The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master [Novel] Chapter 31

Gladness and joy squeezed the breath from her chest. The urge to sprint forward and close the distance between them surged violently. She wanted to clasp his hands and feel his warmth — that was all she could think.

But his gaze, his scent, his voice — no, his very presence……

Had it not settled over her heart and her feet more fiercely than even that desperate longing, she surely would have.

“Cecilia.”

The moment he called her name, smiling like a flower in full bloom, she felt something unfamiliar. Something too ambiguous to name with certainty, yet too vivid to flatly deny.

And yet she couldn’t manage to blurt out his name. Why was that?

In the end, it was he who came to her first — standing there in a daze, unable to steady her breathing.

Just as she’d wished, he took her hands gently, guided her into the shade, drew out a handkerchief, and carefully dabbed the sweat from her skin.

“It’s been a while.”

He greeted her in a voice as warm as spring sunlight. Too short a separation to truly call “a while,” yet long enough for gladness to come rushing in.

So the longing and the joy threaded through that simple sentence surely weren’t just her imagination.

Cecilia drew the large hand lingering near her forehead down and clasped it in both of hers. His warmth, much like her own after running, mingled lukewarm between their palms.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. You didn’t have to come running like that……”

“How could I not hurry after getting a note like that? What brings you all the way here so suddenly?”

“I said I would come to see you, did I not?”

Ah.

Before he left for the Holy Temple, he had indeed made that promise. That he would come to see her, not the ceremony.

But she hadn’t realized he meant he’d come in secret before the ceremony even began. Security must have been tightened with the rites approaching, yet the lack of any commotion suggested he’d put those hidden Magic Tower Master abilities to full use.

Whatever his method, Cecilia resolved to savor this small miracle to the fullest. Hadn’t she suffered enough these past days, what with the purification and the training and every other excuse they’d thrown at her?

But the miracle he’d brought was anything but small.

“Are you not hungry? I brought some food just in case.”

Rien said shyly as he led her beneath the tree’s shade.

As if prepared in advance, an adorable blanket in mingled pale green and yellow was spread on the ground. On the blanket sat the rattan basket she’d once given him as a gift, and inside it were neatly cut sandwiches, orange juice, and even a Sachertorte from Sweets, all packed snugly together.

“I could only manage this much on short notice, but I hope it suits your taste.”

Is he an angel?

Rien was clearly an angel sent by God for the sake of the starving saintess.

“Thank you.”

Cecilia pressed down her excitement, sat herself primly on the prepared spot, and bit into a sandwich generously stuffed with meat.

“Ah……”

“D-Does it not suit your taste?”

“No, it’s just so good.”

This earthly flavor, sending electric sparks across her taste buds. Had she been a bolder person, she might have covered his cheeks in kisses.

Perhaps she’d been too gravely absorbed in the food. Rien, who had been neatly unwrapping another sandwich for her, finally let out a small laugh.

“I brought plenty, so take your time.”

He wiped the sauce from the corner of her mouth with his fingertip, his eyes curving softly.

……Perhaps the trials of the past week were God’s arrangement, designed to maximize today’s healing.

Right about the time she felt full in both body and spirit, Rien opened his mouth as though he’d been waiting for this moment.

“The ceremony is only a few days away. Are preparations going well?”

“More or less. The archbishop told me the number of visitors will be more than double any previous event, so I’m nervous I might slip up.”

“I heard as well. Apparently, ever since the article about the saintess participating in this ceremony was published, visitors have been pouring in from all over.”

“……Really?”

She wasn’t even an official saintess — was she really that popular? Newly burdened, Cecilia set down the last bite of her sandwich with a thud.

“That’s even more nerve-wracking. Oh, will you be there that day too, Rien?”

“If you’ll allow it.”

“You don’t need to ask my permission. Of course — —”

“The thing is, I might not just attend.”

“Pardon?”

“If it comes to it, I’m thinking of abducting you.”

Cecilia blinked slowly in bewilderment.

Abducting her. Surely he wasn’t serious.

