The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 68

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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 68
From earliest childhood, this man had always been this way.
She often encountered his sons at the palace because the Duke of House Dilansche frequented the Imperial Palace.
Usually, the eldest son—already marked as heir—was brought before her to keep her company, though occasionally the second son would be dragged along instead.
The imperial princess had cherished beautiful things from the moment she could express her preferences, so it was inevitable that she developed a fondness for the terrifyingly beautiful second son of House Dilansche.
For that reason, she extended her hand first and spoke to him.
“What’s your name?”
But what came back was not even an answer.
How could she describe the emotion burning in those blood-red eyes?
She was of noble blood, the daughter of the Empire’s master—yet in those crimson eyes, she saw herself as something base, or perhaps not even human at all.
Even at such a young age, shame had flushed her face.
That was when it began. The second son of House Dilansche became an object of her hatred.
“Meet the young prince of House Dilansche again? I don’t want to! I can’t bear the sight of him!”
“We mustn’t speak such unkind words! Come now, he’s roughly your age—why not try to befriend him? Yes?”
Her kind-hearted governess, who believed in human goodness, dismissed her aversion as mere childish petulance.
In the end, pushed by the governess, she took tea with him several times, and on her tenth birthday, a painter came to paint her portrait and ended up painting him as well.
Yet throughout, the two of them had never shared even proper introductions, let alone everyday conversation.
‘Once I realized that House Dilansche’s support was necessary, I did initiate conversation myself, but……’
The responses were only perfunctory and brief. She couldn’t even be certain he was listening to her.
It was such a trivial enmity.
When he approached her for the first time and spoke to her, she had gone rigid with a chill down her spine.
It was right after she had met the Saintess in the Wardrobe Room.
Though he wore a robe, she easily deduced that the Saintess’s “Lien” was the second son of House Dilansche.
‘The Saintess and House Dilansche.’
They were as incompatible as water and oil—a pairing that shouldn’t mix, let alone stand side by side.
She suspected that this repugnant man might be toying with the Saintess.
Regina found herself feeling sympathy for a woman she barely knew—a woman who was surely her enemy.
Yet her misunderstanding was cleared soon enough. During the banquet, the man had suddenly sought her out on the balcony where she was resting.
Beneath the grey robe, his crimson eyes gleamed with intensity.
“It would be best if you kept my identity to yourself.”
That brief warning was all he left before departing without hesitation. She needed not ask who he was—she already knew.
It startled her that he had spoken to her first for the first time, but far more shocking was the fragment of emotion that flickered beneath his cold voice.
That man, of all people, showing emotion. And something that resembled anxiety at that.
But that wasn’t all.
The way he behaved toward the Saintess was not merely astonishing—it was repulsive.
The bumbling way he orbited the Saintess made her think that perhaps he had become, in some small measure, more human.
But it was all a miscalculation. He remained a repugnant and loathsome creature.
“The Saintess seems to have forgiven you graciously, as befits a Saintess. Isn’t a good outcome what matters?”
“Do you truly believe that if the outcome is good, the process doesn’t matter at all?”
The ominous retort was a warning.
Regina flinched reflexively, and the knights immediately drew closer to her side.
Unconcerned by the knights’ hostile stance, the man merely gazed at her with cold intensity.
Grinding her teeth, Regina decided to revise her earlier assessment. The man had indeed changed.
And in a decidedly unfortunate direction.
“Asilienne told me you’d gone mad—or rather, changed. She was right. I never expected you’d show emotion like this. So you were human after all.”
“……”
“Well, if you dislike it that much, it can’t be helped. But this is inconvenient—I’ve already told the Saintess where you’ll be staying. I’ll need to say you were driven out and ask for her help……”
“One day. No more than that. I’ll have an appropriate manor nearby found and have people from the Mage Tower stationed there. Stay there.”
“I don’t want to be with you any longer either. I only followed because I thought I might see the Saintess one more time if I were next door.”
Regina replied irritably. If she’d known he would be such a nuisance, she’d have simply booked an inn rather than have her knights panic.
But watching his face—which looked even more exasperated than hers—her mood lightened somewhat.
The man exhaled a long, deep sigh and spoke coldly.
“I trust neither the Emperor nor you.”
“Anyone listening would think I’ve been harassing the Saintess.”
Regina dismissed the rebuke without so much as a snort. What she had learned from dealing with this man since childhood was nothing but this kind of nerve.
And walking that precarious line was something she excelled at.
In a voice worn by exhaustion, she laid bare her truth.
“At first, I was simply curious about what the legendary Saintess was like, and I thought I could use her unexpected nature to my advantage. But that’s not the case anymore. The Saintess has captivated more than just you.”
“……”
“Ah, but calling what you feel for her merely ‘captivation’ might be a stretch, wouldn’t you say?”
With casual mockery, she threw aside lodging fees in favor of earnest counsel instead.
“Take my advice: stop indulging in unpleasant schemes. Don’t tally sins against those who approach the Saintess, and don’t plot things behind her back.”
Genuinely disgusted, she swept past the innkeeper and strode straight through the manor’s entrance.
Still not bothering to hear the woman’s protests or responses.
* * *
When Cecilia finally returned to the Weberdine Manor, Nox and even the Marquis were already waiting at the entrance to receive her.
She hadn’t even mentioned when she’d arrive, yet somehow they knew.
Startled, she hastened down from the carriage.
“I’m back. As you can see, I’ve brought the approval as well.”
“……Yes.”
She’d expected him to be pleased, but his response was oddly lukewarm.
Perhaps word had reached him of the incident at the Monastery.
The Marquis studied her with a troubled expression, then gently patted her shoulder with his weathered palm.
“Well done.”
That was all he said.
Such simple words—yet why did they make her throat tighten.
Perhaps the journey to the Monastery had been far more daunting than she’d admitted to herself.
“Welcome home.”
“……Yes.”
Even Nox was being kind. It must have been harder than she realized.
Having finally released the tension, Cecilia bathed in warm water, took a light meal, and slept for the better part of the day.
It took a full week of eating, resting, and settling back into routine before she was ready.
After returning from an outing and completing her bath, Cecilia turned to the matters she’d left pending.
One of them was opening her correspondence.
“Word that you’ve become an official Saintess has spread everywhere—look how many congratulatory letters arrived just today!”
Melanie set down two hefty bundles of letters with a cheerful thump.
With letters from nobles, clergy, and commoners all pouring in, the daily stack was becoming overwhelming.
Cecilia immediately sorted through the bundles and drew out a single white envelope set apart from the rest.
It was a letter from the Pope, sent from the Grand Temple.
Shortly after returning to Weberdine, Miguel and the other Holy Knights had reported directly back to the Temple—carrying the letter she had written.
This must be his reply, arriving today.

‘How strong is his faith in Cecilia.’
Concerned that the Princess might also find herself bound to the holy site and suffer as she had, Cecilia had written to him about Sena—carefully, and with restraint.
That the Princess had been kind to her and was uninvolved in the incident at the Monastery.
She had expected some resistance, but his reply came back surprisingly swift and simple.

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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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