The snow-haired girl, clad in a cloak and tight black leather attire, seemed strikingly out of place in the cold, damp cell permeated with the musty stench of mold.
With her hands shackled, she sat in the corner of the cell, expressionless as she watched rats scurry about on the bed.
The burly man in the cell opposite had provoked her with vulgar language countless times, and Seraphina had resisted the urge to kick the cell door open and tear his mouth apart just as many times.
She had no major complaints about the deserved punishment.
In fact, if the two parties had reconciled, Seraphina wouldn't have needed to be imprisoned at all. However, the victim kept pleading, even begging for reconciliation, while the perpetrator insisted on a trial according to the law.
According to the laws of the Red Frost territory, accidental injury could be a major or minor offense, usually resulting in a fine. But as Ansel, who knew Seraphina all too well, had pointed out, the girl hadn't brought any money with her when she left. In fact, she didn't have a single copper coin on her, as all the money she had received from Ansel was kept by her sister Marlina.
Unwilling to let Marlina know about the trouble she had caused, Seraphina was ultimately sentenced to prison.
Ironically, since the victim had argued on behalf of the perpetrator, Seraphina only had to spend a symbolic twelve hours in jail, which amounted to just one night.
The foul smell in the cell made the girl cough a couple of times. It would be a lie to say she didn't miss the fresh fragrance and warm bed in her room at Ansel's mansion.
Seraphina Marlowe was a very straightforward person.
She didn't even realize that her compatibility with Ansel was surprisingly well-matched—they both sincerely followed their desires.
"Hydral... Hydral..."
Seraphina murmured the name that filled all the nobles and merchants of the Red Frost territory with awe. At this moment, she was not angry, but rather filled with complex confusion.
In this terrible, cold environment, Seraphina finally had ample time to reflect on her sister's words.
"How could it... be like this?"
The girl buried her face in her knees, her snow-white hair bathed in moonlight streaming through the square opening at the top of the cell.
As Seraphina calmly pondered Marlina's words, she felt a sad and powerless realization that her sister seemed to be right.
Even after racking her brain and thinking exhaustively, she couldn't find any truly bad deeds Ansel had committed after dealing with the Count of Red Frost.
There were quite a few for her, though: making her strip naked, electrocuting her daily, and manipulating her like a doll... Ughhhhh!
The young wolf girl bit her teeth in embarrassment, emitting low whimpers, her anger mixed with emotions she couldn't quite understand.
"Do I hate him so much because he's been so bad to me?"
Seraphina stared at her toes. "If Hydral were nicer to me, would I not—"
The moment this thought crossed her mind, Seraphina's brow furrowed instinctively.
"...No, that's not it."
The hatred suppressed for the current calm in her heart surged, washing away the strange emotions that accompanied her thoughts.
"He's a liar... using abnormal means to deceive everyone, including my sister."
She murmured to herself, "How can the results achieved through despicable means be good?" "Why does he have to deceive people when he could use more normal, legitimate methods?"
As Seraphina gradually gained insight, she suddenly looked up and clenched her fists, determined. "Hydral-Hydral must be hiding a dangerous, malicious, and unspeakable secret! Everyone has been deceived! Only I know... only I have the opportunity and ability to expose his hypocrisy!"
"...You just wait, Hydral." The girl resolved, "Not only will I use you up, but after I'm done with you—"
"Done with me what?"
"Done with you… and I'll be strong enough not to be afraid of your retaliation, then—"
"Then..."
Seraphina looked at the young nobleman standing at the cell door, his smile brimming with amusement, and her voice gradually weakened.
Ansel, leaning on his scepter and holding a book in his other hand, smiled warmly. "Then what?"
Seraphina remained silent, turning her head further into the cell.
"The Seraphina I know isn't the kind of girl who only dares to speak ill of others behind their backs."
Ansel said as he walked into the cell, "Or are you afraid of this?"
He laughed, pointing at his own neck.
"You're the one who's afraid!" Seraphina sprang up, indignant. "Once I'm done using you, I'll expose your true face! Let's see what you'll do then!"
