“Soldiers from the imperial palace have come, and it seems they have come to arrest your parents.”
“What?”
It was out of nowhere.
Why all of a sudden were the soldiers taking away her parents?
Pristin asked in a bewildered voice.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. They suddenly barged in…”
—Knock knock knock knock knock
At that time, they heard an urgent knock on the door from outside. Pristin looked back in surprise.
A moment later, a maid’s voice was heard.
“Miss, it seems you need to come out for a moment.”
The maid’s voice was extremely frail and pitiful. Pristin realized something wasn’t right. She immediately went outside. The trembling maid was then in sight.
Pristin asked with a quavering voice.
“What’s going on?”
“I think you need to come downstairs.”
Pristin nodded silently and went down the stairs. She saw her mother shaking in fear, her father with a serious look on his face, and Christine holding the hem of her dress. In front of them were robust soldiers.
Pristin too was startled at the sight but composed herself and continued down. Recognizing Pristin, one of the soldiers addressed her.
“Miss Lamont, please accompany us.”
“What’s going on?”
“His Majesty the Emperor has ordered that William Lamont, Joanna Lamont, and Pristin Lamont are to come with us.”
“So why are you making us…”
“We don’t even know why.”
“Are you telling us to be taken without knowing why?”
“Pristin.”
Then came the voice of Count Lamont from behind. As Pristin turned around, Count Lamont shook his head once with a dark expression. It meant that it would be better to stay still.
Pristin’s face was stained with despair.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Eventually, Pristin was dragged to the imperial palace with her parents. Somehow, only Christine was safe. Pristin had no idea what was happening, and even when she asked, no one would answer, so she collapsed in exhaustion.
After a long journey, the carriage carrying the Lamont family arrived at the Imperial City, and the three of them were immediately locked in a cell. Being dragged here without explanation and then imprisoned, Pristin was on the verge of going crazy.
“How can this be happening? How can they just lock up people without declaring any charges! There has never been a precedent for this!”
But no matter how much she screamed, no one listened to her. Pristin felt that, even if the emperor had risen to the throne via a coup, this treatment was absurd, as they were not powerful people. She continued to request her release, but it was to no avail.
They forced Pristin here and locked her up, but they did not torture her. However, Pristin then realized that physical force wasn’t the only form of torture.
They barely provided enough food and drink to survive. They made Pristin unable to sleep properly. Just as she fell asleep, they forced her to take a stimulant.
Eventually, Pristin became extremely tired but could not get enough sleep. Besides, there was nothing to do all day, and Pristin was so bored and dull that she was on the verge of going crazy.
After a few days, Pristin’s body and mind were completely exhausted.
Pristin, who had been burning with rebellious spirit and resentment for a day or two, completely withered after not being able to sleep and consuming the bare minimum of food and water for three days.
All her strength was drained, and her mind was in a daze.
‘If it keeps going like this, I won’t be able to think properly. I won’t be living as a human anymore.’
One day, Pristin thought that way. But even though she had such thoughts, she no longer had the energy to resist. She was just scared. Now Pristin was begging, not rebelling.
“Please send me back. Please, I beg you…”
But it was a meaningless plea. No one listened to her plea.
Pristin spent each day in despair. A week passed like this.
“Lady Pristin.”
An old woman came to Pristin. Pristin, who was lying weakly, barely lifted her head. The woman smiled and asked Pristin.
“It’s hard, isn’t it? I know.”
“…”
“You want to go home, don’t you?”
Pristin nodded her head earnestly. The woman smiled and said.
“I know a way to send you home.”
“…”
“You only need to answer one thing.”
“What is it…?”
“Where is the crown prince?”
“Yes?”
“Where is the crown prince?”
“What do you mean…”
“You’ve been communicating with the crown prince. Come on, tell me. Where’s the crown prince?”
“I, I don’t know. I’ve never even met His Royal Highness.”
“Don’t lie. You’re in touch with the crown prince.”
“No, I’m really…”
“You’re a bad girl. You keep lying.”
“I’m not lying. I really…”
“You have to punish those who lie, right?”
