My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 21
“I-it was actually because I wanted to commemorate us coming to the festival together.”
“Ah, I see….”
The reason her eyes welled up was enough to make her previous fear—that he had discovered the unique city wall or noticed her sweaty handkerchief—feel utterly trivial.
If she had known he would be this happy just to participate in a festival, she would have brought him out much sooner.
‘He must not have had a single acquaintance to enjoy the festival with.’
Perhaps he had been ostracized in the Capital due to those grim rumors.
Even if people knew his identity as the Magic Tower Master, with a face like that, they would usually swarm him like moths to a flame.
As expected, that robe was the problem.
“This won’t do!”
“Yes? W-was it unpleasant after all? Was it creepy? Do… do you want to kill me now?”
“What? No! That’s not it…!”
Cecilia, watching him with pity, finally made up her mind.
She would buy him a proper souvenir!
Even if it wasn’t the white flower she had planned, she could surely win his favor with a gift.
“Instead of trash like that, I’ll buy you something proper to remember this by!”
“I’m perfectly happy with just this….”
Cecilia completely ignored his faint, barely audible protest.
As she scanned the long rows of temporary stalls, she spotted a stand filled with glittering objects not far away.
Upon closer inspection, it was a shop selling handmade crafts studded with gemstones.
“Welcome! Are you two a couple?”
The shopkeeper greeted them warmly, making a convenient assumption.
‘I should buy something here.’
It definitely wasn’t because she found the woman’s misunderstanding satisfying.
When Cecilia neither denied nor affirmed it, the woman seemed to take it as confirmation that they were lovers.
She began to rattle off descriptions of items one might recommend to a couple.
“If you aren’t looking for anything in particular, these brooches would be perfect! Since the gems were split from the same raw stone, if a couple wears them together, they’ll stay together until their hair turns white!”
The woman held out a pair of bird-shaped brooches. Small gems were set in the birds’ eyes, but they looked painfully tacky.
“If you don’t like those, we have rings and bracelets over here too!”
Seeing the lukewarm reaction, the woman quickly introduced other products, but they were all fakes that felt embarrassing to even call gemstones.
‘I might have considered it if they had used even low-quality real gems.’
Perhaps it was because she was used to wearing such expensive things. The thought of gifting him something like this didn’t sit right with her.
Besides, the prices were a total rip-off.
‘Not this place.’
The woman kept pouring out sweet talk—offering discounts and commenting on how reliable the man looked and how well they suited each other—but Cecilia moved on with firm steps.
Admittedly, she wavered slightly at the comment about them looking good together….
‘Still, this is the first gift I’m giving Lien, so I have to pick something better!’
With renewed resolve, Cecilia searched the surroundings again and headed toward a stall across the way.
The main customers seemed to be children, as a small group of kids who barely reached her waist were huddled there.
A merchant with a kind impression pulled a soft puppy plushie from the shelf and handed it to a child.
“There you go! Take good care of your new friend.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
The children each hugged a small plushie tightly and skipped away with incredibly happy faces.
‘A plushie.’
While it was often cited as one of the Top 5 worst gifts, she liked the fact that its cumbersome nature would frequently remind the recipient of the giver.
Stepping up confidently after the children, Cecilia quickly scanned the stall.
“I’ll take that one.”
What caught her eye was a large black rabbit plushie tucked away in the very corner of the stand.
It even had purple eyes, which reminded her of a certain someone and made her like it instantly.
“This black one?”
“Yes, that rabbit plushie.”
“Well, I’ve been having trouble selling that one… to be honest, it’s not really a color children like. Wouldn’t this one be better for a gift?”
The merchant, seemingly having a conscience, recommended the white puppy plushies placed in the center.
They looked fluffy and felt like they would be as nice to touch as Charles.
However, Cecilia shook her head firmly.
“It’s fine. I’m buying it for this person.”
“……Pardon?”
The merchant’s gaze fixed on the clearly robust man.
After looking back and forth between the rabbit plushie and Lien several times, the merchant eventually hesitated before thrusting the plushie into his arms.
“T-take good care of your n-new friend….”
“……I will.”
When a voice deeper than that of an average man responded, the merchant visibly flinched in fright.
Whether she knew she had just inflicted great shock and terror on someone or not, Cecilia looked at Lien—who was clutching the large plushie—with satisfaction.
A handsome man and a plushie. It was a sight beyond her expectations.
Of course, that was just her personal aesthetic preference.
Since a large man draped in a pitch-black robe was holding a plushie, people’s gazes began to drift toward them.
