Chapter 75
Chapter 75: The Imprisoned Princess
「I knew you wouldn’t listen to my advice . God made humans foolish after all . 」
Cynical words were spilled one after another . This high-pitched voice was a voice that stuck on my ears .
The moment I tried to move my body in response to this voice, I felt an excruciating pain on my shoulder and hand . It felt as if someone was trying to rub my wounds with heated salt .
I sobbed silently, and then, I opened my eyes . All I could see from my field of vision was a random ceiling from an unknown place . I could see a sequence of beautifully arranged stone bricks . Then, I realized that I laid down . I probably woke up after falling unconscious .
Where was this place?
My memory was vague, but I remembered what happened . In front of the Royal Palace, elf soldiers surrounded my party and me . Afterwards, as I tried to resist them my body was inflicted with several arrows . I thought that my reckless action would make me lose my neck . However, here I was . Being alive meant that this place was probably a prison .
If my life was spared, perhaps Caria, Filaret and Matia’s lives were spared as well . Yes, let’s pray for their safety .
As my consciousness returned, I felt that my hand and shoulder ached tremendously . I even felt agony on my lungs when I breathed deeply as I began to move .
「Hey . If you can move by yourself, then you can manage to take your own medicine, right? If you are my cellmate, you must try to lighten my burden a bit . 」
My eyes quivered a little . My eyesight was still vague . But, it cleared up over time . The faint outline emerged in front of me . This person’s face was immaculate as if it were a doll .
The Elf Princess . The Destroyer . Eldith the monster .
I could feel my blood running to my face . My heart and spirit were terrified at the same time . Why was she here? Actually, I didn’t even know where I was . I didn’t know if this place was really a prison . Either way, this was a strange occurrence . Why would she be by my side? I couldn’t understand this bizarre situation .
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「…What are you talking about? What really happened? I should be the one closer to the depths of hell, and yet, here I am . 」
My lips trembled while I laid down in bed .
Speaking of which, this bed . I’ve just noticed it now, but I was lying on a comfortable bed . It seemed quite luxurious . I didn’t feel any firmness on my back . My skin felt relaxed, since I was lying on extravagant linen . Why were these things in a prison?
The sound of sighing reached my ears .
「Don’t worry . You won’t be killed immediately . Well, not until you’re brought to that miserable human land . 」
So, it seemed that I was kept here as a hostage . That’s why I was still alive . While thinking about it, something was put in my mouth . I felt the weird sensation of a thin finger that touched on my lips . She put something that resembled a pill into my tongue . What was it? It had a terrible and unpleasant taste . The sensation of my tongue paralyzed the sense of taste .
「It’s a painkiller . You’re going to get a little better, so stay calm . 」
Eldith stood up from beside my bed and tried to leave quietly . My head was occupied by utmost confusion . My dejected thoughts, which were buried, began to resurface once again . What did this mean?
A Painkiller . Certainly, I felt that my body’s sensations were getting numb from the tongue down . That excruciating pain was less noticeable now .
But, why? I had so many questions . However, my understanding was limited . I didn’t understand the reason why the Elf Princess cared for me . I could firmly assert that this princess wasn’t this kind .
The princess from the journey of the past didn’t care about humans at all . In particular, to lower human beings like me . She probably regarded me as an insect . She didn’t care if a “beetle” like me got injured .
That’s right . That princess only cared about one person . The golden one, the only one she would look at . The only one…
I threw questions into my brain . Then, after the swirling confusion that erupted on my head, I finally managed to ask her another question .
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「Wait a second . There are lots of things that I don’t understand . Why are you here? And where are we? If I’m alive, then this place isn’t the bottom of hell . 」
I had many other questions . Nonetheless, that was all I needed to ask her right now . I couldn’t stand because of my injuries . But, I had to understand the current situation . I had no idea why I was here with Eldith .
Eldith’s slightly dissatisfied voice echoed in the room .
「This is a special prison in Ghazalia . It doesn’t have an official name, but everyone calls it “The Tower” . And I’m here because of one reason, isn’t that obvious?」
It was a self-disapproving phrase . These words didn’t suit the status of an elven princess .
「I am the same as you . I’m imprisoned in this Tower…Let’s get along well, fellow cellmate . 」
—
After spending some time in the prison called “The Tower”, I noticed the irregularity of this place .
