"Why did you kidnap me?" Tania widened her eyes, her voice trembled as if she had been struck by lightning, as the figure of a foreign man approached as if stalking her life. "Lord Jason," she hissed again, staring intently at Baron Jason who was grinning right in front of her.
There hasn't been any answer from him, making her speculate on many things.
'What is he thinking?' She thought, obscured by the gloomy gloom of the prison. The cold pierced through her weak tailbone. 'Did he think kidnapping me would help him get what he wanted? Didn't he know Lyra was in Wereal? So isn't that obvious? She will never be able to go to save me. Because before that happens she will die caught by Duke KIeo.'
"What do you think?" squeaked Baron Jason, raising an eyebrow triumphantly.
Shivering, even more, Tania backed away without realizing it, realizing what kind of petty plan Baron Jason had.
'He wants her dead,' she prepared in her heart, squealing after feeling her back hit the prison wall, emitting the dead-air even more intensely. Her head shook without realizing it, her hands gripping the hem of the shabby dress that clung to her body, as a form of one of Mr. Pinn's generosity.
Suddenly Baron Jason grabbed and gripped Tania's fragile wrist, squeezing it as if he wanted to break it, ignoring her cries. Anger had blinded his eyes, making him almost want to destroy her.
Now it felt like he had no feelings for Lyra anymore. All that's left is a grudge because of the hurt. He just wanted to destroy Lyra at any cost.
"My Lord, it hurts," she whined, crying easily. It felt like her heart was broken because the figure of the man she had always admired was a terrible monster.
Even though Tania had admired Baron Jason so much, she blocked all the handsome and kind men around her.
Several rich merchants and peasants tried to approach her, but her eyes never even glanced at them, only straightening their focus when Baron Jason's figure came to pick up Lyra.
Even Tania's admiration has not faded even though Baron Jason burned the house of the three of them, then made her a prisoner for debt redemption. Her sincere feelings are still blooming, making her wish he could return to his former nature.
"Lord Jason seems like a quiet person," she commented on one occasion as Gerald's bakery had just closed.
Lyra squinted in denial. "Not at all. He is very talkative and often boasts. It was because he was often belittled and ostracized."
"Excluded," Tania whispered, repeating those words while remembering her past. In an instant, her heart fell for Baron Jason's charm, because of his good looks and also a deep sense of empathy.
But now Tania seems doubtful about her feelings because it turns out that Baron Jason is very different from her. She had never resorted to dirty means to avenge someone, it was either because she still had an overly open heart or because her problems weren't too much.
Her thoughts were interrupted as he took a knife from under his robes, aimed it at her neck. "Let's see if your friend will come to save you soon."
Tania screamed when she felt the tip of the knife stabbing her neck causing her to bleed. When her body struggled and almost ran away, Baron Jason's grip was still holding her too tightly.
"My Lord! Do not do this!" Tania pleaded, struggling in vain. "Isn't she in Wereal? She couldn't possibly come out to save me."
"Then you'd better die," said Baron Jason lightly. "What is the use of a girl like you living? You're just a useless poor folk."
"Useless bastard!" Instead of Baron Jason's voice, Tania heard someone else's voice, who had been terrorizing and tormenting her for a long time. The voices are even still a nightmare to this day, slowly driving her insane until she dies.
Her face was paralyzed in sorrow, while various kinds of physical torture seemed to hit her skin again. Biting her lip, tears rolled down with the slump.
Baron Jason snorted because he felt he had succeeded in cornering Tania, even unconsciously thrusting the tip of the knife deeper into her neck. "You do have to cry. Keep crying like that! Pray helplessly! Ask your friend to come over!"
Her knees trembled, almost collapsing violently until then her consciousness rose rapidly as the pain in her neck intensified.
"Argh!" she moaned, pushing him in reflex, her hands covering her bloody neck. Wide and teary-eyed when she saw her hands were covered with her blood.
Roaring, she jumped because he felt trampled. His hands tugged at her hair, dragged her, and jerked her until she fell. Her moans didn't melt his heart at all, although the sound of bones breaking could be heard clearly.
"I wonder if Pinn didn't do a good job," he sneered, looking at her with disdain. His leg kicked her pretty hard, hitting her belly as if it was going to pierce her back. "Why is your body still clean of wounds? That old fart should have tortured you!"
"Argh!" She roared again as he kicked her stomach even harder. Her tears flowed more profusely, while her cheeks pressed against the damp and dirty prison soil. Various images flashed around her, about her past and also her surrender to life.
She would have almost died if Lyra had not come to help her.
"Let me do that," he snorted. "Let me torture you as a form of loss your friend has done!" Kicked Tania again, then slapped her, hitting her like a raging devil. "You might ask why I tortured you instead of her." Kicked again, making her nose bleed. "Because you are a bad friend. You should have realized her wrong attitude, but you just kept quiet." Now slap. "You might as well laugh together, you're laughing at me!"
"No!" Tania roared, cowering after the torture ended. Her hands and body trembled as if paralyzed in an instant. "We never laugh at you. We've advised her."
"Does that mean you agree she's guilty?" He squeaked as he saw her nod weakly. "Then you also agree that I should torture her to death?" At first, he thought she would nod, then he would truly know how disgusting commoners were, so he would never regret torturing them.
But strangely she shook her head firmly. Even in her bloody state, she crawled to hug his knees and begged. "No, My Lord," she pleaded, trembling and dying. "Don't torture Lyra to death!" She continued. "She just doesn't understand what she's doing. She's just stuck in a black hole." Coughing and bleeding again. "Just torture me." She was panting. "Just torture me until I die."
***