The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 7

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

Chapter 7
In the end, Lien was hired as Cecilia’s etiquette instructor.
And the long-awaited first lesson day arrived.
Cecilia, sitting at her desk in the proper posture of any diligent student, raised her hand toward Lien, who held an open textbook.
“Teacher, I have a question before we begin the lesson.”
“W-wait, teacher? Just Lien is fine.”
“Yes, Lien. Do you happen to have a sun allergy?”
Cecilia eyed the robe haphazardly thrown over what appeared to be neat clothing, her question cutting through the air with cool precision.
During the interview, Cecilia had gone so far as to fantasize about his possible status as a clone—until she was forced to acknowledge that the person before her was unmistakably Lien.
For here he was, having performed the interview so flawlessly, now extracting a robe from a palm-sized document case and draping it over himself with painstaking care.
‘No, it’s not even some engineering student’s checkered shirt—why can’t he just get rid of the robe?’
Remembering her classmates from university who clung to their plaid shirts and hoodies through every conceivable form of persuasion, she felt a wave of exasperation wash over her.
Oblivious to her desire to tear off that wretched garment on the spot, he replied with disarming cheerfulness.
“No.”
“Then you’ll die if you take the robe off?”
“That’s not it either.”
“Then couldn’t you at least remove it indoors? It looks rather suffocating.”
She had phrased her suggestion as delicately as possible, thinking he wouldn’t be frightened away.
But Lien, clutching the hem of his robe tightly, hesitated before responding.
“W-would it be so terrible if I kept the robe on? I’m… embarrassed to show my face……”
She couldn’t fathom what part of a face worthy of boasting throughout the entire district could possibly cause embarrassment, but neither could she force him to undress.
Suppressing the urge with effort, Cecilia softened her tone.
“Then at least during lessons, could you push back your hat? An instructor’s excessive face-covering makes students anxious, you understand.”
The request was purely for her own visual peace of mind, but Lien seemed to take her nonsense quite seriously.
“I hadn’t considered that… I’ll be mindful of it.”
Cecilia didn’t correct his misunderstanding.
In any case, surprised as he was, he finally tilted his hat back slightly.
Beneath long lashes, violet eyes like jewels came into view. The faint blush creeping across his cheeks—clearly born of genuine embarrassment—complemented them perfectly.
‘I see the light.’
This was surely one of the fundamental welfare benefits a student deserved.
She didn’t know whether he’d worn the robe at the Academy as well, but if he hadn’t, she could confidently assert that attendance and satisfaction rates for his lectures would have reached one hundred percent.
Finally satisfied, Cecilia regarded him openly—observing him, rather.
Lien couldn’t quite meet her direct gaze and fumbled nervously before clutching the textbook tightly.
“W-well then, shall we begin the lesson?”
“Ah, but it’s the first day—do we really have to jump straight into lessons?”
With the textbook already open in one hand, Cecilia raised the other playfully as she asked.
“Ah, then what would you like to do on your first day……”
“Tell me about your first love, teacher!”
What else would be the first question to ask a handsome young instructor?
And as a bonus, she was hoping to discover his ideal type as well.
His eyes widened in perfect circles, and immediately began to tremble visibly.
“I…”
His gaze cast downward in sorrowful silence, lips pressed firmly shut, eyes reddening at the corners.
Watching the bitterness spread through him like spilled ink, Cecilia sighed inwardly.
‘I was thinking of some puppy love or unrequited feelings from his Academy days.’
Apparently there was someone precious to him, someone whose very memory brought sadness.
‘Ah, a male protagonist with a real love interest—those are always hit or miss.’
She fell into the miss category. But she decided she could overlook her future lover’s previous true love.
It wasn’t as if she’d be spending her entire life with him here, and besides, in the future his ex-girlfriend might become her predecessor.
Having stepped on a mine she hadn’t anticipated, Cecilia hastily changed the subject.
“Come to think of it, I think we should just get to the lesson! Shall we open the book?”
“…Yes.”
Lien, pulling the robe back down hesitantly, finally began the lesson.
“Before we proceed, I wondered if I might ask—the reason you must go to the Capital is to receive the Emperor’s approval of your status as a Saint, is it not?”
“That’s right.”
Though not officially, it was common knowledge even to street urchins that the eldest daughter of House Weberdine was little different from being a Saint.
So it wasn’t particularly strange that he’d deduced the purpose of her journey to the Capital.
“Which is why I was wondering—could you teach me the fundamentals before we get to etiquette?”
“The fundamentals…?”
“The relationship between the Temple and the Imperial Court, for instance. I understand it already, but I’d like to hear it from a neutral perspective as well.”
