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Chapter 3
The Sleeping Prince of the Magic Tower Has Been Awakened?
“Wow, what is this view?”
The setting sun dyed the vast tropical rainforest surrounding the Magic Tower—the Angresia Forest—a brilliant crimson, as though it were about to set the entire forest ablaze.
The Magic Tower had been built in the very heart of the Angresia Forest, far away from any populated areas to keep intruders at bay. It truly stood in the middle of untouched nature.
And since this was the tower’s topmost floor, the scenery beyond the window was nothing short of breathtaking.
“Why have I never thought about coming up here at this time? This is obviously an incredible viewpoint!”
Come to think of it, this was my first time visiting the top floor outside my usual schedule. Edel only came to care for the prince in the morning, at noon, and late at night before going to bed.
I still vividly remembered my first day after transmigrating, when I looked up at a pitch-black sky overflowing with stars.
“Nobody would stop me if I came up here with a cup of drip coffee.”
…Wait. Does this world even have coffee? I think I’ve seen herbal tea.
For a while, I simply stood there, entranced by the slowly fading sunset.
For a fleeting moment, I almost felt as though I were relaxing at a tropical resort in Southeast Asia.
“Am I starting to miss my previous life?”
Thoughts of the people from my old world briefly crossed my mind. My friends… and my family. Someone must have found me, right?
In my previous life, aside from my father—who was practically impossible to reach—I had no family.
The grandmother who raised me had already passed away, and I had been told that my mother died of illness not long after giving birth to me.
Heartbroken, my father said that looking at me reminded him too much of my mother, so he left me in my grandmother’s care. Perhaps because I had experienced that rejection as a child, I spent over thirty years of my life without forming any especially close friendships.
“It wasn’t my fault.”
Now that I had ended up in another world, I couldn’t help feeling that it was almost fortunate there was no one who would worry about me.
And yet… it still left a bitter taste in my heart.
A sigh escaped me.
Trying to shake off the gloomy mood, I turned my gaze toward the prince lying motionless in the center of the room.
“Your Highness is a masterpiece again today.”
No matter how heavy my heart felt, the prince continued lying there like a perfect Renaissance sculpture. The fading rays of sunset settled over the glass coffin, creating an even more mysterious palette of colors than usual.
It was a truly mesmerizing sight.
Handsome.
No… beautiful.
No praise could ever fully describe that face.
I might have to take back what I’d confidently declared before—that I wasn’t some teenage girl who would fall for a handsome face.
“Is it because of the preservation magic? His hair hasn’t even gotten tangled.”
He had been lying there in exactly the same state for over two years, yet time itself seemed frozen inside the glass coffin.
Perfectly arranged black hair.
Porcelain-smooth skin.
Rosy lips and cheeks.
And even at a glance, a body that looked incredibly well-built.
Whew… seriously gorgeous.
If he looked this dazzling with his eyes closed, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like when those eyes finally opened and sparkled with life.
“Yeah. This is exactly how a male lead should look!”
That’s right.
Now this was a satisfying visual.
I used to think it was better to imagine characters through text alone…
But the real thing completely defeated my imagination.
A grin that anyone watching would have called suspicious spread across my face.
While I entertained myself like that, the sun gradually disappeared beyond the horizon.
The prince, meanwhile, remained perfectly still.
“Still… if you’re asleep, you probably don’t feel suffocated, right?”
Murmuring a question that would never receive an answer, I walked over to the glass coffin and knelt beside it.
It was a strange thought.
If someone was asleep, they wouldn’t feel trapped.
Quietly staring at the prince’s face, I reached out and placed my hand on top of the glass.
“අවදි වන්න.”
An unfamiliar language flowed from my lips.
At the same time, a faint glow—so dim it would be easy to miss—wrapped itself around the glass coffin.
It was the activation chant for the defensive spell Edel practiced every single day.
Although magical talent was something one was born with, it could also be expanded through constant effort.
Determined to become a proper mage, Edel had practiced tirelessly every day.
“Nothing’s changed at all.”
It would’ve been nice if transmigrating had at least given me some hidden magical power.
Unfortunately, the pale bluish light shining from my fingertips remained just as faint as ever.
