Table Of ContentNoblewoman Placed in Prison
The evening’s festivities were a rousing success, but the venue quickly descended to silence as the
Prince declared the annulment of his engagement.
In the middle of a luxurious banquet hall was a handsome young man with long blonde hair that
reached his shoulders. Prince Elliot, eldest son of the King. And at his back was a lovely young woman
with fiery red twintails.
These two’s gazes were planted squarely on a noblewoman who was being taken away by one of the
Prince’s aides.
The woman had tied up chocolate brown hair, and despite her current situation, she was unnervingly
calm. The Prince’s (original) fiancee, Rachel, the eldest daughter of Duke Ferguson.
The Baron womanTwintail was trembling behind Elliot’s back as he and all his aides stared daggers
into Rachel.
“Rachel. If you have even a bit of shame, then you will apologize to Margaret immediately!”
Two people were standing on each side of Rachel, twisting her arms. They were Sykes Abigail, the
head knight inside the castle, and George Ferguson, Rachel’s own younger brother. Both of them soon
spoke up as well, berating Rachel.
“You’re getting what you deserve you witch! You are the one who incited those other noble women!”
“……please just admit to your sins honestly Sis. How much more do you intend to drag the Ferguson
family’s name through the mud?”
These men were condemning a woman who could no longer move anything other than her mouth.
But whatever they said to her, a fire in Rachel’s eyes refused to extinguish as she stared back at the
prince while wearing a cold expression.
“I have done nothing, so there is no need for me to apologize to your girlfriend.”
Her white porcelain skin looked all the more beautiful when held in contrast to her dark brown hair.
Thin lips painted pink with pale eyes darker than cobalt.
Her naturally pale face had a mature touch to it, and her eyes gave off an intense yet intelligent feeling.
The dress she was wearing had a calming design to it, showing off the figure of the wearer rather than
trying to appear glamorous.
Rachel was the same age as Elliot, but she looked older with her somewhat plain and calm appearance.
She kept that image intact while repeatedly voicing her denial to the charges in a quiet tone.
She remained the same as the Prince continued to lay his anger upon her…….with that attitude of hers,
the words Rachel kept repeating came out more and more believable.
The Prince was annoyed.
In fact, the fact that Rachel’s attitude was no different from how she usually was only served to annoy
Elliot even more.
Why is this rebellious……..!
Rachel had never fought with him before and always acted with the utmost discreetness. Hers was an
exemplary attitude for a noblewoman to take up with her future husband, and it was probably partially
the reason why she was chosen to be the Prince’s fiancee in the first place……although because of that,
if there was ever a problem it was because of Elliot’s restlessness.
The Prince’s mind wandered…..one of the reasons why he had never liked this woman from the
beginning was because of her attitude. Adults around Elliot had yet to break their habit of treating him
like he was a child. And with her being the way she was, it just showed how much Elliot had to do to
grow up……
He had thought that confronting her like this, adding pressure from all sides, would finally break that
superwoman demeanor of hers, but the only result from all this was a growing desire inside him to
punish his fiancee who absolutely refused to apologize.
“That’s enough already Rachel. It was pointless to give you time to reflect on your actions.”
Elliot rose his chin up, and Sykes began dragging Rachel to the dungeon.
“Rachel, life is long. Enjoy yours inside the prison.”
At Elliot’s mockery, for the first time Rachel’s expression distorted from the calm look she had before.
However, it wasn’t the look of humiliation that Elliot had wanted……it was a sarcastic smile.
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll be sure to have lots of fun and enjoy a long, leisurely life.”
The sudden show of emotion took the Prince back, and an expression unlike anything this Duke’s
daughter had ever shown before left him speechless……..but before the Prince could come up with a
meaning for her words, Rachel had been pulled out of the hall by an indignant Sykes.
Rachel coldly watched on as her fiancee continued to spout out funny theories and ridiculous logic.
There was nothing she could do about this guy.
