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Chapter 5
“Ugh—!”
Lizeana’s body, accustomed to nothing more than sitting inside the imperial palace handling paperwork, was far too frail to endure teleportation magic.
It felt as though all the food in her stomach would come rushing back up. The experience was horrifying—as if her soul itself were being ripped out of her body.
Ian caught the dizzy Lizeana with his firm, muscular arm.
Even in her dazed state, Lizeana glared at him resentfully.
If it was going to be this disorienting, the least he could have done was warn me beforehand.
“Prisoner, we’re here. Get a hold of yourself.”
Barely regaining her senses, Lizeana quickly pulled herself free from Ian’s embrace.
As she looked around, it no longer felt like the open night air. Instead, she had arrived somewhere silent and chilling.
Instinctively grabbing onto something nearby to steady herself, she staggered and clutched her head.
“Where… is this?”
“Here? The place where you’ll be staying.”
The moment Ian finished speaking, he snapped his fingers and teleported away.
The support she had been leaning against vanished, and Lizeana nearly lost her balance.
Creeeak—
At the same time, the sound of massive metal grinding together echoed through the room.
Like the closing of iron prison bars.
“It’s a safe place.”
Only then did Lizeana realize that what she had been gripping was unnaturally cold and hard.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, illuminated only by a few torches.
“No way…”
A chilling voice slipped into her ears.
“You’ll be staying here for a while. Ah, don’t worry. This is an underground prison inside my private domain. No one will find you here.”
Even in the darkness, his crimson eyes shone vividly as they looked down at her.
Only then did Lizeana fully grasp her reality. She grabbed the bars tightly, but nothing changed.
I knew he was called the Mad Dog, but to think he’d go this far!
Lizeana became certain.
An underground prison…
The nickname Mad Dog hadn’t been given for nothing. Clutching the bars, she glared at him fiercely.
She pulled hard on the iron bars, but it was useless.
Looking at the red-eyed man beyond the bars, Lizeana pressed a hand to her brow. Her situation was absurd, but she wasn’t afraid.
I was already supposed to die once. I’ve already experienced death—what is there left to fear?
That was why she couldn’t afford to waste the priceless opportunity granted by her regression.
She had nearly lost her life while trying to persuade the man known as the “Mad Dog” of the Tenzel Empire.
And yet, after risking everything, she had safely made it all the way to the enemy empire.
Ian Rendy Devencia.
Despite his beautiful appearance, his personality and manner were rough and abrasive.
Fortunately, she had somehow managed to persuade a man like him and come this far.
But the man was still a duke of the enemy Tenzel Empire.
From another perspective, it was only natural for him to be suspicious of her.
The Tenzel Empire and the Abid Empire are hostile toward one another.
And what sane person wouldn’t be suspicious when a woman they had just met suddenly begged to be kidnapped and offered herself up as a prisoner?
Lizeana calmly raised her head toward Ian.
“So the only safe place you could possibly think of is this underground prison? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I mean exactly what I said. You stay here.”
“I see. I’ve heard that law enforcement in the Tenzel Empire is extremely strict. Of course, as nothing more than a foreign refugee, if I wandered the streets, my safety likely couldn’t be guaranteed. But more importantly…”
Lizeana swallowed hard and met his eyes.
“Isn’t it simply that you don’t trust me?”
“There’s no reason for me to trust you.”
Ian replied coldly.
“As I said, I…”
She wanted to repeat that she simply wished to leave the Abid Empire, but she doubted the man before her would suddenly believe her.
Lizeana clenched her fists, unable to continue.
Would he even believe me if I told him? That I regressed. That I was trying to escape Raiphin, the man who would kill me. And…
Her eyes twisted with fury.
That I want to bring ruin upon Raiphin.
Letting out a deep sigh, Lizeana looked back at Ian.
“If you distrust me enough to lock me in a prison, then what exactly made you bring me here?”
“…You looked desperate.”
Tilting his head slightly, Ian quietly studied her face.
“I trusted your desperation.”
For a moment, Lizeana was speechless.
What kind of expression had she worn when she begged him to kidnap her as a prisoner?
She understood what he meant without hearing anything more.
By bringing along someone so desperate to escape the Abid Empire, he could manipulate her however he pleased.
Lizeana sighed.
“Then let me out. Right now. I can give your people everything you want.”
“Hmm. Hard to do that when your reputation is so infamous.”
At his words, Lizeana immediately fell silent.
She hadn’t realized her infamy had spread even to the Tenzel Empire.
Damn Raiphin. He’s never once been useful.
Remembering the things she had done in the past because of him, she bit down on her lip.
“Hah, unbelievable. Don’t you need my cooperation?”
“No. This is better.”
Ian smiled faintly and tapped the prison bars.
