第二十二章
‘Damn it,’ Alex thought with a start, ‘what an unfortunate coincidence. That old hag and Kristia have already arrived. We need to pick up the pace.’
“Indeed,” Clotilde interjected, “but Alex, don’t be so quick to revert from your job change. Remember, once your body shrinks, this already cramped cell will become impossibly vast for you.”
“If you simply run at your normal speed, you’ll never make it in time. You must wait until the very last second before dispelling the transformation.”
“I see,” Alex acknowledged. “I understand.”
Truth be told, if Clotilde hadn’t been present, Lisbeth might have opted to simply revert from her job change and dash into the cell.
However, after their brief mental exchange, Lisbeth immediately shrunk her body.
Then, utilizing the incredible speed of a Grand Thief, she sprinted towards her cell.
Meanwhile, Kristia had already passed through the guarded entrance of the prison block.
She strode swiftly towards Lisbeth’s solitary cell.
The prison wing wasn’t particularly expansive, so after just a few minutes, Kristia and Hilda arrived before the door to Lisbeth’s personal cell.
“Hmm? Wait a moment,” Kristia mused. “Why is this door ajar?”
“Huh?” Hilda uttered, surprised.
Kristia, however, did not immediately step through the partially open door into Lisbeth’s cell.
Instead, she paused, her brow furrowed, and questioned the guard.
According to the prison’s layout, the door before Kristia should have led to the second layer of cells, while Lisbeth’s barred cell was considered the first layer.
This implied that despite the comfortable conditions of Lisbeth’s current cell, she ought to have been under even stricter surveillance.
“Th-this… This is very strange,” the guard stammered. “It definitely should have been closed.”
“You imbecile!” Kristia raged. “As a guard, you didn’t even notice this door was open! Let me tell you, if the person inside has escaped, I will hold every single one of you guards accountable!”
With her furious declaration, Kristia shoved the cell door open, advancing without hesitation towards Lisbeth’s cell.
The next second, as her gaze fell upon Lisbeth’s quarters, she saw a beast-eared maid with a pair of fox ears, clad in a maid’s uniform, soundly asleep on the bed.
“Phew… It seems she’s still here after all…”
Naturally, the person lying on the bed was Lisbeth herself.
Upon seeing that she hadn’t vanished, Hilda and the guards alike let out a collective sigh of relief.
Kristia, however, did not display any reassurance. Instead, she waved a hand at the guard beside her. “You, open the cell. I have something to ask her inside.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Though the guard was unsure why Kristia couldn’t simply wake Lisbeth from outside and insisted on entering the cell to question her, they dutifully unlocked the door.
Kristia and Hilda then stepped inside together.
“Hey, wake up, you busty fox.”
“Ugh… Ha-wuh…”
“Hey, wake up! If you don’t open your eyes, I’ll cut off those useless lumps of fat!”
“E-e-e-eh!?”
As Kristia’s words fell, Lisbeth instantly jolted awake, clutching her chest.
She instinctively recoiled a few steps. “Wah, wah, wah! Don’t do that! Why must I have my chest cut off even in my dreams!”
“Lisbeth, this isn’t a dream,” Hilda clarified. “The Demon Lord has truly come to see you.”
“Eh?”
Gazing at Kristia, who stood undeniably before her, Lisbeth’s expression turned to one of terror.
She blurted out, “D-Demon Lord! Why have you suddenly come? Waaah, Demon Lord, I know I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong, but you don’t have to come all the way here in the middle of the night just to cut off my chest, do you?!”
“Who would come all the way here for something so utterly trivial?!”
“Ow, ow, ow! Then stop pinching my chest so hard!”
At that moment, Hilda realized Lisbeth possessed an uncanny ability to infuriate others at any given time.
While Kristia’s tone wasn’t exactly gentle in her daily efforts to maintain her authority, she wouldn’t normally erupt in such a furious display, furiously pinching someone’s chest.
Witnessing this scene, Hilda sighed helplessly.
She pulled the enraged Kristia away. “Alright, alright, Demon Lord, please calm your anger. And Lisbeth, we actually came here to ask you if you have…”
“Don’t ask unnecessary questions, Hilda.”
However, before Hilda could finish her sentence, Kristia, whom she had just pulled back, swiftly cut her off.
She then addressed Lisbeth, “We only came today to see if you had reflected on your actions. If you had truly repented, I was originally going to release you immediately.”
“But it seems there’s no need for that now, does there?”
“Eh!? How can you say that?”
“Hmph, you brought this upon yourself. Let’s go, Hilda.”
With those words, Kristia departed Lisbeth’s cell, taking Hilda with her.
Once they were gone, Lisbeth let out a breath of relief.
“Phew… They’re finally gone, aren’t they? That truly gave me quite a fright.”
“Exactly,” Clotilde agreed. “If she hadn’t hesitated at the door just now, we truly would have been doomed. But even beyond that, she’s certainly worthy of being the Demon Lord; her actions are truly flawless.”
“She clearly intended to check if you had escaped, yet she managed to twist it into a visit.”
Listening to Clotilde’s words, Lisbeth smiled faintly.
She then spoke softly, “Indeed. After all, that’s Kristia. Even at just ten years old, she’s far more astute than anyone else.”
“Precisely because of that, I must find someone who can secretly place a curse on her.”
Thus, with Kristia’s departure, Lisbeth’s tense night finally concluded, welcoming the dawn of a new day.