"Ah..." Ansel pondered, casually knocking a rat off the bed with his cane and sitting down nonchalantly. "Is that all?"
His words made Seraphina feel as if she had been seen through, and she glared at Ansel, fuming. "Is that all? You think I can't do it?"
"I mean, is your hatred for me only up to the point of exposing my true face?"
Unperturbed by the filthy bed, Ansel set his cane aside and chuckled with interest. "Then you don't hate me that much."
Seraphina hesitated, thinking that it seemed to be true. How could it end there?
"Then I'll beat you to a pulp, leaving you half-dead!" She declared.
"Alright."
"And I'll put this collar around your neck and electrocute you a hundred times!"
"What else?"
"And... and... you, you're a pervert, wanting to be revenged like this?!"
As Ansel gazed at her with that teasing smile, Seraphina felt like a clown and yelled in embarrassment and anger.
"It's just curiosity." Ansel no longer looked at Seraphina and began reading his book. "I'm curious about how much you really hate me."
"Anyway..." Seraphina huffed indignantly. "Anyway, I hate you more than you can imagine."
Ansel, engrossed in his book, did not continue the conversation.
He could have asked what he had done to deserve her hatred and whether Seraphina had any right to hate him. Ansel had ten thousand ways to crush Seraphina's self-esteem and ego with facts that were not "lies."
But he didn't do that, not only because the timing wasn't right, but also because he planned to change his role during this second, lengthy period of training.
Torture was always a means, never an end.
*
About twenty minutes later, Seraphina, who was growing increasingly restless, couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing in here? If you want to torture me, just get on with it! Don't sit there and disgust me!"
"I came to this cell simply because you're in it."
Ansel replied without looking up. "In the eyes of everyone in the Red Frost territory, you are the most special person to me, and your mistake means that I have been too lenient in my discipline."
"Even if no one demands it and the law doesn't require it, I must accept the same punishment as you due to my self-imposed constraints."
"..." Seraphina was silent for a while, then hesitantly opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, and could only blurt out the word "hypocrite."
"You'll understand one day, Seraphina," Ansel said, looking up at her meaningfully. "If I ever fall to this state again, you'll understand why I did this."
Seraphina didn't like playing guessing games with Ansel, so she simply held her tongue and huddled in the corner of the cell.
The silence lasted for an unknown amount of time, with the man in the cell opposite Seraphina growing tired of his vulgar remarks, until the young jailer brought their dinner, breaking the silence.
The young jailer, who was clearly of no significant background and had been pushed into this position, trembled as he placed two plates of mushy food and a bucket of water at the cell door. His shivering figure made it seem as if he were the one imprisoned.
"Lord... Lord Hydral, your... your dinner..."
The young jailer's voice was on the verge of breaking, and his hands shook so much that he almost spilled the food. "I... you..."
"Alright, just leave it there," Ansel waved the jailer away with a gentle smile. "It's not your fault; it's what I asked for. Don't worry, no one will hold you accountable."
The young jailer tearfully knelt, giving Ansel several forceful kowtows before reluctantly departing.
"Fetch our dinner, Seraphina."
Ansel refocused his attention on the book.
"..." Seraphina remained silent, pouting as she walked to the cell door and brought in the meal and water.
The girl stared at the milky-white paste on the plate, her mouth twitching twice, "Is this even fit for humans?"
"Why should a prisoner be treated well?" Ansel picked up the plate, unflinchingly putting the unappetizing substance into his mouth as Seraphina watched, "You've made a mistake, and you must face the consequences, Seraphina."
Observing Ansel's unflappable demeanor, Seraphina thought that if even a pampered noble like Hydral could stomach it, why couldn't she?
Having missed both lunch and dinner, she was famished. With determination, she scooped a large spoonful into her mouth, and then—
"Ugh—!"
The horrifying taste assaulting her taste buds caused Seraphina's stomach and throat to convulse involuntarily. Before she could react, her body's instincts forced her to vomit all the food back out.
"Cough... cough, cough! Ptui!"
Seraphina dashed to the water bucket, disregarding the ladle inside, and gulped down two mouthfuls before spitting it all out again.
