“I’m not… a Guide.”
My voice was already muffled from having my face grabbed, and now it came out even softer. Harris leaned in, as if daring me to speak louder.
I barely moved my lips at a distance so close it felt like we might kiss if I got any closer.
“I’m a Prophet!”
“…What?”
His clear, red eyes widened, and the weight of the hand covering my mouth lifted.
“A Prophet from another world!”
His face said it all—what kind of nonsense was that?
‘Well, it’s not exactly a lie.’
Just a scam, that’s all.
And if you want a lie to work, you have to mix in a little truth. I grabbed his hand and whispered.
“I know you. What you want right now, what you yearn for most, what you wish for most deeply, what you hate…”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Harris’s eyes flared like sparks.
“Why would someone like that be a slave…!”
“Then allow me to make my first prophecy.”
I met his burning eyes without flinching.
“I will get you out of this hell.”
“Nonsense—”
“Tomorrow.”
“…!”
Naturally, Harris didn’t believe a word I said.
“Bullshit.”
But he didn’t completely reject me either.
“Oh come on, at least have one.”
Harris looked at me—and at the bread I offered—with a face full of irritation.
“….”
Was he suspecting poison? I broke the bread in half and took a bite from one piece.
“No poison.”
“….”
“Tasty.”
The bread melted in my mouth, and it was so good I almost passed out. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a proper meal.
‘No idea when I last ate something like this.’
Even aside from the taste, just being able to chew and digest food without medical supervision was enough to move me to tears.
I was devouring it in a frenzy when my throat started to feel dry and I opened my eyes.
“Wha, where’s d drink (Where’s the drink)?”
With my mouth full of bread, I looked around at the supplies the servants had left behind.
“…Swallow first.”
Harris was still glaring at me, but his black power reached into the pile of supplies and pulled out something to drink.
“Thank you!”
I gulped down my bread and bowed politely. The lid popped open with a “pop,” revealing—
‘Milk. Fresh milk!’
Amazing—so fragrant! I immediately began drinking it down.
“Wow—it’s been so long…”
I’d been cut off from dairy products for ages. With tears in my eyes, I continued to eat.
“…Hmph.”
A sigh came from behind me. Harris took the remaining half of the bread from my hand.
“If you die, I’ll kill you too.”
“Yep, I know.”
I smiled and chewed on what was left of my bread.
‘Just because I’m locked up here, you think I’m some kind of fool?’
That was Harris’s first reaction.
And it was completely understandable. Even someone as powerful as him couldn’t escape this underground prison. So how could a mere slave like me possibly know a way out?
‘Because I read the novel.’
There were two main reasons Harris was trapped in this prison.
First…
I silently stared at him—more specifically, at the restraints on his wrists and ankles.
These restraints served two purposes: they limited his powers and prevented him from leaving a certain area.
‘They can be undone.’
‘As if.’
‘Not just the restraints—the magic circle too.’
‘…!’
Surprise broke across Harris’s face, which had previously been masked with disbelief.
The second barrier to Harris’s escape was a massive magic circle embedded into the underground prison itself.
Commissioned by Duke Godwin and hand-drawn by the Tower Master himself, the circle prevented any restrained individual from passing beyond a designated area.
‘It was basically an invisible wall… right?’
Every time Harris tried to leave, an unseen force would push him back.
Of course, this was top secret.
Unlike the visible restraints, the magic circle couldn’t be seen, so only a select few servants in Duke Godwin’s castle even knew about it.
‘…How do you know that?’
That’s why Harris had been so stunned.
How did I know?
I leaned in and whispered in his ear.
My unkempt black hair, never trimmed by anyone, fell over both of us like a veil.
‘I’ll tell you after we escape.’
‘….’
Oh, the look on Harris’s face then.
I bit into another piece of bread to stifle my laughter. Seriously, anything that wasn’t hospital food tasted amazing.
Harris’s red eyes kept staring at me, as if trying to figure out whether I was really a Guide or not.
Adrian had withdrawn his energy waves after regaining consciousness, which likely made Harris suspicious.
