My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 19
“Pardon? But… aren’t you under house arrest?”
“I am.”
Lien was momentarily speechless at her unabashed confirmation.
After the accident—well, even before it—the only outings permitted to her were the mansion’s garden or Lien’s estate right next door.
And even then, she was accompanied by a swarm of guards.
In fact, if she were to step out through the front gates right now, she would find rows of the family’s knights waiting for her.
There was such a fuss just to meet a teacher with a guaranteed identity right next door, despite the slight deception involved.
To go into the heart of a festival where all sorts of people would be pouring out was out of the question.
It was certain that her request would be rejected before she could even finish her sentence.
However…
“There is one way to avoid surveillance.”
Cecilia’s lips curled into a smooth smile as she stepped closer to him.
“I just need you, Lien.”
Lien took a sharp breath at the sudden proximity.
“You can use Spatial Teleportation Magic, can’t you?”
“Ah…”
“You can’t?”
Surely the great Magic Tower Master, who could even wield Time Manipulation Magic, couldn’t be unable to use spatial teleportation?
When she couldn’t hide her look of disappointment, Lien hurriedly denied it.
“I, I can do it.”
“I knew it\!”
Cecilia clapped her hands together. Though nothing was finalized yet, she began to chatter excitedly, explaining her plan.
“If I come to your manor on the pretext of a lesson like today, and then we just *zip* away with magic, it’s the perfect crime\!”
“But wouldn’t that be too dangerous…?”
She had thought he would readily agree to her idea, as he was a man who smiled like a fool no matter how rudely she behaved.
Yet, his lips did not easily grant her the affirmation she sought.
“Lien, please.”
Cecilia gripped the sleeve of his robe and looked up at him imploringly.
Unable to shake off the small hand clinging to him, Lien let out a faint sigh.
A moment later, his nod was an inevitable conclusion.
*
The next morning.
Cecilia’s eyes flew open, not from a disturbance, but from sheer anticipation.
Without her usual dawdling in bed, she got up quickly, finished grooming herself, and ate a light meal.
When the attitude of her mistress, who used to whine that it was dangerous outside the bed, changed overnight, Melanie cast a suspicious glance her way.
“My Lady, did something good happen?”
“No, I’m just in a particularly good mood today.”
*Something is definitely strange,* Melanie murmured under her breath, but as long as the Magic Tower Master was an accomplice, there was no way this perfect crime would be discovered.
Cecilia gave a soft stroke to the back of Charles, who was fast asleep in the middle of the bed, and immediately left the mansion.
And she successfully passed through the main gate… or rather, she didn’t, as she ran into the Marquis and some unfamiliar guests.
“Cecilia, I’ve found you at a good time.”
“Father, and these people are…?”
Whether he had been in the middle of welcoming priests from another region, a group of middle-aged men in white clerical robes stood beside the Marquis.
“Greet them. These are priests who have come from other territories.”
Startled for a moment, Cecilia followed the greeting she had once seen the Pope give to the priests.
“May the warmth of God be with those who follow His will.”
“May God’s grace be with the Saintess.”
Judging by the Marquis’s attitude, even though they were high-ranking priests, they returned the greeting with considerable politeness.
‘It’s likely because of the title of prospective Saintess rather than being the eldest daughter of the Weberdin family.’
Cecilia guessed that the interest and faint goodwill they showed were due to that.
“I heard that you will be performing the ritual with His Holiness the Pope at this Relief Festival?”
“Yes, it is an honor.”
The Marquis replied with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, the person in question was barely swallowing a rising sigh.
Her eyes met with a priest of ordinary appearance, someone who looked vaguely familiar.
The man, who had been watching her intently and quite overtly for a while, suddenly spoke up.
“I heard that you displayed quite remarkable Divine Power at the Grand Temple recently…”
‘He’s not going to ask me to show him, is he? Should I pretend to have a sudden stomachache?’
Just imagining it made her break into a cold sweat.
“…Remarkable? It seems the grace bestowed by God has been exaggerated.”
“You are humble.”
Fortunately, the priest did not ask her to demonstrate her Divine Power.
He simply withdrew his lingering gaze and left a rather meaningful comment.
“I shall look forward to it.”
It was unclear whether he meant he was looking forward to the ritual or the role of the Saintess.
Cecilia nodded awkwardly and brought the conversation to a hasty close.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me…”
“Cecilia.”
She wanted to clear this minefield immediately, but the Marquis spoke again.
“Are you going to your lesson?”
“Yes.”
