Cellmate

“Hey, newcomer.

How did you end up in here?”

A young man from the neighboring cell asked.

The moment he saw Ailen, he couldn’t look away.

It was as if he had encountered a goddess—no,

a darling of the gods.

He fell in love at first sight.

Why?

Even he didn’t know.

Burning hormones…

They erupted in an instant…

Being locked in the lower prison—

was there any difference from being a death-row inmate?

The answer was no.

But at the root of it, there was still a slight difference.

Death-row inmates died quickly.

At most, their families bore the name of a criminal.

But in this lower prison,

they were no longer called “people.”

They were religious criminals.

Monsters.

Witches…

Yet only they themselves knew—

they were just ordinary people.

They didn’t know why,

but they were thrown into this iron hell.

“……”

Ailen didn’t want to answer him.

She curled up alone in the corner,

burying her head between her knees.

This gave her at least a tiny sense of safety.

“Hmph.

Fine if you don’t want to talk.

Let me tell you this—

we’re all going to die here.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe the day after.

Anyway, one day we’ll be cut to pieces

and finally burned at the stake,

turned into specks of ash…”

He thought angrily.

How rude.

Ignoring people!

Then I’ll just tell the truth.

She’ll understand sooner or later anyway.

“……”

Ailen remained silent,

hugging her head.

The person next door was irritating,

giving her a headache.

“Hmph…”

He showed no sympathy

and continued chattering on.

“I can already guess it.

You were sold out by your family, right?”

He probed casually.

“You’re lying!”

Ailen jumped up,

her voice trembling with tears.

Soft and tender,

pleasant to hear.

There’s an opening!

She won’t talk to me?

Then I’ll force her to talk.

We’re going to die sooner or later anyway.

Might as well刺激 her a bit.

“Hmph.

I’ll tell you then.

I was tricked here by my parents.”

He continued provoking Ailen.

Then he brushed aside his long-unwashed, foul-smelling brown hair.

It was clumped together,

like old tree bark.

“I trusted them.

I was filial to them.

And this is how they treated me.

They made a mistake,

so they pushed me out as a scapegoat.

I accepted my fate,

thought I should protect them,

and that’s how I was sold out.”

He paused,

caught his breath,

then slowly continued.

“Where I come from,

many children died long ago.

No one knew why.

The Church sent people to investigate,

but in the end they found nothing,

and it all ended in failure.

Until one day,

I brought a friend to my ancestral home.

We went down beneath it to look for something.

That was a secret between him and me.

As for what it was,

you don’t need to know.

You only need to know that

I found many bones underground.

Many, many infant bones.”

He sighed and continued.

“My friend and I were both stunned speechless.

He looked at me like he had seen a ghost.

I asked him to keep it secret,

because it was his ancestral home.

None of us would end well otherwise.

He nodded and agreed.

Then we went back to our own lives.”

Ailen stayed curled up in the corner,

not wanting to talk to him.

“Do you know what happened next?!

That’s right.

He called the Church,

and I was arrested!”

“Do you know why?!

Yes, that’s right.

There was a bounty for reporting.

A generous bounty.

He sold me out.”

“The most terrifying part is—yes.

They, my family,

also believed I was the murderer.

So they sold me out too…”

“That’s right.

They sold me.

In the interrogation room,

they even acted like they wanted to save me.

Then a priest came out

and dragged me away.

Their acting was so convincing.

I was fooled for a whole year.

Only recently did I figure it out.

They were in it together.

They didn’t want a monster

to stain their family’s reputation…”

“You’re probably the same.

They pretended to save you,

but in truth,

they were just trying to draw out the holes in your words.

So you’d slip up,

and those people hiding behind the scenes would see it.

That’s how I ended up in this lower prison.”

“A scam.

Hahahaha.

All scams…

Hahaha.

Nothing is fair.

I didn’t kill anyone,

yet they labeled me a dark mage.

And just like that, I was dragged in here.

Hahahaha.

Funny, right?

I’m a dark mage—

would I really be caught that easily?!

Hahahaha…”

As he laughed,

he began to cry,

like a madman.

He didn’t understand

why he still wasn’t dead.

He had stayed in this hell for a full year.

All he heard were words like “burning at the stake,”

yet it never came for him.

The last cellmate he had lived with for three months

was dragged out and executed two months ago.

He spent another lonely month alone in this prison.

A whole month with no one to talk to.

He even thought he had gone insane.

But every time,

he realized he hadn’t.

