Chapter 87
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 87
I was already the type to stay cooped up in my room, eating and sleeping in bed all day, so being locked in a dungeon didn’t change my daily routine much. Still, the prison environment itself seemed to be taking a psychological toll.
Honestly, I only had it this good because Jelly brought me a bed and clothes. Otherwise, I would’ve been stuck on a dirt floor in a blood-stained dress. If that had been the case, I would have broken out of here with Jelly’s help a long time ago.
Oh, and by the way, they didn’t confiscate the things Jelly brought. The guards were baffled by the sudden makeover of my cell, but they just assumed one of their own had taken a bribe to let the items in.
They started suspecting each other and made a huge fuss, even increasing the guard rotation to spy on one another. It was like watching a game of Mafia without an actual Mafia. Ta-da! The culprit was the moderator.
I was reading a book Jelly had brought, lost in these idle thoughts, when a guard kicked the iron bars. Excuse me, you bastard? I closed the book and looked up. I wondered what was going on, but it turned out he had just brought my meal.
“My, you certainly look comfortable.”
The sarcastic voice was familiar. It was him again—an imperial knight who, as a massive fan of Gabriel, had been deeply upset with him. I didn’t know if it was jealousy over Gabriel being “stolen” from him, but this knight always showed immense hostility toward me.
“Argenti, cut it out.”
The knight who had entered with him scolded him, but Argenti didn’t even pretend to listen.
“And who brought you that book? For a noble lady accused of assassinating royalty, you’re certainly getting the VIP treatment from the paladin who defended you.”
My dog brought it, actually.
“Do you think you’ll be able to lounge around like this for much longer? Soon, your head will be chopped off. No, wait. Since they say you practiced evil sorcery, perhaps you’ll burn at the stake instead.”
Sure, beheading or burning at the stake—both are classic deaths for a villainess.
“Since you’re going to die soon anyway, I suppose you won’t be needing this.”
The knight sneered and threw my meal onto the floor. To go out of his way to bring it just to dump it right in front of me… what’s with this guy’s personality? Doesn’t he know that when he dies, he’ll have to eat every single scrap of food he ever wasted?
This kind of childish bullying is something people should grow out of after elementary school. But because this damn RoFan world doesn’t have compulsory education, they never graduate from it, which is why an imperial knight behaves like this.
Most people are usually too terrified to even make eye contact with me. Is he not scared at all? This is the first time I’ve been treated like this since possessing Evangeline. Or maybe, like someone looking at a wild beast in a zoo cage, he feels safe behind the iron bars and is emboldened to pick a fight.
When I didn’t react, the knight pouted. I didn’t know what kind of reaction he was hoping for, but I could just call Jelly later and have a meal delivered straight from the Rohanson mansion. That food was so delicious that comparing it to this prison slop would be an insult, so I didn’t care in the slightest.
As expected, ignoring people like him is the best response. Left huffing and puffing because of my silence, the knight was eventually forced to leave when the shift change arrived.
The next guards on shift were a gloomy-looking knight and a massive, thug-like knight.
Whatever rough patch he’d been through, the gloomy knight arrived with patches of gauze plastered all over his face. Seeing him limp, it looked like he had either been sparring or gotten into a real fight. Making an injured man work… the imperial palace must be facing a severe labor shortage.
The gloomy knight limped over and miserably cleaned up the food the previous guard had dumped. The other guy, who had entered as his partner, seemed to have zero sense of camaraderie or basic decency, just standing there watching the injured man clean. Wait. This isn’t workplace bullying, is it?
The thug-like knight just stood by the door, staring blankly, and soon he was even nodding off. Eventually, deciding to get some proper sleep, he dragged over a chair and settled in.
“Don’t try anything funny. I’ve got my eyes on you.”
The thug muttered to himself about how he couldn’t understand why he was so sleepy, then leaned back in his chair and fell fast asleep. He slept so deeply that he even started snoring. Well, it was the crack of dawn, so it was understandable.
Even after the thug fell asleep, the gloomy knight kept cleaning the floor.
“How did you get so badly hurt?”
Feeling a pang of sympathy, I asked him what had happened. The gloomy knight gasped in surprise and looked at me, then quickly glanced over at the sleeping thug.
Ah, so that guy beat him up! Look at him, too terrified to speak because the culprit is right next to him… It really is workplace bullying! Workplace violence was happening right before my eyes, but since I was the one locked in a cell, there was nothing I could do to help.
“…It’s because of you.”
What? Because of me? As I stared at him in bewilderment, the gloomy knight whispered under his breath, venting his resentment.
“I ended up like this because of you. They’re accusing me of taking bribes to let you have all these things in your cell.”