To be precise, she was pretending to go to a lesson to go out and play.
“You’ve been working so hard lately. You have to go to the Grand Temple the day after tomorrow, so you may rest today.”
Ah, to have the ‘enlistment’ date she was trying so hard to forget emphasized like that.
The excitement that had filled her head vanished instantly.
However, because the day she would leave the secular world was not far off, she could not afford to miss this opportunity.
Cecilia shook her head with gentle determination.
“No, I must eliminate my shortcomings as soon as possible to receive approval.”
“You are very diligent.”
The priests seemed moved by the Saintess’s zeal. Facing their proud gazes, her worn-down conscience pricked her.
“Very well. But if it becomes too difficult, let me know.”
The Marquis’s kind words were the final blow.
In the end, Cecilia averted her eyes slightly and forced a smile.
“I am simply worried that I might bring shame to the Weberdin name.”
“You don’t have to feel pressured. I’ll have your oppa accompany you to the Temple, so don’t worry.”
‘Ah, that’s a bit much.’
The fact that her forced smile immediately dropped was, truly, an act of God.
*
Perhaps it was because of the unexpected encounter, but she felt exhausted even before they had departed.
Cecilia trudged past the unguarded main gate and the still-fresh daisies, finally standing before the manor with effort.
*Thump, thump.*
When she struck the heavy iron handle against the door a couple of times, the owner of the house burst out as usual.
“Ce-Cecilia-nim. I didn’t expect you to arrive so early…\!”
Whether he had come out in a hurry, Lien was in a state where his robe was precariously draped over a loose white shirt and tight leather pants.
This meant that through the gaps of the shirt, which hadn’t been tied properly, his solid chest and thighs—which were more muscular than expected—were clearly visible.
And his face, revealed without the hood for the first time in a while, was so incredibly pure and clean.
The knights standing behind her let out a sharp gasp.
“Let’s go inside and talk first.”
Cecilia pushed him back and stepped inside.
‘Is this why he always wears a robe?’
He was a man who was dangerous to show to others, in a different sense.
“You don’t have to rush out like this every time.”
“B-but, I didn’t want to keep Cecilia-nim waiting.”
Cecilia looked up at him as he smiled shyly with the tips of his ears turned red, and she meticulously buttoned up his shirt. She even pulled the hood of his robe properly over his head.
The man, now with all his ‘harmfulness’ hidden, tilted his head curiously, but Cecilia feigned ignorance and changed the subject.
“It seems you’re ready. Shall we go right away?”
“Yes, yes\! Then, may I have your hand?”
Cecilia held out her hand, palm facing up.
Upon it, a hand with no weight at all settled like a summer leaf.
“You might feel dizzy, so it would be best to close your eyes.”
She hesitated for a moment between satisfying her curiosity about spatial teleportation and following reasonable advice. In the end, Cecilia chose the latter and slowly closed her eyes.
A wind strong enough to make her clothes flutter rose, and she felt a surge of nausea as if she were on a tossing boat.
Just as she furrowed her brows at the slightly unpleasant and surreal sensation…
“You may open your eyes now.”
The discomfort ceased, and a damp, musty smell brushed against the tip of her nose.
Cecilia pushed up her fluttering eyelids.
The place where the two of them stood was the entrance of a dark alleyway, so dim that even their shadows were barely visible. And at the end of that path, she could faintly see the bustling scene of people coming and going.
*I’m really at the festival.*
As the realization hit, her deflated expectations puffed up again like a balloon.
“Let’s go, quickly\!”
An excited Cecilia urged him on. She looked ready to dive into the crowd at any second.
“W-wait\! You forgot your robe.”
“Ah.”
Lien fumbled a robe out of a palm-sized bag and draped it around her.
Whether it was his or not, it was a dull color similar to the one he always wore, and it was so long it almost touched the ground.
“It’s more stifling than I thought.”
How on earth did he wear something like this every day, and for the whole day at that?
She hated the stuffiness, and it was a pity that the outfit she had put effort into was completely covered, but there was nothing she could do.
There was no way the people of the territory wouldn’t recognize the Saintess, the pride of Weberdin.
To prevent the disaster of the Saintess’s escapade appearing in tomorrow’s special report, Cecilia pulled the hood down tightly.
“Now, let’s really go\!”
Swept up in an exhilaration as if stepping into another world, she left the alley with him.
The moment they fully crossed the boundary between light and darkness, the sunlight poured down over their heads, and the noise and heat created by the vast crowd rushed over them.
