The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 86

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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 86
By the time Cecilia finished her conversation with the Emperor and descended to the first floor, the banquet was already in full swing.
Clusters of guests mingled freely, discussing matters both consequential and trivial in equal measure.
Nox too was engaged in serious conversation with nobles from the Monastery faction—those of relatively moderate views.
Rather than subject herself to such tedious talk, Cecilia let her eyes wander across the hall.
Finding tonight’s guest of honor proved remarkably easy.
A crowd had gathered densely around a woman in a glittering dress, with Lien still standing dutifully at her side.
‘They seem awfully close.’
She reasoned that the Duke of House of Dilan She must have assigned Lien to attend the princess, yet her brow furrowed despite herself. The mere sight of the two of them standing together—the subject of all those pink-tinged rumors—soured her mood. What bothered her more was realizing how small and petty her own mind had become.
Even as she was chiding her own narrow jealousy, the princess lifted her hand toward Cecilia, having spotted her somehow amid the throng.
The princess glided gracefully through the crowd, Lien following in her wake.
The princess gathered her skirts and offered an elegant greeting.
“I am Regina. Thank you so much for attending.”
“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Cecilia Webberdin.”
The two exchanged courtesies as if they were strangers, yet their composures cracked almost immediately—both smiling despite themselves.
Cecilia abandoned the pretense of a first meeting almost at once.
“Happy birthday. I’ll give you your gift later.”
With just a small wave of her hands, the princess seemed to discern the nature of the gift already.
“That sounds wonderful, but I’m afraid my patience is rather lacking. I’d very much like to receive it now…”
The princess smiled mischievously and suddenly extended her hand.
For some reason, it felt like déjà vu.
“Would you dance with me?”
“No.”
Cecilia shook her head firmly, not at all deviating from what she’d expected to say.
Her dance card remained empty—she’d spent the time with the Emperor—yet some perverse impulse made her refuse anyway.
“How can you be like this? I’ve said such wonderful things about you to His Majesty.”
“He didn’t seem particularly impressed.”
“Ah, well, that’s just His Majesty’s nature…. In any case, consider it my thanks.”
The princess drew her toward the dance floor without waiting for a reply.
All eyes turned toward the unusual pairing—a saint and a princess. Even the Emperor on the second floor watched them with interest. Yet Cecilia, unfazed as ever, took the princess’s hand.
The orchestra, catching the signal, began to play a lively piece.
As Cecilia followed the princess’s lead in a slow twirl, the princess leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“What did you and His Majesty discuss?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Then answer me this instead. I’ve been dying to ask all evening—was that man the one you were looking for at the Academy?”
The princess gestured with her chin toward a man standing along the terrace wall.
Beneath his hood, eyes barely visible were fixed intently on the two dancers.
Even as Cecilia navigated the intricate steps, she nodded readily enough.
“Yes.”
As a princess, Regina would certainly know that Lien was the Tower Master and an Academy professor. Denial would be pointless. And besides, Cecilia had already noticed that her gaze kept catching his across the floor—a detail the princess had clearly caught as well.
The princess narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
Regina murmured something that might have been a sigh or an exclamation.
“Webberdin and House of Dilan She… It feels like a tragedy.”
‘Enemy houses do make for more tragedy than comedy, I suppose.’
Cecilia smiled ruefully.
What followed was an exchange about the Saint’s secret Academy life and the princess’s noticeably improved health.
As the first dance drew to a close,
a young noble who’d been waiting for just such an opening swooped in and claimed the princess as his partner.
The princess seemed less than pleased, yet as tonight’s guest of honor, she didn’t refuse.
Cecilia, watching the scene with detached indifference, turned away. After one dance, she’d meant to slip out onto the terrace for some air.
But before she could leave the dance floor, someone extended a hand toward her.
To her surprise, it was Lien.
“You didn’t even write your name on your dance card,” Cecilia chided playfully as she took his hand.
Lien raised one eyebrow slightly.
“Save the scolding for after you let go of this hand.”
“I was just teasing. Now hurry up and hold my hand properly—what are you waiting for?”
At her shameless prodding, he finally smiled—a rare expression that startled her, though she hid it well. If she pointed it out, he’d only stiffen again.
The two stood facing each other at the edge of the dance floor and began to move slowly.
His hand at her waist felt slightly unfamiliar, and yet she was delighted by it.
‘I never thought the day would come when I’d dance with Lien in the Imperial Palace.’
Of course, the other person was wearing a Robe, but…….
“Don’t I dance well?”
“Not particularly.”
“You taught me.”
Even though he truly had taught her this dance, Lien treated it as the usual nonsense.
Unaware he was spitting in his own face. At such a harsh assessment, Cecilia pouted.
Then, suddenly, a forgotten reality came rushing back.
“But is it all right for me to dance like this with you?”
The Robe he wore today was black, not the grey that signified House of Dilan She affiliation, but the Duke of Dilan She and the Emperor would recognize it soon enough.
Yet Lien dismissed her concern.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Besides, to the Emperor’s eye, it would likely appear as nothing more than unwavering resolve to bring House of Dilan She itself to his side.
It was a little amusing that no one suspected romantic feelings blooming between her and Lien.
In truth, it was a relationship that could never have existed if Lien hadn’t moved in next door, if he hadn’t come to her so clumsily, if he didn’t cherish her.
Yes, originally it should have started from Lien, but…….
With his hand clasped, Cecilia drew as far away as the dance allowed, then spun back into his embrace in dizzying circles.
At a distance so close their bodies nearly touched, she looked up at him steadily.
During dance practice, whenever they grew so close that the whole world filled with one person, his neck would flush crimson. But now Lien’s red eyes flickered only briefly before settling back to their usual composure.
Cecilia, gripping his bare left hand tightly—he wore no gloves—parted her lips with careful intent.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“Before I came to see you—did something momentous happen? Did you gain some great Enlightenment related to magic, or did you advance to a higher Realm?”
“……Does God grant such prescience?”
[So how did you find out my true nature?]
[Well, it’s because God granted me prescience!]
She had once told him that the reason she knew not only his true identity but even his private physical secrets was thanks to God’s prescience.
But more important than the fact that Lien had believed that absurd excuse was that he hadn’t denied her suspicion.
Lien had said that the moment he achieved Enlightenment and reached a higher Realm, he recovered his Past Life Memory.
So she had thought the timing itself might simply be delayed…….
But he had already achieved Enlightenment. And without recovering the memories.
Or perhaps there were no memories left to recover at all.
It was strange that even as spring faded and summer approached, he still hadn’t found those memories.
The hypotheses she had long shelved began quietly surfacing in her mind.
Memories with no sign of being recovered, a personality strikingly different in ways hard to reconcile, actions that diverged markedly from before.
She had always believed this world was his world, rewound one more time—the forty-fourth iteration. But what if it wasn’t?
What if it were simply a different world entirely, just one world among many in a Parallel Universe?
If so, then the Lien before her eyes was neither the Lien she had loved nor the Lien who had loved her.
The same magnitude of helplessness and despair that had washed over her when she realized the original world was lost forever now engulfed her.
She felt isolated on a desolate island. It was as though she had become a lost soul who could never return anywhere again.
The hall still glowed brilliantly, still teemed with people, and she stood closer to Lien than anyone else could—yet it made no difference.
The dreamlike melody ended quickly.
Before she could pull away from his arms, release his hand, and step back—before she could do any of that—Cecilia, having barely tied off the endless thread of her thoughts, finally made her choice.
“I think I’ll go back to Webberdin now.”

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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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