Chapter 185
Veronica thought. Foolish Roina. Foolish Archmage.
She knew why the Archmage had let his guard down when he arrived in the basement of the Imperial Palace. It was partly because the Crown Prince’s power had grown abnormally due to the recent deal, but also because that place, where Veronica’s true form resided, was originally a place that the energy of death could not invade.
He probably couldn’t have imagined that she, no matter how corrupted, would cooperate in capturing the Archmage and her own creator.
But she accepted the evil energy and cooperated in capturing Lutan. Roina was the same. Though it was unexpected that she broke free from Ryuhyeon and appeared at the banquet hall.
And…
‘Foolish Crown Prince.’
She thought that in the middle of the banquet hall filled with gorgeously dressed people. Were all humans this stupid? Now was not the time. The Crown Prince’s hasty actions had distorted the entire plan.
Her master was not that weak. If they rushed in like this with insufficient preparation, even if it seemed to work for now, they would ultimately fail.
‘This is truly tiresome.’
They could have become perfect soon… The Crown Prince’s arrogance had created a flaw. However, the odds were still in their favor. There was a slight chance of a counterattack due to this opening, but it was still okay.
‘But what can I gain by going this far? Even to the point of dragging Roina down to this level…’
Veronica placed her hand on her chest and suppressed the throbbing pain. She had spoken mockingly to the Archmage, but in fact, his energy invading her true form had caused a major rift. The true Veronica’s soul, trapped inside the mirror, was clamoring to find her body, and the evil energy she had accepted had receded a bit, planting doubt in her heart.
Veronica tried hard to suppress this feeling. The trigger had already been pulled. There was nothing she could do to undo it, even if she regretted it.
“Lady Veronica! The moon is very bright tonight, don’t you think?”
It was then. A maid with purplish hair suddenly spoke to Veronica. It was Erika, who had not properly carried out her assigned task. Veronica turned to her and frowned. Her heart, which she had tried so hard to suppress, began to beat uncontrollably, ignoring her.
Yoseph, after roughly greeting all the people who needed to be greeted, stepped back slightly with a glass of champagne in hand. He examined the altar in the center of the banquet hall with sharp eyes. He hadn’t discussed it with Roina, but he also felt an instinctive strangeness.
‘It’s foreign. The formula of the magic has changed.’
It was something he could notice because he had been studying ancient magic all along. On top of the formula originally prepared for the contract with the god, a formula for offering sacrifices and receiving compensation was subtly added.
He naturally recalled Veronica’s note. It said, “Until he dies…”
‘Perhaps they were preparing to summon something by using the kidnapped Archmage as a sacrifice.’
He came to that conclusion by mentally calculating the magic, adding calculations about the magic in the air with his fingers.
‘And… Lady Roina disappeared.’
Roina had signaled to him with her eyes that she was heading to the second floor, so he thought it was okay that she was briefly out of sight, but it had been long past the time she should have reached the second floor. Yoseph coldly surveyed the hall. The Crown Prince had also disappeared earlier than scheduled.
Having noticed that much, Yoseph immediately activated the magic he had prepared beforehand. It was a location-tracking magic directed at each other, which he had prepared to prevent unforeseen circumstances before coming here.
He sensed Roina’s location instinctively. He didn’t usually use such magic because it was cumbersome to prepare and he could only prepare a limited amount of magic per day, but it seemed like a good thing that he had done so, given how things had turned out.
“The champagne is lukewarm. Have it checked properly.”
He called over a passing servant, said that, handed over the champagne glass, and left the hall. The servant briefly met Yoseph’s eyes, made a sharp expression, and then politely bowed, taking the champagne glass.
Yoseph passed him nonchalantly. There were more than one or two Revolutionary Army spies. It was no big deal to have a contact person in the banquet hall. With that action, he had conveyed to the Revolutionary Army that things had gone slightly awry. If he didn’t show up after some time, they would execute Plan B without him.
Roina’s despair didn’t last that long.
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