CH 4

Lailene woke up in the morning clutching her hair.

'Eww… …. It's the head.'

Not only was this body fragile, but residual symptoms such as headaches and fever plagued the body from time to time.

Thanks to that, I wasn't feeling well.

Is this why the original Rylane was hysterical?

Lailene stood up in front of the mirror. Her complexion was as pale as her physical condition.

Lailene, who was helplessly fixing her face, went to the closet to get dressed.

However, I realized that there is no closet in the room.

'The girl from the rich family also had a bad point.'

People from the duke's family had to dress appropriately, whether it was a family luncheon or going out for a walk in the neighborhood.

Lailene thought it was a fatal flaw and pulled the sling line.

smart.

Soon after, someone knocked on the door.

“This is Helen.”

fast… …!

If it was the usual Lailene, she would have issued a disobedience even if it was a little late, so she would have arrived quickly.

In her heart, Lailene recalled Helen's hard work once again.

"Come in."

Permission was granted, and Helen appeared.

“What is it, lady?”

“I’m going out, so prepare some clothes.”

Helen stood still and blinked as if puzzled by this order.

'Why are you quiet?'

As usual, 'yes!' I would have moved quickly.

When our eyes met, Helen hurriedly lowered her head.

"Yes… …! All right."

There must have been a cognitive error for a while.

Helen disappeared swiftly as usual. And soon came out fancy clothes.

Rylaine quietly looked down at her clothes.

'The costumes are too fancy for going to a dungeon.'

As she frowned, Helen, misunderstood, hurriedly removed her dress.

“M-If you don’t like it, I’ll take another colonel.”

It's not that I don't like it, but... … too much.

The dress itself was pretty.

It was a light pink silk fabric with ivory embroidered lace, reminiscent of cherry blossoms in full bloom.

Clearly, Lailenne's discernment in the original work was high.

Not only the decorations in the room, but also the dresses they had were stylish in design.

But it wasn't a light pink dress like this in a dark dungeon.

“Bring me something simpler and darker.”

Helen blinked again in silence. Then, he quickly lowered his head and asked.

"I… … miss. If you will excuse me, may I ask where you are going today?”

I was curious about this, so I wonder if you stayed quiet when I asked you to prepare clothes earlier.

Well, Rylane rarely leaves the room unless she has a schedule with her family.

“I’m going to the dungeon.”

Helen opened her eyes wide. Soon, curiosity filled his brown eyes.

Hesitating, I wondered why, but it seemed like he didn't dare to ask.

Rylenne spoke first to alleviate her curiosity.

"Because I've decided to keep an eye on Aiden."

“… … Aiden Bedsian?”

“Yes, so I have to go to the dungeon every day for the time being.”

Helen was stunned for a moment.

It seems surprising that a lady who has been rolling around the room every day is doing something.

“But the lady hates staying in a filthy place like a dungeon… … Huh!”

Maybe Helen thought she was presumptuous, so she hurriedly shut my mouth.

However, Lailene had already listened to Helen and agreed in her heart.

'Exactly… ….'

The original Lailenne had a terrible sense of aesthetics and was a person who cared about cleanliness to the extent that it was close to mysophobia.

You could tell by looking at the polished decorations and even the corners of the room, which seemed to have been carefully selected one by one, without a speck of dust.

'It's really the crystallization of sensitivity.'

Lailene didn't want to see Helen again, white as a corpse, so she pretended not to hear.

Helen secretly let out a sigh of relief and took back the dress she had brought.

“I’m fine then… … I'll look for some clothes."

Helen was unsure if such a dress existed.

However, Helen, a competent handmaid, seemed to be found anywhere.

This time it took quite a while.

I was banging my hands on the table with my arms crossed when Helen appeared.

In Helen's hand was a navy-blue suit.

“I looked all over the dressing room, but the only dark clothes were the family robes… ….”

Helen noticed and unfolded her robe.

'A common robe in the house?'

The robe had no design other than a picture of an eagle painted on the right side of the chest.

'Just right!'

However, on the outside, he pretended to be helpless and picked up the robe with a haughty expression.

“I can't help it. Do it with this.”

Helen didn't seem to believe that she had chosen this dark blue robe, but Rylaine didn't care.

I'm not going to a party, so I can't just pick out clothes all day.

Rylaine bit Helen and put on her robe.

And while taking out the hair that was tucked into her robe, Rylenne noticed something strange on her neck.

'What is this… …?'

There was a red spot on his neck that spread like a splatter of paint.

It was not unsightly because it was hidden by the hair, but the shape was a bit peculiar.

Is it liking a star shape?

However, it soon gained interest.

It's not that it's itchy, it's just that it's like freckles.

Thanks to the navy-blue robe, Rylenne was able to descend into the dark dungeon without attracting much attention.

Below, a guard guarded the prison. As Rylenne approached, he lowered his spear and blocked the path.

"Who are you?"

“I am Rylene Ergen.”

Lailene took off her robe and proved that she was a member of the family. The dark blue color and the wall were the symbols of Duke Ergen.