It is said that men take longer to mentally grow up out of their childish attitudes……..but this idiot was
supposed to have become an adult years ago.
It is ridiculous that Rachel would want to harass this woman who means nothing to her, and it is really
annoying that she had to be lectured by this guy.
How hard would it be to educate a royal fiancee?
And then there were all the surrounding people snickering at the scene without knowing anything and
smiling like they were happy that justice was being served. Were they all born without brains?
Honestly she had never wanted to marry Prince Elliot or become the queen in the first place. As the
daughter of a duke, she was just fulfilling her familial obligations. Why is it that she had to keep
leading this idiot around like she was his mother…..?
Rachel, who had originally only agreed to become this idiot Prince’s wife out of familial obligation,
was actually quite apathetic throughout this whole stupid farce. She didn’t care about anything Elliot
was saying and wished he would just get on with it.
And right when Rachel was thinking like that,
“Rachel, life is long. Enjoy yours inside the prison.”
she became unable to hold her poker face any longer. A large smile spread across her cold demeanor as
her true feelings spilled out.
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll be sure to have lots of fun and enjoy a long, leisurely life.”
She would do it. Did this guy not understand what his future would hold?
The Prince seemed to have made this decision rashly, but in truth the news about his intentions had
already been leaked to Rachel long ago. Although she had thought at least some of the information she
had gotten would have been inaccurate, but…..
Apparently she had given him too much credit. All was well though. This meant all of the preparations
she had made won’t go to waste as he had already completely annulled their engagement. The
expectations she held were enough to make her laugh.
Rachel’s heart was burning hot even as she remained her composed exterior while Sykes walked her to
the dungeon.
At the Prince’s command, she could forget all of that queen education she had been subjected to and
live a leisurely life.
Trapped inside the royal palace’s dungeon which hadn’t been used in recent years…..Rachel was
excited thinking about her future life.
There was no more painful or bothersome queen education.
There was no more by-the-minute schedules.
There was no more family tutors trying to teach her useless facts, no more noisy made to interrupt her
sleep, and an opportunity to read lots of books.
She had the free time to do whatever she wanted, and she could have a tea break whenever she so
desired. Plus there would be nobody there to get angry with her should she sleep until noon.
A time where she could do whatever she wanted had come for Rachel during her prison life.
Consciously holding down her feet that wanted to start skipping, Rachel kept her feet moving forward
to her sunny future.
Noblewoman Retains a Steady Basket in the Prison
*CLACK* *CLACK* The sound of boots walking down stone steps echoed in the air, and the patrol
put in charge of watching over the dungeon raised his face. With a torch in one hand, a ghostly young
man was pulling a rope tied to a girl walking behind him with the other.
After being misunderstood for coming down here with strange intentions, the young man started
shouting out orders.
“Are you the prison guard?”
“Hah, but this is……”
While the guard tilted his head to the side, confused at what could be going on here, Sykes removed the
rope he had used to tie Rachel’s hands together and pushed her back forward.
“It’s an order straight from Prince Elliot. We’re throwing this woman into the dungeon. It’s undecided
when she’ll be let out……it’s up to how well she reflects.”
“Hah…….”
Sykes furrowed his brow at the lackluster responses he was getting from the guard.
“What is it?”
“Hah……as a matter of fact, this is, the prison…..”
Sykes looked back past the guard, tired of his bumbling response…..and saw that the dungeon had been
turned into a storehouse.
“What is this?”
The unexpected sight made Sykes cry out. A number of wooden boxes of various sizes were stacked up
high, pushed into one corner of the cell. There were some stacks that reached all the way to the ceiling.
“Actually……a number of officials came down here earlier today, and they kept bringing down more
and more of this stuff saying they were just going to keep it here temporarily.”
Sykes looked over each of the boxes from a distance, eyeing them over suspiciously.
