by now.”
It was a barbed comment—questioning why she’d summoned Cecilia so urgently if she wasn’t rushing to recover herself.
Regina clearly understood, yet merely shrugged with an air of innocence.
“At first I found it strange that you helped me alone. But then I heard you were attacked that same day too?”
Cecilia hadn’t expected Regina to broach this subject first.
She met the Crown Princess’s gaze without answering. In that taut expression, she read something unexpected: guilt.
“We’re investigating both the attack on me and my brother, and we’re looking into yours at the same time. Since the Magic Tower has agreed to assist, progress should be swift.”
It wasn’t surprising information. She’d heard as much already.
Yesterday, the red-haired mage had delivered a note from Lien in secret—that they were pursuing the attack and its orchestrators, and so he’d likely need to remain in the Imperial Palace for a while.
‘He’s probably somewhere in here.’
If she wished, she could arrange to meet him directly.
She pictured the man strolling beyond the glass windows, in a landscape mismatched with the season, then quickly brushed the image away.
“Yes, I’ll be waiting for news.”
Knowing that the involvement of the Imperial Palace would render her own investigation moot, Cecilia answered without enthusiasm.
Likely Regina understood this too—which explained her expression.
As the uncomfortable silence stretched on, Regina suddenly extended a small yellow box, barely larger than her own palms.
“This is my gift. Open it.”
Cecilia accepted it reluctantly.
Despite its size, it was remarkably light—almost as if empty. She carefully untied the green silk ribbon fastened in a butterfly knot and lifted the lid.
Inside, arranged neatly, lay a single white flower.
One that looked very familiar indeed.
“In Weberdine, it’s called the Flower of God, isn’t it?”
She’d seen it before at the Relief Festival and by the Lake of the Temple.
Yet the flower in the box differed in one respect: its petals were sparse and ragged, as though someone had torn them off in a fit of passion.
‘Has some strange superstition spread even to the Monastery?’
Cecilia frowned faintly and replied offhandedly.
“…I haven’t any lover to give gifts to, particularly.”
Despite this rather curt response, Regina merely smiled enigmatically.
“This is genuine. Its true name is the Flower of Truth, isn’t it?”
‘What?’
“When I became heir, I received the keys to the Imperial Treasure Vault. I think I glimpsed it once as a child, and it turns out I wasn’t misremembering. Fortunate timing, really.”
“……”
“I hear it’s one of the Divine Treasures—something quite important to the clergy, I’d imagine?”
Why was a Divine Treasure housed in the Imperial Palace rather than the Temple? And had this one actually ever existed? If it was real, why show it to her specifically?
Her thoughts spun in confusion.
“If it’s genuine, yes. It’s difficult to believe.”
“I thought you might say that. I didn’t believe it myself until I saw it.”
“…Have you tried using it?”
“No. But there’s no magic cast upon it, and yet it hasn’t withered or decayed in this state. Since what I saw as a child remains unchanged, surely that’s credible enough?”
Cecilia now examined the “Flower of God” more carefully.

I’d expected the Divine Treasure to radiate Holy Power so visibly that I’d recognize it at first glance. Instead, it looked like an ordinary flower.
And yet a plant with roots severed so cleanly couldn’t survive years—not unless it were something like the Flower of God, a being that defied the laws of nature.
“If this is genuine, I’m even more confused. Why return something you’ve hidden so carefully all this time?”
“I’m not returning it to the Temple.”
…….
“It’s a personal gift for you, Saint. Think of it as the price of my life.”
Regina set down her teacup soundlessly, a bitter smile playing at her lips.
“Shall we take a walk?”
* * *
The Crown Princess led me to a corridor not far from the Greenhouse Garden.
True to her light explanation that it was a sort of record house, the place was utterly silent.
Our footsteps echoed emptily through the hollow space when Regina spoke first.
“I was born when His Majesty was Crown Prince. My father was his betrothed at that time.”
We passed through the records of past emperors and arrived at a section where the current Emperor’s documents had been organized.
The shelves were filled with observation reports and documents written by scribes, while the curtained wall was covered entirely with paintings.
Regina stopped before a portrait of a young emperor who bore a striking resemblance to the current Crown Princess, then spoke again.
“The position of Crown Prince is like that, isn’t it? Profit matters more than feeling, and a spouse’s place can change at any moment. So my brother and I have different fathers, and that became the reason we could never exist as a family.”
Regardless of whether we wanted it that way.
The addition came out almost like a recitation.
“That day, my brother didn’t send assassins after me. He actually has no desire to follow in our mother’s footsteps. He has a betrothed from childhood, but he’s too gentle a child to become Empress.”
…….
“And I didn’t send assassins either.”
“But I heard both of you were attacked.”
“The work of arrogant fools who believe their will is truth.”
The picture was easy enough to imagine.
The Crown Prince’s maternal family would have spared no effort to establish him as the next Emperor, while the Crown Princess’s family would have committed dark deeds to make her the successor.
The portrait moved past a young Emperor full of vigor, and on either side of a somewhat more weathered Emperor hung two small children, clinging like cicadas to an old tree.
The boy and girl with red hair barely reaching her waist appeared quite close even within the painted frame.
Regina gazed at that portrait with a longing look for a time, then slowly began to walk.
“I will become Emperor. And you have now formally become a Saint.”
…….
“I cannot guarantee that my mother had no involvement in your attack, so it may sound absurd for me to say this, but… I think we can be not enemies, even if we cannot be friends.”
“A Saint and a Crown Princess, you mean.”
“Yes. So if you ever need to ask me for something, tell me. I’ll pay the debt in full.”
“Is that because you know you have a weakness against me?”
If so, it would be cleaner to kill me and silence me rather than approach me this way.
“If you were someone who’d exploit my weakness to trouble me, I wouldn’t have saved you that day. And if we spend time getting along, maybe I could even hand over a senior priest or two. Though I’d prefer it if you came directly.”
But that was impossible, given how close you are to Dilanshe.
Even knowing it was nearly impossible, it sounded so plausible I couldn’t help but let out an empty laugh.
“For what it’s worth, I’d suggest you stop trusting people just because they’ve helped you once.”
“I know. Trust is like a sandcastle. And yet I’ve chosen to trust anyway.”
You.
‘Ah.’
At that soft word, my chest tightened painfully.
It wasn’t because the unexpected kindness surprised or unsettled me. It was simply that her way of holding groundless trust resembled mine too much.
And so…….
Cecilia turned her head slowly to gaze at something—a small painting hanging at the far end of the corridor.
A young Regina with her red hair braided into two plaits, and beside her a boy who stood expressionless, doll-like.
Cecilia stared into those red eyes for a moment, then opened her lips.
“You said earlier you’d grant any request.”
“Already? Well, I don’t mind. Ask for anything.”
“Just answer one question for me.”
Cecilia drew a slow breath. It was time to put an end to her own foolish trust.
“Is the Magic Tower Master—is Lien actually Asilien Chadwind?”

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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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