Episode 2
“Prisoner 14356, move it!”
A guard shoved me forward, and I stumbled into the iron-barred cell. As a Class 1 prisoner, I was granted the luxury of solitary confinement.
Rubbing my sore wrists—still raw from the restraints—I trudged inside and grabbed the fresh prison uniform laid out for me. A crumpled newspaper fluttered to the floor.
[Breaking News: Saint Veronica Exposed as a Witch!]
The empire reels as the infamous fraudster Veronica Valentine’s true nature is unveiled. Court documents confirm she was expelled from seminary school and concealed her past. Victims of her scams expressed outrage, stating—
I balled up the paper and hurled it into the corner.
After changing out of my damp clothes, I collapsed onto the hard wooden bunk, memories flashing behind my eyelids.
How did my life come to this?
I was once a candidate for sainthood. Then the real saint appeared, and I was discarded. Expelled from seminary, drowning in debt—I fled across the border and became a con artist.
Hey, I worked with what I had.
My specialty? Fake blessings for desperate families with sick loved ones.
“I know it was rotten,” I muttered, kicking my legs against the bed. “But prayers never cured anyone—doctors did! I just sold peace of mind!”
Business had been smooth… until that noble’s son died under my “divine care.”
“Why’d he have to croak and turn me into a witch?!” I writhed, chains clanking against the wall.
“Prisoner 14356! Silence!” A guard slammed his baton against the bars. I bit my lip, feigning obedience as he sneered, “What’s the ruckus?”
“Can’t I say I’ve been wronged? I am wronged!”
“They all say that,” he scoffed. “Listen to inmates, and Fortress Prison’s full of innocent angels.”
“I’m not a witch!”
“Keep lying. Your case was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Court. Know what that means?”
My blood froze.
“A witch trial,” he grinned. “Won’t be long now. Better pray while you can.”
As his laughter faded, I stared at the ceiling, nails digging into my palms.
Burning. Hanging. No way out.
Unless—
“I’ll escape.”
The decision took less than an hour. Even if caught, being a fugitive beat being a witch’s pyre-kindling.
But Fortress Prison was a cliffside fortress surrounded by sea—the most escape-proof hellhole in the empire.
Hopeless. Unless…
My gaze snapped to the opposite cell.
There, chained like a broken flower against the wall, was Richard Aberdeen—the empire’s most decorated knight, now its most infamous prisoner.
Broad-shouldered, towering, the man who’d once single-handedly rescued hostages from pirates.
If anyone can smash through Fortress, it’s him.
Problem? Convincing him to take me.
I crept to the bars, flashing my most saintly (fake) smile.
“Hey there.”
Richard lifted his head. Crimson eyes, sharp as shattered glass, locked onto me.
“Let’s escape together,” I whispered.
He stared. Then—
“You’re insane.”
“Perfectly sane!” I pressed a hand to my heart. “I swear on the gods!”
His disbelief didn’t waver. Damn knights and their trust issues.
“We’re doing this,” I insisted. “With your strength and my wits, we’ll—”
“No.”
Oh, it’s on.
