Episode 10
I quietly sat back down.
No matter how I ate—shoving food into my face or licking the plate—anything would be better than having Kyle feed me himself.
“We’ve got plenty of time. I’m sure we’ll get the chance to try that next time.”
I shot Kyle a glare filled with undisguised contempt. I would escape before that happened—no matter what.
But for now, I wanted to maintain some dignity while eating in front of him.
Sure, I could eat even with handcuffs on, but to fumble and spill food like a slob in front of the elegant and arrogant Kyle? That would be a blow to my pride.
“Take off the cuffs.”
“Hmm…”
Ever the meticulous bastard, he’d only put a spoon and what looked like a baby’s fork in front of me—yet he was still hesitating?
As my face grew darker by the second, Kyle gave a small chuckle, came over, and removed the handcuffs. Then he sat down across from me and watched as I ate.
“Bon appétit, my dear Veronica.”
Ugh. I grimaced and continued eating, determined to get through this meal with my spoon.
Just as I was enduring his gaze and steadily working through the food, there was a knock, and a guard entered the room.
“As per your earlier instru— Oh, I didn’t know you were dining.”
Apparently, seeing my back made the guard think a guest was present. He froze mid-exit when he finally noticed I was the one seated at the table.
He looked confused when he saw the prison uniform.
You’re not the only one who doesn’t get what’s going on here. I had no idea either.
I calmly munched like a goat chewing cud. His face grew even more perplexed.
“If you’ve realized we’re eating, then you should leave.”
“A-Ah, yes, sir.”
Kyle’s tone was cold and commanding—completely different from how he usually spoke to me.
The guard closed the door and left. He looked like he had a lot of questions, but he wisely chose not to ask them.
I guess working under someone like Kyle required that kind of restraint.
It was also thanks to Kyle that I hadn’t been tortured by the other guards. Not that I felt grateful or anything.
I stopped eating and stared straight at him.
“Already finished?”
“What’s your angle?”
I wiped my mouth harshly with a napkin and finally voiced the question that had been on my mind.
I’d tried figuring it out myself, but there was no way I’d get the answer unless Kyle told me directly.
“Why are you being so… why are you treating me differently?”
I couldn’t bring myself to say nice.
Everyone in this prison could see that Kyle treated me unlike any other prisoner.
Not that I appreciated it, but that special treatment had helped me stay relatively unharmed.
Still, if the man responsible for locking me up was the same one giving me that “special treatment,” that changed things. Was it guilt? Was this cold-hearted man actually feeling guilty for accusing me of witchcraft?
But his answer was, as expected, completely incomprehensible.
“Hmm, let’s see. I guess because you caught my eye?”
“What? That’s your reason?”
“What more do I need? Honestly, I do feel bad. If you hadn’t met me, you probably wouldn’t be in Fortress Prison right now.”
Kyle leaned lazily back in his chair, but surprisingly, there was a flicker of genuine emotion on his face.
It looked like self-loathing. Or maybe pity. A long-standing, tangled emotion he couldn’t even make sense of himself.
“Then we probably wouldn’t be entangled like this, either.”
“What do you mean, ‘you wouldn’t be in Fortress Prison’?”
Something in Kyle’s self-deprecating tone felt ominous, and I clenched my fists under the table.
Then he leaned in and whispered, as if sharing a secret.
“The victim’s death wasn’t your fault.”
“…!”
“I’m the one who did it.”
I forgot to blink.
I think I forgot how to breathe.
My bloodshot eyes were locked on him, unable to look away.
“You… I’ll kill you!”
I screamed like a beast and lunged across the table, grabbing Kyle by the throat.
Even as I choked him, he smiled faintly. That smile seemed pitiful, but I was too blinded by rage to notice.
The tablecloth fell, dishes shattered. The crash brought the guards bursting into the room.
Even as they wrestled me off him, I kept glaring at Kyle with bloodshot eyes.
Richard, locked in the underground prison, looked stunned when I returned, dragged in screaming like a madwoman.
I thrashed and cursed until a guard kicked me and shoved me back into the cell.
They chained my hands to a wall fixture that had never been used before. I buried my face in my knees and howled like an animal.
It was so unfair, I couldn’t stand it.
I’d thought the nobleman’s death was punishment for impersonating a saint—but it wasn’t even that.
If I’d been executed without ever knowing the truth, maybe it wouldn’t have hurt this much.
“Uhh… nghh… hhhnng…”
After the guards hurled insults and left, the only sound in the underground cell was my sobbing.
Hearing me break down, Richard anxiously paced in front of his cell bars. But I didn’t even see him.
It was hours before I stopped crying and came to my senses. My head throbbed like it was splitting, and my eyes burned.
In the dark cell, with only the quiet sound of waves in the distance, I slumped against the wall, exhausted.
As if he’d been waiting for me to calm down, Richard finally spoke.
“Did something happen?”
“…”
“Tell me what happened. We’re plotting an escape together—there’s no need for secrets.”
“…Do you know what’s funny? I also thought I caused that noble’s death.”
Richard had moved close, as if ready to respond, but froze, lips parted.
I figured. What I said sounded like a confession of guilt—especially in Fortress Prison, where the worst criminals were kept.
Whether Richard reacted or not, I kept staring at the wall and muttered,
“I didn’t think I was innocent. Maybe I didn’t deserve execution, but I thought being imprisoned was fair punishment for all the scams I’ve pulled.”
I’d shouted how unfair it was, but deep down, I’d always felt that way. That maybe this was inevitable.
A con artist ending up in prison made too much sense. Maybe I’d always been destined for Fortress.
It was a thought someone like Richard could never understand.
“No one lives a life without sin. If you think about it, we’re all guilty of something.”
Coming from someone who looked like he could live without laws, it was almost hard to believe.
Then again, considering his saintly personality, maybe it wasn’t so strange.
Anyway, I knew that was the most comfort he could offer.
Maybe that was the difference between Richard and me. I denied my sins even after committing them; Richard claimed guilt for things he hadn’t even done.
I spoke the truth I had just learned, a truth that still left me hollow.
“But I didn’t kill him. Turns out someone else did.”
“What…!”
Unlike Richard, I wasn’t shocked. The sudden death of the lord’s son had seemed odd from the beginning.
I’d vaguely suspected there might be something else behind it.
What infuriated me was that Kyle was the one who threw me into this mess. That I didn’t even need to die for a crime I didn’t commit.
What happened to me wasn’t the result of my sins, but someone else’s malice. A terrible twist of fate.
Richard, who had clearly believed I was guilty all along, suddenly grew furious.
“This is unacceptable. The truth must be revealed. You must be retried—the case re-investigated!”
I leaned my head weakly against the wall and whispered,
“It’s too late. It’s already over.”
“It’s not too late. If we find new evidence or witnesses, your innocence can still be proven.”
“No one will believe me.”
My quiet certainty seemed to break his patience.
“Why are you giving up already?!”
“Because I’m a witch.”
I whispered the cruel truth. Richard’s grip on the bars loosened, and his hand slowly dropped.
I spoke in a flat, cold voice, as if stating the obvious.
“Because I’m a witch. No one’s ever going to believe I’m innocent.”