Ah. So this gloomy knight was the poor soul falsely accused of being the Mafia in our Mafia-less game. In that case, it really was my fault. Was he being bullied because of me? My conscience, which I thought had long since withered away, reared its head. If only I could get in touch with Gabriel, I could probably get this sorted out.
But Gabriel hadn’t come to visit. Last time, not only had he spilled state secrets to me, but he had also made the unreasonable demand that we be left alone. It was highly likely his visitation rights had been revoked. I wanted to send a message through Jelly, but Jelly kept complaining that Gabriel was never left alone and wasn’t even sleeping, making it impossible to get close to him.
Since he’d already been branded the Mafia anyway, maybe I could ask him to help me contact Gabriel so his suffering wouldn’t be in vain? No, was that too shameless?
Just then, the thug-like knight woke up. Seeing the gloomy knight whispering to me, he seemed to take it as definitive proof of their collusion.
Living up to his thuggish appearance, the man grabbed the gloomy knight by the hair and began beating him. He did it right in front of the iron bars, clearly putting on a show for my benefit.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Watching him abuse someone right in front of me made my blood boil, and I demanded an answer. He might look like a thug, but wasn’t he still an imperial knight? How could a knight use violence against his own comrade?
“What does it look like? I’m teaching him some manners.”
He clearly didn’t realize how terrifying a villainess could be just because I was behind bars. But I had a trump card up my sleeve.
“Pudding.”
My new secret weapon was none other than Pudding. Ever since he transformed into a drop-dead gorgeous man, it seemed whatever restrictions he had were lifted, and he had started casting magic left and right. Perhaps his “vessel” had been too small when he was young, but now that he was fully grown, he could wield his full power. I recalled reading a similar setting in some novel.
If Jelly’s specialty was teleportation, Pudding’s was invisibility. Though he remained unseen, the moment I called his name, he would assist me. Our Jelly’s specialty was strictly teleportation; he couldn’t do invisibility magic to save his life. He claimed his presence was simply too massive to be concealed. Sure, sure, whatever you say…
Pudding must have grabbed him by the collar, because the thug was suddenly hoisted into the air. He clutched at his throat, choking and thrashing wildly as he tried to break free. Honestly, what a drama queen. Pudding’s wrists looked so fragile they might snap; how much force could he possibly be applying for this guy to react like that?
“Shouldn’t you be the one learning some manners, Sir?”
I hoped he would learn a lesson in empathy. Pudding, who must have picked up the gesture from somewhere, gave the thug a cute, thorough shaking before dropping him.
“Gasp! Heff… Cough!”
Perhaps embarrassed by his own dramatic display, the thug collapsed onto the floor and didn’t move a muscle.
“What in the… Is he dead?”
No way. He was just overacting. Dead? Please. Our Pudding was far too soft-hearted to even kill a bug. Well, actually, he did go hunting in the wild with Jelly quite often, so he definitely killed animals. But that was just to survive. He would never kill a human.
“He’ll get back up.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the thug staggered to his feet. I couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed by his overreaction or genuinely reflecting on his actions, but his head was bowed low.
“He won’t be laying a hand on you again.”
Now that he’d had a taste of his own medicine, and seeing how he hung his head, there was no way he’d dare bully anyone again. He’d be on his best behavior for a while, at least. In the meantime, I should suggest a career change. Since the imperial knights all seemed to be out of their minds, I should ask if he wanted to transfer to Gabriel’s faction. First, though, I needed to get rid of this thug who was still standing there with his head bowed.
“Why don’t you run along now?”
If I were in his shoes, I would have looked for a hole to crawl into. Given the chance to escape, the thug scrambled out of the dungeon. Now, only Gloomy and I remained.
“Want some help?”
Even with my offer, Gloomy hesitated. You dummy, this is when you’re supposed to ask for help! Of course, considering I was a suspect in the assassination of the Crown Prince and currently locked in a cell, I could understand why he found me untrustworthy.
* * *
“Antenor, Polus. Get ready for shift change.”
The voice calling their names finally put a stop to the kicking. Antenor lay collapsed on the floor, clutching his bruised stomach as he gasped for air. Right above him, he could hear the snickering of his colleagues, their arms slung over each other’s shoulders.
“Polus, man. What are you going to do if you kill him? You’ve been going way too far lately.”
“Cut the crap. Colleague, my ass. He’s just a dirty bastard who grovels for money. This is why you should never entrust important duties to lowborn trash. Ptui.”
Spit landed squarely on Antenor’s face. Refusing to soil his cherished knight’s uniform with the filthy saliva, Antenor rubbed his face against the dirt floor instead. The wet spit caused sand to cling to his cheek.
“I… told you. I never took any bribes.”
“The cell turned into a luxury hotel on your watch, and you still want to play innocent? You shameless bastard.”
Polus sneered, cracking his thick neck from side to side.