TNDOBM 14

Chapter 14

Rien is a mage. That wasn’t a guess—it was a certainty.

Cecilia calmly replayed the events of the past few days. The pain of her wounds that had vanished the moment his hand touched them. The daisies that had filled the garden in just one day.

In the latter case, it might have been possible if multiple people had worked together to plant the daisies, but now was not the season for flower merchants to visit this region.

And finally, the sense of unease she’d felt at the temple. When he had called her name, time itself had seemed to slow, if only for an instant.

No, it wasn’t her imagination. It had definitely slowed.

All of it was inexplicable unless he was a ‘mage.’

Cecilia recalled the rest of their lesson.

[“What about the remaining prominent magical family?”]

[“That would be Chetwynd, the family that has produced Master of the Magic Tower for generations. The Magic Tower is an institution uninvolved in politics, so it’s ambiguous, but it can be considered neutral.”]

According to his explanation, not all mages were aligned with the Emperor. However, it was widely accepted that most mages had poor relations with the Temple.

Because they believed in provable science rather than a god whose existence could not be demonstrated, and pursued knowledge in search of infinite possibilities.

Strictly speaking, she shared a similar mindset, having come from 21st-century Korea.

So the fact that Rien was hiding his identity as a mage from her—a Weberdin, and the so-called Saintess—wasn’t really a big deal. At least, that’s what she thought.

But there was one problem she absolutely could not overlook.

“No, the Master of the Magic Tower?”

The fact that he was the unassuming, hiding-his-power type—no, the Magic Tower Master. That was the issue.

Time manipulation magic, no less. And the name of the Magic Tower Master written in the newspaper.

‘Asilien Chetwynd.’

Using part of his name as an alias. It was the kind of clever trick that would only work on the female leads in romance novels, whose common sense seemed to evaporate the moment romance was involved.

Normally, the moment of revelation would come much later, after their first meeting—at least around chapter 50, if this were a novel.

But this man, unskilled in deception, had left far too many clues for Cecilia to simply overlook.

In response to her pointed question that called out the truth, Rien clenched his fist tightly. He wandered like a man cornered at a cliff’s edge, then closed his eyelids in despair.

“…If I were that Magic Tower Master, would you abandon me?”

Did he even realize that this answer alone was practically a confession of his identity?

“Should I take that as an affirmation?”

“…I’m sorry.”

She had never possessed him in the first place. Cecilia watched him, anxious about being cast aside, with an inscrutable gaze.

“I never meant to deceive you—no, I *did* mean to deceive you, but I absolutely never intended to mock or disrespect you, Cecilia.”

Truthfully, when she’d first suspected his identity, Cecilia hadn’t been all that surprised.

A man that handsome couldn’t possibly be a mere supporting character. She’d been guessing he might be a prince hiding his power and identity amid a power struggle, or a grand duke somewhere hiding his status to break a curse, or the Magic Tower Master pretending to be clumsy while concealing sinister motives.

However, the fact that he was specifically the Magic Tower Master was somewhat unexpected.

Even she, only three months into this other world, had heard rumors about him—he was that much of a hot topic.

And for all the wrong reasons.

Previous Magic Tower Masters, even if they hadn’t performed particularly good deeds, had at least been suitable for the Magic Tower’s purpose of pursuing knowledge.

But the current Master was dogged by terrifying scandals—that he was a patricidal wretch who had beheaded his own predecessor and usurped the position, a degenerate who wallowed in gambling, drugs, and women, a monster who killed innocent people.

‘That’s why I had guessed Rien’s identity as a hidden illegitimate child of the imperial family.’

She’d predicted that his gloominess and low self-esteem must stem from a secret lineage, a troubled past, or something of that sort.

But the nerd next door turned out to be *that* Magic Tower Master.

“I truly, truly apologize.”

Cecilia stared coldly at the man who looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.

Regardless, a hidden villain as a romantic partner was a failure. Wasn’t the default for a villain character obsession and imprisonment?

Reading about obsessive men was one thing, but to a 21st-century modern person, they were no different from criminals.

She absolutely did not want to experience human rights violations—being locked in a cage, having her legs broken, or anything of the sort.

