Chapter 10
“You can just wash it off with a purification spell.”
“I don’t like light-attribute magic.”
Magic was divided by attributes, and purification spells belonged to the light element—the natural opposite of Sara’s darkness.
Still, since purification magic was extremely useful in everyday life, most people tolerated it. But Sara was stubborn about such things.
“You’re so sensitive, honestly.”
Sara was a habitual latecomer anyway. I was already used to it, so I decided to let it slide and pointed at the paper on the table.
“Sara, could you take a look at this?”
But the moment Sara saw the paper, her face twisted into a deep frown, and she instinctively took a step back.
“Princess, this is a high-level defensive spell. And… it feels very unpleasant. Who on earth cast this magic?”
“Unpleasant?”
“Multiple spells are layered on top of each other. Darkness, wind… and the strongest is fire. I hate these mixed, hybrid attributes.”
Whether she liked it or not didn’t matter to me, but I was still a considerate master. I stepped closer, took her hand firmly, and spoke.
“Sara, you still have quite a lot of debt to repay, don’t you? Shall we visit the Galatia Bank and review your balance to reaffirm our master-servant relationship?”
“…One day, I’m going to blow that bank to pieces.”
“Oh dear. Galatia Bank operates across the entire continent. To do that, you’d have to destroy the Mage Tower of the Serbi Kingdom first. They’re the ones protecting the bank.”
Sara frowned deeply, then slipped her hand out of mine.
She reached into the air, pulled out her wand, and strode over to the table.
“More importantly, there’s a tracking spell on this. It’s possible they already know you’ve touched this document, Princess.”
She raised her wand, then glanced back at me.
“I know.”
“It could be dangerous. Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“The entire princess’s palace is protected by barrier magic. And I have plenty of defensive items you made for me. If anything, how about you stay nearby for a few months?”
“I dislike bright places. I prefer researching magic somewhere dark and damp.”
What an uncooperative mage.
I already knew Sara lacked warmth, but the fact that she wouldn’t even care if the princess died… well, I knew that too.
“You’re too cold.”
“Isn’t that entirely Your Highness’s fault?”
We exchanged playful banter while staring intently at the paper.
Sara’s wand was as thin as a wooden chopstick, plain and unadorned—no jewels or decorations whatsoever.
I’d heard it was carved from wood imbued with powerful magical energy, but true to Sara’s personality, its design was utterly minimalistic.
She lifted the wand and poked the string binding the paper.
At that moment, a vortex began to form around the string. It was small—but incredibly powerful. Strong enough to whip both our hair upward violently.
The bookshelves shook, curtains flapped wildly, and the ink bottles and pen nibs on the table were all swept onto the floor.
Outside, the knights and maids who had been waiting under orders not to enter shouted anxiously.
“What’s going on in there?!”
“It’s fine! Don’t come in!”
I shouted firmly, then looked at Sara.
Uncharacteristically, cold sweat was running down her cheek.
This must be extremely powerful magic. I’ve never seen Sara struggle like this.
Right now, Sara was dismantling the defensive spell through brute force—essentially bombarding it with an even stronger offensive spell. The clash of magic created the vortex.
How many minutes had the wind raged?
Crash!! Shatter!!
Every piece of glass in the room—including the windows—exploded as the string snapped apart.
Even the glass ornaments surrounding the chandelier’s candles shattered, and the chandelier itself nearly fell.
Sara quickly pulled me into her arms and pressed us against the wall. Startled, I blinked in her embrace.
“S-Sara, th-thank you…”
“What is happening here?!”
The knights and maids rushed into the room and froze in shock at the devastation.
“Wh-what on earth…”
Then they spotted me in Sara’s arms against the wall and immediately drew their swords and spears, aiming them at her.
“Release the Princess at once!!”
“Stop! Sara did nothing wrong!”
At my shout, their weapons slowly lowered.
Sara loosened her grip, and I stepped out of her arms.
“Thank you, Sara. Truly.”
“…Yes.”
I gave her a small nod, then slowly approached the paper on the table.
For such powerful magic… this must be highly confidential.
My curiosity, once ignited, refused to be extinguished. Before I realized it, my hand had already unfolded the paper.
And…
The moment I saw its contents, I froze.
“Princess, is something wrong?”
“…”
“Princess?”
Sara called out to me several times, but I couldn’t respond.
It wasn’t just the contents that shocked me.
The characters written on the paper should never exist in this world.
[ On the final day of the birthday banquet, kidnap Saintess Aurora and teleport her to a cave in the Resher Desert. ]
‘That’s… Hangul…!’
Still in shock, I sat motionless in the study, staring blankly at the paper.
Is there someone else who knows Hangul besides me?
Speculations branched endlessly, one after another.
No… maybe it’s supposed to be the language of some unknown tribe or a rare race I don’t know about. It’s a novel, after all—I might not remember every detail…
But with my years of experience reading romance fantasy novels—
Usually, the protagonists, the moment they transmigrate, somehow gain the genius ability to read, write, and speak any unfamiliar language without understanding how.
Which meant settings like Hangul typically didn’t exist in these stories. And sure enough, when I transmigrated, I had used the language of Sincaster—not Hangul.
Because using Hangul in a medieval fantasy setting would make no sense!
And the contents were another issue.
Since the document had been dropped by Eric, it was undoubtedly a secret order given to him.
[ Kidnap Saintess Aurora… ]
Rage surged through me, and I shot to my feet.
“How dare they kidnap the Saintess?! This is outrageous! It must have been Prince Leonard’s doing.”
With that polished face, he dared to deceive me? Did he think I’d fall for him just because he’s handsome?
Well… I did fall for it.
As anger boiled within me—
A sudden noise came from the window frame.
“Sir Aaron?”
Thinking he might have come in place of my brother, I turned around with a bright expression—
Only for my heart to nearly stop.
The person sitting on the window frame was not the white owl.
It was Prince Leonard, wearing a chilling expression I had never seen during the entire banquet.
I didn’t even have time to scream. He moved faster than anyone I knew and covered my mouth.
The princess’s palace was protected by magical barriers—no one except me and those I permitted could use magic.
On top of that, there was a divine barrier. To break through it, one would need overwhelming force.
In other words, the man before me was monstrously powerful.
What the hell is this prince…?
At the same time as my shock, a bitter taste spread in my mouth, and my consciousness began to fade. My vision dimmed as his voice echoed faintly in my ears.
“Princess, I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me for a moment.”
Drip.
“Ah—cold!”
A cold droplet hitting the top of my head jolted me awake.
When I opened my eyes, I immediately knew this was nowhere I recognized.
There were no windows, and moss clung thickly to every surface.
What chilled me even more was the sight of iron bars in the distance.
A prison.
“You’re awake.”
Startled, I turned around.
Behind me stood the man who had kidnapped me—just before I lost consciousness.
His face was obscured by shadow.
Like a grim reaper.
“Wh-where… am I…?”
