The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 77
Since she had to spend nearly an entire day recuperating, Roina had no choice but to take a short break from her studies. Instead, she decided to ask Lutan about something that had been on her mind.
“I read some books about the founding myth in the library of the Magic Tower.”
“Did you?”
Lutan remained by her side without leaving for even a moment. Contrary to the legend that he was the overseer of all magic in the world, he appeared to have quite a lot of free time.
“Yes. But… somehow, I feel like that’s not the whole story. Just a feeling.”
She couldn’t exactly say that she had read about it in the original novel. In the end, she made up a flimsy excuse to bring up the topic.
Lutan tilted his head and smoothed out the disheveled hem of her clothing as she shifted around. His fine-textured hair cascaded gently. Without realizing it, Roina slipped her fingers between his long strands, absentmindedly toying with them. As expected, they felt pleasant to the touch.
“Lutan, you’re the Great Archmage, so you must actually know a lot more, right? You said you inherit the memories of the previous Great Archmage.”
Was he truly the reincarnation of the Golden Dragon, as she had read? He seemed a bit too human for that.
As she recalled his actions from the previous night, Roina tugged lightly at his hair in reproach. It didn’t seem to hurt much, as he let out a quiet chuckle from deep in his throat.
“You could say that I know. What is it you wish to ask?”
“If you know, then you know. What do you mean, ‘you could say that’?”
Lutan always had a way of speaking in cryptic riddles. Either that or he simply refused to explain things properly.
Without realizing it, Roina frowned in dissatisfaction.
As if he found her utterly endearing, he stroked the side of her neck and cheek.
“Human folklore and written records differ greatly from my memories. That’s why you could say I know, or you could say I don’t.”
“Well, you could’ve just—no, wait. The important thing is that you actually know a lot of things that haven’t been revealed, right?”
Roina’s expression brightened slightly as she spoke.
Lutan nodded.
“The primordial magic.”
She stared at him in silence.
His golden eyes, still as breathtaking as ever, gazed back at her, unreadable.
“There’s been much said about primordial magic. My past self was said to be the one who created it. Yet, there isn’t a single record that details it.
All that’s written is that the magic extracted from the deceased Golden Dragon was gifted to humanity by the gods.”
She watched for his reaction as she spoke the words ‘Golden Dragon,’ but he showed no particular response.
“And its guardian is the Great Archmage.”
She turned her head completely to look at him. His expression remained unreadable.
“But you’ve told me so many things, and Pia exists as a fragment of primordial magic.”
This was the reason she couldn’t fully trust the contents of the original story. There was something hidden.
“That’s right! Master created me! Master told me to tend to and protect this Magic Tower!”
A cute boy suddenly interjected. No—technically speaking, Fides didn’t have a gender, so calling him a ‘boy’ might not have been entirely accurate. It was simply that his appearance leaned more toward that of a boy than a girl.
Roina reached out and stroked Fides’s head as he approached the bedside where she lay. His hair was soft and pleasant to the touch.
“Hehe, it’ll be a thousand years soon. Master kept the promise to return.”
“I did?”
This was the first she had heard of such a thing. Her eyes widened.
Lutan examined her, his gaze tinged with a hint of concern, before he finally spoke.
“You seem to be all right.”
He murmured those words and let out a breath that was almost a sigh.
“Roina, have you noticed that every time I try to awaken your memories, you suffer from hallucinations?”
Now that he mentioned it…
Roina, recalling something that had been bothering her, silently nodded.
“That’s why I deliberately avoided bringing it up. But now, it seems you have gained enough strength to endure it.”
Perhaps it was because you’ve regained your strength, and the miasma in your body has nearly disappeared.
That was how Lutan put it.
Was that so?
Roina examined her own body. It seemed he was right.
Recently, the force that had been clouding her mind had all but vanished, and the magic she had relearned alongside Josef had now firmly settled into place, following her own set of rules.
If before, it had been like sand briefly gathering only to scatter again, now it was like bricks being stacked one by one to form a solid fortress. Her body also felt much healthier than before.
“To address what Fides mentioned earlier—
Approximately a thousand years ago, there was someone who received the power of magic from the gods. It was not the first emperor.
“It was you.”
