The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master [Novel] Chapter 45

The day of the banquet.

Cecilia woke before the sun was even up. Considering the banquet didn’t start until evening, it was an unreasonably early hour to be awake.

Still unable to shake her drowsiness, she rubbed her dry eyes and whined at Melanie.

“No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason to be up this early.”

“I guarantee you this is exactly the right time.”

Melanie, overflowing with enthusiasm from the crack of dawn, declared with absolute confidence.

And her guarantee proved correct.

After soaking in water dotted with fragrant flower petals whose name she didn’t know, receiving a massage with a special oil imported from a neighboring kingdom, and having dozens of maids swarm her to style her hair and change her into her dress, the sun was already setting.

‘Who spends an entire day getting ready?’

There hadn’t even been a separate mealtime, and all she’d eaten were the few slices of fruit Melanie had shoved into her mouth that morning!

Apparently blind to how haggard she’d become from starvation, the maids who had splendidly completed their grueling labor beamed with pride as they gushed one exclamation after another.

“Oh my, you look so beautiful!”

‘Oh, where have I seen this scene before?’

Any romance novel worth its salt had a scene like this regardless of setting, didn’t it? The plain heroine transforms from head to toe, and everyone around her showers her with admiration. That painfully common scene.

It would be perfect if she delivered a line like “My God, is that really me?” to complete the picture.

Unfortunately, the genre of this world was presumably a thriller, and regardless of how she looked, she was simply, desperately hungry.

‘Well, it does suit me, at least.’

Cecilia weakly glanced at the woman beyond the mirror.

The color the designer and Melanie had deliberated over was a soft apricot, cut into a dress with elegant curves.

Perhaps in consideration of the Saintess’s image, instead of setting jewels they had densely embroidered it with silver thread, which shimmered faintly like starlight. When her honey-gold hair was let down over it, she looked, remarkably, truly sacred — like a real Saintess.

Provided she didn’t open her mouth, of course.

“Wow, I really don’t want to go… Anyway, I’ll be back.”

Cecilia trudged out of the estate amid enthusiastic cheers.

Beside the waiting carriage stood today’s partner, Sir Miguel, tall and straight in his white uniform.

‘Right, the holy knight uniform was white.’

Whether it was his neatly swept-back silver hair, his chiseled features, or perhaps both — it suited him perfectly, as though he’d been born wearing it.

“I’ve thought this before, but the uniform really suits you. No wonder people go crazy for a man in uniform.”

“……”

“…Sir Miguel?”

He hadn’t responded to her teasing compliment at all, simply staring at her with wide eyes in a daze — then abruptly dropped his gaze.

“…You look very beautiful as well, Saintess.”

Contrary to his level tone, the tips of his ears were red.

Cecilia let out a small laugh at the boyish, endearing reaction and lightly offered her hand.

“I’m counting on you today.”

“Yes. I will do my utmost to live up to your trust.”

He answered, sliding his forearm beneath her hand.

Cecilia accepted his steady escort and climbed into the carriage. The interior of the carriage Rien had prepared was impressively spacious and comfortable.

His ‘message’ had said that because the carriage used an engineering design powered by mana as auxiliary energy, the ride wouldn’t be difficult this time.

It was no exaggeration — there was barely any jostling, and the seats boasted cushioning as plush as a bedroom sofa. And that wasn’t all. At the edge of the seat, a box of chocolates had been neatly placed, waiting for her starving self.

Normally she would have been deeply moved. But Cecilia received all those gifts and merely clicked her tongue in displeasure.

‘What’s the point of preparing all this? He still won’t show his face even once.’

That day, Rien had fled to avoid her questioning and vanished again.

What exactly had he been trying to say? Or more precisely, what was he so terrified of?

She wanted to press him, but it was impossible.

Whenever she needed something or some piece of information, he would notice with uncanny precision and leave it in her study. And judging from the occasional sightings reported by the servants, he was clearly still somewhere in the manor. Yet even when she barged into his room unannounced, even when she threatened thin air that she’d be furious if he didn’t appear immediately — not a single hair of his was to be found.

And despite all that, this kind of consideration.

‘Does he think this is going to make me forgive him?’

Cecilia, seething, chomped through the chocolates.

