The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 38
Lutan, who had waited long enough for Maili to calm down, entered and soon began to unwrap the bandage on her ankle to assess the condition. Maili’s left ankle had turned black, and the skin had shriveled along the dark stain.
“This is…”
“Erosion.”
Lutan sighed as he mixed a spell into the blue potion he had brought and poured it onto Maili’s ankle. With a sizzling sound, the black stain on her ankle briefly glowed violet before the potion was absorbed. To Roina’s eyes, it looked as though the black mana and blue mana were tangled together, fighting.
“That black mana… what is it?”
“……”
Lutan tightly pressed his lips together. A wrinkle appeared on his beautifully shaped brow. After a moment of silence, he spoke.
“To explain in detail would take a long time. This black mana is destructive and life-draining, meaning it has a power close to death. Simply put, it can be considered a material for dark magic.”
“Death…”
Roina murmured quietly. Death. The last image of Ethan, seen when escaping the Imperial Palace, flashed before her eyes. He had blocked the Imperial Crown Prince’s body with his own, been cut by his sword, and then swallowed by the black shadow.
‘If that’s the case, then Ethan by now…’
A sharp pain struck her heart. Roina pressed her chest gently. A heavy guilt settled in her heart.
“Fortunately, this person has not been in contact with the mana for long, so there is no threat to life. Her ankle should soon be usable again.”
Lutan spoke as he wiped the glasses he had briefly used while mixing the potion. Roina caught a fleeting sense that he muttered something like “good sample…” but the words were so quiet she couldn’t be sure.
‘Could he be talking about a sample for researching a new medicine?’
Roina tilted her head slightly. In any case, it seemed like a passing thought, and judging by the way he muttered, it didn’t seem too important. Maili glared at Lutan, her eyes burning, as if she had heard everything he said, but Lutan remained unfazed.
“And…”
A cool, refreshing hand touched Roina’s forehead. Softly, her bangs were brushed aside, and the fingertips that lightly touched her forehead were unbelievably cool and gentle.
That alone made Roina feel a tightness near her eyes.
“In fact, the most serious issue is you, Roina.”
“Yes?”
Roina blinked in confusion at Lutan’s words.
“What do you mean? Roina is fine.”
Maili asked, sounding as though she was questioning it. Lutan heavily shook his head at Maili’s words.
“That’s only the outward appearance. Roina has been exposed to this black mana… No, I feel it’s almost disrespectful to call it mana, so let’s temporarily refer to it as ‘fraud’ in the sense of its deathly aura. Roina has been exposed to fraud for a very long time. At least ten years, perhaps even more. Some parts of Roina are already made up of fraud.”
“What?!”
Upon hearing those words, Maili quickly rose to her feet. Perhaps remembering the pain from earlier, she didn’t stand fully, but remained seated.
“What, what does that mean? Is Roina going to die?”
Maili looked at Lutan with a frightened expression. Roina felt a sense of freshness toward her. It made her realize that the once annoying Maili was, in fact, such a simple and cute person.
“Normally, death would be the expected outcome.”
Lutan continued with a somber expression. For a brief moment, sadness, anger, and self-loathing flashed across his face.
“However, fortunately or unfortunately, Roina is different from an ordinary person… She is someone who carries the talent of a grand mage, someone who has stars within her.”
“…!”
“…!!”
When he said this, he briefly glanced at Maili. From the way he looked, it seemed like he was withholding something because of Maili.
“I can’t explain in detail, and even if I did, you wouldn’t be able to understand, but to put it simply, Roina seems to have the innate ability to reconstruct mana using her own power.”
Maili thought that it was a good choice for him to speak simply. Although he had said it simply, she already had a headache.
“So, at first, her body would have accepted the fraud first, then expelled it through methods like coughing up blood. But as it became more frequent and prolonged, that method must have become insufficient.”
Lutan, speaking those words, appeared to be in great pain. Both Maili and Roina fell silent, feeling something stirred within them at the mention of coughing up blood.
“So, eventually, she must have started using the fraud without expelling it. Now, Roina’s body is in a peculiar harmony, where the fraud and mana are mixed together. If we try to forcefully expel the fraud now, it would actually be poisonous.”
“Mm.”
At this point, as the conversation progressed, Maili felt a certain person come to mind and swallowed her words.
“Can… Can an ordinary person also cough up blood, even if they’re not related to the star talent?”
“That’s probably the case. But in that situation, it would truly be a sign that their life is running out. Their lifespan would probably decrease rapidly.”
Lutan said it nonchalantly. Hearing that, Maili seemed to fall into thought.
Roina felt her breath catch. The mere thought that the disgusting black mana of the Imperial Crown Prince had become a part of her body made her want to find it, scrape it out, and tear it away.
Suddenly, a hot, familiar feeling rose up from the back of her throat.
“Ugh.”
“Oh, no.”
With a distressed expression, the grand mage summoned a small vessel with a light spell and placed it under Roina’s chin. Roina didn’t refuse and vomited blood into the vessel.
“Roina, please don’t. Your body can’t accept it right now. I understand how you feel, but if you try to reject the fraud, it will only make things worse.”
“Ugh… Ugh…”
A surprisingly large hand slowly rubbed her back.
Maili, with a dark expression, took Roina’s hand and held it tightly. Roina gave a bitter smile. She had thought she was finally free, but it was laughable to hear that she still hadn’t escaped.
“Still, it was because of this body that you were able to overcome it in the final moments.”
“Excuse me?”
“What?”
Lutan let out a sigh before continuing.
“I was watching from here during the final moments. Although the Crown Prince’s palace hadn’t completely taken control of the barrier, I could feel a power within it shaking all the magic in a massive way.”
“…Was that me?”
“Yes. That was you.”
Maili gave a somewhat puzzled expression, as if she didn’t quite understand.
“So, um… Roina was really, really strong?”
“Mm, Maili. I don’t think that’s quite it.”
Roina immediately denied it, and Maili, though trying to act unaffected, stiffened her jaw slightly, her mood clearly dampened.
Lutan’s words made Roina fall deep into thought. The omnipotence that had surrounded her at the time. The ‘all’ the mana that had obeyed and followed her. The golden glow…
“I, I made all the mana in that place submit and unite, didn’t I?”
“Yes. That’s exactly it.”
Lutan gave a slightly powerless smile at those words.
“You are the master of all magic.”
