The night had no scent, just rot, filled with all kinds of disgusting stench.
The prison cell was below the residence of the main hall. It was heavily guarded by several high-ranked knights, inside and outside.
The prison width was small, stretching long to the front, and it seemed like a maze only the knights could traverse through. There was no escaping from the prison.
The prison cells were small, barely larger than a horse stall. The walls were made of black rocks with rough surfaces, enough for a person to bleed if they scratched through it, water dripping from the ceiling. The whole prison smelled of vomit and other disgusting stenches.
Alaric was brought to one of these cells and was hung between the walls by iron cuffs that were attaches to his wrist which were connected by heavy iron chains attaches to the walls.
He was covered in bruises all over his body, fully covered in blood and completely naked. None of them even thought to cover him with anything.
He had been sleep-deprived for the past week. The warden of the prison hadn't let him sleep for even a single moment. He was ready to lose consciousness, and just then, he saw a light coming toward his cell.
Seraphene stood in front of Alaric, followed by the knights of Solmere and her own personal knight.
"Ser...aphn.."
He spoke while trying to look straight at the person before him. His voice was barely audible as he tried to gather the strength to speak.
Seraphene stepped into the prison cell. She saw him and then said in a low tone,
"Why?"
"Why did you do it?" she said again, in a low yet angry tone.
Hearing that response from her, he dropped his head down, not daring to look at her.
"Why are you not looking at my face? Are you ashamed of the things you have done? Although I never loved you, I still liked you and had a good impression of you. I had no objection to marrying you and was actually happy, as I knew you since childhood and knew how kind you were. I never thought you were this kind of person. From the times I have met you—thank God I didn't marry a person like you! Do you have no shame, doing this on the day of our engagement announcement?"
She barked, then took a deep breath. After that, she said, "Do you even love me?"
"I... do..." he whispered in a low tone.
Then she was gone, her fading footsteps echoing away.
The cell darkened again.
He was in the prison cell, thinking of all the things Seraphene had said to him, for the last two hours.
"What did I do?
What wrong did I commit?
No one believes me.
Mom will surely believe me.
She will."
Three hours after Seraphene left, Alaric heard a stiff yet soft voice.
"Alaric..."
Alaric immediately recognized whose voice it was — after all, he had heard it every day.
He lifted his head, even though he was in pain.
"Ma..."
She walked forward, deep into the cell, standing in front of him. She was carrying a lantern in one hand, her face emotionless.
She looked at him, opened her lips to talk, then closed them again before finally speaking in a low tone,
"Why?" she whispered. "Why would you do this?"
"I didn't, Ma... I didn..." he said in a breaking voice. "I swear, Ma...., I didn't..."
Liora's lips trembled. "Do you want me to believe that?"
"I.... was framed... someon... set me.... up," he said in a pleading tone.
Her eyes shook continuously. "I want to, gods know I want to. I was the first person to defend you when everyone was against you. Even your father was against you. But when I heard the judgment, when I saw you in that bed without any clothes, and when I saw her she was brutally wounded all over her body, covered in scratch marks. I wanted to defend you... I cried and cried until my tears were extinguished.
But then I imagined your sister in her place... and I couldn't even bear to think what she went through."
"Ma, you have to believe me, I swe—"
Before he could finish, her palm struck his cheek, the sound ringing through the prison halls.
"Thwack."
All emotion left his face.
Liora's voice trembled as she spoke, "I should have suspected it when you used to speak to yourself from a young age, when all you did was stare at the sky and talk to yourself. It was my fault... for loving you more than your siblings."
She started to walk toward the prison door. Before stepping out, she looked back at him and said in a cracking voice, "I've raised you better than this."
This time, he didn't beg.
He didn't ask her to stop.
All that was left was silence.
A few moments later, a man fully armored from head to toe entered. He was carrying a whip as long as himself, the whole rope covered in nails.
"Ha ha, did you have your conversation with your mother and your fiancée oh, my bad, ex-fiancée?"
He said that as he started removing his armor in a snap, revealing the man Alaric knew well.
All Alaric saw was a body covered in bruises.
He caught Alaric by the hair, lifting his head to face him. The torturer leaned close and said in a soft voice,
"Did you miss me, baby?"
The torturer began to prepare his whip and then started lashing Alaric repeatedly.
"Ah—hah—ha—! Hah—ha—!" Alaric screamed, the sound reverberating through the prison cell.
With each strike, the sound of clashing iron chains echoed along with his screams.
At one point, the torturer said again in a low yet soft tone, "Does it hurt?"
Not waiting for a response, he struck him again, even more intensely.
"Ah—hah—ha—! Hah—aha—....!"
After a while, even with all the beating, no sound could be heard from Alaric anymore.
After a few minutes, the torturer re-wore his armor in a snap and went outside.
As soon as he disappeared, the cell was filled again with darkness and silence.
Then, Alaric heard the sounds of rats creeping near.
Slowly, one after another, the rats began to surround him.
Then, one by one, they started to munch on his flesh.
But at this point, Alaric didn't scream.
"Ha! Ha—ha—ha—!"
The sound of his laughter rolled through the prison halls all the people present in the prison even at the entrance of the prison could hear his voice.