My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 29
“Cece!”
Cecilia turned her head toward the person who had made such a boisterous entrance.
Knox was waving his hand casually, having returned to the Temple at some point.
“I heard you were in the middle of a fitting for your ceremonial dress, but you look like you’re struggling quite a bit.”
“What are you doing here?”
He surely hadn’t come all this way just to watch her suffer.
When she asked with a scowl at the uninvited guest, Knox tilted his head as if puzzled.
“Huh? Didn’t you say you missed your oppa and asked me to come?”
“As if.”
“But this kid said…. Well, whatever.”
He glanced briefly at Liri before shrugging his shoulders.
“Hmm, aren’t you glad to see me? Your oppa even brought snacks because he thought you might be hungry.”
Knox grinned and rummaged through his pocket. He held out his palm, revealing two or three round brown candies.
“See? Who else treats you like your oppa does?”
“…….”
To someone on a forced diet, sweet snacks were a huge temptation. However, Cecilia didn’t take the candy immediately; she just stared at it warily.
‘Do you think I’ll fall for that?’
Maybe if he were the brother from the book, but there was no way this jerk would look after his sister so sincerely.
As she continued to send him looks of distrust, Knox slumped his shoulders exaggeratedly.
“This oppa was so worried his sister would starve to death that he even went against the will of the gods! Feeling the pangs of conscience! I brought these in secret…. If you don’t want them, I’ll just take them back—”
“Give it.”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you because the sentence was so short.”
“……Please give it to me.”
Even though it was obvious he had an ulterior motive, the offering was far too tempting to refuse.
With a smirk, Knox popped a round candy into her mouth.
Filled with anticipation, Cecilia rolled the candy with her tongue. However, what spread through her mouth wasn’t the sweetness of sugar, but a bitter, root-like flavor reminiscent of red ginseng candy.
Crunch.
After chewing and swallowing the candy, Cecilia silently wreathed her hand in Divine Power.
Only when faced with the brilliant flash of holy energy did Knox start breaking into a cold sweat.
“Cece, I think I might actually die if I get hit by that.”
“Yes.”
“……Cece?”
He turned his gaze toward the knight standing nearby instead of his half-crazed sister.
“Miguel, shouldn’t you stop the Saintess before she commits murder?”
But the Holy Knight he relied on simply stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the distant mountains.
* * *
In the end, Knox nimbly escaped before her fist—which had plenty of destructive power but zero accuracy—could reach its target.
On the way back to her room, trudging along after successfully finishing the dress fitting and the Holy Water duties fueled by the power of her rage.
Cecilia spoke weakly.
“I’m sorry. I’ve shown you quite a disgraceful side in many ways. As you know, Miguel, my brother’s personality is just like that….”
“You look good.”
“Pardon?”
Had the dictionary definition of ‘looking good’ changed recently?
As a stunned Cecilia could only blink, Miguel let out a clear, boyish laugh.
“It’s because it seems like you’re smiling much more than before, Saintess.”
‘No, you’re the one who looks good.’
Cecilia suppressed the words that almost blurted out shamelessly.
More importantly, ‘than before.’
Between the subtle atmosphere earlier and the fact that he was being excessively kind, could it be that Miguel had been close with the ‘real Cecilia’?
But…….
「So……」
「I am Miguel, the Vice Commander of the Holy Knights.」
Previously, when they introduced themselves, hadn’t they greeted each other as if it were the very first time they had spoken?
Cecilia, calmly hiding her confusion and questions, poked for information.
“I suppose I used to be a bit blunt before.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that…. I only saw you from a distance occasionally, but you always seemed to be deep in thought….”
Was the ‘real Cecilia’ a quiet person? Looking at Knox’s attitude, it didn’t seem like she was entirely like that, though.
Anyway, she needed to be a bit careful before she raised unnecessary suspicion. Ahem. Cecilia cleared her throat lightly and naturally changed the subject.
“By the way, I have no idea why my brother even came here. I’m sure he didn’t come just to give me that red ginseng—no, that bizarre candy.”
“He likely came to visit your mother today.”
Cecilia stopped in her tracks at the unexpected news.
‘If it’s Knox’s mother, then the Marchioness?’
Since she hadn’t seen her at the mansion and there had been no mention of her, Cecilia had assumed this was a single-parent household where the mother was absent for some reason, as is common in romance-fantasy novels.
“Is my mother at the Grand Temple right now?”
Cecilia, who had asked reflexively, hurriedly bit her lip. Wasn’t this a far too strange question for ‘Cecilia’ to ask?
“Oh, right, she was here.”
When she gave an awkward smile, Miguel nodded lightly without any suspicion.
“Yes, the tombs of the Weberdin family have been enshrined in the Grand Temple for generations.”
‘……So it was that kind of romance-fantasy trope.’
No wonder there had been an unusual lack of mention.
Well, surely it wasn’t some cliché backstory where she died giving birth to Cecilia, the Saintess, or something like that.