The jailer hastily removed the spear.

“I’m sorry. I didn't hear from you that you would be coming."

It seemed that Kaverion hadn't told them beforehand.

'Anyway, he pretended to be busy and did everything himself.'

Lailene grunted inwardly and spoke to the jailer.

"I'm going to keep an eye on Aiden from today."

"Yes… …? Are you Lailenne?”

boring, boring

Everyone had the same reaction.

From the family, Helen, to the jailer.

Lailene repeated what she had been saying like a parrot.

“Now I will come once or twice a day to check on Aiden. If anything goes wrong with Aiden, let me know.”

"Yes… …. All right."

The guard nodded with a puzzled expression. Rylenne inspected the prison.

'Where's Aiden?'

The prison in the duchy had a total of five cells, but it was empty.

I couldn't find it no matter how much I searched.

As Lailene looked around, the jailer asked.

“Are you looking for Aiden Bedsian?”

“So, where is he?”

“I am in a special cell.”

special cell... …?

“Anyway, from the perspective of Duke Ergen, he is a serious criminal. Follow me, I will guide you.”

The jailer took a long key and a lantern and walked away.

As they walked, the light gradually faded. When we reached the depths of the prison, we could only see with a lantern.

No matter how deep it was, not a single light entered this place.

“Here.”

It was impressive to see that the cell was surrounded by iron walls like a fortress.

Only this place was made of iron walls, not iron cages.

“Would you like to meet Aiden Bedsian right away?”

Rylane quickly shook her head.

"No, today I'm just going to check on him from a distance."

"All right. Then look through the window.”

The jailer reached for the window on the door. Lailene swallowed her saliva and held her breath as she waited for the window to open.

When the window opened, a small space came into view.

The inside of the cell was less dark than the hallway leading here, but it was still dark.

There was a crouching creature in the center.

'Aiden... …!'

He didn't budge, either because he didn't hear the window opening, or because he knew but didn't want to pretend to know.

Aiden's ankles were fastened with thick shackles attached to the wall.

And what caught my eye... ….

'Why are you so skinny?'

It was Aiden's extremely thin body.

You said you came just a week ago.

Rylaine frowned and asked the guard.

“How much food are you feeding Aiden Bedsian?”

“A piece of bread, a glass of water.”

“Are you talking about one meal?”

“This is how much you eat per day.”

Rylaine was shocked.

It wasn't even a meal for an adult man.

“Whose order is this?”

“This is an order from Kaverion.”

forgot for a while

Kaverion was the one who hated Aiden the most among the members of the Duke of Ergen.

Both were the eldest sons of the family, so there was a reason they were compared since childhood, but since Aiden killed many of Kaverion's subordinates in this war, the hostility grew even more.

'But this isn't it.'

Don't you know what a prisoner does? Even if you hate it, you must keep it alive!

"I… … It wasn't like this from the beginning, it was after 'that job' on the first day.”

“What is that?”

“Don't you remember? Isn't Kaverion-nim very angry?"

'The first day Aiden was taken prisoner... …?'

Lailene recalled the memory of that day.

* * *

Perhaps because of the cloudy sky, the scene in my memory felt dull.

That day, Aiden walked in here with his hands tied tightly to a rope.

All the members of the Duke Ergen gathered to watch the scene.

Aiden, who had just been captured after fighting a war, had blood splattered here and there. There was still life in his eyes.

Even though he was chained up, he was threatening enough.

“Kneel!”

Upon reaching the cell, the knight knocked him down on his knees.

Aiden raised his head and glared at the approaching Kaverion. he got down on one knee and grabbed his chin.

“How does it feel to be here?”

“… … .”

Aiden only glared at Kaverion but did not respond.

“I ask again, how does it feel to be here?”

A heavy silence fell.

Then,

ah-!

Kaverion raised his big hand high and slapped Aiden's cheek with an expressionless face.

Aiden's head turned with a strong friction sound.

“Cool... ….”

Blood flowed from Aiden's mouth.

'You are too much.'

Lailene felt painful just thinking about that memory.

“I will ask you one last time, how are you feeling?”

'Please answer... …!'

Even knowing that it was the past, Rylenne prayed inwardly. However, Aiden remained silent.

Aww-!

This time, the head turned the other way. Aiden's stiff head eventually turned downward.

He was breathing hard.

“It wouldn’t be a situation to show pride.”

Kaverion's voice was cold.

“Two high-ranking knights, five low-ranking knights, and fifteen soldiers of the Duke of Ergen you killed.”

“… … .”

“I want to tear you to death even now, but I’m holding back.”

I felt it again, but Kaverion cared for his subordinates very much.

This time, he made a lot of sacrifices and gave him a lot of sense of loss.

That's why he treated Aiden so harshly.

“There was no answer until the end. Let’s see how far it goes with that petty pride.”

Kaverion got up and left the cell and called the jailer.

“Haele.”

"Yes… …!”

Kaverion's cold eyes turned to Aiden.

“Just give him the bare minimum of water and food until he bows his head in apology.”