Kapitel 2: It Started in the Prison

"Please! I've done nothing wrong! My brother is waiting for me!" Vivian sobbed as she was dragged into the prison by the guards.

They tossed her on the icy ground. She groaned in agony from the impact of her fall, but she tried to get to her feet as soon as she could. When she looked up, her heart raced; the guards had already locked the cell.

Her nose was assailed by an unpleasant odor of something nasty and decaying, nearly making her cough and feel sick. But that was not what mattered at the moment. She needed to get out of here. "Please let me go! I never stole anything from him!" She cried even more.

"If you had just accepted being Marquess Gridon's mistress, you wouldn't have to suffer like this," one of the guards snorted. He twirled the key around his finger as he walked away. The other guards just ignored her. Her pleading cries echoed around the jail, but none of the guards dared to look at her, turning a deaf ear.

"Please! Let me go!" Vivian crawled to the cell bars reaching her hands out. She even tried to squeeze herself in between the metal bars. But it was all useless. All she could do was cry and plead, yet the guards stood like statues, not moving an inch.

"Hah, this-this can't be happening," Seeing no reaction from the guards, Vivian slumped to the ground, feeling hopeless. A dreadful feeling welled up inside her, eating at her shattered heart. She wasn't getting out of here.

She looked around and saw other girls her age trembling. She became more frightened. 'I, I can't stay here. My brother needs this bread.' Vivian hugged the bread firmly in her arms. She was finally able to earn her first salary by helping in the inn.

'But-But then...' Tears fell from her eyes, trickling down her cheeks. 'As soon as I received my salary and bought this bread, all this happened.' She cried harder, burying her head into her knees.

'Why?! Why did this happen to me?! My brother is waiting for me at home! I'm all he's got!' Remembering that her younger brother would be alone and starving, she couldn't help but sob louder. 'I promise him, that we will eat something delicious today.'

"You're the twentieth girl today." A voice suddenly emerged, breaking her out of her despairing thoughts.

Vivian looked up, following the sound of the voice. It was a mild, feminine voice. As she looked for the source of the voice, in the dark corner of the cell, light aquamarine eyes stared at her. Vivian took a closer look and saw that a hooded person was sitting with crossed legs, looking at her. Not feeling any animosity from the person, she relaxed a little.

"Twentieth?" Vivian asked, a bit confused. She slowly wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Yes," the hooded girl answered. "So what crime did you commit to be jailed?"

"They told me I stole something. But I didn't!" Remembering the unfortunate things that happened earlier, Vivian's eyes started to water again. "I don't really know how that man's pouch got seen in my bag."

"Ah, steal?" the hooded girl scoffed. "You have the same reason as the second girl and the rest, I thought it would be something different, like mine." The hooded girl seemed disappointed.

"What-what did you do?" Vivian asked. Realizing that it might be rude to ask such a question, she immediately covered her mouth before lowering her head, "I apologize! I don't mean to be rude by that."

"Haha, there is no need for you to apologize. I did ask for your crime, so it's only fair for me to tell you mine," the hooded girl said. Amusement could be heard from the tone of her voice.

"I-is that so?" Vivian mumbled as she looked up once more at the hooded girl. "Then what did you do to end up in jail?"

"Hmm..." The hooded girl stood up and walked closer to Vivian. Under her hood, with the small light from the torches, Vivian saw her face. The hooded girl gazed down at her with a bright smile. She was mesmerized by the hooded girl's face. She looked like an angel. But then she shook her head...

'She's smiling? Why? Is it something funny?'

"Hahaha," the hooded girl chuckled. "I was arrested because I punched a certain pig head and almost cracked his family jewel."

"Ah-ah family jewel? What's that? It sounds very expensive," Vivian felt confused.

"It's something very important to the pig head, but too bad because I didn't get the chance to crack it," the hooded girl sounded even more disappointed as she said those words.

Vivian couldn't understand. 'If those family jewels were destroyed, whatever that is, will this girl get into more trouble? Or worse? Will she suffer something worse, like death?'

She held the helm of the hooded girl's dress. "Plea-please don't do that," Vivian begged with a shaky voice.

"Huh? What won't I do?"

"Crack the family jewel, you might get into more trouble if you do that," Vivian said as she held the bread in her left arm firmly.

The hooded girl seemed to be more amused by this twentieth girl's words. 'Does she understand what she was saying? Or maybe not? She only looked around seven years old, but…' The hooded girl patted Vivian on the head.

"You're already in this situation, and you still have time to be concerned for others," the hooded girl said, flustering Vivian.

"Isn't it the right thing to do? My mom always told me to be concerned with other people's feelings and well-being," Vivian felt the pat on her head, and froze.

"I see..." The hooded girl's hand retreated under her cloak. "What if I tell you, the pig head I'm talking about is the man who sent you here?" She asked.

"That's even more of a reason for you not to do anything!" Vivian's response was immediate, her eyes wide.

"And why is that?"

"You might get hurt..." Vivian looked down.

'Oh. I thought she was just afraid to do something, but it seems she's just concerned about me. What a good kid.' The hooded girl looked at the young girl in front of her.

"Tell me, young girl, what's your name?" The hooded girl asked.

Vivian hesitated for a bit. "It's Vivian."

"Vivian, I will tell that perverted Marquess that he owes you one. You kept his future generation alive."

Vivian looked at the hooded girl. She was going to ask what the hooded girl meant by that, but a loud explosion sounded, making the cell trembled. It was followed by a loud alarm, wringing throughout the whole dungeon.

"The dungeon has been breached!" The guards began to panic.

"You see, I really planned to wipe out that pig heads' descendants but maybe I could do something else, far cruel, ah...I mean far more gentle.'' The hooded girl's eyes shone dangerously. "You see, I need that corrupt pig head to disappear, or else I will not be able to get my ship."

Vivian gulped. She felt something was going to happen and she felt terrified. She hugged the flattened bread tightly in her arms once more.

'I just want to go home, and give this to my brother.' It was the only thing on her mind. Vivian felt the loud thump of her heart beating, terrified of the incoming event that was brewing at this very moment.

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Extra Scene:

Mysterious Hooded Girl: Uh-uh, Is that bread still edible?

Vivian: So-sorry, but you can't have any of this.

Mysterious Hooded Girl: Ah no, I don't want any of it. It appeared to be extremely flattened now.

Vivian: What do you mean?

(Vivian's eyes widened with dread as she looked at the bread she was holding.)

Vivian: No! Brother!

(She sobbed aloud.)

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