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Chapter 13
Around the Gossipers Trio, only those who lacked the sense to withdraw in time remained—people cut from the same cloth as they were.
One of the Gossipers Trio, who’d been first to speak, kept trying to draw reactions from those around them, clearly pleased with their own deductions.
“This is going to blow up bigger than we thought, isn’t it?”
The Gossipers Trio were already gloating over the misfortunes that lay ahead for me, but it was I who seized the opening their words had given me—a small but satisfying opportunity.
“Just a moment, please.”
I asked the guard who’d been escorting me to the detention center for a brief reprieve.
Then I turned back to face the Gossipers Trio, keeping my expression as calm as I could manage.
“Is the name of House Renkelss really so light that it passes through gossip so casually? I wonder what Aunt—I mean, what Countess Renkelss herself would think if she heard this.”
I’d seen Countess Renkelss only a handful of times, but the fact that she was my mother’s older sister remained unchanging.
‘I didn’t start this, after all.’
The moment I mentioned Countess Renkelss by name, the faces of the Gossipers Trio went pale as they realized their mistake.
‘That’s enough for today.’
I turned back toward the detention center with a small, crooked smile playing at one corner of my mouth.
When Constance got out, those three would pay dearly for today.
“This way, miss. However, outside visitors require an Identity Verification Procedure before entry, so please wait here a moment.”
The guard led me to a makeshift Waiting Room just inside the entrance.
This must be the limit of where an outsider who hadn’t completed the procedure could go.
After waiting about ten minutes on a sofa in the Imperial Palace Detention Center’s Waiting Room—surprisingly cushioned for such a place—the guard returned.
“Entry is approved. Miss Carolinadiaz.”
With permission granted, the guard’s demeanor shifted noticeably; I’d transformed from an inconvenient visitor into an actual guest.
I gave a small nod and followed the guard deeper into the detention center.
‘It’s dark in here.’
The building itself wasn’t old—it didn’t have that worn-down feeling.
But perhaps because of the preconceptions attached to the word “detention center,” the place carried an unmistakably gloomy atmosphere.
‘Even the guards patrolling look tired.’
I thought I heard someone shouting in the distance.
I found myself growing worried about what hardships Constance might be enduring.
‘And after they promised to keep her safe.’
When my expression visibly hardened, the escorting guard seemed to offer reassurance, adding various details to comfort me.
“The further in you go, the nicer the cells become—the ones reserved for prisoners of higher status. Miss Constance is being held as a Witness, so her cell was in a deeper section than this, already much better accommodated.”
“That’s how it should be.”
Whether my casual comment sounded like a threat, the guard visibly flinched.
Fortunately, my concerns evaporated the moment we arrived at the Cell where Constance was being held.
“Here we are.”
‘This is actually quite nice.’
The room the guard had stopped at was, except for one wall of iron bars, like a modest guest room in a noble’s estate.
“Miss Constance is not permitted to leave, but you are welcome to enter, Miss Diaz. Will you go in?”
The guard held up a silver Key as he asked.
“Yes, of course.”
At my consent, the barred door swung open.
I ducked my head slightly and stepped into the Cell where Constance was.
Once I passed through the barred door completely and straightened up, the full room came into view.
With the iron bars at my back, the Cell looked considerably better than before.
‘This is livable.’
No work, and three square meals a day.
‘Wait—why is nobody here?’
“Where’s Constance?” I asked, turning back to the guard.
The guard, who’d been locking the door again with the bundle of keys at his belt, merely lifted his head to answer.
“She’s probably bathing at the moment. The bathroom is behind that partition over there.”
The guard gave his somewhat speculative answer and left, saying he’d return in an hour.
“There are no other prisoners in this section at present, so please feel free to converse openly.”
The guard added this as an afterthought, as if he’d nearly forgotten, and the words reached me only after he’d begun to leave.
“Thank you.”
I offered my thanks to the guard’s departing back.
Once the surroundings fell quiet, I heard the soft sound of running water.
Just as the guard had guessed, Constance seemed to be in the bathroom.
‘You’re living quite the life, Constance.’
I settled into a chair at a small tea table.
I waited, thinking she’d emerge soon, but twenty minutes of the hour the guard had mentioned had already passed.
Still, Constance didn’t appear.
“Is she soaking in a bath?”
I wondered if this Cell even had a bathtub.
After waiting another five minutes or so, the sound of water finally stopped.
