The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 96

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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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Side Story 3
A killing silence hung over the parlor.
Nox, who had been staring at Lien with murderous intensity, downed his hot tea in one gulp, then set the cup down with a sharp, violent clink.
“So what you’re telling me is… the neighbor whose eye you caught happens to be the Tower Master? But this Tower Master isn’t actually ‘Asilyen Chetwind’—he’s the second son of the Dilan She Family, ‘Kirien Dilan She’?”
“Yes, you’ve got it.”
Cecilia sipped her warm chamomile tea and complimented Nox’s summarizing ability.
Whether her composed attitude only fueled his anger more, Nox—flushed for once—suddenly bellowed at her.
“Cecilia, have you lost your mind? When you said you weren’t going to be a Saint, so you didn’t need the Emperor’s approval, I let it slide! But Dilan She?!”
Nox leaned forward as if he were about to grab her shoulders and shake her, launching into an impassioned speech.
“Is that why you’re desperate for a man? Did we keep you locked up too much? It’s not too late even now. Let me introduce you to someone more respectable—oh! What about Miguel? You know, the Holy Knight vice-captain? You saw him a few times when you were little…”
Crash!
A sharp, piercing sound cut off his words.
What had been a glass tumbler slipped through Lien’s fingers and shattered on the floor.
“Lien! What if you hurt your hand?”
“…My apologies.”
When Cecilia scolded him, that formidable Tower Master immediately lowered his tail and bowed in apology.
As unbelievable sights unfolded one after another, Nox fell mute.
Cecilia, for her part, carefully examined Lien’s hand for any wounds, then cast a pointed look at her brother.
“You too—are you really the kind of narrow-minded person who judges others by their family name and rumors?”
She had revealed Lien’s identity to Nox because, having decided to stay with him, the truth would eventually come to light anyway.
It would have been better if Nox became her ally in this.
But his reaction was nothing like what she’d hoped for. As she glared at him with displeasure, Nox struck his chest in frustration and spoke.
“Just rumors? Look at those dead-fish eyes of his—so dark and gloomy! Every Dilan She is insane, I’m telling you.”
Cecilia glanced at Lien for the first time.
His crimson eyes had sunk to such a murky darkness that you couldn’t see the bottom—then, the moment they met hers, they blazed like the sun.
The stark temperature shift was certainly abnormal, but what could she do? After all, this was the man she had chosen.
Cecilia sighed quietly and continued her persuasion with calm resolve.
“I know Lien isn’t normal.”
“What?”
“Cecilia…?”
“Anyway, if you’re worried about the other Dilan Shes, don’t be. We won’t have any dealings with them in the future. Lien isn’t the eldest son, and he has no intention of inheriting the Dilan She Family.”
“That Tower Master is going to become a live-in son-in-law?”
“…A son-in-law?”
Lien’s ears flushed a bright red. Spotting this, Nox’s face crumpled pitifully.
“Look, that’s definitely disgust—!”
“Isn’t it cute?”
“…”
Nox, his gaze genuinely disgusted, muttered along with a sigh.
“That Dilan She is the real problem.”
But in the end, he was the one who backed down. Half-resigned, Nox asked weakly.
“What about Father? He’d at least be shocked that he’s a Tower Master, but when he finds out he’s Dilan She, he’ll have a fit.”
It was then that Cecilia remembered the person she had pushed to the back of her mind.
Patrick Weberdine—Cecilia’s father.
She couldn’t be certain whether the person who had fed her the Fruit of God in the first cycle was truly a marquis, or whether he had participated in the Pope’s plan in this life as well.
But what was clear was that if he had truly loved his daughter, he would never have locked her away like this against her will.
She had no interest whatsoever in the story of why he had chosen God over his daughter, or in his performance as a caring father.
“I’ll tell him, but I don’t need his approval.”
Cecilia hardened her expression and spoke with finality, and Nox’s restless fingers stilled.
After a brief silence, Nox slowly nodded.
“Yeah, it’s your life, so you should do as you please. …Still, if you ever get tired of Dilan She, just say the word. I’ll get rid of him by any means necessary.”
“Come here, you.”
Cecilia responded playfully and squeezed Lien’s hand firmly.