“We haven’t used the palace’s dungeon in a long time, so it’s probably nothing. They probably never
expected that it would need to be used that very night……”
The guard had no idea what was in all those boxes, but they were taking up over have the cell.
“Why was this place randomly chosen to act as a storage facility…………?”
“I don’t know. This is the first time something like this has happened……but since we never use this
place, there was no reason for me to tell them no……”
A number of documents from civil servants had been given requiring that these boxes be safely stored
away……Sykes clicked his tongue at the horrible timing, but when he looked again, he saw that the
front part of the cell where the toilet and entrance were were open.
There was enough room for Rachel to lie down as well.
“We have no choice, just stay on this half of the cell. And not a word of complaint. Just be appreciative
you don’t have a criminal partner in there with you as well.”
“Understood.”
Rachel quietly nodded, so Sykes motioned his chin over towards the cell door. A secret key make a soft
*CLICK* as the door unlocked and then a long *SQUEEK* filled the whole basement as it swung
open.
Knowing the circumstances of the men and women who had entered these walls before, a scornful
smile finally broke through the knight captain’s scrutinizing demeanor.
“Heheheh, it’s probably a pretty creepy place for the daughter of a nobleman…….well, if you live in
the capitol. After a week I’m sure you’ll get used to it and start thinking of it like an unusual inn.
……..Well, I suppose you have no idea how many years you’ll actually be in here?”
Rachel remained silent as she walked into her new home while the knight captain continued to fling
threats and complaints at her back.
After entering, the cell doors immediately closed behind her, still rattling as her captors slid the key
back inside and locked the door.
Looking down at this quiet girl who had taken a seat on the cold stone floor, a disgusting smile came
across Sykes’s face.
“If you want to start crying or hating the great me, just remember that this is all because of your
actions. Anyway we haven’t used this dungeon in a long time. The location is also bad, so sorry if we
forget you’re here~”
Sykes once again began to laugh at his own prodding.
“Hahahaha, that’s right. His Highness will soon forget you while having fun with Miss Margaret.
Before we forget that we put you in this prison, I suggest you lower your head.”
The Duke’s daughter watched Sykes and the prison guard go with a frown as the two of them turned
their backs on her. They were to leave this noblewoman on her own……was how it was supposed to
be.
Sykes and the prison guard began making their way back up the stairs, and at that time
*KACHANG* *KACHANG* *CRASH*
“Crash?”
The two men turned back around when they started hearing some funny noises.
What they saw was Rachel, twining a heavy iron chain around the bars of her cell and the door frame
and using a heavy padlock to lock it up.
This was the moment Rachel’s counterattack/harassment began.
“Huh?”
“Wh-what!?”
Seeing the unexpected actions of the young noblewoman, Sykes and the prison guard both ran back to
the cell door.
But Rachel had already securely locked it shut.
“Hey, what is this!?”
The men tried yanking open the door with all their strength, *CHING* *CHING* but the door would
only make a small noise as the edge of the door hit the chains fastening it shut. In the end, they couldn’t
open it enough to slide in even a finger.
Rachel coolly watched them go from inside her cell.
“It’s nothing. I locked it shut for my own safety.”
“This, isn’t this is a prison!? Isn’t it strange that the prisoner would be locking their door!?”
Rachel spoke calmly and coolly as Sykes’s face turned red from his shouting.
“I am a beautiful, unmarried woman. It would be unbearable if the worst were to befall me. It is a plot
point in many stories for guards to sneak their way into dungeons where their bosses can’t keep an eye
on them.”
“You thought, that’s unheard of here!? And where did this chain and lock come from!?”
“That is a product for my own convenience.”
Rachel didn’t give an inch no matter what was being yelled at her while Sykes and the prison guard
were both at a loss for words. She was supposed to be locked inside a prison, but it was starting to take
the form of a basket instead.¹
“Wh-what do we do…..?”
The prison guard spoke dumbfounded, and after a moment, Sykes begrudgingly replied.