Having dropped something so outrageous, Rien simply placed a plate of dessert into her empty hand as if he’d only been remarking on the weather.

“Try some. It was freshly made this morning, so it should be to your liking.”

I don’t think dessert is the priority right now.

Thinking that, and yet somehow forking a piece into her mouth on reflex, she watched Rien finally continue.

“If you ever want to stop the ceremony.”

“……”

“Then even if something goes wrong, it won’t be you who ruined a sacred rite — it’ll be the ruthless me. So……”

His gentle voice vibrated quietly, yet with unmistakable force. Cecilia couldn’t shape the resonating emotion into words and simply kept her lips closed.

“You don’t have to worry about anything. Not a single thing.”

Ah.

There are moments so surreal that every sense sharpens instead. Exactly like this one.

Her back was damp in the muggy heat, fine beads of sweat dotting her clear skin.

The sunlight blazed sharp enough to sting, and through the vivid green of the broadleaf canopy came the rushing sound of wind, the fresh and earthy smell of grass flooding in.

In the fullness of summer, Cecilia noticed his sandwich — not a single bite taken — and his tea, not a single sip less. She saw the man who’d sat watching her, steadily, unflinchingly, unaware of his own thirst or hunger.

Realization arrived as beautiful as a butterfly’s wingbeat, as unmistakable as a bumblebee’s flight.

That perhaps Plan D was already complete.

That what she had been wanting from him all along, he had already been giving her.

And so Cecilia parted her lips on impulse.

“Rien.”

“Yes.”

“I think I like you. No — I do like you.”

The instant her bolt-from-the-blue confession ended, the juice bottle in his grip slipped and rolled away.

The blanket soaked through, and the sweet scent of fruit juice hit the air.

“……What?”

Apparently it had been even more of a shock to him than she’d expected.

His long lashes trembled, and pupils that had gone rigid began to churn like they’d met a tidal wave. After parting his lips several times on ragged breaths, he clutched at the area around his ear, flushed scarlet.

“I think my— my ears must be broken.”

“I don’t think they’re broken?”

Granted, it had been a confession without much context, but still — wasn’t this reaction a bit much? Cecilia answered flatly, but he seemed to have lost even the composure to register her response.

“……But there’s no way you’d say something like that to me, to someone like me, there’s truly no way……”

Rien, who had been mumbling incoherently, suddenly raised his head. The face that met hers again had shed its shock and confusion, now flooded with something that resembled desperation — or perhaps longing.

“Again— say it again, just once more, please.”

Heedless of the soaked blanket, he braced both hands on the ground and leaned his body toward hers. The sight of him, so desperate it was almost like clinging, made Cecilia willingly part her lips once more.

“I lo — —”

“Saintess!”

And right on cue, a voice calling for her rang out from the distance.

Right, I was wondering when the interruption would come.

Cecilia leveled a cold stare at the culprits who had snapped the flow at timing as impeccable as any romance novel.

At the foot of the hill, priests in white vestments were moving this way and that — evidently they’d only just realized the saintess was gone and raised a fuss.

Flow or no flow, should I just confess again, loud and clear?

She considered it, then gave up. For one thing, judging by his reaction, it was practically a success already. More importantly, if the genre of this world she was trapped in was truly romance, then a pivotal scene where two people came together required at least a dashing line and a dashing backdrop of flowers.

Besides, she was prepared to go all the way to a kiss if need be — and this spot simply had no mood whatsoever.

After the ceremony, I’ll confess properly in the daisy field.

Well, the daisy field was Rien’s property, but by then what was his would be hers and what was hers would be his.

And I’ll need to prepare a return gift for the necklace by then!

Having laid her excellent plan, Cecilia felt her heart grow light all on its own. She sprang to her feet.

“I’d better go before the fuss gets any bigger. We’ll finish talking once we’re back at the estate.”

“B-But……!”

“Thank you for coming to see me. I’ll see you at the ceremony!”

Rien called after her urgently, but Cecilia waved brightly. Then she left him standing there stiff as a tree and strolled lightly down the hill.

Like a warm summer breeze.