‘Was that gift a bit too much based on my own tastes?’
Lien hadn’t said a single word since receiving the gift.
It was a gift for him; she should have at least asked his opinion.
After a brief moment of self-reproach, Cecilia stepped closer to him.
She intended to comfort him by offering to buy another souvenir immediately.
But the moment she met his eyes beneath the hood, Cecilia went silent.
His long eyelashes were fluttering, and a slight crease had formed on the bridge of his nose, which was as smooth as porcelain. His purple eyes, so like the plushie’s, had deepened in hue, and his red lips were quivering slightly.
“……I am happy.”
Those were the only words he managed to utter, but his eyes, his lips, and his very breath were filled with such unspeakable joy.
It was an intensity far greater and more profound than she had anticipated….
Cecilia felt stunned rather than satisfied.
Perhaps it was because Lien looked exactly like a young child receiving a gift for the first time.
Suppressing the urge to run back to the stall, buy every single plushie, and pile them in his arms, Cecilia spoke with feigned nonchalance.
“I got you a new friend so you won’t be lonely when I’m not around. You have to visit him and hug him often.”
“……When you’re not around?”
Lien, who had been nodding obediently to her cute request, asked back blankly.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t told him yet that she was about to be enlisted—no, dragged away—to the Temple.
“Did you see the news? It was in the papers that I’ll be helping with the Relief Festival rituals.”
“Yes. I read it a few days ago.”
“So I won’t be able to see you for a while. I have to stay at the Temple for about ten days to prepare for the rituals and such. I probably won’t be able to hold our lessons during that time.”
“……Is that so.”
Blinking his large eyes, he murmured dejectedly.
She had thought she was the only one who would find the short separation regrettable, but it seemed he was also saddened by the sudden news.
Then again, living in a secluded place without friends or family, he must be quite bored if his only acquaintance disappeared.
“Hmm,” Cecilia hummed softly before a good idea struck her.
“The festival is one thing, but I heard the Relief Festival rituals held at the Grand Temple are quite a sight themselves. If you’re okay with it, come and watch.”
“Yes, I will definitely go to meet you.”
She had invited him to watch the ‘ritual.’ Yet, with his eyes curved beautifully, he replied that he would come to meet ‘her.’
Her heart thudded at the heavy, direct hit.
Just as her breath hitched, caught off guard by the dizzying sensation—
“Argh!”
A sudden shout from not too far away drew both of their gazes to one spot.
A man stumbling toward them from the opposite direction seemed to have been bumped by a group of children running around excitedly.
Having tumbled ungracefully onto the plaza floor, the man began to groan in pain.
Furthermore, he wasn’t glancing toward the children who hit him, but toward Cecilia.
“Ugh, I’m dying….”
‘That doesn’t sound like the noise a grown man should make after being bumped by children who weigh less than half as much as him.’
From the children who fled in shock at their own hidden strength, to the man who kept looking this way for some reason, and Lien, who just stood there looking down at the man without moving an inch.
In the end, Cecilia, hailing from a land of proper etiquette, reluctantly approached the man.
“Um, are you alright?”
“Hooo, my back—no, I think my leg is broken….”
“Pardon?”
‘If your leg was broken, you’d be screaming, not talking.’
Cecilia swallowed the correction that had surged to the tip of her tongue.
Up close, the man’s appearance was shockingly haggard.
His under-eyes were dark as if he hadn’t slept for a week, and his tied-back red hair was frizzy and dull.
Combined with his crumpled clothes and worn-out shoes, he looked like a complete wreck.
“Can you stand up?”
“No, I’m sorry, but could you help me to my carriage? I got separated from my servant because of the crowd, and I have a chronic illness….”
“Oh dear.”
To be unable to steady himself after being bumped by children. His handsome face was almost a pity.
Only then did a flicker of sympathy rise in Cecilia, and she reached out her hand.
“Here, take my hand and try to get up.”
But just before their hands touched, a large hand suddenly intervened and pulled the man up somewhat roughly.
“I will assist this man.”
Lien, who had been keeping his distance as if shy, grabbed the man’s arm without hesitation.
“Sir, is your carriage nearby?”
“Huh? Yes. It’s right nearby.”
“Since he says so, I will drop him off quickly and return. Could you wait here for a moment?”
“I will. Take your time.”
As she gave her reluctant permission, Lien disappeared, practically dragging the man along.
Watching the backs of the two departing men, Cecilia clicked her tongue softly.
“It seems magicians are all equally terrible at lying.”