“We’ll report to His Highness for now……..and, and we’ll go with what he decides…….”
So the head of the knights in the entire castle left the dungeon and slowly began dragging his feet back
to the party venue.
Noblewoman Renovates the Prison
By the time Sykes returned from the prison, he found Elliot still flirting with Miss Margaret…….but
the situation was soon going to evolve(deteriorate).
“…….!!”
When he saw the state of the dungeon, Elliot was at a loss for words. Sykes, who was supposed to have
been prepared for the strangeness of this situation, was also at a loss for words. This prison, it was a
completely different place from just 30 minutes ago.
The dungeon is a facility that is actually comprised of one large square room separated in two by a row
of iron bars.
The front room across from the iron grating is used for waiting and monitoring the dungeon. The
staircase leading up to the rest of the castle was obviously here as well. The only furniture in this
portion of the dungeon was just a simple desk and a couple chairs.
The prisoners’ meals would be brought from the kitchen in the upper floors, so there was no need for
any kitchen facilities, and because any interrogations are taken care of in the guard quarters, there was
no need for any furniture.
The room in the back is where the prisoner resides–the actual dungeon. Interior decoration consists of
stone with a stone ceiling and a stone floor. A monochromatic design. In one corner there was a toilet,
shower, and washbasin all shoved together. These two portions of the room are only separated by the
iron bars, and if they were to be removed, you would have a single, larger room.
As it is called a dungeon, it is the basement floor mostly underground, but there is several elongated
holes in the high walls to act as windows in order to provide ventilation and lighting. Because this was
the only source of light for the room, even in the daytime it was dim without any lamps or candles.
Whether life in this stifling space would be dreadful or not depended on the position of the person
interred here and the degree of hostility from the person who had put them in there.
If the prisoner was a big shot that needed due consideration or if the person was still on amicable terms
with their jailer despite the circumstances, then they could expect special treatment. Rugs and other
furnishings like beds, desks, and chairs could be provided along with toiletries for the toilet and even a
bathtub.
If the purpose of the prisoners incarceration was to oppress them or their jailer felt hatred for them,
then they may receive nothing instead. Shivering in the cold and forced to lie down on the cobblestone
floor. They would have to eat off a tray placed on the ground and subjected to the humiliation of being
watched as you bathe and excrete waste by the guard.
Just listening to this type of treatment is enough to make most men tremble. Especially if their
imprisonment had already been decided…..
Nonetheless, the stories are mostly just urban legends.
In the first place there is almost no reason for this prison to be used in the first place.
Compared to the past, most inmates are handled immediately by the guards, so rather than being
thrown into the dungeon, they are immediately dragged into the guard quarters where their
interrogations are handled post haste without giving them even a chance to escape.
On the other hand, and criminals who wouldn’t need this type of consideration wouldn’t be important
enough to be placed in the dungeon of the royal palace. It is far better and more practical to just ship
them off to the larger suburban prison used by the common people.
This dungeon was something to be used to abuse powerful people who had lost everything from the
days where civil wars and conspiracy was an everyday thing. The country had been at peace for a long
time now so rather than a prison, it had become more of a holding cell for nobles and courtiers who
meet extraordinary conditions.
Rachel Ferguson, who was this cells first resident in a long time, was indeed an extraordinary case.
Somebody who was expecting the Duke’s daughter to draw the Prince’s ire and be thrown in there.
There was no such person who existed. Or at the very least, such a capable person is hard to come by.
But was Prince Elliot able to think that deeply……?
Of course not. He just wanted to bully Rachel who had created a bad environment and bullied the cute
Margaret. At no point in any corner of his brain did he ever consider what her living arrangements
would be like.
What had crossed the Prince’s mind was the powerful image of Rachel becoming desperate after being
imprisoned and begging Margaret for forgiveness and to be released as soon as possible. Any specific
details were unable to be found.
Honestly, after expelling Rachel from his social gathering and flirting with Margaret, the Prince had
completely forgotten the matter until Sykes had drug his feet back into the hall.
