MPBAGS Chapter 110

It's already been 3 days since I was locked up in prison.

According to what Jelly told me when surveillance had loosened, Henna safely returned to the mansion. She and Kanna apparently had an emotional reunion, hugging each other and crying, but since I haven't returned yet, Kanna is still crying.

All the outsiders like Misha have been sent away from the mansion, and the Rohanson mansion has locked its doors. They tried to send Dolly away too, but she said she would share the same fate as the Rohanson mansion and stayed. It seems Daisy's siblings, who were rescued from the nobles, are also remaining at the Rohanson mansion.

And the Count has apparently prepared to cut ties with me at any moment. I'm in this situation because of the sword the Count gave me—I really feel betrayed. I was seething with anger, so Jelly promised that the moment the Count abandons me, he'll catch him and hand him over to the guards to apply guilt by association.

By now, something should have changed - either I'd be confirmed as the culprit or released - but I was still just a suspect.

Sigh... I'm really tired.

Since I originally just stayed cooped up in my room, eating and sleeping on the bed anyway, being locked in prison didn't change my lifestyle much, but the prison environment seems to be having a psychologically adverse effect.

Even this was only bearable because Jelly brought me things like a bed and clothes. Otherwise, I would have had to spend time on the dirt floor wearing a blood-stained dress. If that had been the case, I would have already escaped holding Jelly's hand.

Oh, and by the way, what Jelly brought me wasn't confiscated. The guards were confused by the sudden change in the prison's appearance, but they assumed someone among the guards had accepted bribes and allowed the items in.

They were suspicious of each other, making a fuss and increasing the guard staff to watch each other. It was like watching a game of Mafia, where players hunt for a traitor among themselves. Of course, there was no traitor in their ranks. Ta-da! The culprit was Jelly all along.

While having such idle thoughts and reading a book Jelly brought me, a guard kicked the iron bars. What's this guy's problem? I closed the book and turned around. Turns out he had brought a meal.

"You seem quite comfortable."

The sarcastic voice was familiar. That guy again... It was the imperial knight who was Gabriel's fan and had been thoroughly upset with me. This knight, whether out of jealousy from having Gabriel "stolen" from him or not, always showed tremendous hostility toward me.

"Argenti, that's enough."

The knight who came in with him scolded and tried to stop him, but he didn't even pretend to listen.

"Who brought you the book? The noble young lady protected by the holy knight is treated well even when suspected of attempting to assassinate royalty."

Our house doggy brought it, so what.

"Do you think you can continue living so comfortably? Soon you'll have your head cut off. No wait, since they say you cast evil magic, you might be burned to death instead."

Right, whether beheaded or burned at the stake, both are classic deaths for villainess.

"Since you're going to die soon anyway, you won't need meals."

The knight sneered at me and threw the meal on the floor. To bring it all the way here just to throw it away in front of me... Is your character for real? Don't you realize there's a special hell for people who waste food? You'll spend eternity eating every last crumb you ever threw away.

This kind of childish bullying should have been graduated from after elementary school, but since this damned romance fantasy world doesn't have mandatory education, he couldn't graduate, which is why an imperial knight acts like this.

Others were too scared to even make eye contact with me... Isn't he even afraid of me? This is the first time I've been treated like this since possessing Evangeline. Or maybe he's attacking me with confidence because there are iron bars, like looking at a beast in a zoo cage.

When I didn't react at all, the knight pouted. I don't know what reaction he was expecting, but I'll just call Jelly later to bring me a meal from the Rohanson mansion. It's so delicious compared to prison food that I didn't feel sorry at all.

Indeed, the best way to deal with such people is to not give them attention. The knight who kept getting irritated from being ignored had no choice but to leave the prison when shift change time came.

The next shift was some gloomy knight and a big, thug-like knight.

But the gloomy knight had gauze stuck all over his face, as if something rough had happened. Since he was also limping, it seemed like he had sparred or gotten into a fight. Making an injured person work - the imperial palace must be seriously short-staffed.

The gloomy knight limped over and pitifully cleaned up the meal the previous knight had spilled. The person who came in as a pair with him had no camaraderie or decency, just watching the injured guy clean. Wait. This isn't workplace bullying or something like that, is it?

The thug stood by the door just staring blankly, then started nodding off to sleep. Then, as if he was planning to sleep in earnest, he brought a chair and got comfortable.

"I'm watching, so don't think about doing anything funny."