“I wonder if it’s even working.”
It’s not a dangerous spell, so maybe I can try another one.
“උනුසුම් වීම.”
What was this one again…?
A healing spell… maybe?
I frowned as I searched through Edel’s memories.
“Oh.”
A faint light appeared once more.
Well… at least I really do have magic.
“Hm… what else was there?”
I could speak the language perfectly well.
But perhaps because it wasn’t my native tongue, I couldn’t clearly remember the activation words for the other spells Edel had practiced.
Well…
It’s not like I’m planning to spend my life as a mage anyway.
“It gets dark so quickly.”
Before I knew it, a bright moon had risen into the night sky.
The windows weren’t exactly small, allowing gentle moonlight to slowly spread throughout the room.
Soon afterward, the magical artifact lamps placed around the room lit up one after another.
Instead of electricity, which didn’t exist in this world, they were powered by magic stones.
Magic stones were quite expensive.
But Tower Master Melize possessed such overwhelming wealth that she treated them as if they were nothing more than ordinary pebbles.
Thanks to that, even when I climbed to the top floor late at night, I never had to worry about it being dangerous.
“At this rate, it’d be nice if someone invented an elevator… or at least an escalator.”
Though once His Highness wakes up, I won’t have to climb all the way up here anymore.
I didn’t know the exact date.
But I could tell that the female lead’s appearance was getting closer and closer.
She was definitely going to be incredibly beautiful too.
Just imagining it made me hum cheerfully.
“Huh? Look at all this dust.”
I stood up and dusted off my clothes, sending a small cloud into the air.
The room was constantly maintained by purification magic, but it still wasn’t as clean as when someone cleaned it by hand.
It reminded me of a robot vacuum that almost—but not quite—did its job.
“Maybe I should clean this place someday.”
When I do something, I do it properly.
“No, absolutely not! That’s exactly how I ended up working myself to death in my previous life!”
A powerful sense of crisis flashed through my mind.
Not this time.
Habits were truly terrifying.
I had almost thrown myself back into the endless pit of overwork.
“Absolutely! Absolutely! This time I’m living a life with work-life balance… and evenings to myself!”
“Foolish prince. A mere human like you cannot hope to resist my power.”
“Even your nonsense lacks originality.”
It had happened while investigating a village left in ruins after an Apostle’s attack.
A report had come in that they had discovered a gate believed to be connected to the Apostles’ stronghold.
Ignoring the knights’ warnings that it could be a trap, Licht entered the site himself.
He believed that if anything went wrong, it would be faster for him to deal with it personally.
He was used to traps.
After all, Empress Elysia had always been desperate to obstruct every path he walked.
But her schemes had long ceased to be real obstacles.
Licht had already reached the pinnacle as a magic swordsman.
His immense fire-aspected mana had awakened when he was barely old enough to walk.
He had earned the title of High-Ranking Mage years ago.
Not only that, he was also a master swordsman capable of coating his blade in aura.
Perhaps that was why it never once crossed his mind that he might fail to withstand an Apostle’s attack.
His only mistake…
…was failing to anticipate that they would attack him in an entirely different way this time.
The moment Licht approached the entrance to their hideout, Deus—the man known as the leader of the Apostles—revealed himself.
The knights following behind Licht were suddenly blocked by a barrier that erupted from the ground, preventing them from reaching him.
Normally, Deus would have attacked immediately with magic.
Instead, he skillfully maneuvered Licht, ensuring he couldn’t leave a specific radius.
By the time Licht realized what was happening…
…the prepared magic circle had already activated.
A chilling, sinister energy wrapped around his body.
Then…
He lost consciousness.
That had been Licht’s final memory.
Yes…
He had fallen into a deep sleep.
As Licht retraced those memories, he examined his current condition.
I’m definitely still lying down.
The pounding ache in his head told him that his senses were gradually returning.
He couldn’t see anything.
But at least his sense of pain had come back.
I can’t see… and I can’t hear anything.
A sigh escaped him.
I let my guard down.
He had believed he had experienced every kind of battlefield imaginable.
Yet he had been defeated so easily.
Crunch.
Licht ground his teeth.
