"Hey! Get up! Get up!"
The squeaking iron door kept ringing in my ears, and at the same time there was a harsh wake-up sound. The sound sounded slightly farther than the muffled sound of the iron door. The impatience in the tone that should have been full of it felt so... Time was replaced by an unchanging lifelessness. Huddled in the narrow space inside the iron door, a figure that seemed to be integrated into the dark and gloomy space also struggled to get up from the lying position. He could barely distinguish the surroundings from the light projected from an unknown place. Position, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, he was talking to himself with a sense of fear that was still struggling: "No! It's not me! I didn't -"
"Cut the nonsense!"
The impatient voice became louder, but the harsh sound of knocking on the iron door stopped, and the rustling friction and creaking shaking also appeared one after another in the depths of the space on the other side of the iron door. Finally, it turned into a small box of food sticking out from the small window under the iron door: "Eat quickly!"
"..."
The other party's angry shouts calmed his state of shock. The man who was completely awake gradually stopped trembling all over his body. His confused and frightened face also turned into numbness and confusion as this short period of time passed. The steps he took forward also appeared to be shaky because he was completely unsteady: "I...today...does anyone want to interrogate me?"
There was no response outside the iron windows and doors. It seemed that the person who had just come to deliver the meal had disappeared. The man who was shaking in place like a puppet finally adapted to the reality in front of him. The man who wanted to half-kneel on the ground to pick up the food box His movements also seemed as slow as a rusty machine: "...Sigh."
"Chris, Chris, this is your sad fate."
The magic light shines on the man's face through the gap outside the iron window. The handsome face that originally belonged to Chris, the former prince of the Fleur Empire, is now covered with beards and bloodstains, but it is different from the last time Duan Qing and his teammates Compared with when we came together to meet him, Chris seemed to be much more stable mentally at this time. His skinny body could not hold up the large and shabby prison uniform at all. The unkempt former prince struggled to hold up the food in front of him. His century-long sigh suddenly stopped the moment he was about to turn around. Accompanied by this, he turned around just as he was about to turn around, but his gaze was already fixed between his hands: "...What's going on?"
"It seems to have become richer?"
A terrible thought flashed through his mind for an instant, and Chris' whole body trembled again. He wanted to turn around and shout loudly, but that impulse gradually subsided in the darkness that kept pressing around him: "——Forget it. , that’s fine.”
"I would rather die like this than this endless torture."
As if a beam of light in the darkness re-illuminated the world in his eyes, the man named Chris finally calmed down the fear in his eyes and threw his still trembling body heavily into the depths of the narrow space: "The rest of my life will be like this." , living like this...I've had enough."
"Let's finish it."
The dimension of time seemed to be stretched again in his consciousness, and the prison life that had been repeated countless times in his mind day after day was replayed in his mind. This narrow prison with no freedom at all The room has occupied his memory for an indistinguishable long time, and the feeling of desolation and emptiness along with the endless darkness erodes his heart bit by bit - the hearing comes from the harsh knocking of the iron door again and again. As he began to take shape, the three simple meals a day kept repeating in his taste. In addition to being interrogated by the guards of the principality, interrogated by the parliamentarians and officials of the principality, and occasionally interrogated by the adventurers who appeared here. Apart from that, there were no other changes in this period of his life. In order to resist the torment of this fate, he gradually went crazy and tried to end his life in various ways. However, his intact appearance and slight blood stains after he passed out also reminded him that the people of the principality continued to imprison him. His determination was accompanied by the increasingly harsh reprimands and curses from the underground guards responsible for imprisoning and guarding him after they finished dealing with it. Between the gap between survival and death, the spirit of the former prince of the empire became increasingly chaotic. After experiencing every stage of arrogance, anger, confusion and raving, he finally changed from the madness of justification and begging for mercy. After recovering from the illness, he gradually developed his current indifferent appearance.
It seems that this state will also come to an end today, haha.
A trace of inexplicable joy flashed through his dead heart. Chris felt that the food he put into his mouth seemed to have a little more flavor, even though he understood that his motherland and the father-in-law did not intend to save it. I already knew my ending from that moment on, but I didn’t expect that when this day really came, I would actually——
Boom, boom, boom.
There was another knock on the door, and Chris raised his head again. Compared with the same every day in his memory, a situation that was different from the same day was once again played out in front of him, making the ecstasy in his heart even more difficult. Depressed: "Who?"
"Is this His Royal Highness Prince Chris Frey Cadreft?"
The title that he had not heard for a long time echoed in his ears, and the female voice on the other side of the door also stunned Chris for a longer time. He put down the unfinished food on his hand, with stumbling and rapid footsteps. Came to the other side of the iron gate: "Yes, it's me! Who - who are you?"
"Mr. sent Ninglan here." No other movement came from the other end of the door. Only Ninglan's soft and light voice echoed in the space: "Today is a special day. Mister specially asked Ninglan to come here. , take His Royal Highness Prince Chris to the venue."
"The venue?" Chris grabbed the iron window railing in front of him: "What venue? Is it an execution venue?"
"Well, His Royal Highness will know it when the time comes."
The embarrassed voice came from the other end of the door, as if the visitor was a little worried about how to answer this question: "What Ninglan knows is that today is the day of the final trial of His Royal Highness Prince Chris, and everything will be decided on this day. Finish."
"The day of final judgment...?" Slowly loosening his grip on the iron bars, Chris gradually heard a low laugh from his quivering lips: "It's true, haha, finally... It’s finally over, hahahaha!”