He was still clear-headed,

because he could still recognize

the dates scratched on the ground with fingernails…

Stroke after stroke…

Exactly one year…

“Oh God,

don’t tell me you still think they really wanted to save you?

If they wanted to save you,

they wouldn’t have asked what happened,

and they wouldn’t have made you expose your secrets.

They only wanted you imprisoned.”

He sat weakly on his wooden bed,

staring blankly at Ailen in the distance,

pouring his views into her endlessly.

“They’re all bad people…”

“You should know,

they always had issues with me.

They thought I was inferior,

not a good child.

They wanted to abandon me since I was young,

but because of national law,

they had to keep raising me.

This opportunity just happened to come along,

so they tricked me in here.”

“My friend,

this is just a piece of advice…”

He said, confused.

“You should know,

I’ve really lived long enough.

Whenever they got the chance,

they beat and scolded me.

When I resisted,

they took away my day’s rations—

that dog-food-like stuff.

I really have nothing left to cling to.

It’d be better if I just died sooner.”

“My father…

they’re not like that…”

Ailen argued weakly.

She didn’t know if it was coincidence.

Her experience was eerily similar to his.

Almost the same pattern.

All because of Aelix’s words—

‘tell the truth’…

She was afraid of Aelix.

Seeing how serious he looked,

she could only tell the truth…

And then she was brought to this cold dungeon…

“Don’t be too sad.

Life rarely goes as one wishes.

That’s just how it is.

At least I’m a man.

If I were a woman,

I’d probably have it even worse in this prison…

The cell you’re in now

belonged to a girl who committed suicide…”

He continued.

“She was violated by the prison guards.

She wanted justice,

but she was a witch—

she had no human rights.

In the end,

with no one answering her cries,

she chose suicide.

She left behind a blood-written message with her tongue,

smeared it on the wall,

and smashed her head against it.

I was right across from her.

That night, I got up and witnessed the whole thing.”

As he spoke,

he seemed to age several years.

That scene…

was truly tragic.

The final radiance of life…

Maybe her brother really didn’t want her anymore…

Even though she felt…

as if she had blended into them…

Even Cariana…

Hahaha…

Like a dream.

And now…

the dream had ended…

Maybe she should have escaped with Ken back then,

fled that mansion she swore never to return to.

Then none of this would have happened…

Life is like a dream…

“Don’t be sad…”

He began to comfort the sorrowful Ailen.

“Stay and talk with me a bit longer, okay…”

Ailen said softly.

The world…

is unfair…

Everything is precious,

yet any one of them might die at any moment…

Under the shadow of inevitable death,

people can only feel despair.

And despair…

is what most easily leads people to fall…

“Did you know?

Three days ago,

I learned that I was going to be burned at the stake…”

He said sorrowfully.

“But do you know?

I was actually excited…

I was finally going to die…

Finally no more struggling to survive…

But…

I don’t know why.

When I heard the news, I cried…

Even though I blamed them,

I could only think of them…”

“It’s very contradictory…”

He sighed deeply.

“If there is a next life,

I hope everything can get better…

At the very least,

people can trust one another…”

“He smiled awkwardly.

Paired with his pitch-black, filthy face,

it made people uncomfortable.

Yet under that very feeling,

she suddenly sensed a layer of light

radiating from beside him…”

“Good luck to you…

my friend…”

He gave a miserable smile,

no better than crying…

“There is no absolute balance in this world…

The most balanced thing is luck.

It favors no one,

and never deviates even slightly.

Only it—

winning and losing are always close to half.

So I only believe in luck…”

“My luck has come.

I’m finally going to die…

Tonight is my last night.

I didn’t expect you to come today…

I can’t accompany you anymore.

I can only wish you good luck…”

He said painfully…

“Remember.

Only fate is something you can believe in…”

“One thousand five hundred gold coins…”

She didn’t understand what these coins meant.

She didn’t understand the so-called market price.

“Boss lady, serve the food!

And another black pepper steak!”

She swept the table like a whirlwind,

leaving behind stacks of empty plates.

Everyone in the inn was stunned.

Who would have thought that

this beautiful little half-beast girl

could eat so much.

It looked like the entire inn’s stock

would be devoured by her alone.

“Whose child is that.

So crude…”

People muttered in their hearts.

Yet they dared not say it aloud.

Her purse was bulging with gold coins.

That was the symbol of wealth.

They only dared to gossip behind her back.

They didn’t dare speak openly.

After all—

these days,

who would dare go against money?