My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 3
Cecilia silently watched the woman’s reflection shimmering on the surface of the water.
Luscious blonde hair, amber eyes, and an aura that transcended mere beauty to feel truly divine.
As the eldest daughter of the Weberdin family—the empire’s greatest holy house—Cecilia Weberdin was known as the “Saintess,” a title befitting both her appearance and her status.
It was because of this title that her outings were restricted, that she was confined to the Marquis’s estate far from the Capital, and that she was treated as cautiously as fragile glass for fear she might break.
However, no matter how noble the Saintess appeared on the outside, her soul was, lamentably, that of a 21st-century Korean who had grown up seeing all the unsightly messes of the world.
Cecilia brushed back the golden strands rippling in the water and shook her head firmly.
“Melanie. You don’t understand. The real danger lies within me.”
“Pardon?”
‘I’m saying it’s a relief I didn’t kidnap that man.’
She swallowed the words she couldn’t dare utter aloud. She felt bad for the worried Melanie, but she intended to get closer to this “stranger.”
Preferably, in a very private and deep way.
* * *
The next day.
Because a restless Melanie had nagged and fretted until Cecilia went to bed, today she was supposed to stay quietly in her room and rest… as if.
The moment Melanie stepped away, Cecilia, who had been waiting for her chance, threw off her indoor clothes.
Then, she dashed out of the room with the cat—which had been following her as if it sensed the temporary butler’s excursion—tucked under her arm.
Perhaps it was thanks to her fluffy companion. Tracing her memory back to the wall was remarkably easy.
The only problem was…
‘What excuse should I use to barge into the house next door?’
Her dilemma didn’t last long.
The little troublemaker, as if it had never intended to be carried quietly, gave the back of her hand a sharp scratch.
“Ow!”
When she instinctively let go in surprise, the cat landed nimbly on the ground. Then, it sauntered through the hole in the wall as if to show off.
‘Well, I guess I have no choice.’
She simply had to go get the cat before it ruined someone else’s flower bed again.
Compromising with herself as if she’d been waiting for this, Cecilia passed through the hole once more.
The cat’s dainty paw prints, which led from the entrance of the hole, vanished abruptly on the lawn.
Cecilia crossed the lush green grass just as she had yesterday.
Past the tall, long hedge made of boxwood was the west garden.
‘I hope that cat isn’t ruining the flower bed again.’
Belatedly struck by worry, Cecilia quickened her pace.
And what she saw at the end was not yesterday’s ruined garden, but a flower bed overflowing with white daisies.
The flowers, swaying freely with the wind, looked like the sea foam of breaking waves.
In the midst of the fresh spring scent wafting through the air, Lien stood tall, almost like an illusion.
Clad in a gloomy robe that didn’t suit his surroundings at all.
‘Shouldn’t he be standing there like a masterpiece within a picturesque landscape? Isn’t it a cliché for the female lead to fall for him all over again after seeing that?’
As she looked ruefully at the blemish on the perfect picture, the man noticed her and strode over.
“Lady Weberdin!”
As expected, he had been toward the west garden; he was holding the white ball of fur in his arms.
“I’m sorry. The cat escaped again… It seems to have taken a liking to this garden. It didn’t destroy anything else, did it?”
“No, not at all!”
When she asked worriedly, he shook his head hurriedly.
Only then did Cecilia’s face brighten with relief.
“That’s a relief. I was worried it might have caused another accident like yesterday… By the way, the garden became even more beautiful in just one day. It’s like magic!”
Cecilia clapped her hands and offered a compliment. It was a praise that was half-sincere and half-impure, aimed at narrowing the emotional distance between them.
Lien flinched as if he had heard an accusation and hung his head low.
“T-thank you.”
‘Hmm, that doesn’t seem like a shy reaction.’
She couldn’t read his expression because of the robe.
Tsk, Cecilia clicked her tongue inwardly.
Suddenly, Lien bent down, plucked a few daisies from his feet, and held them out.
“Here, I thought you might like daisies…”
Cecilia stared blankly down at the unexpected gift.
She did prefer modest wildflowers that bloomed naturally in the wild over flashy, artificially bred flowers.
But she was more surprised by the fact that he had given her flowers than by the fact that he had guessed her taste perfectly.
‘What is this? Is he asking me out?’
When she did nothing but stare intensely at the gift, his hand began to tremble slightly.
“I-if you don’t like them…”
Snapping out of it a moment late, Cecilia quickly took the flowers.
“No! I like them very, very, very much! They’re perfect!”
