The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 84

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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 84
“What’s the reason?”
“Hmm?”
Lien, who had closed his book without warning, stared up at her intently.
“Why don’t you avoid me when you know who I am?”
It was a question she hadn’t anticipated. She chose her answer carefully.
He was the Master of the Magic Tower, shadowed by sinister rumors. At the same time, he bore the name of Dilan She, hostile to Weberdine. He had even threatened her directly before. An ordinary person would naturally shun his presence—and she, a Saint above all, should have been even more inclined to do so.
And yet…….
“To me, you’re simply Lien.”
To her, Lien was neither the Master of the Magic Tower nor the heir bearing that other name—just the gloomy, sorrowful boy who had moved in next door.
“Even if everyone else in the world came to frighten me, I could never be afraid of you.”
Even if the moment came when he truly meant her harm, she would not fear it.
“…….”
She thought this answer would be something he could not comprehend.
As expected, Lien offered no response.
He set the book on the table and gathered his Theoretical Magic texts. Then he approached her with long strides as she stood at the doorway, apparently heading to class.
Contrary to her expectation that he would simply pass by as usual, he dropped something onto her palm and left the room.
Alone in the quiet space.
Cecilia stared blankly at the transparent, hard object resting in her hand.
It was a Healing Potion.
Clutching the vial, her face twisted in an expression caught between tears and laughter.
* * *
If one were to give a scientist an alternative name, it would gladly be “observer.”
For they are people who gaze steadily at a single question, watching for minute changes, thinking, inferring.
In that sense, she was quite a capable observer.
Small but consistent changes—she watched for them with remarkable persistence and noticed them.
It began the day he asked that question. Once, twice, he started answering her remarks more frequently, and sometimes he would even initiate conversation.
By the waning end of spring, when noon brought beads of sweat to the bridge of her nose and faint moisture clung to the breeze, she found herself exchanging ordinary conversation with him and even sharing meals.
Rapid footsteps echoed through the Academy’s Corridor. Cecilia, who had arrived late past lunch, hurried along.
In her hands was a basket containing a Sandwich and an Apple.
They were surely for Lien, who would be starving.
Today’s dining hall had served spinach soup, sautéed spinach, and spinach porridge—problematic enough on its own—but he seemed absorbed in some research lately.
Like a housekeeper who had forgotten to feed her cat, Cecilia hastily crossed through the Magic Department Corridor, now more familiar to her than the Theology Department.
It was just before the professor’s office.
“Um, excuse me!”
A female student with chestnut brown hair styled neatly stopped her.
“Me?”
“Yes, yes! If it’s not too much trouble, might I ask you something?”
Cecilia concealed her sudden nervousness beneath her robes.
The student wasn’t wearing the typical robes, but judging by the texts she carried, she appeared to be from the Magic Department.
She was confident she couldn’t answer whatever question was coming.
Yet the student’s question proved utterly unexpected.
“You seem to spend a lot of time with Professor White, and I was wondering… what is your relationship?”
For reference, White was the assumed name Lien used at the Academy.
Cecilia observed the student’s flushed cheeks and trembling shoulders closely.
‘Ah, this is it. She’s smitten.’
Of course, not with her, but with Lien.
‘Stealing hearts even with a changed face—quite impressive.’
To be fair, one glance showed an exceptionally fit form, a voice so pleasant it made one’s ears tingle, and genius-level skill at such a young age—it was enough to captivate an impressionable heart.
Cecilia almost blurted out “romantic partner,” but held back for the sake of his social standing.
Besides, they weren’t actually romantic partners at present.
“He’s a teaching assistant.”
“But he’s not in the Magic Department, is he?”
“He’s planning to transfer next semester.”
The lie rolled off her tongue without hesitation.
The other girl, fooled by her unflinching composure, visibly relaxed.
Cecilia didn’t miss the opportunity.
“By the way, I heard the professor already has a lover.”
“Really? Is that true?”
“Yes. She’s absolutely devoted to him.”
“Ah… I see.”
The woman’s face fell.
“I’m sorry for stealing your time.”
The student, her first love unrequited, turned away with sagging shoulders.
From behind, Cecilia let out a brief sound of regret as she burst into his room.
“Good morning… though it’s probably too late for that?”
Lien was hunched over a large sheet of paper covering the table, scribbling formulas filled with numbers and geometric shapes.
Cecilia settled onto the sofa across from him—her usual spot now—and he continued writing without pause before speaking.
“When did I start doing something like dating?”