‘I’m honestly asking because I don’t really know.’
All she understood was that the Temple and the Imperial Court didn’t get along—the specifics of this Approval matter had eluded her entirely.
If it were Cecilia, born into House Weberdine and having lived as one of them, she couldn’t possibly be ignorant of such knowledge. But to Lien, her excuse seemed plausible enough.
Lien began his explanation in an even tone.
“Then I should start with the Empire’s history. You know that in the past, the Empire was a society where religious and secular authority were unified—or rather, where God’s representative ruled the Empire.”
From the founding myths, he’d learned during his investigation of this world that God had directly established and governed the nation.
‘And Melanie had spoken so proudly about how House Weberdine was the family that had served God all those centuries.’
“As time passed, the Religious Authority and Imperial Authority naturally separated, but because of that history, they still haven’t escaped their adversarial relationship to this day.”
Cecilia nodded readily.
It made sense—the Temple, with its traditional foundation and power rivaling the Imperial Court, wouldn’t have a peaceful relationship with it.
“Both factions needed means to check each other. One of those means is precisely the Blessing of the heir and the Approval of the successor.”
Lien added his explanation: when a Saint was appointed, the Emperor’s Approval was required; when a Crown Prince was determined, the Pope’s Blessing was necessary.
So that was why Nox had to make the arduous journey up to the Capital.
‘I can’t understand why the Emperor would summon the Saint to the Capital in person, but……’
What was certain was that her trip to the Capital would be quite treacherous.
The Imperial faction was bound to be concentrated there.
‘House Weberdine, the pillar of the Temple, and a Saint candidate on top of that—they’ll see me as a thorn in their side.’
Just imagining the people who’d be watching her with suspicion and contempt drained her will entirely.
‘I hate it. I really do.’
With no motivation whatsoever, Cecilia slumped her shoulders weakly.
This was already the hundred and thirty-fifth time she’d had this thought, but truly, desperately, she wanted to go home.
* * *
After the first lesson ended.
Lien returned to the Mansion, crossing an empty corridor.
Thump. Thump.
In the quiet Mansion—not a servant in sight, not even a whisper of presence.
Only his footsteps echoed hollowly through the void.
His steps halted at a small room situated at the corridor’s end.
Lien collapsed onto the sole piece of furniture bearing any trace of lived-in warmth—a worn sofa.
Then he gazed quietly at the fireplace, where flames burned contrary to the season.
“I told you not to follow me.”
“…….”
Before Lien’s words had fully escaped, the flames surged, and a figure emerged from within.
A young man with long sunset-colored hair, neatly tied back.
“My apologies. Since you haven’t been receiving any contacts, I thought you’d discarded the Communication Orb.”
The respectful man glanced at the orb sitting perfectly intact on the desk and responded.
“……I forgot.”
At Lien’s stammering reply, a crack split across the man’s previously composed face.
“May I inquire how much longer you intend to maintain this—this act, this appearance?”
“Is it strange?”
“Yes. Somewhat—no, quite revolting.”
The man, Hilteyn, laid bare his disgust without reservation.
If Lien truly dropped the act and returned to his true form, some part of Hilteyn’s body would surely be severed—there was no doubt about it.
Yet the sight of his superior playing this ridiculous role was so repulsive it was worth risking.
Unfortunately, his superior showed no sign of abandoning this unfunny performance.
“I can’t stop.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
“I have no choice. I need to stay beside that person.”
‘Damn it.’
Hilteyn barely suppressed a crude curse.
Did his superior not realize how much worse that muttered addendum made it?
‘Pretending to be some naïve fool who amounts to nothing.’
A lion imitating a herbivore would do a better job.
Hilteyn recalled his first meeting with his superior.
[Get out.]
That was all the man had said—the one who’d sat reading while arranging prestigious high mages around him like decorative screens.
The faces of those high mages who’d come to greet the new Tower Master had flushed bright red.
[Even for a Tower Master, this kind of attitude……!]
[I dislike inefficient things.]
The emotion in that carefully sculpted face was nothing but indifference—and yet the moment his gaze touched them, every mouth shut tight.
A chill ran through the air—sharp enough to sever a neck in an instant.
Even the high mages, those who had always been the strong, were nothing but prey before him.
[For instance, by making someone repeat themselves.]
So as Hilteyn watched the man elegantly rephrase his command—*don’t speak twice, now get out*—he understood in that moment the simple truth of survival.
Working beneath such a superior would be relentlessly difficult.

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