She gripped the fresh stems tightly and cried out.
Whether he finally felt her sincerity, the corners of his mouth visible beneath the robe curved upward.
I’m sure it’s a smile as beautiful as these flowers!
It was simply a shame that his face was hidden by that cursed piece of cloth.
‘Should I just pretend it was an accident and pull it off?’
She was seriously considering ways to get rid of that rag when, as if by a lie, the smile vanished from his lips.
“…Your hand.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ve hurt your hand!”
Only then did Cecilia glance at the back of her hand.
The scratch from the cat’s claws was redder and more distinct than she had thought.
“Ah, the little fellow turned out to be quite assertive.”
She replied nonchalantly, lightly tapping the nose of the cat, who was yawning as if it had done nothing wrong.
It stung, but it wasn’t like her hand had been cut off; it was just a scratch.
However, Lien seemed more shocked than the victim herself. Biting his lip, he suddenly grabbed her hand.
For some reason, the hand covering her wound felt a bit hotter than a normal person’s body temperature.
“Lien?”
When she called his name at the unfamiliar sensation, Lien jerked his hand away.
“I-I’m sorry. I was just so surprised…”
Thinking he had committed a great rudeness, he fidgeted before seating her on a log bench near the garden.
“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go get some medicine.”
“You don’t need to worry about a wound like this… Lien!”
Before she could finish her sentence, he hurried away.
Cecilia stared blankly at his retreating back before looking down at the back of her hand.
She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but she could hardly feel any pain.
‘Is it because it’s a light wound?’
Just as she felt even less of a need for treatment, Lien, who had vanished in an instant, returned at an astonishing speed.
He poured out a small glass bottle filled with liquid and some bandages, then sat down haphazardly at her feet.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Lien, hesitantly holding her fingertips, opened the cap of the bottle containing a pink liquid and poured it directly over the wound.
Just as when he had held her hand earlier, she felt a surge of heat, and soon the wound healed without a trace.
“Is this perhaps a Potion?”
In this world, while there was common medicine prepared by apothecaries, there were also “Holy Water” and “Potions” that guaranteed immediate effects.
Generally, the former was produced by priests and the latter by mages, and both were extremely expensive.
In short, it wasn’t something to be used for a mere scratch.
“I’m sorry… There is no healer at the mansion.”
His broad shoulders slumped, as if he had interpreted her shocked question as something negative.
For the sake of the man who had lost heart even after healing her, Cecilia pointedly clenched and unclenched her hand.
“Look. It doesn’t hurt at all now, thanks to Lien.”
“But…”
“Now, don’t stay down there on the ground; come sit here.”
She grabbed the wrist of the man sitting at her feet and pulled him onto the seat beside her.
Placing the warm cat on his grass-stained knees, Cecilia toyed with the fresh wildflowers and asked.
“Do you tend the garden yourself? Are you the gardener?”
She asked because she was curious if she should treat him as a gardener for now.
After a long pause, the moment he hesitantly nodded.
“Master!”
A man in a tight-fitting suit with a large build came running from the direction of the mansion.
He was a butler so hulking that one might have mistaken him for a knight from a distance.
The butler was carrying several small bottles, presumably other medicines, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he belatedly discovered the guest next to his ‘Master.’
“…Where did he go? Haha.”
Then, with extremely unnatural movements, he began to back away.
Only after the butler disappeared behind the building did Cecilia stare intently up at the man beside her.
Lien sat stiffly, his breathing shallow with tension.
‘He’s so clumsy that it’s hard to even pretend I don’t know.’
“It seems you’re a better liar than I thought. ‘Master’?”
“It’s not like that.”
He cried out urgently, leaning toward her.
He was so flustered that his body lurched, causing the startled cat to jump off his lap and his robe to slip back slightly.
“I-I had absolutely no intention of deceiving or tricking you, Lady Weberdin…!”
“Whoa, calm down. I’m not angry.”
Cecilia raised both hands to soothe him.
The purple eyes she finally met were wandering like those of a child who had done something wrong.
“But…”
“I mean it. Do I look angry to you?”
“…No.”
She had realized long ago that he wasn’t a gardener.
A mere gardener with a face like that?
In the world of romance fantasy, where appearance was proportional to power, such a thing was impossible.
‘He must have lied and hidden his identity for some other reason.’
But he looked as if he were carrying all the guilt in the world over a single lie.
As she watched her companion, who still didn’t know what to do with himself, a brilliant idea flashed through Cecilia’s mind.