Clap! A sharp clap of hands rang out in the room. Then grim-looking soldiers entered the room where Pristin was.
And when the old woman smiled, the expression turned grim as she ordered.
“Start torturing.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“T, torture? I…!”
“The young miss will suffer constantly until she confesses.”
The woman raised the tip of Pristin’s chin and said coolly.
“So don’t let that pretty body suffer for too long, young miss.”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
And indeed, Pristin was tortured for the first time in her life.
The torture was usually done in the way of not causing the wounds visible on Pristin’s body. In other words, it was mostly water torture. And throughout the torture, Pristin was left with only one question.
“Come on! Where’s the crown prince?”
“I don’t know… I really don’t know.”
They kept asking where the crown prince was. But Pristin honestly replied that she really didn’t know because she had never met the crown prince. But they seemed to be already convinced that Pristin knew the crown prince.
It seemed like they had no intention of hearing the answer that she didn’t know.
“Please save me…”
Now Pristin had no thoughts. She just wanted to die. She just thought that even if she died like this, she wouldn’t feel sad or feel anything. Several days of torture completely devastated Pristin’s mind and body.
Even though she thought of taking her own life, they repeatedly stopped Pristin from taking her own life.
In the end, Pristin was completely at her mental limit.
‘Should I just say I know?’
She had this thought. But she soon gave up. It wasn’t because she thought of the crown prince who might be alive. If she answered that she knew, she would have to tell them the location, and she was more afraid of the retaliation that would follow if the crown prince was not there.
Eventually, Pristin was unable to do anything carelessly and was tortured intact.
That’s how time passed again.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Albert seemed to have given up on hearing the answer after a long period of torture and pushing the human mind to its limit.
Suddenly, Pristin was released, and she was returned with her family, the Lamonts.
“…”
“…”
“…”
However, throughout the return to the mansion, Pristin and her parents did not utter a single word. There was no sharing of the joy of reunion, no comforting each other about the hardships they had endured, and no concern for how Christine, left alone for so long, had fared.
They simply stared blankly out the window with completely vacant expressions. The scene felt extremely grotesque and eerie, but none of the three raised any objections to it.
In the eerie silence that persisted for a long time, the three finally arrived at the count’s mansion. And as they entered the castle, Pristin realized that the tragedy in her family was far from over.
“Master! Madam! Lady Pristin!”
“Butler, where is Christine?”
“That’s…”
The butler replied with hesitation.
“Lady Christine is missing.”
“Missing! What does that mean?”
“While the three of you went to the palace, Lady Christine was under surveillance…We received a message from the Perk Empire.”
“A message? What kind of message…”
“It was a message stating that Grand Duchess Gremlyn is in critical condition.”
Upon hearing that, the Countess of Lamont stumbled. The maids around her quickly helped her. The Count of Lamont asked with a look of shock.
“So? What happened? What happened!”
“Because all three of you weren’t there… …she decided that she should go to the Empire of Perk by herself, and she explained the situation to the soldiers, and she ended up going to the Empire of Perk with the soldiers, but…”
“But…”
“We haven’t heard from her since.”
“If you didn’t hear from her…”
“We were concerned and sent several letters to the Perk Empire. But the replies we received…”
The butler began with a somber expression.
“Lady Christine had not been seen even after Grand Duchess Gremlyn passed away.”
“Oh…!”
“Madam!”
The countess eventually fainted, and the other two who were left were almost on the verge of doing so.
In the midst of Count Lamont being in shock and unable to speak, Pristin managed to open her lips and asked.
“So, then, Christine is really…”
“Yes. Given that we haven’t heard from the soldiers she went with, it seems that something went wrong while she was traveling.”
“No! No way!”
Then the Count of Lamont shouted in a loud voice.
“Missing, no way! No way…!”
“…”
“It’s ridiculous… My daughter, Christine…”
The Count of Lamont soon fell to his knees and began to sob. When he returned after a long period of torture, his youngest daughter was missing.
Not just missing, but in a state that strongly suggested she might be dead. Count Lamont could not bear this situation any longer. With his face buried in his hands, he started producing eerie cries.
And Pristin understood that father very much, because she wanted to do that, too.