In any case, what mattered right now wasn’t that infuriating Rien but the enemies she’d face at the banquet.

On top of that, she needed to stay alert for potential threats. The culprit was brazen enough to have made a move during the Relief Festival ceremony, surrounded by witnesses.

While she was deep in thought about her safety, the carriage arrived at the imperial palace before she knew it.

“Please step down carefully.”

“Thank you.”

Cecilia descended from the carriage with Miguel’s help.

The moment her foot touched the path of evenly set broad flagstones, gazes poured over her.

She caught faint murmurs here and there — something something Saintess. As expected, word had spread widely that she would be attending this banquet.

But Cecilia walked on with no particular reaction, her steps calm.

She’d assumed that being the center of attention would make her nervous, the way it had at the Relief Festival. But faced with the reality, her mind was simply blank.

The only thoughts that crossed it were things like, ‘Surely a knife-wielding attacker won’t leap out from that corner?’ or ‘The building won’t collapse the moment I walk in, will it?’

But of course, nothing so dire occurred, and she reached the hall without incident.

Before the great doors.

Just before the doorkeepers opened them, Cecilia took a small, deep breath.

The Imperial House — the likeliest power behind the attacks — and the castle where they resided. Cecilia walked slowly inside.

And the interior…

Even Cecilia, who had been maintaining her composure, flinched at the dazzling spectacle spread before her eyes.

Crystal chandeliers hung in clusters from the high ceiling, and the finest velvet carpet covered the polished marble floor.

Statues lavishly studded with rubies and sapphires stood at every corner, a golden throne commanded the room, and the walls were lined with costly clear glass windows — not a single thing came cheap.

‘So the Holy Temple was actually modest.’

She’d thought the Grand Temple and the marquis’s estate were refined and grand, but the Imperial House was opulence incarnate.

Normally she would have let out a “Wow,” but Cecilia — mindful of her position — feigned nonchalance and stopped at a suitable spot.

That was when the herald’s horn sounded with a deep blast, announcing the entrance of the hosts.

“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, Her Imperial Highness the Princess, and His Imperial Highness the Prince are entering!”

Behind the Emperor in his purple cloak came the Princess wearing the jeweled dress Cecilia had seen at the boutique, followed by the Prince in comparatively modest attire.

The Emperor strode to the front of the dais and spoke.

“I am grateful that you have gathered here at this momentous occasion where the Empire’s future shall be decided. This is surely proof that your devotion to the Empire runs deep. It pleases me beyond measure.”

His solemn voice carried across the vast hall. He hadn’t raised it to a shout, yet it reached her ears as clearly as if piercing them — some manner of amplification magic, it seemed.

The Emperor smiled benevolently, glanced back at the Princess and Prince standing behind him, and continued.

“I know you are all awaiting my decision. However, the Princess and Prince have prepared this gathering with great sincerity, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. So let us set aside weighty matters for now and enjoy the banquet in a light-hearted spirit.”

Stifled groans broke out here and there.

The invisible tension between the Princess’s faction and the Prince’s faction seemed to have dissolved into nothing.

‘God, just dragging it out forever.’

Her plan — to toss a prepared gift at whichever successor the Emperor named, get approval, and bolt — had evaporated in an instant.

She clicked her tongue internally, when the Emperor suddenly began sweeping his gaze across the attendees.

…As if searching for someone.

“Lastly, as you all know, a distinguished guest has come from afar to join us tonight.”

‘No way.’

Bad premonitions never missed.

Out of all these people, the Emperor had somehow spotted her standing in the most secluded corner, and fixed his gaze squarely on her.

“This place must be unfamiliar, so I ask that you all extend your kindness.”

The hostile stares that had already been trained on her since her entrance now flew at her like arrows.

“That’s ‘the’ Saintess, apparently.”

“Ah, the eldest daughter of Weberdin? I heard there were rumors she has no holy power. Or was it that she has no aptitude for being a Saintess?”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest, but she certainly keeps her chin up, even in front of His Majesty.”

The gossip — clearly meant for her to hear — shouldn’t have bothered her at all.

But when dozens of gazes laden with contempt and scorn turned on her, she felt a suffocating pressure in her chest.

That was when Miguel, standing guard at her side, quietly stepped in front of her, shielding her from view.