Faced with their unabashed display of affection right before his eyes, Nox finally drove them out in exasperation.
“I don’t want to see that, so get out of here.”
Cecilia shrugged and rose from her seat with Lien.
Before leaving the parlor, she suddenly turned back toward Nox.
“…What?”
Nox, sprawled on the sofa with a weary expression, looked up at her in confusion.
Nox Weberdine was far removed from the romantic hero she’d dreamed of, and he wasn’t even her real family, but…
He was at least one of the few people who had stood by Cecilia’s side throughout all the repeated lives.
All Cecilia wanted was for circumstances to align this way—accepting even Lien, who came from the Dilan She Family, simply because she asked.
So, that is to say…….
“Thank you, brother.”
She spoke the words Cecilia had truly wanted to say, then left the room with a lightened heart.
* * *
If her life had been a story, she could have sworn with certainty that these days belonged to the epilogue—so peaceful and contented did time flow.
Thanks to Nox’s intervention, the knights who had been watching over the novice Saint had nearly all fallen away. As a result, she was able to spend sweet hours with him without the usual gnawing worry.
Cecilia had grown complacent, believing this peace would continue indefinitely. But her certainty was soon shattered.
The disruption came in the form of a priest sent from the Grand Temple one day.
“Although I have reached out repeatedly regarding the Charity Festival, I received no response. I have come in person to pay my respects.”
“You say you wrote me letters? Surely there’s been some misunderstanding? I haven’t received a single letter from the Temple recently.”
“No, I swear to God—I sent three.”
The priest’s protestations of innocence seemed genuine. There was no benefit to him lying, so it was likely the truth.
If that were so, the culprit was easily guessed.
There was one person who despised the prospect of her going to the Temple, and that person was Lien.
So when Lien came to see her that day, Cecilia confronted him immediately.
“Is there something you need to tell me?”
“……What?”
Lien, who had been about to embrace her as usual and kiss her neck, went rigid.
Cecilia pushed him away and pressed him sharply.
“You intercepted the letters meant for me. The ones from the Temple.”
She had expected him to be flustered when confronted so directly. But his ashen face betrayed something closer to fear than mere embarrassment.
“……You’ve heard from the Temple?”
“Yes, they asked me to attend the Charity Festival.”
“Did you—surely you haven’t agreed? You’re not planning to go to the Temple?”
“I am going.”
When Cecilia stated this with finality, his agitation reached its peak.
The anxiety he thought had improved with their closeness was flaring up again, worse than before.
“Please, don’t go.”
Lien gripped the hem of her dress tightly.
She understood his reaction—he had died at the Temple before. Still, she could not hide from him forever.
Rather than anger, Cecilia stepped closer to him.
“The Pope already said you’ve been dealt with, didn’t he? There’s no one targeting me anymore, so why are you still so anxious?”
Her Divine Power was perfectly intact, and the Fruit of God—which was obtained once every hundred Cycles—had been used in the forty-third Cycle, so it would not be available this time around. Above all, the Pope who had tried to use it was gone. So what could possibly be troubling him?
Cecilia asked gently, but Lien sealed his lips shut.
“Lien. We can’t stay locked in this room together forever.”
Being alone with him in this room, as though the world held only the two of them, was not entirely unpleasant. But there was a difference between staying because you wanted to and being unable to leave because you were afraid.
Cecilia did not want to narrow her world to just him and herself, nor did she want to let his anxiety fester unaddressed.
“Why can’t we? I can bring you anything you need. Whatever you wish for……!”
“What I wish for is that you go out right now. Or will you lock me away?”
And so she spoke even more coldly.
His hand, which had been clutching her sleeve, fell limply away.
‘Have I pushed too hard?’
For all her conviction, Cecilia’s resolve softened when it came to him. She sighed softly and stepped back.
“If you can’t accompany me, then at least let me permit you to remain nearby in secret.”
As she spoke and rose onto her toes, he instinctively lowered his head. Cecilia kissed his eyes, his brow, his cheeks, and his jaw in turn.
“Even if you’re still afraid, trust me. Do you understand?”
Lien, who had been meekly receiving her kisses, reluctantly nodded.

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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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