Cecilia, shuddering at the mere thought, asked coldly.

“By any chance, are you a villain?”

“…Pardon?”

“You know, like, do you have plans to rebel if things go south? Or kill your subordinates when you’re in a bad mood? Or think this whole world is beneath your feet and you wouldn’t mind if it was destroyed? Anything like that?”

“WHAT?! Is… is there really such a depraved person out there?”

‘That’s you.’

With that implication, she stared intently at him, and Rien’s face went pale. He was so desperate that he frantically shook his head and hands simultaneously.

“I-I know my reputation isn’t good, and it’s true I wasn’t a very pleasant person as a child, but I’m not like that now! Please believe me!”

But he had hidden far too much, and lied too often, for her to simply nod in agreement.

Unable to let go of her suspicion and wariness, Cecilia continued her interrogation.

“If the person you liked fell for someone else, what would you do?”

“…Do you have someone you like?”

Wait, was he confessing right now?

She was momentarily flustered, but his eyes remained purely innocent.

‘Is this another trick to let my guard down?’

But she wouldn’t be fooled again. Unmoved even by his handsome face, Cecilia retorted firmly.

“I’m asking hypothetically.”

“I think… I would ask to be allowed to stay by their side.”

‘Not imprisonment?’

The unexpected answer left her speechless.

‘Is this really the infamous Magic Tower Master?’

Cecilia barely managed to hold onto her crumbling defenses and shot back once more.

“And if they refused that too?”

“Then…”

Suddenly, the man bit his lip.

‘Imprisonment after all!’

“…I think I would cry.”

Just imagining it seemed to sadden him; his violet eyes, resembling wisteria flowers, grew moist.

‘Hmm, pass.’

Cecilia stared intently at the man waiting breathlessly for her verdict.

Truth and lies are inherently difficult to distinguish. Nevertheless, Cecilia decided to trust him—his actions so far, his emotions, and even his current answers.

It wasn’t because his words sank into her heart with unusual depth. Nor because those anxious eyes were as beautiful as a magnolia. And it most certainly wasn’t because his tearful face and pitiful answer perfectly matched her taste.

…Anyway, it wasn’t.

Cecilia deliberately softened her firmly set gaze and asked, almost with a sigh.

“I’ll believe that you’re different from the rumors, Rien. But I’d like you to explain why you tried to deceive me.”

That was a matter directly tied to trust. No matter how obvious his lies were, if he constantly uttered falsehoods, the day would come when she would be truly and deeply disappointed.

She urged him with silence for an answer. After breathing laboriously, as if being choked, he finally parted his lips.

“Because you are a Weberdin and a Saintess, I thought you would hate me if you knew I was someone who uses magic.”

“So that’s why you tried to pass yourself off as a gardener?”

“…Yes.”

He clasped his hands together anxiously. Cecilia quietly observed the back of his hands, where veins were beginning to bulge. He must have been gripping them quite hard, as the overlapped skin was quickly turning pale.

Suddenly, she thought that perhaps the real ‘Cecilia Weberdin’ might have acted exactly that way.

It was highly likely she would have suspected the mage from the capital—especially the Magic Tower Master—felt hostility toward him, and ultimately kept her distance.

Just like the head of the Weberdin family, who had openly displayed his hatred.

“You must have hidden your identity from my father as well.”

That was a realization that came to her in an instant.

If he had known Rien was the Magic Tower Master, or even just that he was a mage, the Marquis of Weberdin would never have allowed him to become Cecilia’s tutor.

“Then what you said about being a professor was…”

“I never falsified my career! It’s just… instead of the history major I put on my resume… I actually majored in theoretical magic.”

Right. With the skill to become Magic Tower Master at such a young age, the title of academy professor was likely not a lie either.

But the issue wasn’t his titles or his career.

Why was a man of such a high position here, hiding his identity? That was the question.

“May I ask why the Magic Tower Master, who even served as an academy professor, has come all the way to Weberdin? And of all places, right next to the Weberdin estate?”

His hunched shoulders heaved violently. The man, who had been desperately offering excuses, fell silent this time, unable to answer easily.

But the confession was not yet over. The one who had sinned bowed his head once more and finally revealed the delayed truth.

“That is because…”