My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 4
“Then in exchange for my forgiveness, will you grant me just one favor?”
“A favor…?”
“Before that, I have a few questions.”
Ahem. Cecilia cleared her throat and brought up ‘that question’ she had been curious about since last night.
“Are you single?”
“……Pardon?”
He asked back blankly, as if doubting his own hearing.
However, when Cecilia urged him for an answer with a look without offering any correction, he hurriedly nodded.
“Yes, yes!”
“Then, by any chance, do you have a hidden lover whose parents oppose the relationship?”
“What? No!”
“Or perhaps a fiancée promised between families?”
“N-not at all.”
“What about a childhood friend you’ve held in your heart since you were young?”
“I have none, but……”
‘Oh, he passed.’
“Um, why are you asking these things……?”
“Just curious.”
Having finished her questions at last, Cecilia nodded her head with satisfaction.
No matter how urgent the situation, she couldn’t go coveting someone else’s man, could she?
Her mind much more at ease, Cecilia revealed her desire without hesitation.
“What I want to ask of you, Young Master, is……”
“Lien is fine.”
“Right. While Lien is staying in the fief, I’d like it if you could hang out with me like this occasionally. I never got to attend the Academy, so I don’t have a single friend.”
‘To think that I, a former graduate student, wouldn’t even be an elementary school graduate here.’
Anger flared up again at her shortened academic background more than her friendless state, but seeing his bewildered face, the irritation vanished like a lie.
“I—is it really…… truly alright for me to do that?”
“Of course.”
Fortunately, he seemed to take the request—which would serve as the foundation for Plan D—quite positively.
Cecilia responded strongly to his hesitation and hurriedly added more.
“Ah, Lien can call me by my name, too.”
“……Cecilia-nim.”
She thought he might find the somewhat hasty proposal a bit difficult. Instead, he looked even more moved than before.
It was as if it were his first time building a friendship or calling someone by their name.
‘Wait, does this man have no friends?’
With such a frail personality, there was a high possibility he couldn’t even hold his own among the haughty nobles of the Capital.
She sent him a look of pity.
Whether he knew he had accidentally earned her sympathy or not, Lien whispered the name ‘Cecilia’ once more and slightly curled the corners of his mouth.
As she had expected, it was a smile as beautiful as a daisy.
*
*
*
Another clear morning in this other world.
Unlike the past days when she had forced herself awake while brooding over the failure of her plans, Cecilia woke up with a light heart.
It was thanks to Plan D, which was sailing smoothly.
‘Since we’ve become something like friends for now. The weather is nice today, so should I suggest we go on a picnic together?’
If she used the excuse of repaying him for treating her hand, it would be difficult for him to refuse.
Finishing her light grooming, Cecilia picked up the bundle of fur from under the bed.
“Charles, you’re coming with me today too, right?”
For the record, the name ‘Charles’ given to the cat was taken from a scientist she respected.
Perhaps Charles possessed an intelligence as evolved as the original owner of the name, as he gave a short “Meow~” in response as if he understood.
“Then, let’s stop by the kitchen first and……”
“Are you going next door again?”
“Gah! You scared me!”
A gloomy voice suddenly cut in.
Startled, Cecilia spun around. Melanie, who had been standing like a ghost behind the half-open door, gave a slight bow and strode toward her.
“My Lady, I’ve told you before, it’s dangerous to get close to a man whose identity is unknown!”
“Lien isn’t dangerous.”
“Goodness, you’ve already exchanged names? Really, you weren't like this before.”
“That’s because of the fever……”
Feeling guilty, Cecilia let her voice trail off.
[My Lady, you’ve been a bit strange lately…….]
[Well, actually, my memory seems to have become a bit hazy after being ill.]
That was the excuse she gave when Melanie, who had observed Cecilia from the closest distance, noticed something off and questioned her.
[Pardon? Then we shouldn't be doing this, we must call the Priest immediately!]
[No! I don’t want to worry Father any further. My memory will gradually improve. Okay?]
Whether the desperate appeal worked well or not, Melanie couldn't refuse her request to keep it a secret.
However, she seemed unable to adapt to her mistress’s 180-degree change in behavior.
Melanie, unable to hide her discomfort and worry, soon shook her head.
“Still, you cannot go today.”
“……Why?”
At the bolt-from-the-blue words, Cecilia accidentally let Charles drop from her arms onto the bed with a thump.
“The Young Master returned this morning. The Marquis said you must attend the luncheon, so you need to start preparing now.”
“……Young Master?”
There was only one person Melanie would call ‘Young Master’.