"Although the principality has previously promised to the empire that His Highness the Prince's safety will be absolutely guaranteed on the final day of trial, Sir is still worried about this, so he specially sent Ninglan here." The clear and sweet female voice is still ringing like a bell. A voice sounded from the other side of the door: "At least on the way from here to the venue, Ninglan will be responsible for protecting your safety, His Royal Highness."
"Why bother?" After a while, he stopped laughing wildly. Chris pointed to the old prison uniform on his chest with a nonchalant expression: "If someone still wants to take my life, let him take it." Just go.”
"Since Sir has told Ninglan this way, Ninglan will comply with Sir's arrangements." The voice from the other side of the door sounded out again, saying Ninglan: "Has His Highness the Prince finished his meal? Ninglan will be waiting outside, Until everything is ready for His Royal Highness——"
"No, let's go now." For some reason, his mood became extremely calm, and Chris immediately replied: "Open the door quickly."
A crisp sound of metal colliding sounded the moment Chris finished speaking, accompanied by the heavy creaking sound of the iron door loosening. Chris, who was standing on the other side of the iron door, tried to push it open and exposed the door in front of him. There was a crack in the door, and then he slowly put away his surprised eyes: "How did you open the door?"
"Let's go, Your Highness." On the other side of the open iron door, a maid wearing a blue and white maid uniform with short light hair bowed neatly and saluted. The clean skirt and the bright smile on her face were also consistent with The depths of this dirty, dark underground area were out of place, and the gesturing hand stretched out towards the depths of the passage also made Chris, who was looking at all this, feel like he was in another world: "Everyone is waiting for you."
"good."
Giving up on trying to get back the feeling he had felt for a long time, Chris finally followed behind Ciyu Ninglan with weak and staggering steps. Countless pairs of soldiers' eyes were staring at him as the maid player took him with him. The passages he passed lit up on the left and right, and the scenes of fully armed, swords and guns were also raised in the corner of his eyes, making a harsh sound in the dark air. The tight air and overflowing hostility were gradually left behind as he moved forward, and the thin body belonging to Chris was finally submerged into the darkness deep in the underground passage. The sound of dripping water and the sound of dripping water sounded from nowhere. The rhythmic footsteps gradually occupied the man's hearing, causing his consciousness to become blurry again involuntarily: "Am I going to be executed?"
"Everything will be decided by the final trial." Ningyu Ninglan, who was still leading the way, replied softly: "Your Highness, there is no need to worry."
"Aren't you going to execute me now?" Looking around at the intricate dark passages with unidentifiable directions, Chris couldn't help but twitch a sneer from the corner of his mouth: "It's not bad to be right here, it suits my humble and miserable situation. appearance."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, the final venue will be in the central square." Ninglan, who was walking in the front, replied: "No one can hurt you before the trial begins, Ninglan can guarantee it."
"It doesn't matter even if you execute me here. Anyway, I have nothing to miss." It seemed that he did not regard the promise of Ningyu Ninglan as anything useful. Chris said to himself: "Now that things have happened, I My memory has long since become unreliable. What exactly happened and why I ended up like this... none of this is important anymore."
"I just want to leave the last word - I am innocent." After saying this, Chris raised his head, and his tone was filled with the last trace of persistence behind his head raised: "No matter what I am in the end At the end of the day, no matter whether you are the only one listening now, these are my last words. If possible, I hope you can help me bring these words to - Wow!"
Chris, who was making an impassioned speech, stumbled when he tripped over something. The bloody ground and broken limbs became the first thing he saw when he lowered his head, scaring the man back. After a few steps, he finally sat down on the dirty ground: "What, what is this!?"
"..."
Ningyu Ninglan, who was walking in front, did not speak, but turned around and walked towards him with a smile. The smile that remained unchanged when they met now made Chris feel boundless fear, will and instinct to survive. He also instantly defeated the passionate feeling of dying that he had just accumulated: "No, no -"
"Don't come here!"
He turned around and wanted to escape along the other direction of the passage. However, his already weak physical condition and more corpses lying on the ground turned into a pair of hands that blocked his attempt to leave hell, and finally he was Pulled to the ground again: "You, you - no! You can't! You can't do this! Judgment -"
"The trial has not yet begun."
Arriving behind Chris like a ghost, the condescending image of Ninglan with her hands clasped together enveloped Chris's entire field of vision like a giant, and the smile that had always appeared on that delicate face was also stretched out. The hand covered directly covered Chris' neck: "Ninglan has already said -"
"Your Highness Prince Chris, there is no need to worry."
Almost paralyzed, her body was completely lifted up by that childish hand. Dunyu Ninglan lifted up Chris in front of her without any effort. She calmed down Chris's still confused look with tapping movements, and then pointed to the passage. He pointed in the direction that was still spreading and extending in the depths: "These are all 'rats' that Ninglan caught from the passage when she came here. Because she was in a hurry, she did not clean them up in time, which frightened His Royal Highness. Woolen cloth."
"Old, mouse?" The touch of the handkerchief wiping his face did not completely revive Chris's consciousness, but also made him look at the secret language Ninglan through the gap with a dull feeling: "What... mouse?"
"They are just some people who want to do harm to His Highness." Ningyu Ninglan put away the handkerchief and tilted her head with a smile: "After all, if Your Highness dies on the way to the venue, many truths will be completely buried in the darkness. , many people in this world...should be very happy to see this happen."
"Let's go, Your Highness."
The reflection of the metal wire flashed inside the dim passage, pushing Chris's still numb body forward. At this time, the back of the maid player also shrank sharply as he staggered forward, and finally disappeared quietly into the passage. In the darkness ahead: "No matter how many 'rats' are causing trouble along the way——"
"Ninglan will be responsible for sending you up 'intact'."
