*CLACK* *CLACK* The sound of boots walking down stone steps echoes in the air, and the patrol put in charge of watching over the dungeon raises his face. With a torch in one hand, a ghostly young man is pulling a rope tied to a girl walking behind him with the other.

After being misunderstood for coming down here with strange intentions, the young man starts shouting out orders.

“Are you the prison guard?”

“Hah, but this is……”

While the guard tilts his head to the side, confuses at what could be going on here, Jorge Hyuutia removes the rope he has used to tie Farnese's hands together and pushed her back forward.

“It’s an order straight from Lord Albert. We’re throwing this woman into the dungeon. It’s undecided when she’ll be let out……it’s up to His Majesty Hiro.”

“Hah…….”

Jorge furrows his brow at the lackluster responses he is getting from the guard.

“What is it?”

“Hah……as a matter of fact, this is, the prison…..”

Jorge looks back past the guard, tired of his bumbling response…..and sees that the dungeon has been turned into a storehouse.

“What is this?”

The unexpected sight makes Jorge cry out. A number of wooden boxes of various sizes are stacked up high, pushed into one corner of the cell. There are some stacks that reach all the way to the ceiling.

“Actually……a number of officials came down here for the past month, and they kept bringing down more and more of this stuff saying they were just going to keep it here temporarily.”

Jorge looks over each of the boxes from a distance, eyeing them over suspiciously.

“We haven’t used the fortress’s dungeon in a long time, so it’s probably nothing. They probably never expected that it would need to be used that very night……”

The guard has no idea what are in all those boxes, but they are taking up over have the cell.

“Why was this place randomly chosen to act as a storage facility…………?”

“I don’t know. This is the first time something like this has happened……but since we never use this place, there was no reason for me to tell them no……”

A number of documents from civil servants have been given requiring that these boxes be safely stored away……Jorge clicks his tongue at the horrible timing, but when he looks again, he sees that the front part of the cell where the toilet and entrance are were open.

There is enough room for Farnese to lie down as well.

“We have no choice, just stay on this half of the cell. And not a word of complaint. Just be appreciative you don’t have a criminal partner in there with you as well.”

“Understood.”

Farnese quietly nods, so Jorge motions his chin over towards the cell door. A secret key makes a soft *CLICK* as the door unlocked and then a long *SQUEEK* fills the whole basement as it swings open.

Knowing the circumstances of the men and women who had entered these walls before, a scornful smile finally broke through the knight captain’s scrutinizing demeanor.

“Heheheh, it’s probably a pretty creepy place for the daughter of a rich nobleman…….well, if you live in the city state, Venetian. After a week I’m sure you’ll get used to it and start thinking of it like an unusual inn. ……..Well, I suppose you have no idea how many months you’ll actually be in here?”

Farnese remains silent as she walks into her new home while the knight captain continues to fling threats and complaints at her back.

After entering, the cell doors immediately close behind her, still rattling as her captors slide the key back inside and lock the door.

Looking down at this quiet girl who has taken a seat on the cold stone floor, a disgusting smile comes across Jorge’s face.

“If you want to start crying or hating the great me, just remember that this is all because of your actions. Anyway we haven’t used this dungeon in a long time. The location is also bad, so sorry if we forget you’re here..”

Jorge once again begins to laugh at his own prodding.

The Vandimion's daughter watches Jorge and the prison guard go with a frown as the two of them turn their backs on her.

The dungeon is a facility that is actually comprised of one large square room separated in two by a row of iron bars.

The front room across from the iron grating is used for waiting and monitoring the dungeon. The staircase leading up to the rest of the fortress is obviously here as well. The only furniture in this portion of the dungeon is just a simple desk and a couple chairs.

The prisoners’ meals would be brought from the kitchen in the upper floors, so there is no need for any kitchen facilities, and because any interrogations are taken care of in the guard quarters, there is no need for any furniture.

The room in the back is where the prisoner resides–the actual dungeon. Interior decoration consists of stone with a stone ceiling and a stone floor. A monochromatic design. In one corner there is a toilet, shower, and washbasin all shoved together. These two portions of the room are only separated by the iron bars, and if they are to be removed, you would have a single, larger room.