Knox Weberdin, the heir to the Weberdin family and Cecilia’s only sibling.
In other words, her older brother.
Cecilia’s face crumpled, though for a different reason than before.
‘An older brother.’
Fortunately, she had the basic passive of a transmigration—the language patch—but she didn't have the memories. Moreover, when she first possessed this body, Knox happened to be away in the Capital, so she had never met him once.
To put it simply, she had no idea how to act like ‘Cecilia’ toward her brother.
‘It doesn’t seem like they have a bad relationship.’
Cecilia pulled out a letter she had tucked away in a desk drawer. Her only point of contact with him was a single letter sent from the Capital.
<I heard you’re very sick, so I’m sending some painkillers that are selling well in the Capital these days.>
She heard that Cecilia had been very ill right before she possessed her. Seeing how he sent letters and gifts out of worry even from afar, he must cherish his sister quite a bit.
You know, the kind that often appears in romance fantasies. A handsome and successful older brother who dotes on his sister excessively.
However, the painkillers he sent were horrendously bitter, as if he had mixed every foul medicinal herb imaginable. Cecilia shuddered at the memory of that unforgettable, horrific taste.
In any case, it might not be such bad news.
‘He might become a helper like Melanie.’
Of course, that was on the premise that he wouldn't find out she wasn't the real Cecilia.
“You’ll be late at this rate! Let’s change your clothes quickly.”
Checking the time, Melanie immediately rolled up her sleeves. Eventually, Cecilia, forced out of her comfortable dress and into a formal gown, headed toward the dining room, dragging her long skirt behind her.
She hadn't even managed to settle her heart, which was fluttering with both worry and anticipation.
But as soon as she reached the entrance, she came face-to-face with the man.
“Cece!”
A man with a noble appearance, like a divine creature loved by the gods of myth, waved his hand while his forest-green eyes curved softly. His blonde hair, as warm as spring sunshine, was so radiant that it felt like one could recognize him from miles away.
Quickly scanning him, Cecilia cautiously offered a greeting.
“Hello. ……Oppa.”
It was a very difficult title for her, who had lived her previous life as a definitive oldest daughter. Cecilia put on a gentle smile, covering the goosebumps on her forearms.
‘This should be enough to pass for the usual Cecilia.’
However, contrary to her expectations, the man’s handsome face hardened severely. Closing the distance in a single stride with his long legs, Knox grabbed her cheeks and lifted her face up.
“You, are you perhaps still sick?”
His expression was so full of worry. Cecilia instinctively waved her hands.
“No! I’ve made a full recovery thanks to your concern, oppa.”
“But……”
The man’s brow, having trailed off, showed no signs of smoothing out.
‘As expected, he really is a doting brother.’
A sibling who cherishes his sister so much. Weren’t such things legendary beings even rarer than unicorns?
[Hey! Something serious happened! Come to my room quick!]
[Stop lying and get lost. You’re just gonna ask me to turn off the light again.]
[It’s really serious, I swear!]
[Ugh, what?!]
[Close the window.]
[Please just go die.]
She had no trouble recalling conversations with her real-life brother.
‘That’s what reality is.’
Just as she was concluding that the ‘novel transmigration theory’ was gaining more credibility—
“No matter how I look at it, your head hasn't fully recovered yet.”
“Pardon?”
She snapped her head up at the low murmur heard from above.
‘What, did I hear that wrong?’
I think I even heard him click his tongue……
“I’m sorry, Cece. It’s all my fault.”
“……Pardon?”
“I prayed to God regularly to take away your hopeless wits. I didn't want you to become this strange, though.”
“…….”
“Ah, could it be that the medicine I sent back then had spoiled?”
“……That medicine you sent with the letter?”
“Yeah. I picked the one with the foulest taste, but it wasn't poison.”
‘What the hell, give me back my romance-fantasy brother.’
Cecilia looked up at him blankly, like a raccoon that had lost its cotton candy. Knox, still wearing a sweet smile, was holding her head and inspecting it this way and that.
“Um, oppa? My head hurts……”
“That’s a shame.”
“So, I’d like it if you’d let go of my head.”
“Hold on. I need to find the wound first.”
“I told you, I’m all better.”
“No. Between that cringeworthy title and your way of speaking, there’s no way you’re in your right mind.”
The way he tilted his head was quite beautiful, but to her eyes, now fully conscious of reality, it no longer mattered. Her mood cooling instantly, Cecilia irritably twisted her trembling lips.
“Get your hands off me, you crazy bastard.”