“Would you like to go visit, Saintess?”
While she was trying to shake off her unpleasant speculations, Miguel made a spontaneous suggestion.
The ‘real Cecilia’ would have readily nodded here, but she ultimately shook her head.
She wasn’t her real mother, and she didn’t feel like mourning someone whose face she didn’t even know. Above all, wasn’t it a form of deception to do so while wearing her daughter’s shell?
With a bitter smile, she silently looked away from the woman reflected in the window—a face she had now grown accustomed to.
* * *
They say humans are creatures of habit. In just one week, Cecilia had adapted to a diligent life of waking up early and going to bed early.
The proof was that she was relatively fine despite being held captive all morning by the ceremonial dress-obsessed man and subjected to the torture of fittings.
That didn’t mean her mind wasn’t exhausted, though. As soon as her break time was granted, she fled to her room and collapsed onto the sofa.
Since she was sprawled out like an unemployed person in broad daylight, Sena, who had been orbiting around her like a satellite, spoke up hesitantly.
“Um, Saintess, are you very tired?”
“Yeah, I guess a diligent lifestyle just doesn’t suit my body.”
“Diligence?”
“Waking up early and being swamped with work all day, I mean.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Huh?”
“The priests said that being diligent makes both your body and mind healthy…. Is it not?”
‘Here it is, the cruel question of a child who has never been crushed by a 52-hour work week.’
Cecilia, her eyes turning dead in an instant, gave a half-hearted affirmation.
“Haha, right. Being diligent is great.”
It was just that she had been born an undiligent human.
Cecilia tried her best to hide the uncomfortable truth. Perhaps the child took the soulless reply as something positive, as she clapped her hands together with a much brighter face.
“Oh, come to think of it, it’s already mealtime! I’ll head to the dining hall quickly!”
Even though her appetite had vanished along with her motivation, Sena didn't wait for her answer and rushed out of the room with a clatter.
Left all alone, Cecilia sprawled out again, becoming one with the sofa.
The moment she rested her head with the sole intention of doing absolutely nothing even more intensely, something cool and hard bumped against her chin.
The ‘something’ was the pendant of the necklace hidden under her clothes.
Cecilia traced the mineral that had succumbed to gravity with her fingertips.
「If it isn’t too uncomfortable, I was hoping you would wear it even when you go to the Temple….」
「So, does this mean you want me to think of Lien often while looking at this necklace?」
「T-That is, if you could just do it a little bit……」
Recalling that shy voice that had trailed off, those purple eyes that had wavered like a boat before a storm, and those two cheeks flushed by the sunset was an irresistible force.
“……I miss him.”
Cecilia, who had muttered without realizing it, flinched and rubbed her lips with the back of her hand.
‘What is this?’
This was just her needing the appearance of a man who provided healing just by looking at him, like Charles. It didn't have any special meaning. Really.
It was just as she straightened her slumped upper body, feeling her face heat up for no reason.
Clang!
She snapped her head toward the sharp sound of shattering. Liri was frozen stiff, holding an empty silver tray, as if she had dropped a glass while bringing water.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Liri, stay right there so you don't get hurt.”
After giving the flustered child a brief warning, she hurried to pick up the glass shards. By the time she had cleared away the larger pieces, a trembling voice drifted down from above her head.
“Um, Saintess. D-Do you… cherish that necklace very much?”
Had she heard her talking to herself earlier? For some reason, the back of her neck felt like it was burning. Cecilia nodded, leaving her embarrassment as it was.
“Yes, it’s precious.”
Was the reason she had specifically brought this out of all the flashy jewelry filling the drawers because this necklace was the first gift ‘I’ had received since coming to this world, rather than ‘Cecilia’?
She was a little surprised herself by the answer that came out without much resistance.
“……Why? Is it because it’s expensive?”
“It was a gift, so I’m not sure about the price? Well, it does look expensive.”
Cecilia leaned toward the child and whispered playfully, as if telling a secret.
“Actually, it’s because the person who gave it to me is a special person.”
It wasn't exactly a lie. Although it was a decision she had made on her own, Lien was the person who was going to be her male lead. Besides, didn't he have an appearance that naturally purified the body and soul? If the label ‘special’ had to be attached to someone, it was naturally his.
“……I see.”
The child’s murmured voice was muffled, as if soaked in water.
Cecilia tilted her head slightly at the reaction, which was different from usual. She couldn't see her expression because of the mass veil, but her glimpsed earlobes seemed to be flushed red.
“Um, may I excuse myself for a moment? I suddenly remembered something I have to do….”
The child, pulling her small feet back hesitantly, asked quite urgently.
‘Hmm, I guess she’s not interested.’
“Of course, it’s fine. Take your time.”
As soon as she readily agreed, feeling a bit sheepish, Liri left the room immediately.
Left alone again, Cecilia plopped down onto the sofa. She had finally regained silence. Yet, for some reason, her heart felt more exhausted than before.
