SPMG 12

Chapter 12.

The blue light that began at her fingertips slowly spread, wrapping around Licht’s entire body like it was seeping in.

Meliz’s magic couldn’t be defined by just one trait—she was a great mage whose power defied classification. She was likely using a type of magic suited for assessing someone’s condition.

It looked kind of like… hmm.

“Was it CT? Or something like an MRI?”

He wasn’t lying down, but the way the light scanned over his body reminded me of one of those machines. While my thoughts wandered uselessly like that, the light in Meliz’s hand faded.

“Considering he’s been asleep for over two years, it’s fortunate there’s no major damage.”

Her voice was full of satisfaction. Licht, who had been watching Meliz with a rather stiff expression, nodded—perhaps he’d been more nervous than he let on.

“Is that so. Two years… That’s a long time.”

“We should be thankful it was only two years. We still have to figure out why the curse suddenly broke, but if it hadn’t, it might’ve lasted much longer.”

A beautiful dark-haired prince and his calm, elegant former teacher, now the master of the tower—a picture-perfect reunion. But their expressions were surprisingly lukewarm.

They hadn’t seen each other in years. Shouldn’t there at least be a tearful hug?

“They’re both pretty chill about this, huh…”

Just then, as if she’d remembered something, Meliz suddenly gestured toward me.

“Edel.”

“Y-Yes!”

‘Whoa!’

As I responded in shock, Licht’s gaze followed Meliz’s and landed on me. At some point, a gentle smile had appeared on his face. It was just a small smile, but it made the whole room feel brighter.

Ahh, dazzling.

Meliz lightly placed her hands on my shoulders and gently guided me forward, placing me between her tall figure and the even taller Licht.

‘Should I… bow or something?’

He was a prince, after all, so maybe I should be showing respect. I was about to awkwardly lower myself when Meliz’s confident voice rang out.

“You owe Edel a great deal of thanks, Your Highness.”

“…What?”

“She’s the one who’s been taking care of you every single day. For two whole years.”

Instead of urging me to greet him, Meliz held me firmly by the shoulders and began listing all the things I’d done over the years.

“Ah… I was just doing what you told me to, Meliz…”

“Every morning, noon, and night, she climbed all the way to the top floor to check the barrier and preservation spells, recorded her findings in reports, and didn’t miss a single day even when I was away.”

“I-I only did it because I’m a low-ranking mage and didn’t have much else to do!”

My face had long since turned red. Honestly, I hadn’t even cared for Licht for a full three months, which made it even more embarrassing. Licht just listened silently without interrupting Meliz, and he even seemed… interested?

“Now that His Highness is awake, Edel deserves a vacation. She’s been so diligent!”

‘Please stop embarrassing me, Meliz!’

I kept sending her desperate looks to stop, but Meliz didn’t budge. If anything, she seemed like she wanted to emphasize how much I’d done, like a mom saying, “My kid worked so hard because of you!”

‘Wow… I really am being doted on.’

A strange, bittersweet feeling passed through me.

“…Your name.”

After watching the whole scene in silence, Licht finally spoke. It had been at least ten minutes since Meliz started her speech. I looked at him nervously, unsure of how he’d react.

“Edel… that’s your name.”

He repeated it a few times, as if trying to memorize it.

“Edel.”

And then, it happened. Licht reached out his hand.

The movement was like something out of a painting—graceful and elegant.

“Edel.”

Then he gently lifted the hand I had awkwardly clasped in front of me. My right hand, to be exact.

“?!”

Licht slowly bent down and tilted his head, pressing his lips lightly to the back of my hand. His jet-black hair tickled my skin.

“On my honor,”

I could only stare, wide-eyed, as he whispered and let his lips barely brush against me. I wasn’t the only one stunned—Meliz looked surprised too, her brows furrowing ever so slightly.

“I vow to repay you with all my strength.”

“…?”

‘Why is this greeting so dramatic?’