Soon after, Constance emerged from behind the partition in comfortable loungewear.
“Eek!”
Then she saw me and shrieked.
“Relax. It’s me.”
I let out my voice deliberately to confirm my identity, and the shrieking finally stopped.
“Carolina?”
“Yeah.”
Constance rushed toward me.
Her face gleamed—clearly she’d been sleeping well, eating well, and resting well.
“Of course it’s Carolina. You came to get me out, right?”
She must have heard from someone close to the Emperor that she couldn’t leave for a while, yet she seemed quite bored nonetheless.
There was a hint of cautious hope in her eyes.
‘Here I was worried she’d be uncomfortable, and she’s out here like this.’
I was about to tease her mercilessly, but I stopped myself.
“No. I’ve been arrested too.”
I held both wrists in front of me side by side, mimicking the posture of wearing Handcuffs, my expression serious. At this, Constance simply collapsed to the floor.
“You? Why?”
She had the hollow, defeated expression of someone who’d just reached for their last food ration only to have a crow snatch it away.
“There shouldn’t be any real grounds for it. Are you in a similar situation to me?”
Even as she rapid-fired these questions without waiting for answers, her face showed no real concern.
‘In a few days, we’ll both be released anyway, I suppose.’
I suppressed a quiet laugh, my head bowed.
The shadow fell across my face from the angle, making me look somewhat gloomy, and Constance’s imagination began to spiral.
“Wait—we’re not sharing a Cell, are we? I only just moved to this room a few days ago. So that’s why they gave me such a spacious one?”
Was this really her most urgent concern? I hoped I was mistaken.
“Does that bother you?”
I lifted my head and spoke with feigned indifference, arms crossed.
“Oh, no—of course not. It’s fine. It even reminds me of Academy days.”
Constance made a belated attempt at damage control.
I shook my head at her, knowing full well what thoughts were running through her mind—’But there’s only one bed…’
“I’m lying. I haven’t actually been arrested.”
Once the truth came out, Constance’s expression brightened.
“I knew it! I never mentioned your name, not once.”
She patted her chest proudly as if to tout her own loyalty, but somehow it only made me more frustrated.
“Constance.”
I called her name with a serious expression and then closed my mouth firmly. Constance fidgeted nervously.
“What is it?”
I maintained my silence for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“I wrote that report.”
Constance awkwardly scratched the back of her head.
“Well, you only wrote it—but it was a trap Donovan set for me. I couldn’t drag you into it.”
It seemed Constance had seen through Donovan’s scheming long ago.
“And besides, because I kept you out of it, things turned out well, didn’t they? By the way, how did you find out about the Emperor’s aide?”
Constance grinned as if trying to change the subject and smooth things over with her own mischief.
“You’re something else.”
I pretended to put her in a headlock, then pulled her into a tight embrace instead.
‘If things had gone wrong, what would I have done? You idiot.’
Since Constance was significantly shorter than me, her nose bumped against my shoulder.
“I think my nose is broken.”
Constance exaggerated her injury, struggling to escape from my arms.
“Bones don’t break that easily.”
I held her tightly and wouldn’t let go for a long while.
Not until the guard came back to retrieve me at the appointed time.
“Ahem…”
We’d been in the middle of viciously mocking the Gossipers Trio when the guard appeared in the doorway.
Seeing the two of us embracing with one of us in considerably modest attire, he awkwardly smiled and began backing away.
“Shall I come back in a little while?”
I could guess what he was thinking, but Constance wasn’t my type—I preferred someone taller.
“No, thank you.”
I released Constance and turned around.
“If I stay any longer, it will put you in an awkward position as well.”
The area surrounding Constance’s Cell was empty.
As if entry to this entire section was prohibited.
‘Security measures, I suppose.’
If I dawdled any longer and something went wrong, it would only delay the day Constance got out.
I straightened my rumpled clothes and stepped through the barred door.
“Constance, when you get out, let’s go to that pub we couldn’t make it to last time.”
The owner’s daughter has recovered, they say.
I turned back to her with the brightest, lightest smile I could muster.
“Sounds good.”
Constance smiled and agreed.
It was a poignant moment of understanding between us.
“Oh, wait a moment. Guard, what’s for dinner tonight?”
Before Constance could even ask the guard—who’d already turned to escort me back—about the dinner menu.
‘Maybe I should ask them to move her back to her old Cell.’
