Chapter 163 - The Dark Castle: Many years ago

"WHERE'S MY FOOD!"

"Aah! The princess is being impatient! We have to get going!"

Leviticus watched as the two women headed forward and took the right turn. Leviticus blinked several times.

"They're… human."

They were indeed human. He sensed not much mana from them. Leviticus frowned—of course, it wasn't hard to track what they were talking about.

The undead king and (a maid?) having an affair.

Leviticus then remembers the portrait he had seen in the books—the king and the maid in the family picture!

"Does this mean that I'm… back in the…"

"…past."

Leviticus blinked as he turned towards the side.

A maid with long lashes and jewel-like eyes with a porcelain skin was staring at him. She then reached her hand to Leviticus and as her fingertips touched the wood he conjured with magic. And in an instant, it shattered into nothing but a flicker of golden mist—down to its basic form - mana.

"Wh-what… who are you?"

Leviticus recognized who she was immediately.

The maid from the portraits—the woman who caught the king's attention.

Leviticus still couldn't believe it. 

"The speculations were true." He murmured. "You… have antimagic!" 

**

"Anti… magic?" 

Leviticus blinked several times. He stared at the woman. She was indeed a beauty and no one could probably take their eyes off her. 

"And who might you be?"

Leviticus was thinking of an excuse which should be appropriate in this timeframe—

"Are you one of the young master's friends?" The maid asked as she peered to Leviticus's staff.

"T—that's right."

"I humbly apologize upon touching you earlier, Dear Guest. It seems that your other friends are already in the young master's chambers. Were you lost?"

Leviticus felt a sigh of relief. The maid was pulling on conclusions with her composed face. What Leviticus could deduce from here is that this girl was used to the 'young master' or the prince bringing eccentrics to the castle. 

"Come, Dear Guest. I shall guide you back to the prince's chambers."

Leviticus wanted to scowl. Chambers are supposed to be resting quarters, especially at this time where people tend to be more conservative. Being a prince himself, Levi knew well how the system of the castle works. The maid, who was seen in the family picture, was walking with him. Leviticus knew this was the undead prince's doing, but this power is too great to even be considered artificial.

Placing someone under another time and space will take a lot of mana… but then again, warlocks can also use the dark magic, which is derived from death—the opposite of mana, which comes from life. 

"What's your name?" Leviticus asked. If he remembers correctly, maids are required to answer the nobles in honesty whatever information they want. Not complying with this will result in treason. That was how harsh the practice was, but the common folk had it worse. Commoners must succ.u.mb to those higher than they are or else they would be sentenced to death. Therefore, the lecher of a king was able to lay his hands on many women without effort. They cannot disobey him and pay for their life.

"My name is Ariadne, Dear Guest." The maid answered.

As per old traditions as well, the maids cannot ask those higher than they are any questions. Not even their name. Leviticus glanced around the castle. It didn't seem 'dark'—in fact, it was bathing in light. Leviticus' appearance which was a bit on the grimy side, but the maid Ariadne didn't seem to be bothered.

"What noble house are you from, Ariadne?" Leviticus asked.

Usually, maids are still of a noble lineage, so they are safe from a death sentence. They could only be exiled or fired, but there was no punishment that could be heavier than that for a noble.

"I am a commoner, Dear Guest." Ariadne politely answered as the both of them walked the hallways. Leviticus continued to peer to the paintings and murals. "The king only took pity on me and hired me as the maid of his castle."

THAT was not in the history books.

Leviticus had wondered whether he was in an illusion set by the undead prince or not. If he was, then the information, the people here, might not be existing people and were just fragments of his imagination to toy with him. But the interactions, the ambiance, and everything felt so real. Only stronger forms of magic can mimic and glamour spells so strongly to the point that nobody could tell the difference between reality and a spell.

Leviticus continued to walk onto the path. The range of the undead prince's magic is immense. Did he just form a castle on his own?

