I was taken back to the ground floor, through the spiral stairs once again.

I'd walked up those stairs like a guest and returned like a prisoner.

Life's on a mission to teach me not to gamble.

We went beyond the stairs this time, past the kitchen and guard rooms.

At the end of the ground floor lay a groove camouflaged by the stone wall. It blended so well with the rest of the wall that unless you had Intermediate aura mastery, by that I meant heightened perception, you wouldn't even notice the hollowness behind it.

The guards, following Kael as she maintained her iron grip on my hands folded behind my back, walked past us and hit the chains connecting this part of the wall to a chandelier with their swords.

CLANG.

The sound echoed loudly through the corridor. In the next instant, the wall fell to the other side, into the underground, revealing a dark maw... the entrance to the underground prison.

"You wouldn't have to be here if you'd behaved," Kael murmured from behind me.

I stayed quiet.

That sounded more like a wife telling her husband, "We wouldn't have lost the house if you didn't gamble."

I was guided into the dark opening.

I'd known the entrance to the underground prison was here but had always assumed those long, shining chains were just decorations during all the years I'd been in this castle.

That's such a nice camouflage, actually.

As we walked into the dark maw, the torches mounted on the walls lit up one by one, illuminating the path before us in sequence like a chain reaction.

Those weren't actual fires, though.

Fire-attribute mana stones were designed to switch themselves on as soon as they sensed mana reserves near them. Since humans were good sources of mana reserves, the stones lit themselves up.

The glass casings around them gave the illusion of flickering flames. They were built for intimidation more than function.

The thin, stony corridor gradually opened into a huge compartment that had multiple small compartments, each closed off by thick iron doors.

The corridor was eerily quiet... so quiet I could hear my own breathing, the soft scrape of boots on stone.

The design didn't seem soundproof, which meant there weren't many prisoners here. I guess that's how it went when the only time someone entered the underground prison was either while on trial or awaiting execution.

The guards who'd followed us inside walked past and opened the door to one of the cells. The door opened with a loud, prolonged creeeeak that echoed down the empty corridor.

Kael released her grip on my arms.

I looked at my freedom-found arms.

My wrist area was now fully red, marked with her grip print and blood pooling beneath the skin where she'd held too tight.

If there was ever a competition for grip strength, I now knew exactly where my money would go.

She'd probably let me go as a last sign of respect, allowing me to step into the cell myself rather than being thrown in.

Which I did.

Not that I had much of an option.

The door slammed shut beside me with a heavy thud.

I looked around the cell. There was a rocky bed... though calling it a "bed" was generous. It was pretty much just an elevated section of the stone ground beneath me, barely raised a few inches.

There were no windows except for the small slit in the cell's iron door, barely wide enough to see through.

The only source of light was a single mana stone embedded in the high ceiling, casting a dim golden glow that made the whole cell feel like it was underwater.

I walked over to the stone bed and sat down slowly, my body aching from the long ride and the tension of everything that had just happened.

The stone was cold and Uncomfortable. Not that I expected anything different.

I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes.

I think I knew the reason why Cass hadn't brought the SBV into the trial. And if my guess was right, I was currently her scapegoat.

I think at this point in time, Cass was fighting a cold war with the SBV and the empire-funded Imperial Trade Syndicate.

The SBV was spreading rumors through priests that the Duchess was purposefully disallowing the miracle crop into the duchy because it would make farmers rich and less reliant on the subsidies and schemes from the Duchess's treasury.

The priests, in their post-prayer sessions, spread these rumors, claiming the miracle crop, which they called "the Emperor's gift to the people", was non-taxable by local governing bodies. That was a huge dent for the Duchess's treasury, and an appealing promise to struggling farmers.

These rumors had risen spite among farmers and activists.

Despite her efforts, Cass had very limited power when it came to SBV-appointed priests. And the trust the citizens had in those priests was being used like a sword to stab her in the back.

So Cass was now weaving a fishnet to silently eliminate the preachers of these rumors, and she couldn't afford to act openly against the SBV and make them cautious.

That must be why she'd deliberately brought me here, the person who'd repeatedly gone against the SBV, and made a Saytan decide my punishment.

That would make the SBV think Cass was turning a blind eye toward them, which was exactly what she needed from them right now. Give them a false sense of security while she worked behind the scenes.

And of course, that had worked too. The miracle crop had turned out to be a failed project in the end, solely because of Cass's maneuvering.

So why did I behave like an ass toward her despite knowing all this?

I spoke my mind. That's why.

I'd always hated Cass for this reason. She didn't care about her emotions or her own will.

She always looked at the bigger picture, always sacrificing the personal for the political.

That had cost her. It cost her the alliance with the Valkyries and the trust they'd put in her.

During her final times, when she needed support the most, none of us were around her. She died alone, surrounded by enemies, abandoned by those who should've stood by her side.

This time it would change.

The change would start from this prison.

From the person in my adjacent cell.

"Wow, who could be my new colleague? A murderer or a crooked corrupt?"

The voice came from the other side of the wall I was leaning on. Cheerful despite the circumstances.

I smiled despite myself.

"Good morning to you too, Betty," I said to the girl in the adjacent cell.

There was a pause. A long one.

"... how do you know my name?" Her voice came back, confused now, cautious. "Who are you?"

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