The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 188

※ This book contains depictions of coercive/dubcon/noncon acts, violence, and immorality. Reader discretion is advised.

But Roina thought so while sitting on the cold prison floor. It was her first time in this space, but she was familiar with the structure of this magic.

The magic here was the same as the Crown Prince’s room where she had been trapped a long time ago.

This Imperial Palace has ancient magic circuits that have been dormant since ancient times. It was unknown whether the Crown Prince knew about and was using them, but if she could just reverse-use those magic circuits, it was entirely possible to escape.

She glanced at the knight standing outside the bars. The problem was that person. A knight enveloped in the energy of death, it was unclear whether he was alive or not. He might be a golem made of magic, not a human. His motionless appearance made him seem even more so.

Roina moved closer to where the knight was, probing the magic circuits. Her fingertips touched the floor, and her senses spread throughout the room. Her brow furrowed involuntarily at the space filled with violent death energy that did not obey her.

‘Focus.’

Roina bit her lip. Just like before, all she had to do was find the axis of this place. If she could grasp it, she would be able to do it as before.

Slowly, though the speed was slow, her energy reached the entire room. Searching for the circuit that would be the key to leaving this place.

‘…Why isn’t it here…?’

Sweat gathered on her forehead and flowed down her chin. A drop of sweat fell onto the floor. At that moment, the black knight turned to look at her. Without realizing it, she expanded her senses to include that knight. She had read his energy.

“Ah?”

I found it. That knight’s body itself was the key to this room.

Having grasped that much, Roina immediately withdrew her energy. The knight was staring straight at her. His Adam’s apple moved, gulping from tension. Was it because she couldn’t identify his true nature, or because this was the first time he had moved since coming here? Tension washed over her as she faced him.

“Why… why are you looking at me like that?”

Roina asked in a trembling voice. For some reason, she felt a sense of déjà vu. His energy, the size of his body, and the way he moved all felt somewhat familiar. Why? Why was that? She was confused.

He silently turned his body completely and looked at her. Because he was wearing dark armor and his helmet was completely down, she couldn’t confirm his face. But to get out of here, she had to either defeat that person or gain his cooperation. She looked at him with wavering eyes. She felt slightly nauseous.

Clang-

He unexpectedly reached out his hand towards her. Roina was startled and leaned her head back. The hand covered in black armor stopped right in front of her. As if to grab her.

Involuntarily suppressing her pounding heart, Roina carefully observed the knight. The helmet covering his face, and between the eyeholes, she could vaguely see the other person’s brown eyes. The eyes, which had been dull without any light, flickered slightly when they met hers. Then, clear and vivid hatred filled them.

‘No way.’

A hypothesis flashed through Roina’s mind. But she soon denied that thought.

‘It can’t be.’

It couldn’t be that person. Those eyes filled with hatred, that knight who mechanically listened to the Crown Prince, couldn’t be him.

“…I have been waiting for you to come here.”

As if he hadn’t spoken for a long time, a cracked voice flowed from his mouth. Roina’s eyes widened. She felt like her heart had stopped with a thud.

“At the same time,”

The knight raised his hand and lifted his helmet. His fingers went inside the helmet and easily took it off.

“I wished you wouldn’t come.”

The helmet hit the floor with a metallic sound.

In front of her, a knight with brown hair and brown eyes, resembling the desert, revealed his face. He frowned and let out a breath that seemed both sad and angry. He simply distorted his expression. Deep within his complex eyes, something like a bizarrely twisted longing was hidden.

“Why, why did you come back here?”

After abandoning me.

It was as if she could hear the words he didn’t say. Roina held her breath. He felt like a wounded beast. He was no longer the person she knew, but it was definitely him.

“…Ethan?”

Ethan, who had helped and sacrificed himself when she escaped from the Crown Prince’s Palace a long time ago, was in front of her.