No. That can't be. There was no way the magic could be THAT strong to encompass an entire castle. Leviticus knew that warlocks can have magics that were just beyond what the mages can do. If the undead prince really did create a warp in time and space… then to what extent? Leviticus ought to find it loophole and then go to Faustina.

"Miss Ariadne," Leviticus exclaimed. "I want to explore the castle more."

"Hmm?" Ariadne tilted her head. 

Leviticus only smiled. It would be hitting two birds with one stone. There is still that pressing matter about Ariadne having an anti-magic, so he had to talk to her more. 

"Would you escort me? I'm sure… HE could wait."

The maid Ariadne looked hesitant for a while, but she agreed. She couldn't deny the guest's request, after all. Although Leviticus feels bad about ordering her around, there is still the fact that he had to escape this place.

Illusion or not, he had to figure out how to leave as soon as possible. Encountering the undead prince would be a bad move, so he had to search for alternatives.

"I understand, Dear Guest. Where would you like to go first? The libraries where the magic relics are also found? The garden? Villas?" 

Leviticus gave her a smile. 

"Your chambers, Miss Ariadne."

**

"Give your best spell." The undead prince licked his lips with his decaying tongue. "Let me taste your delicious mana."

Faustina felt a shiver run down her spine from the undead prince's words. Thumping her staff to the floor, Faustina summoned a barrier to protect her. 

Spell. 

She had to attack the undead prince so she would be able to move forward and find the way out.

"Ignis!" Faustina thumped the hilt of her staff to the floor as a magic circle appeared mid-air next to an ember of fire. 

"Hooh," the undead prince whistled. 

Faustina fixated her mana into getting the fire bigger and bigger. The plan is to make the fire engulf the undead prince and contain him before she would go up to the ceilings as well to follow Leviticus. 

"What a large, ball of fire."

Faustina kept on enlarging the embers of the fire. She had already sweat profusely, and she was slightly heaving. Leviticus binding her arms with a cloth was a big help—the sting she was feeling earlier wasn't as excruciating now. Faustina stared at the undead prince who had grinned upon locking eyes with Faustina. His eyes were coated with goo and a sticky substance with a slight tinge of blood. The pupils were also moving in peculiar directions, unable to retain focus.

"Aah. I'm excited about the first bite." The undead prince exclaims.

Faustina gritted her teeth as she lifted her staff from the floor. "Haah!" swinging the staff forward, the ball of fire Faustina built on a large scale launched itself to the undead prince. 

The fire engulfed the undead prince and wrapped around him. Faustina panted as she stared at the fire. 

"D-did I get him?" Faustina mumbled to herself.

Just when a slight feeling of hope had risen in Faustina, the fire that she conjured, which had already wrapped around the undead prince, began to dissolve—no. It reduced into a golden light gradually until all of the fire disappeared and were reversed into their purest form…

Mana!

"Mmn, ah. Yes. Exquisite."

Faustina's eyes widened.

"What…?"

The undead prince had reduced her fire into mana and was now absorbing it to his mouth! Faustina blinked as the undead prince's flesh began to repair itself. The muscle fibers began to form and wrap around the bones, which were now cracking as they reposition themselves. Faustina was a loss for words. What in the world was happening? Did the undead prince just…

EAT her mana?

"Delicious, but it tastes burnt." The undead prince now had muscles and didn't look as rotten as before. Faustina backed away as he began to approach her with his resounding joints cracking. 

"Nothing could still be better than the delicacy of raw mana," the undead prince exclaimed. "Now give it to me—your mana in its purest form!"

**

Chain's corner:

So, we'll be doing more of Anakin and the others in the later chapters! Note that this arc of the magic exam is coming to an end, and we'll be nearing the arc of Faustina finally studying in Eula's alma mater, unleashing the secrets of Magierstadt, and of course, moments with the KING! That's what I'm excited to write.

Stay tuned!