"You, you—" The girl looked disheveled and incredulous at Ansel, who appeared engrossed in his book as if nothing had happened, "How did you manage to eat that thing that tastes like a rotting animal carcass?"
She eyed Ansel's plate suspiciously, "Did you add some other seasoning to yours?"
"This is what you brought me," Ansel replied with a hint of amusement, looking up at her, "If you don't believe me, try a bite yourself."
He placed the plate on his lap and gestured to it.
Seraphina hesitated for a moment before leaning in to cautiously sniff the plate of mush.
"Yuck!"
The young wolf nearly retched onto Ansel's dinner, but luckily she hadn't eaten anything that day.
"You... you must have no sense of taste," Seraphina covered her nose as she backed away, "Why bother eating so well?"
"Who told you I have no sense of taste?"
"Can someone with a sense of taste eat something like this?"
"Well, do you have a choice?" Ansel countered, scooping another spoonful into his mouth and swallowing it without a change in expression.
"I... I can choose not to eat," Seraphina gritted her teeth, defiantly declaring.
"That's for you to decide."
Seraphina could clearly see Ansel's throat convulse, but before she could revel in his discomfort, she heard the ever-composed young man say:
"But for me, Seraphina—I've told you, when you make a mistake, it's because of my lax discipline. Even without any laws or anyone demanding it, I will accept the punishment I deserve."
"I may indulge your disrespect towards me, but that doesn't mean I'll let you be recklessly arrogant towards everything."
He pointed to the nauseating substance on the plate, "This is one of the punishments."
Hydral gazed calmly at Seraphina, "This is my choice."
"As for you," he lowered his head to continue reading, speaking nonchalantly, "You're free to ignore that plate if you think it's a punishment you don't need to bear. No one cares about your choice, and neither do I."
Silence filled the cell.
Seraphina stared blankly at Ansel, who quietly read his book without uttering another word. She found herself unable to call him "hypocritical."
She felt that if she were to say such a thing at this moment, she would be the truly despicable one.
Clatter—
Amidst the sound of clashing chains, the girl suddenly stood up.
She picked up her own dinner, wordlessly walked over to Ansel, and snatched his meal away, pouring it directly onto her plate.
Then, without hesitation, she tilted her head back and poured the entire plate of gruel into her mouth.
"Ugh! Gulp—"
The girl's face contorted in agony, and within seconds, she ran to the small water bucket, hoisting it up and forcibly pouring all the gruel down her throat.
Having finished the entire bucket of water, Seraphina half-collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
"What do you mean... your lax discipline... My matters are my own, the good has nothing to do with you, and the bad..."
The young wolf wiped the water from the corner of her mouth, turned her head, and glared fiercely at the unshaken Ansel, "The bad isn't your fault either!"
She clutched her stomach and curled up in the corner where she had been sitting, silently drawing her cloak around her.
It was then that Seraphina suddenly realized that the comfortable and warm clothes she was wearing, which kept her from feeling cold in the cell, were all provided by Ansel at his own expense.
The girl stealthily glanced at the young noble sitting on the hard wooden bed, still dressed in his expensive-looking clothes, seemingly unconcerned about the filth and stench on the bed that even Seraphina found unbearable… and the rats.
[This is my choice]
Ansel's calm gaze and voice surfaced in Seraphina's mind.
"..."
The girl clenched her teeth as a sense of absurdity and guilt surged uncontrollably in her heart.
Hydral was a liar, but he never lied to me.
He was... serious, considering my transgressions as his own mistakes.
Why? I've never... never shown him any kindness. We have nothing to do with each other, isn't he just using me? Using my talents... Does he really consider me one of his own?
[Maybe he's trying to buy me]
This chaotic thought was immediately extinguished by Seraphina's overwhelming guilt and complex emotions.
There were too many people trying to buy her. In the Frost Tower, where she had once made a name for herself, she had indeed received many olive branches from nobles, just as Ansel had said, but she had rejected them all.
How could anyone go to such lengths… to buy me?
Or rather, if someone was willing to go to such lengths to buy her, what reason did she have to refuse?