Day one, they left hard bread and a soup with a few vegetables and a bone floating for me. I probably have sunburn after being exposed to UV rays from ten in the morning to three in the afternoon without protection, and I have to pee.

All in all, I think the waiting is worse than the sacrificing itself, and not only because of the anxiousness of knowing I will die. I mean, the place smells, I think they haven’t change the hay since the last prisoner stayed here because it reeks of human deposits right there in the corner, and my skin itches all over. There are rats too. I never thought I had anything against rats until this one tried to bite me and I had to step on it until it stopped breathing. The sensation was… quite unique.

However, I waited patiently until it was night to attempt my escape. The space I was in was completely closed off, there weren’t even bars or a window on the solid wooden door confining me, just a small opening on the bottom where they passed me the food. The guards wouldn’t realize it when I climb out.

You see, I’ve never been a completely obedient girl, but I had no idea how to climb trees or anything of the sort. Luckily, Mio did, and her memories were now with me, so I could easily use the protruding stones to make my way up and outside. I should be able to, since it’s simple muscle memory.

Ok, so my muscles wouldn’t remember anything since as Elaine I never climbed anything steeper than the stairs at my home, but I had no other option than trust the experience of my past life since my current life depended on it. So, when night fell and they gave me my dinner, I waited until the moon was directly over my head to start the plan.

Since I had a dress, I needed to tie it around my hips in order to have free movement on my legs, but once that was done and I started climbing… I found I could actually do it. My past memories worked! Oh, finally something useful out of this cliché reincarnation-into-a-fictional world type of story!

I faced a terrible problem just a third of the way though.

My dress slipped. That means, I was trapped since my last movement intertwined the fabric between my legs. So I was stuck, around eight meters above the ground, with no way up or down. Someone kill me now. No, actually, don’t kill me, but a little help would be useful.

As I was pondering my situation and hating fate and destiny and everything related to it, a voice suddenly sounded from above.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Oh God that really scared me.

I looked up to find the face of a young man, probably a year or so older than me, staring at me with a frown. His copper hair shone under the moonlight, and his black eyes deadpanned at me as if I was the stupidest, most pathetic creature he had ever encountered.

“Could it be… you’re stuck?” what could only be described as a shit-eating grin spread on his face, and I was divided between crying out in frustration and lashing out at him.

It seems I was found out by the viscount’s younger son, Lucas. Just my luck.