The thug muttered to himself about not knowing why he was so sleepy, then leaned against the chair back and started sleeping soundly. He was snoring so loudly. Well, it's dawn now, so it's natural to be sleepy.

Even after the thug went to sleep, the gloomy knight continued cleaning the floor.

"How did you get hurt like that?"

When I asked about his story out of compassion, the gloomy knight looked at me in surprise. Then he glanced nervously at the sleeping thug.

That person beat him! He can't even speak because he's right next to him... It really is workplace bullying! Workplace harassment was happening right in front of me, but I was helplessly imprisoned and couldn't do anything to help.

"...It's because of you."

What? Because of me? As I looked at him puzzled, the gloomy knight muttered very quietly, pouring out his resentment toward me.

"It's because of you that this happened. They said I accepted bribes and allowed those things in this prison."

So this gloomy knight seemed to be someone wrongly accused as the culprit in the Mafia game without Mafia. Then it really is my fault... Is he being bullied because of me? My conscience, which I thought had worn away to nothing, raised its head. If I could just contact Gabriel, I think I could handle this somehow.

But Gabriel hasn't been coming for visits... Since Gabriel previously not only spilled internal affairs but also made the unreasonable request to be left alone, it seemed visits were being denied.

I wanted to at least send word through Jelly, but Jelly complained that Gabriel had no time alone and wasn't even sleeping, making it difficult to approach him.

Since he's already been framed as the Mafia, could I ask him to at least contact Gabriel so he won't feel wronged? Is that too shameless a request?

Then the thug woke up from his sleep. Seeing the gloomy knight muttering to me, he seemed to misunderstand that we were really conspiring together.

Living up to his name, the thug grabbed the gloomy knight's hair and started using violence. And he did it deliberately right in front of the iron bars, as if showing me.

"What are you doing?"

Seeing someone being bullied right in front of me made me so angry that I sharply questioned him. He might look like a thug, but isn't he an imperial knight? A knight using violence against a colleague?

"What am I doing? Just showing some manners."

He doesn't know to fear the villainess just because I'm locked behind bars. But I have a secret weapon.

"Pudding."

My new secret weapon was Pudding. Starting from when he transformed into that stunning handsome man last time, Pudding seemed to have some restrictions lifted and began using magic freely. Probably when he was young, his vessel was insufficient, but now that he's finished growing, he can use magic. I remember seeing a similar setting somewhere.

If Jelly's specialty was teleportation, Pudding's specialty seemed to be invisibility. Though not visible to the eye, when I called his name, he would appear and help me constantly. Our Jelly's specialty is teleportation, but he can't do invisibility magic. He says his presence is too big to be hidden. Ah, yes yes...

Whether Pudding grabbed him by the collar, the thug was lifted into the air. He seemed to be suffocating, grabbing his throat and struggling as if trying to break free, making choking sounds. Really, such overacting. I don't know how much it could hurt with Pudding's delicate-looking wrists applying force.

"Shouldn't you take care of manners first, sir?"

I'd appreciate if he understood the spirit of putting yourself in others' shoes. Pudding, having learned it from somewhere, cutely shook the thug back and forth before releasing him.

"Gasp, huff. Ugh."

The thug, perhaps embarrassed by his overreaction, collapsed on the floor and didn't move.

"What's this... Is he dead?"

As if. He's just overacting. Dead my foot - our Pudding has such a tender heart he can't even kill a single bug. No wait, he does go hunting in the wild with Jelly sometimes, so he would kill animals. But that's for survival, and he wouldn't kill people.

"He'll get up again."

As soon as I finished speaking, the thug staggered to his feet. Whether embarrassed by his overreaction or feeling remorseful, he kept his head down.

"He won't be able to use violence against you again."

He experienced it once through role reversal, and seeing him hanging his head like that, he definitely won't be able to bully anymore. At least he'll behave for a while. And during that time, I should recommend a job change. The imperial knights all seem out of their minds - maybe I should suggest he look into joining Gabriel's knights instead. I need to chase away the thug who's still hanging his head first.

"How about you step outside?"

If it were me, I'd hide in a mouse hole. When given a chance to escape, the thug quickly left the prison. Now only the gloomy knight and I remained in the prison.

"Should I help you?"

Even with my offer, the gloomy knight hesitated. You fool, at times like this you should ask for help! Of course, I understood his distrust since the other party was a suspect in the Crown Prince's assassination and locked in prison.