“You heard all of that?”
Despite being caught in her lie, Cecilia merely shrugged.
“Well, you’re going to do it eventually anyway. Or would you rather do it with me?”
Cecilia tilted her head and gave him a subtle smile with her eyes.
Only then did Lien finally glance away from the paper, his expression hardening.
“Can a Saint fall in love?”
This was hardly the moment to be pondering such a thing.
Cecilia, deflated, set down the sandwich she’d brought on the corner of the desk.
“Eat first.”
Lien checked the time and obediently picked up the sandwich, carelessly unwrapping it with ink-stained fingers before taking a large bite.
Watching him eat with quiet satisfaction, Cecilia opened the book she’d tucked under her arm.
It was an adventure novel recommended by the library’s head librarian, and she’d found it so captivating that she’d read more than half of it in a single day.
She’d burst in like a storm and now, as though that had never happened, she was completely absorbed in the pages.
After finishing his simple meal, Lien glanced over at the now-docile Cecilia.
“Another adventure novel?”
“Yeah. I asked the librarian to recommend something similar.”
“You never tire of them. Why do you love adventure novels so much?”
“Well, it’s amazing how the protagonist pushes through even when dropped in a strange place. And I envy how they always end up making friends and finding a lover too—a real happy ending.”
A kind of vicarious satisfaction, perhaps.
The book she was reading now followed a similar pattern: a prince separated from his family by his stepfather’s schemes, cast into a foreign land unlike any he’d known before, embarking on adventures with people of another race.
Lien, who had been listening quietly, suddenly asked a question.
“Is that a happy ending?”
“Hm?”
“They could never fully understand the protagonist, who is a foreigner to them. What meaning could there be in being together?”
“Well, being alone is too lonely, isn’t it? Isn’t that meaning enough?”
“Is being alone lonely?”
He asked with genuine curiosity.
Cecilia looked at him—a foreigner in this world, much like the protagonist in her book.
Lien barely formed connections with others these days.
In all the times she’d come and gone from his room, she’d only encountered his subordinates; he seemed to have no friends, no lover, no family with whom he interacted. He appeared to feel neither need nor affection for such things.
As though he’d never known loneliness at all.
“Do you think you don’t need anyone by your side?”
“…”
“Even if someone who could understand you appeared someday?”
She’d expected him to deny it readily, but instead he fell silent. That hesitation was his answer.
“You’re lonely, aren’t you?”
“…Am I?”
Loneliness wasn’t simply a matter of having people nearby or not.
It was a fundamental emptiness that came from not being able to affirm this world, one’s current life.
It became all the sharper in the moment you realized you could never be understood by anyone.
In that sense, he resembled her deeply.
Cecilia traced a fingertip gently over an illustration of the character’s smiling face.
She’d explained it to Lien with such confidence, but truthfully, she harbored doubts. If she were this protagonist, would she really be happy at the ending? Would she truly stop being lonely?
…She wasn’t now, not at all.
Cecilia smiled bitterly and confessed in a voice barely above a whisper.
“…This is a secret, but I feel the same way.”
* * *
By the time Cecilia had finished reading the final page of the book, Lien—done with his equations—announced in a weary voice:
“I’ll be absent for about a week. I’ll leave the door unlocked, so feel free to use it as you like.”
“Where are you going?”
“Ah. Come to think of it, you might need to skip classes too.”
He left behind only cryptic words and departed.
In any case, since her purpose in going to the Academy had vanished, Cecilia returned to the Mansion at once.
After dining alone in the spacious dining hall, she was turning to head back to her room when she encountered Nox, who had just arrived home.
“Cecilia, you’re back early today?”
“You’re only just coming in now?”
Nox nodded wearily.
Before Nox had returned to Weberdine, Cecilia had already gone up to the Monastery, so he found himself inadvertently staying there long-term alongside his sister.
He looked exhausted today as well—apparently summoned to the Imperial Court—and still seemed to be wrangling with the Emperor over the matter of approval. The struggle continued.
“Sorry, another failure today.”
Nox laughed sheepishly, mortified.
He was absolutely convinced that Cecilia had come to the Monastery because of the Emperor’s approval, and since he rarely showed contrition, blaming himself, Cecilia quietly ignored her guilty conscience and let him go on misunderstanding. It served her purpose.
As a result, Nox—who seemed to live for the pleasure of teasing his sister—found himself surprisingly mindful of her feelings.
Today, it seemed he’d brought luggage as well; he fumbled in his pocket and drew something out.

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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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