This place was too luxurious to be called a prison .
Just like the fluffy bed, the whole space was filled with fine furniture . It was hard to imagine that a prison could be this great . There was no way that commoners would get access to such furniture, much less prisoners .
Moreover, the meals came three times a day . The food given to Eldith and me was strangely elaborate .
The prison itself was extremely wide . For some unknown reason, the bed was set up as soon as I got into the prison room . But, perhaps, this Tower had other rooms out of my sight . Occasionally, Eldith disappeared from my sight .
The prison guards were polite to Eldith, and she took it for granted .
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After all, everything about this was odd . It felt quite strange . She said to me that she was my cellmate . But, was that even true? There were doubts swirling around in my chest .
First, as far as I could tell from her appearance and voice, there was no difference between the current Eldith and the Elf Princess from the Rescue Party . There were small differences in behavior and personality that were incomparable to what happened with Caria and Filaret . But, that was all . Actually, let’s put this in a different perspective .
Why was this princess imprisoned here? And why was I in the same room as the princess? Besides being human, I was just a low-ranking commoner after all .
「You don’t have to worry about it . Questions and anxiety could kill your heart, you know . It’s best for you not to think anything at all . 」
When I tried to ask Eldith about her circumstances, it was like throwing a stone in the wind . Except for answering the first questions, she clearly avoided my other questions about her current situation . She said that she didn’t want to talk about it, rather than hiding it . At the very least, I had to wait until my body recovered . That was crucial .
「More importantly, let’s talk about something else . I’m bored . Okay, you can start with the story of the demon beast that you killed a long while ago . 」
So, the topic of our conversation was usually this kind of talk . Eldith often said that she didn’t like humans, but it seemed that she was interested in topics about the world that she didn’t know about . She glittered her eyes like a cat as she sat down in my bed .
When I sighed before talking, Eldith gave me a medicine with her thin hands and began to change my bandage . Although I felt the pain slightly running through my wounds, the pain was slightly dull . It was probably because of the painkiller that she gave me occasionally .
She was rather killing time than treating me with concern for my well-being .
The only thing that she could do in this prison was read a book on a chair or talk to me . Nothing much happened on this particular place . Occasionally, she would look fixedly somewhere . I didn’t know where she was looking at, but it could be an elf ritual or something alike .
As usual, she was dressed as a man . Well, of course she was . She had to pretend to be a man . There was nothing more dangerous than having a man and a woman together in a prison .
Even if there was no other beauty in this world, I would refuse to be together with Eldith . Yes, I would rather accept an enemy than choose Eldith as my partner . When I imagined such scenario in my head, I felt like throwing up . Indeed, I felt a horrible nausea crawling out of my gut .
Still, the fear of my past journey left me a thorn in my heart . It felt as if my spirit was torn into pieces and scattered away . She wasn’t rude to me now, but I was skeptical if she could change abruptly and hurt me .
However, the days were calmer than I thought they would be . Well, except for those thoughts and my wounds, which were not completely cured .
I never thought that I would live such a great life in a prison . I had plenty of food, since I had daily meals . I had good bedding, and no one hurt or humiliated me . For me, it felt like living in heaven instead of living in hell . I never experienced this type of situation before .
Of course, I knew that I wouldn’t enjoy this life forever .
*knock knock*
The sound of little knocks disrupted my easy and peaceful life .
「Excuse me, Your Highness . 」
I heard a nearby voice . It was a quiet voice, but one that I clearly heard in my ears .
「The Fin has ordered me to see Your Highness again . 」
The color of this voice belonged to a woman . The words seemed to give a sense of true honesty . The owner of that voice came beside my bed and kneeled down .
「How is it going for Your Highness? Is there any inconvenience in your daily life?…Please, forgive my incompetence . I couldn’t help Your Highness with my lack of power…」
She continued to speak . I couldn’t understand the meaning of those words . Those incomprehensible words kept piling up inside of my head .
I continued to listen to this woman’s words while lying in bed . Then, I finally realized what was going on .
Ah, I see . She definitely mistook me for Eldith since I was lying in bed covered with the fluffy linen . I felt my cold sweat falling from my forehead .