Chapter 24
Holy Magic
He had imagined the night would be nothing more than escorting countless ladies, dancing with them, and repeating meaningless small talk—leaving him weary and bored beyond measure.
Then she suddenly appeared.
Just before the ball began, as though in a miracle or a scene from a play shaped by fate, an angel descended before him.
The moment he approached her and offered to guide her—
The moment he first touched her hand—
The certainty settled in him like an unshakable conviction.
He must not let this woman slip from his arms.
He invited her to dance, and by another miracle, she accepted.
Robert felt deep gratitude for being allowed to spend such a wonderful, dreamlike time with her.
Both of them—though he did not yet know what she felt—
but at the very least, for having dragged her into his selfish wishes, Robert restrained his urge to pry into her circumstances.
Trying to learn more about such a mysterious woman…
might make her uncomfortable.
She had accepted his dance invitation, but he had no way of knowing whether she wished for anything beyond that.
Soon, the dancing would pause for an intermission.
Robert knew the perfect place to enjoy the fireworks with her.
If he invited Sena there and she refused… then he had resolved in his heart to let this night remain nothing more than a fleeting illusion.
“I know a place where you can see the most breathtaking view when the fireworks go up.”
He leaned his cheek gently against hers, as if confirming her reaction while he spoke.
Still holding hands, the two of them walked past the flowerbeds and approached the inner courtyard.
Robert accepted two glasses of wine from a nearby waiter and handed one to Sena.
As she took it, Sena felt as though she had glimpsed something unpleasant earlier while passing the waiting rooms.
She looked carefully at Robert again.
The garden was located halfway up the hotel, with roses of every color blooming vibrantly.
Their intoxicatingly sweet fragrance sent a warm thrill deep through Sena’s body.
She told herself that the heat in her cheeks came from the wine.
Leaning gently against his arm, she listened as Robert spoke fondly of this garden he had visited many times.
He said it was even more beautiful at night than during the day—
though now, with her here, its beauty paled in comparison.
Words so cliché they should have been unbearably cheesy sounded perfect and elegant when spoken by the crown prince.
They suited him, as though he had been born to speak such graceful lines.
Sena blushed softly at his refined choice of words.
They walked past statues and a fountain, through a hedge maze, until they reached a small path leading to the upper floors.
Robert escorted her carefully.
As soon as they stepped onto the path, the smooth marble beneath them began to move—gliding upward like an elevator.
Sena didn’t seem surprised by the mechanism.
It was simply an application of the sigil magic used to levitate delivery wagons in daily work.
She continued to lean against Robert’s arm.
The white mansion’s walls glowed in the night, brilliant against the darkness.
It looked just like the imperial palace—
reminding Sena of the imperial fortress where the emperor’s family lived, where she had visited many times as a child.
When the marble path stopped, they arrived at the floor where Mia’s suite rooms were located, connected directly to another courtyard.
Near the back of the garden were a few silhouettes.
Benches had been arranged there so guests could sit and relax.
Robert said the fireworks would rise in the northern sky.
Sena felt her heart leap into her throat—
worried Mia might spot her from the real Mia’s suite room nearby.
The two of them sat together on one of the benches.
At the first burst of fireworks, they raised their champagne glasses.
The soft chin of the toast blended with the thunder of brilliant lights exploding across the sky until it was swallowed up entirely.
For a while, they enjoyed the moment.
Sena was entranced by the beauty of the fireworks and the warmth of his chest beside her.
Without her noticing, many people had gathered on the wide lawn below.
But they scarcely entered her awareness—
as though they were nothing but a hazy mist.
Her entire consciousness was focused on Robert.
No one else could slip into her world.
“When did you come here?”
Robert’s sudden question startled Sena.
To hide her panic, she tilted her wineglass sharply—
a mistake.
It struck the railing beside her, shattering instantly.
Robert gasped as he saw her fingertips slowly stained red.
“Are you alright?”
“Oh— yes. I’m fine… it’s just a small cut.”
Trying not to reveal her inner turmoil, Sena stopped him with her uninjured hand, gently moving her right hand—now cut by the shattered glass—out of his sight.
Blood, something so impure, was utterly unbefitting of royalty.
When he reached for his handkerchief to tend the wound, she stopped him again, more firmly this time.
“It’s alright, Your Highness.”
“But—”
“I can heal myself.”
“You can? Ah… right. You’re from the Temple of Raffiné…”
Robert understood.
The Mia she was impersonating studied at the temple university run by the Temple of the War Goddess Raffiné.
It made sense she could use healing magic.
But the wound was deep, and the bleeding significant.
Sena quickly prayed, hoping to heal it as she always had—
asking the goddess Raffiné for a miracle.
But the magic she used was not ordinary magic.
The sacred healing magic passed down in her duchal family—
bestowed generations ago upon a saint chosen by the War Goddess—
was an overwhelmingly powerful divine miracle.
It could regenerate the limbs of soldiers who had lost arms or legs.
It could even revive those on the brink of death.
It was the highest form of holy magic.