If we were in Korea, I’d probably be waving my hands and saying, “Oh, please, you don’t have to!” But this caught me completely off guard—I had no idea what to say. Had my time away from the office destroyed all my social skills?

“Really, I was just doing what I was told!”

I stammered, blurting out whatever came to mind, trying to respond. Meanwhile, Licht still hadn’t let go of my hand.

‘What is with this guy…’

I mean, sure, he’s good-looking and all, and having him hold my hand while smiling at me felt nice—but also overwhelming.

‘Is it okay to tell a prince to let go of my hand?’

I glanced sideways at Meliz. Years of dealing with social hierarchies made me extra cautious.

Meliz still had her brow furrowed, clearly not pleased, but she didn’t say anything about Licht holding my hand.

‘My palm’s getting sweaty…’

I couldn’t possibly let the male lead get sweaty hands because of me. I needed to pull my hand away naturally…

“Um, this is a bit much—”

“It seems this mage is the reason I woke up.”

“…What?”

“It was your magic that woke me, Edel.”

“…Ah.”

The fact I had completely forgotten suddenly rushed back into my head.

‘That white light…’

Damn it. I’d only decided yesterday to keep that part a secret, and now it was already being exposed? I started fumbling for an excuse, but Meliz stepped forward and grabbed my other hand.

Her expression turned serious, too.

‘Wow, promising to repay me and then pulling this?’

I shot Licht a look full of blame. Waking up and immediately exposing my unique trait? His handsome face was starting to look a little annoying.

…No, never mind. He was still just plain handsome.

‘Both Edel and I are definitely weak to pretty faces.’

Meliz couldn’t possibly not recognize what the change in my magical color meant. It might even be the long-lost, powerful light attribute—the strongest counter to dark magic. I wanted to cry, but I kept a pure, innocent face and watched her reaction.

Who knows? Maybe their assumption was wrong. This wasn’t even in the novel!

But Meliz’s next words shattered my last shred of hope.

“If this magic really is what we think…”

“Then me waking up is proof enough, isn’t it?”

“….”

No, no. Don’t overreact. We still don’t know what this power is or why it appeared! I couldn’t give up that thin thread of hope.

With both of them still holding my hands, I nervously tried to argue.

“Um… Maybe you’re just feeling something weird because my water attribute is too faint?”

It sounded plausible. After all, Edel had always had an extremely weak water trait. Maybe the blue light had faded so much that it looked white! Yes, that must be it!

But Licht just chuckled softly at my hopeful look and replied,

“If you can’t tell the difference, you’re not a high-level mage.”

‘Well, excuse me, Mr. Fancy Pants.’

He had a point. That’s probably how he figured it out just by touching my hand.

“I’m afraid that’s not it, Edel. Did you notice anything unusual?”

Meliz now looked more troubled than before. For her to say that, something really had changed in my magic. Ugh…

“I just… thought the color of my magic looked a little different.”

Specifically, about ten minutes before that absurdly handsome prince over there woke up…

I lowered my head in resignation. Only then did Meliz and Licht finally let go of my hands.

I held my now-freed hands together like a poor prisoner just released.

“Do you know anything about the light attribute?”

“Only what I’ve read in books…”

Even in the novel, there were barely any mentions of light-attribute mages—white mages. For good reason. They didn’t appear.

‘So why did I suddenly become a white mage?!’

It was enough to make me want to scream and jump up and down. But no matter how much I grumbled inside, there was nothing I could do now. Especially since both of them fully believed it was my power that awakened Licht.

‘And I’m not even sure if it really was my magic…’

I nervously fidgeted with my fingers. Watching me, Meliz reached out and gently said,

“I don’t know why you’ve gained such power, but there’s no doubt your magic feels different now.”

Her hand, brushing through my messy hair, felt strangely full of concern.

The room, which had been so lively just moments ago, now fell into an awkward silence—like the chaos had all been a lie.