And I pretended not to know anything—“Waves? What’s that? I’m a Prophet, not a Guide”—never answering his questions.
Harris even reached out again to test if he could guide through me.
“…Are you really going through with this plan?”
But when our eyes met, he curled his fingers into a fist. His wariness wasn’t strong enough to overcome his aversion to Guiding.
“Yes, of course.”
I pulled out a sausage I’d found and shouted cheerfully.
“Right, guys?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“O-of course!”
My fellow slave comrades, usually silent, answered vigorously this time.
‘They better. After all the food they’ve eaten.’
This food had been meant for Harris. There’s no way the servants had included provisions for slaves out of kindness.
‘They probably didn’t even want to feed Harris, but if they didn’t, they’d die.’
Because Harris could consume energy in other, unconventional ways.
In exchange for sharing the supplies, I had made the other slaves agree to my plan.
And they hadn’t refused—because this was essentially their escape plan too.
“Eat well!”
“W-we will.”
“Thanks…”
Showing off with someone else’s stuff. Love it. Absolutely thrilling~!
I giggled and handed out the dry rations I’d found to the other slaves.
They hesitated at first, wary of Harris, but their hunger won out. They ran off as soon as they had food in hand, like being near him was suffocating.
‘I wonder if Adrian’s eating well?’
Since Harris didn’t trust me, he hadn’t let me go, so I had no idea what Adrian was up to.
“You.”
Just as I was scanning around, Harris suddenly spoke.
“Oh, do you want some too, Harris-nim? I saved the best part for—”
“How are you so sure?”
“Pardon?”
He gestured with his eyes. His gaze landed on the large prison doors.
“That those doors will open today.”
“Well, that’s…”
As I lowered my voice, Harris leaned in closer.
Normally, someone locked up this long in such a place would look and smell terrible—but not the mighty villain Harris.
‘Even his hair curls look like they were styled. His ears are beautiful too.’
That black-and-white contrast… sob, I need a camera. Swallowing my fan-girling, I whispered in his ear.
“Because I’m a Prophet from another world.”
“….”
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“Hah.”
Harris made a face of disbelief. His deep eyes sparkled with scarlet suspicion and doubt.
It was beautiful.
Even though he’d nearly killed me several times, I couldn’t look away. As we locked eyes, Harris opened his mouth to speak.
“You…”
CRACK—THUD!
At that moment, a heavy noise rang out. The sound of a door opening.
Everyone turned their heads toward it.
“Is it… really okay?”
It was the servants who had opened the prison door.
“I mean, it seems a bit early to be the safe time…”
Their voices were trembling with fear. Eric, the chief steward, shouted at them.
“Are you not in your right mind?!”
The secret behind the connection between Duke Godwin’s heir and the underground prison was absolutely forbidden knowledge.
Only a select few in the Godwin estate were even allowed to handle it.
‘If only it weren’t for that monster…’
Eric clenched his fist.
Normally, when a person is locked up alone for a long time, they either go mad or fall into despair.
The servants had to regularly provide Harris with food. Letting him go insane would only increase their own danger.
So they included books from the castle’s archives and news from the capital among the supplies.
‘Still, he should’ve sunk into despair by now.’
The world was moving on, and he was stuck here.
No matter what he learned, he couldn’t leave.
Despair sets in when an “unresolvable” situation repeats endlessly.
The servants desperately hoped Harris would become powerless. That way, they could siphon more of the estate’s funds for themselves.
Humiliating the noble blood trapped underground was just a bonus.
‘Just look at him. Who would believe he’s the great Duke Godwin’s heir?’
‘He’s not even worthy of being called that. Didn’t you hear? The Duke announced he’s picking a new successor.’
‘Puhaha, what’s our poor young master going to do now~’
Every time they came down, they made sure he heard their ridicule.
You’re nothing.
Even your own father abandoned you!
You’re not even human—you’re a monster.
A filthy, inferior little monster—!
They mocked, insulted, and abused the noble young man locked underground.
So that he’d break.
So that he’d become their plaything.
But—
‘Look at that pitiful thing, locked up like a beast—cough!’
Unfortunately for them, things weren’t going to go their way.
