The Runaway Maid is Loved by the Archmage - Chapter 261

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

Neilla bit her lip and stared ahead. She, who thought she couldn’t do anything, had been chosen by the goddess. So she had to do well.

‘Neilla, are you really going to be okay?’

Mana asked, as if feeling sorry, as if wishing she could go in her place if she could. Neilla could only nod without hesitation.

‘I can do it.’

She could do it. She could do something on her own, with her own strength. This was at least a huge meaning to her.

When she had no choice but to leave Roina behind, Roina whispered to Neilla through the magic wind.

‘Don’t worry about me, do what you can do.’

What she could do. Neilla felt a pull from something and listened to those words blankly.

Goddess Aiha and Roina-nim were both telling her that she could do it, that there was something she could do.

There must be a reason why she was needed here.

With that thought, Neilla slipped through the women of the harem. She hid behind a pillar while no one was watching. The master of the castle was out of his mind, so there was no way his henchmen would be disciplined. Neilla had properly felt that during the three days she stayed here.

‘Huh? Where did that girl go just now? Did anyone see her?’

‘Nooope- But even if she went, she’d still be inside this castle. Let’s just go, don’t worry about it.’

No one could leave this castle. Although no one explicitly told Neilla, who was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, it was a fact she could easily know just by paying a little attention to the conversations around her.

What on earth was the secret of this place? Neilla was curious about that. There was only one place in this castle that she hadn’t been to.

‘Count Icardo’s residence.’

It was located in the deepest part of the palace, and she had desperately avoided becoming his one-night partner, so this was the only place she hadn’t been to yet.

Now was the chance.

Alone, Neilla swallowed hard and looked around.

Castrello was basically a country with a shortage of water. If there was a temple of Aiha, they could get water from there, but since the Kailum Empire invaded, they lived with the new things provided by Kailum.

Those were light bulbs that emitted light until the mana of the magic stone ran out, faucets that produced water, and boxes that emitted cold or heat.

All of them were magical tools using Castrello’s magic stones.

They thought Castrello’s magic stones were infinite, so they distributed them and used them extravagantly. Foolish imperial bastards.

And the treacherous vassals who wanted to walk a tightrope at the opportune time also liked them and used them, and the temple of Aiha was neglected like that.

In recent years, she also used those things. Through her father.

Neilla frowned sharply. She had to clench her fists tightly to keep herself from crying.

She still felt ambivalent towards her father. While thinking of him as her only remaining family and someone who loved her, betrayal was rooted in her heart because he didn’t think her feelings or thoughts were important. She still hadn’t decided what to do if she met her father again.

‘Let’s do what I can do.’

Neilla pressed down on her stuffy chest and moved again. The deepest part of the inner palace was shaped like it was surrounded by several pillars, and these pillars caused an optical illusion, making it difficult to know which was the real inner palace bedroom.

A structure that made it easy for outsiders to get lost. The reason why people just left her alone and left might be because of this.

Neilla’s eyes gleamed as she looked at the pillars, or rather, the paintings engraved on the pillars.

‘It’s different.’

The engraved patterns that looked similar and caused an optical illusion looked different to Neilla. Among the constant patterns, there were parts that were out of place, one by one. As countless of those gathered, they were clearly showing her the way.

The habit of observing something countless times while drawing pictures, and a calm will, made the path visible to her eyes.

‘It’s that way!’

Once she was convinced, Neilla ran towards one direction. The water of Aiha, which she had brought in a bottle just in case, sloshed and sparkled. As if praising Neilla for doing well.