My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 42
Whether by luck or misfortune, after suffering for two full days, Lien recovered as if he had never been ill at all.
Now that he was well, Cecilia stood with her hands on her hips and interrogated him sharply.
[“So, what exactly were you doing that required you to use magic until you collapsed?”]
[“Well, there was an accident while I was helping a subordinate with their research…. It required a significant amount of mana to get things back under control.”]
He answered haltingly, his fingertips fidgeting.
[“Then what about the wounds all over your body?”]
[“Pardon? Oh, those…. Ah! That accident involved a small explosion. I must have been caught in the debris and gotten scratched up then.”]
It was an absurd excuse.
Though no traces remained now, the wounds she had seen with her own eyes back then weren’t the kind caused by random scratches; they were clean cuts, more akin to those made by a sharp blade like a knife.
Even though she remembered that difference clearly, Cecilia chose not to point it out.
It wasn’t the first or second time he’d lied, and she didn’t think he would spill the truth even if she pressed him further.
She stopped asking about his whereabouts. And he, in turn, made no further mention of her changed attitude or his confession from the other day.
Amidst that subtle avoidance and silence, the two of them carried on as if nothing had changed and no incident had occurred.
At least on the surface.
Early in the afternoon, as beams of light so bright they were almost blinding filled the room.
Cecilia laid out invitations across the rectangular wooden coffee table in front of the sofa.
Then, she gestured toward a black envelope and asked Lien, who was sitting stiffly on the opposite sofa.
“So, you’re saying there’s no need to reply to the Imperial Princess’s invitation?”
“Yes. She is naturally a very inquisitive person. She likely didn’t send it with a specific purpose in mind. Furthermore, just as the Pope is not subject to the Emperor’s rule, there is no reason for the Saintess chosen by the Pope to bow down to the Emperor’s heir.”
Lien answered, beads of sweat trickling down his face as he sat buried under a thick duvet.
Even after the doctor’s diagnosis that he was almost fully recovered, Cecilia hadn’t been completely reassured and had personally tucked him in.
For that reason alone, Lien was melting away without a single word of complaint.
‘…How foolish.’
Cecilia let out an internal sigh and was about to move to peel the blanket off him when—
Knock, knock!
A rather urgent knocking sound interrupted them.
“You may enter.”
The person who appeared through the door was Melanie, who had been out since early morning. Usually calm, she shouted with a face rarely flushed red with excitement.
“It’s a disaster, My Lady!”
“Why? Did something go wrong?”
“Yes! I spent the entire morning visiting every reputable boutique in the capital, but I couldn’t find a single designer willing to make a dress!”
Cecilia had been considering grim possibilities—like someone dying or an assassination threat arriving—so the fact that it was just a dress issue made her lose steam. She replied nonchalantly.
“Is that all? I’ll just wear one of the ones I brought.”
“I’ve heard the Imperial Palace is incredibly lavish; you can’t go in such a plain dress!”
‘…Is that so?’
To be fair, perhaps because of the title of ‘Saintess,’ the dresses Cecilia owned had almost no jewels and were on the modest side in terms of color and ornamentation.
“And that’s not all! The designs are so different from what’s trending in the capital, and the fabric itself is thinner than what they use here. You might be cold once the sun goes down.”
Melanie explained the necessity of purchasing a new dress with a very serious expression.
“There isn’t much time left until the banquet…. I knew the capital people would give us the cold shoulder, but I didn’t expect them to exclude us so blatantly!”
“Hmm, isn’t it just because everyone is busy since it’s the season?”
“No! When I offered to pay more, they all seemed tempted, but the moment they heard the Saintess’s name, they’d reject me with pathetic excuses like being fully booked or lacking confidence!”
‘Oh.’
Cecilia let out a silent exclamation of admiration—or lack thereof—at the negative influence the name ‘Weberdin’ carried throughout the capital.
‘I thought I only had to be wary of the capital nobles.’
She hadn’t realized she’d have to worry about the commoners who took their cues from those nobles as well.
“This would never happen in Weberdin! To think they dare treat the Saintess this way!”
Melanie fumed with indignation as if she were the one being persecuted.
‘I’m not even the official Saintess yet.’
Instead of pointing out the truth, Cecilia offered a sheepish smile.
In truth, she didn’t much care what she wore, whether it was an altered ready-to-wear piece or something not made by a famous designer, as long as she could wear it.
‘The Temple lent me a ceremonial robe; should I just wear that?’
She considered it for a moment, but she was going to stand out anyway; wearing a ceremonial robe alone amidst a sea of dresses would just be giving people bait to criticize her.
