The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 17
Creaaak—Clunk.
“Haa….”
The sound of the door locking as Ethan left at Roina’s request echoed through the room. Finally alone, she let out a breath she had been holding, accompanied by a self-deprecating sigh.
‘It’s done. The letter will reach her. I’ll try everything I can to increase the chances, even if just a little.’
This was a place she had seen and documented daily for two years, a familiar yet oppressive prison of luxury where she had been bound. No matter how much time passed, the Imperial Crown Prince’s bedchamber remained nothing but a dreadful space. The securely locked door behind which Ethan had disappeared seemed to reflect his meticulous personality.
The reason she sent Ethan out wasn’t just for her escape but also to investigate something in this room that had been bothering her for a long time.
Something faint but persistent lingered in the Crown Prince’s chamber. It gnawed at her senses. What once felt like a vague discomfort had become clearer the more she sat idle in this room.
Roina’s eyes swept over the chamber. Whatever it was that kept whispering to her and pricking her nerves… The antique bed, the ornate candelabra and sacred icons, the tea table, the intricately patterned carpet from the distant northern lands, the grand fresco of the golden dragon symbolizing the Empire engraved into the ceiling…
Amid her focus, striving to resolve everything before Ethan returned, she caught a peculiar resonance. It wasn’t a sound audible to the ear but one that resonated directly in her mind.
Her gaze locked with the golden dragon on the ceiling. Twisting its body as if ready to take flight, the golden dragon seemed impossibly alive, staring directly at her. Following its gaze, she noticed the depiction of the founding Emperor, the hero, and below him, draped curtains and a plain column partially obscured from view.
She quietly lifted the thin curtain and approached the column. Hidden in the corner of the Crown Prince’s chamber, the column had been concealed behind other objects. Yet as she drew closer, the resonance and the pounding of her heart grew stronger.
When she placed her hand gently upon it, a chilling sensation spread through her entire body. Accompanied by the illusion of a breeze, intricate geometric patterns began to glow in a beautiful blue light across the once plain surface of the column.
‘Found it.’
Someone whispered. The humming noise grew louder, filling her head. The sudden influx of sensations left Roina dizzy and her mind spinning. For a moment, the world inverted, and she found herself meeting the eyes of an unfamiliar man.
At that moment, all her senses fully opened.
The feeling of being mentally and physically connected to the other person, as if something were meticulously sweeping across every inch of her skin, made every nerve in her body stand on edge. She shivered for a moment.
In those golden eyes she locked onto, in the intimate intertwining of nerves with him, she felt an ecstasy she had never experienced before.
‘Closer, closer. If I truly become one with him, I’ll experience an utterly perfect moment.’
A certainty so intense it made her chest ache surged over her.
Clack.
Just as her mind was slipping into an unknown abyss, she was suddenly yanked back. The sound from the direction of the door startled her. She hastily withdrew her hand from the column and pulled the curtain closed.
As soon as her hand left it, the column—once resonating with glowing blue lines and harmonizing vibrations—reverted to being an ordinary stone pillar.
Roina quickly ran to the sofa and sat down. Her heart pounded heavily, sending slight tremors through her body. She swallowed hard, tucking her trembling fingertips under her thighs to hide them.
The person who opened the door was, as expected, Ethan.
“You’re late,” she said, tilting her head up with a bright smile as if nothing had happened.
Ethan’s gaze shifted, his eyes faintly red, perhaps remembering what had transpired earlier. He seemed intent on not responding, as though choosing silence was his only option.
The pillar, which had once resonated, continued to emit an almost imperceptible hum, sending signals to Roina. She briefly reflected on what had just happened moments ago.
And on the man she had encountered days before.
Golden eyes gleaming like sunlight, long jet-black hair. The man she had met by the well.
****
“…Well, this is unexpected.”
He thought he had found it. But the signal abruptly cut off and vanished, leaving the long-haired man clenching his fists tightly.
Even if it had been for just a brief moment, the sensation he felt when they connected was unmistakable—it was truly a star. Not just any star, but the Primordial Star that had eluded him for centuries, the one believed impossible to find. A being completely unrelated to the rule that only one archmage could be born in a generation.
She was not someone a mere Crown Prince could imprison and hide away.
Allowing her radiant talent and jewel-like beauty to remain buried in this filth was unthinkable. It was no different from the life goal he had to fulfill after inheriting the power of the archmage.
The mage, his golden eyes darkened with resolve, gritted his teeth and began rearranging the spell formulas. Even if he had to strain himself, he was determined to analyze the ancient magical circuit in this area and take it all with him. For the star, the only one who could shine in the darkness he had protected all his life. For her, he could do anything.
The Crown Prince’s palace had only been a pretense—a convenient excuse to be here. To avoid the hassle of returning and going through the tedious process again, it was an essential task.
In a secluded corner of the garden, known to no one, not even the gardeners, the quiet darkness began to churn. The wind stirred his jet-black hair as magic coursed through him, causing golden mana to crackle with sparks.
Everything around him felt irrationally dark and still, yet the ancient golden mana shone brightly, resonating with him alone.
A forgotten, ancient spell was being miraculously reenacted, but no one noticed.
Roina.