As it is called a dungeon, it is the basement floor mostly underground, but there is several elongated holes in the high walls to act as windows in order to provide ventilation and lighting. Because this is the only source of light for the room, even in the daytime it was dim without any lamps or candles.

Whether life in this stifling space would be dreadful or not depended on the position of the person interred here and the degree of hostility from the person who had put them in there.

If the prisoner was a big shot that needed due consideration or if the person was still on amicable terms with their jailer despite the circumstances, then they could expect special treatment. Rugs and other furnishings like beds, desks, and chairs could be provided along with toiletries for the toilet and even a bathtub.

If the purpose of the prisoners incarceration was to oppress them or their jailer felt hatred for them, then they may receive nothing instead. Shivering in the cold and forced to lie down on the cobblestone floor. They would have to eat off a tray placed on the ground and subjected to the humiliation of being watched as you bathe and excrete waste by the guard.

Nonetheless, the stories are mostly just urban legends.

In the first place there is almost no reason for this prison to be used in the first place.

Compared to the past, most inmates are handled immediately by the guards, so rather than being thrown into the dungeon, they are immediately dragged into the guard quarters where their interrogations are handled post haste without giving them even a chance to escape.

On the other hand, and criminals who wouldn’t need this type of consideration wouldn’t be important enough to be placed in the dungeon of the fortress. It is far better and more practical to just ship them off to the larger suburban prison used by the common people.

In fact, Farnese's bodyguard, Rowan has been locked in that suburban prison. 

This dungeon was something to be used to abuse powerful people who had lost everything from the days where civil wars and conspiracy was an everyday thing. There has not been any civil war for a long time now so rather than a prison, it has become more of a holding cell for nobles and courtiers who meet extraordinary conditions.

Farnese Vandimion, who is this cell's first resident in a long time, is indeed an extraordinary case.

Not only she is a lady but  a heir to a famous noble family in the continent. Thus, Albert Hyuutia decides to hide her from common people.

***

3 days later in a Hyuutia fortress. (Hiro's point of view)

The long lines of tables are set with many plates, each of which is laden with a sumptuous variety of dishes.

The piping hot food exudes a bewitching aroma, which drifts over to my nose.

The four refugees, Luca, Lucy, Nina and Pepe are eating as if they have not eaten for months. Well, they haven't eaten decent meals for months. Most of these luxurious food are essentially Dioral’s cuisine. 

The tables are groaning with plates of food, but even now the servants are still serving up the food they have made as the former poor prostitutes are dining at fast pace together with Kurotsuchi, Irijina, and other girls. 

"Ahhhh, that was delicious. Still, grape wine is good; though maybe not that strong.” Pepe uses both hands to take food.

"What’s this? It’s amazing! Do rich people get to eat these everyday?" Nina clumsily pours wine into the glass.

As I am observing the satisfying scenery, two figures are looking at me.  They give me a cue and enter the door into another room.

I stride towards the door.

"Where are you going, Hiro?" Sekrit asks.

Clementine is eating beside her.

"The Hyuutia want to meet me."

I raise my hand in farewell, and walk away.

I had originally been standing in a corner of a vast, spacious room. I open the door to leave and head for a guest reception room cum lounge room cum parlour.

It is quite a luxuriously furnished room, with tables, chairs, cabinets and the like. Myla's parents and Jascha Alatt are standing there.

“Forgive me for making you wait this long.”

"No. Your majesty. We are grateful that you had gone all the trouble for our territory." Albert Hyuutia bows.

Myla's mother, Kyla adds, "We are very grateful you have taken care of our daughter."

"It's nothing. Myla is already my family after all." Then, I turn to Jascha Alatt,

"Forgive me for making you come all this way.”

“Certainly not. Your location is where I should be headed, Your Majesty.”

I walk across the room and sit in a chair. Then I bade them to take a seat as well.

“...I’ve seen the reports. I’m working here, so I must apologize for having you put them in writing instead of just delivering them by mouth.”

The three of them look at each other before take turn sitting down on chair before me.