Chapter 180
As the final protagonist appeared, the music in the banquet hall soon changed. The Crown Prince and Veronica bowed politely and began to dance. It was customary for the banquet to begin with the highest-ranking people dancing, followed by others joining in.
There were still about two hours left until midnight. The Crown Prince would probably go in to prepare for the ceremony in about an hour. Roina planned to use that time to find the ceremony’s flaws. She glanced at the second floor, which had a large open space in the center, overlooking the entire first floor. From up there, she would be able to see the entire form of the magic remaining here.
Once the Crown Prince and Veronica finished dancing, the others would also start dancing all at once, and Roina planned to briefly step outside the banquet hall at that time to catch her breath. It was partly because she felt more unwell than she had thought, but also because it was difficult to see the whole picture from inside.
After one song ended, people who wanted to dance came out one after another and greeted each other. Taking advantage of that gap, when the attention on her had decreased significantly, Roina briefly stepped out of the banquet hall. Unbeknownst to the others, she gathered as much of her inner energy as possible.
She reduced her presence so that people wouldn’t properly recognize her. It was magic that would be called illusion or invisibility by ordinary magicians, but for Roina, who used magic in the Archmage’s way, such names were unnecessary.
Magic flowed dynamically and didn’t form formulas in only one way. The materials and formulas were all established differently depending on the place and time.
Roina did such things instinctively. It wasn’t difficult since the general mana, excluding the black mana, followed her commands obediently. And in the process, she felt a slight change in the energy within her body.
‘Originally, the different energies were mixed and dancing… A golden mana that has accepted all the energies has been created. Only a little, though.’
Through the golden mana, she could also control the black energy at will. Roina was surprised by that strange sensation and regretted that there wasn’t much of that golden mana. How it was created was still unknown.
Roina swallowed a slight sigh and moved her feet in that state. She planned to find the stairs leading to the second floor from outside the banquet hall and go up. There were stairs leading to the second floor inside the banquet hall as well, but she didn’t want to be conspicuous. Busy servants passed by her without recognizing her.
‘Ah, there it is.’
As expected, there was a separate passage used by the servants. It was familiar to Roina, who used to be a maid. Just as she found that passage and was about to go up,
A hand stretched out from what she had thought was definitely a wall, covering her mouth and hand, and pulled her in. Before Roina could even struggle in surprise, her vision changed.
“Did you have fun getting away from your owner?”
A familiar voice sent a chill down her spine. She had confirmed that he was talking to people in the banquet hall and had slipped away separately, so she didn’t know how he was here. Roina felt her whole body betray her will and tremble.
She heard a laugh full of delight from the man who was hugging her from behind. She caught a glimpse of golden hair. Roina regained her senses and tried to pry off the arm that was holding her with her slipping hand.
Her hand didn’t have much strength, so it wasn’t easy, and the man’s strength was firm. Roina struggled to get away from him and turned her head, and her eyes met his.
“Huh? Roina.”
Roberto was smiling cruelly behind her. He casually pulled down her white ceremonial robe from her neck. The robe, which had layers of fabric, became disheveled at his touch, revealing her bare chest.
“What is this, Cr, Crown Prince Roberto! Let, let go of me!”
Roina barely managed to scream. She couldn’t breathe properly. Her breath came out in gasps because of her rapidly beating heart.
“You’ve already forgotten the manners of treating your owner. What did you say you exist for?”
“I, I exist for myself, not for anyone else. You are not my owner!”
Roina said that, but her body trembled reflexively, soaked in fear. Roberto clearly sneered at her.
“Really? But your body is trembling like this?”
His outrageous hand this time reached under her dress. He instantly flipped her dress up, exposing Roina’s lower body. She was startled and struggled, but the Crown Prince grabbed her wrist and put black handcuffs on her. Laughter filled with satisfaction, delight, and excitement flowed from him. The beautiful man’s eyes narrowed sideways.
“It’s time to receive the punishment for running away from your owner.”
Roina froze at that voice. Her body, which had been tamed by him for a long time, was not listening to her properly.
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