The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 13
“–You said you were looking for Roina.”
The Imperial Crown Prince, with his neatly arranged short blonde hair and a serene smile, looked as though he had stepped straight out of the fantasies admired by the people.
Clatter– One of the maids, caught staring at his dazzling appearance, accidentally made a sound as she set down a teacup. The Crown Prince gracefully ignored her mistake, maintaining his composure, and the beautiful maid with her lustrous golden hair blushed deeply before retreating quietly.
“Yes, that’s correct. Previously, you only mentioned that you were searching for her.”
A man with long black hair cascading down his back quietly observed the Crown Prince from the opposite side. The Crown Prince’s brows furrowed slightly, revealing his discomfort.
“Roina… It’s true that such a maid existed.”
“And yet?”
The man’s abrupt change in tone caused the Crown Prince to curse inwardly.
Lutan Tenebris. A prodigy who had demonstrated exceptional talent in magic from a young age, inheriting the legacy of an archmage who was on the verge of being forgotten.
The Emperor, Roberto’s father, had brought the commoner Lutan to the palace, intending to foster a relationship with him and sponsor his talents. During his youth, Roberto had often clashed with the man, dragged into his father’s stubborn plans. To him, Lutan was always the “arrogant monster brat.”
“…I hear he recently quit his position and left the palace.”
A sudden clatter echoed through the room. It seemed that same maid had dropped her tray this time. The maids serving today appeared to be in poor condition. Already on edge from being in the presence of someone he disliked, Roberto furrowed his brows slightly without realizing it.
“Hm.”
The mage tilted his head slightly, as if pondering something, and stared briefly at the Crown Prince. Roberto quickly adjusted his expression, replacing it with a calm smile. After all, he was of the exalted royal bloodline. Maintaining composure in front of a commoner from who-knows-where was a trivial feat.
“Hiding someone with the talent of the stars is not the right thing to do.”
“Indeed. I feel the same. If only we could find out where she’s gone… She seems to have no ties, but I’ll do my best to track her down.”
Roberto sighed deeply, as if genuinely regretful. The archmage merely replied,
“I see,” and then, without another word, stood up.
“I will return.”
The Crown Prince, wearing a faint smile, stood to see him off, but the mage had already disappeared. Roberto scowled in secret, swallowing down a string of curses.
‘That arrogant bastard. The day I become the ruler of this empire, I’ll make you kneel and demand your apology.’
Roina belonged to him. She always had, from the very beginning. That presumptuous mage who dared covet what was his was intolerable. He despised every title associated with Lutan: the star-blessed mage of legends, the dark star of the shadows, the mage of salvation. Every single one of them grated on his nerves.
The talent of the stars? This generation’s archmage was Lutan, and as long as he existed, there was no need for another star. And if she truly was a star… all the more reason for her to be his alone. This was something even the gods would permit. When he first heard the claim that she possessed the talent of the stars, he had been surprised. But he had chosen to hide her away completely and claim her entirely for himself.
As long as she remained within the Crown Prince’s palace, even the archmage could not intrude.
Roberto’s eyes gleamed darkly. With a smooth smile befitting a dignified Crown Prince, he gently told the maid not to push herself if she was in pain, then stepped out of the reception room. Countless other matters awaited the heir to the empire beyond these trivial issues.
Left alone in the reception room, the maid seemed to lose all strength in her legs and sank to the floor. As she collapsed, her glossy golden curls tumbled down, resting against her master’s shoulder.
“Roina… a mage?”
Maili bit her lip, her face pale. She had been pretending not to worry, but she had been concerned about Roina’s absence ever since she stopped appearing a few days ago.
“She left without a word to me? And she has the talent of the stars?”
Mages were not common in this world. Ordinary mages were rare enough, and consequently, magic scholars who studied magic as a discipline also existed. Magic was that valuable a resource.
However, there was only one person who could truly perform miracles: the archmage, said to inherit the primordial magic passed down through generations. And those born with the talent of the stars—a lineage so rare that it appeared only once every hundred years—were the only ones capable of recognizing another of their kind at a glance. If the archmage’s claim was true, then Roina was destined to become a being more noble than any aristocrat.
Maili held back a scream. A whirlwind of emotions surged within her.