So he had no idea what problem his aide could have had with that woman, and he didn’t understand the
strangeness of the situation until he had gotten to the prison himself.
……….because when he did arrive in the prison, Prince Elliot could not understand the sight in front of
him.
In this prison, the Duke’s daughter who had just had her engagement annulled and left alone in this
cold dank place was currently relaxing.
In this place where stone pavement should be visible from every corner, a geometrically patterned rug
mat was laid down, and the shower and toilet which should have been in plain view for the guards was
partitioned off by a floral curtain.
The resident who had arrived at the castle that night while wearing a formal evening dress had already
changed into some simple indoor wear. On the rug mat was a cushion sofa where this dungeon’s
imprisoned was turning the page of her book while lying on her back. In other words, there was also a
light inside the cell close enough for her to be able to read.
Why is she wearing a different outfit from what she had been thrust in there with?
Where did this furniture come from?
Impossible.
This picture is impossible.
This side of the iron bars is definitely still a dungeon.
And even though the other side is supposed to be a dungeon, even if it is narrow, why is such a
comfortable living arrangement spread out?
The people gathered here had no words for this mysterious sight, but after a moment of them staring,
the nobleman lying there suddenly noticed their presence.
“?”
Rachel sat up, completely ignoring the other side of the bars, and after picking up the kettle off of her
alcohol lamp, she poured out some boiling water into her tea pot before covering the lid. Inside this
dank dungeon, the smell of obviously outstanding fragrant tea spread.
“Mufuu…..”
Rachel smiled happily while smelling the excellent scent.
Elliot, who had been frozen in shock until now, finally moved a little when his jaw dropped watching
this whole tea brewing scene. Sykes kept staring at the woman’s face, but he couldn’t force any words
to come out.
After around a five count, the Prince’s senses finally returned to him when he rushed forward and clung
to the iron bars.
“You! Where did you get something like this from!”
Rachel gave the Prince an incredulous look, finding his response incomprehensible.
“Because I prepared all this myself, I didn’t put any strain on the national budget.”
“That’s not the problem!”
“Because these are all private items I bought over time, there is no way for me to say specifically.”
“I’m not talking about where you got it! Where did it all come from for it to be in here!?”
Elliot’s words were becoming harried as he continued barreling through the conversation.
Rachel however couldn’t seem to understand what he was talking about, so rather than tell him
anything, she decided to instead open up one of the nearby wooden boxes and enjoy a sweet. The
wooden box she had opened was one of the ones that had been in there since the beginning. The ones
that should’ve been a bunch of extra storage.
“……..there!?” Sykes shouted.
“What!?”
The prison guard started explaining the situation to the Prince who was unaware of the circumstances
of those boxes. As the full trick became known to him, Elliot began to feel dizzy as he watched his
former fiancee happily enjoy a cookie and sip some tea.
“Pr-predicting the situation, the Duke had already sent in siege supplies!?”
Rachel popped in here replying to the Prince’s terrified misunderstanding.
“To be accurate it was actually done by my hands. Well, I’ve been preparing for just such an event.”
With the Prince unable to catch up to that second statement, Rachel opened up her book at the
bookmark at she placed on the sofa and once again began devoting herself to absorbing the contents.
Although everyone would admit that Rachel Ferguson was a beauty, they would also admit to her
having a strangely light presence, and sometimes the Prince would forget what she would say.
Her beautiful thin lips would scarcely form any expression, and they would rarely voice any of her
opinions other than the abstract. Even if she were to voice an opinion, the Prince would often hear it at
his own convenience.
She was like the shadow of the Prince, a convenient woman attached to his side. The rival noblewomen
would often verbally bad-talk her saying she was like a wilted flower and not suitable for the Prince.
Besides the shining beautiful Prince, she was a delicate butterfly that didn’t get in the way, but was also
inconspicuous.