It was just as the two women’s worries were deepening.
Lien, who had been quietly listening while still buried in the duvet, tentatively raised his hand.
“Um, I believe I might be able to help with that problem.”
In front of the building Lien had led them to.
Cecilia and Melanie stood frozen, lost for words.
The boutique boasted a scale as large as three regular shops combined and an exterior so luxurious it made one hesitant to even enter.
“My Lady, are—are you sure we’re allowed in here? This isn’t, like, for the Imperial Family only, or somewhere that charges an entrance fee, right?”
“It is a shop the Imperial Princess frequents, but it is not exclusive to the Imperial Family.”
And there’s no entrance fee.
Lien shrugged nonchalantly.
A boutique chosen by the Imperial Princess. Of course, the Imperial Family would have their own private tailors, but it was clear this was a place where ordinary people couldn’t even set foot.
Melanie seemed suspicious of how a mere gloomy etiquette teacher like him knew of such a place.
However, her suspicion vanished like melting snow the moment a shop assistant came out to greet them.
“We received word and have been waiting for you! We’ve prepared light tea and snacks, so please don’t stay out here and come inside!”
“Oh my goodness! My Lady, let’s go in!”
“Uh, yeah.”
Following Melanie, whose excitement had overcome her suspicion and surprise, an even greater wonderland unfolded.
The clothes displayed by the windows were incredibly ornate with embroidery and lace, but the dress hanging in the center of the shop was literally dripping with hundreds of jewels.
‘If even Lien wore something like that, you wouldn’t be able to see anything but the clothes.’
Not only that, but the price—which she couldn’t even begin to estimate—was a major concern.
However, the assistant seemed to take her shock as admiration or a fresh thrill, and began rattling off boasts she hadn’t asked for.
“You have excellent taste! That dress was crafted using jewels personally provided by the Imperial Princess for this upcoming banquet. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Ah, yes….”
“Hoho, we will make the dress you are to wear just as beautiful and ornate as this one!”
Cecilia, who had been nodding tepidly, suddenly narrowed her eyes.
‘Come to think of it, this shop takes orders from the Imperial Family, yet they’re making clothes for the Saintess who stands in opposition to them?’
Shouldn’t they be as wary as the other shops—or even more so—to avoid offending the Imperial Family?
But whether the position of Magic Tower Master was even more formidable than she thought, or if he had issued some terrifying warning in advance, the assistant was exceedingly kind despite knowing her identity.
“Looking at the newspaper photos, white seems to suit the Saintess very well. Shall we decide on a rough design before taking measurements?”
Guided to a prepared table, the assistant set down a thick catalog.
Soon, a heated discussion followed regarding fabrics and necklines. Between the assistant and Melanie, of course.
Cecilia, who had grown sick of clothes since the last Relief Festival, was sipping her tea with the bored expression of a boyfriend dragged along for shopping.
Tinkle.
A cheerful bell rang, and before another assistant could even react, the door swung wide open.
A woman in an intense red dress, wearing a wide-brimmed black bucket hat pulled low, walked in with a sharp click of her heels, accompanied by several maids and knights.
“My, I heard there was a guest who made a last-minute reservation.”
Beneath the hat, lips painted red curved smoothly.
“If you were taking ‘this’ kind of guest, you should have given me a heads-up.”
Cecilia gazed up at the woman who had approached her before she knew it.
The woman, whose red hair stood out, appeared to be around her age and possessed features as striking as the clothes she wore.
However, Cecilia, who was sufficiently hardened to beauty thanks to Lien, rose calmly to her feet.
‘There’s no way they’d make the mistake of taking two guests at once in a private place like this.’
A position of such status that they couldn’t block her entry even though the ‘Saintess’ was there as a guest.
That tone of voice, as if she had come specifically knowing she was the Saintess, despite Cecilia’s distinct appearance that loudly proclaimed her status.
And finally, the fact that the Imperial Family had possessed red hair for generations.
‘This person must be the Imperial Princess.’
Having finished her simple deduction, Cecilia let out an internal sigh.
First the Archbishop, and now this—why did they all show up when she was getting clothes made? And always incognito, without making any effort to actually hide their identity.
‘Should I just pretend not to know?’
It was a decision based more on annoyance than consideration.
Unfortunately, however, the other woman’s talent for provocation was even better than expected.
“Hmm, I didn’t realize this was a shop where country bumpkins from the south could wander in and out. I’m a bit disappointed.”
“I agree. If I had known this was a shop frequented by a regular who doesn’t know the first thing about manners, I wouldn’t have set foot in here either.”