“The Tenzel Empire is a rough country. Like you said, if a foreign refugee wanders around the streets, the guards might kill them.”
He tapped the bars again.
“For you, this prison is the safest place.”
Instinctively, Lizeana realized he was not someone whose stubbornness could be overturned with words. She let out another sigh.
At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed between them, followed by a voice calling out.
“Lord Ian! Your Grace!”
Ian brushed back his unruly white hair and spoke in a low, icy voice.
“Harhin. How many times have I told you to fix that reckless attitude? Shall I correct it myself this time?”
At once, Harhin clamped his mouth shut and cautiously approached his master.
Standing beside Ian, Harhin’s eyes met Lizeana’s.
Immediately, he widened his eyes in shock.
“Who is this lady? I clearly told you it was a young lady with pink hair and golden eyes!”
“I changed the plan. This…”
Ian paused briefly before recalling that she had once been called the “Imperial Family’s Hound.”
Well. The way she arrogantly clung to him earlier wasn’t exactly dog-like…
“A puppy will definitely be more useful to us than her.”
Puppy?
Harhin scratched his head in confusion as he looked down at Lizeana, whom Ian had called a puppy.
“Lord Ian, shouldn’t you report first? His Majesty has been waiting for news.”
“Before that, still no word from Nerah?”
“My apologies.”
Letting out a low sigh, Ian removed his outer coat and floated it through the air with magic.
The coat drifted gently before settling carefully over Lizeana.
Receiving his coat unexpectedly, she frowned.
“How laughable. You say I looked desperate, so you bring me here, lock me in a prison, and then offer me your clothes because I’m leaning against a cold wall?”
“You abandoned your country and came to Tenzel. What kind of treatment were you expecting as the Crown Princess?”
As if annoyed by the noise, Ian waved a dismissive hand and turned away.
“Do you know whose fault it is that my entire plan got ruined?”
“Hah! Are you seriously trying to blame me—?!”
The sound of Lizeana violently shaking the bars echoed behind him, but Ian showed no sign of changing his mind.
Before leaving the prison, he glanced back once more at her furious figure.
“I wish you’d stop resisting and accept your situation already.”
Chuckling softly, he exited the prison.
The pleasant sound of his laughter echoed through the corridor.
After Ian left, silence quickly settled over the prison.
Lizeana leaned against the cold wall.
Even after escaping the Abid Empire, her exhaustion still hadn’t faded.
I wish you’d stop resisting and accept your situation already.
Raising her head, Lizeana looked around.
The faint glow of mana lighting the walls, the magical books and documents piled nearby, and… the bars blocking her path.
It was unmistakably an underground prison.
Giving up, she adjusted herself and lay down, lost in thought.
The first person to come to mind was, of course, Raiphin.
“By now, Raiphin must know I’ve disappeared.”
Damn Raiphin. I wish he’d get out of my head already.
No matter how much she tried not to think of him, it was impossible.
In her previous life, he had been the one who led her from the darkness of the duke’s estate into the light.
I have come because I wish for you to become my Crown Princess!
Even now, she could vividly remember the splendidly dressed Raiphin coming to see her.
As he held her hand and offered her the position of Crown Princess, he had seemed like salvation itself.
Before Raiphin appeared, her marriage had already been arranged with Kin Huzsen, the son of the Huzsen Grand Duke family—a notorious womanizer.
She denied it, but it was reality.
In the end, Lizeana accepted her fate.
As the daughter of House Philorencia, she believed it was her duty to accept the marriage.
But then the doors of the Philorencia estate burst open, and Raiphin appeared.
Lizeana de Philorencia will not go to Zen. She will become my Crown Princess instead.
At those words alone, Duke Philorencia’s cold attitude vanished instantly. Every time he saw Lizeana afterward, he smiled warmly.
I didn’t do anything wrong, did I? he would ask.
A selfish man. One who saw his only daughter as nothing more than a tool.
That was how Lizeana defined Duke Philorencia in her heart.
Living under such a man, being manipulated at his whim, had been unbearable.
That was why Raiphin, who had freed her from the duke’s household, seemed like a savior.
This is the fitting end for a villainess!
Though later, he became the man who drove a sword through the chest of the woman who had devoted herself entirely to him.
There had once been a time when merely gazing into his warm brown eyes made her happy.
Even his blue hair had seemed too beautiful to look at directly.
That’s why I was willing to do anything for him. But not anymore.
She still remembered the chilling sensation of Raiphin’s sword piercing her heart.
Lizeana clenched her fists tightly.
I’ve already come too far to turn back now.
Forcing the memories away, Lizeana steadied herself.
Raiphin, you who drove a sword through my heart… I will never forgive you.
Beyond the prison bars, in the darkness, Lizeana’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
