Under the overwhelming power of the Blood Queen Sidella, the sky above Demon King Castle Aisaridu was always shrouded in gloom.
Thick clouds blocked the sunlight, blurring the boundary between day and night.
When Hualà woke up in a daze, she found herself slung over the shoulder of a Half-Dragon girl like a sack of potatoes, being carried back to the Prison Cell.
“Ugh… Lilith, put me down! I can walk on my own!”
Hualà recognized the person beneath her by the swaying, sturdy dragon tail.
It was the Half-Dragon girl Lilith Kofara, the Dragonkin Warden of the Demon King Castle Prison.
“Should I put you down now?”
Noticing Hualà was awake, Lilith sighed helplessly and asked.
In truth, Lilith’s feelings were complicated.
Hualà had attempted to escape a full twenty-five times in just one month.
As the Warden, she naturally dealt with her frequently.
Knowing that Her Majesty the Queen had a special interest in HualÃ, Lilith couldn’t treat her like any other prisoner.
To satisfy Her Majesty’s desire for “discipline,” she had to secretly “go easy” on Hualà every time.
Like a cat playing with a mouse, this had left twenty-five black marks on her employment record.
She wondered if she’d ever find a decent job outside Demon King Castle Prison after this.
“Never mind… my legs are too weak anyway…”
Hualà was self-aware enough to realize she couldn’t even stand properly in her current state, let alone walk back to the Prison Cell.
As they moved through the dimly lit Surveillance Corridor, mocking laughter echoed from the cells on either side.
“Look, our adorable Brave Lady’s been caught by the Dragon Princess again! How many times is that this month?”
A tall Lizardman, his body covered in sword scars, laughed maliciously from inside one of the cells.
“As expected of the powerful Brave Lady of the Human Race! She still looks untouched even after all that inhuman torture?!”
Every word the Mud Monster spoke reeked with foul odor, splattering muddy droplets everywhere.
Among the prisoners of Demon King Castle Prison, everyone knew the Brave Lady Hual×a member of the Human Race who had been defeated and imprisoned over a month ago.
They had even grown accustomed to her daily escape attempts.
From the initial shock of “Ah! That Human Brave Lady actually dares to escape? Doesn’t she know how cruel Queen Sidella is?”
To the admiration of “To survive under such ruthless methods and still attempt to escape, the Human Brave Lady Hualà is quite something.”
And finally, to the routine indifference of “Oh, she got dragged to the Interrogation Room again yesterday? Never mind, it happens a few times a week.”
Gradually, her antics became a topic of amusement for the other prisoners during their meals.
They even started a betting pool on how many more failed attempts it would take before Hualà gave up.
As for actually succeeding in escaping? Don’t be ridiculous! Who could flee from under the nose of the invincible Blood Queen?
After a while, Lilith stopped in front of a Prison Cell and set Hualà down.
She warned Hualà sternly, “Her Majesty will be busy these days, so you should behave yourself. If you ever really anger Her Majesty, I won’t be able to protect you.”
With that, she returned the Saint Sword to HualÃ.
HualÃ’s legs were still as limp as cooked noodles.
She had to cling to the doorframe just to barely stand.
“Hmph! Don’t think this punishment is enough to make me surrender! I’ll definitely be back!”
Hualà thought for a moment—”be back” didn’t seem right—so she quickly changed her words.
“Anyway, you can’t keep me locked up forever!”
Her stubborn, indignant face was cute, but Lilith wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it.
With the Succession Ceremony for the Queen approaching, her workload had increased, and she needed to keep the other old-timers in the Prison in check to ensure nothing went wrong.
After giving Hualà a few last warnings, the Dragon Princess hurried away.
Night fell.
Once again, the escape plan had ended in failure, and Hualà returned to her familiar Prison Cell.
The cell was cramped, surrounded on three sides by pitch-black walls with not even a single window.
An old Tungsten Lamp hung overhead, casting weak light.
Only a single Bed Frame stood in the corner.
Leaning on the Saint Sword, Hualà limped over, still cursing Sidella under her breath for being so rough with her.
She squatted by the Bed Frame, wedging the Saint Sword beneath one of the shorter legs.
After shaking the frame to make sure it was steady, she carefully climbed onto the bed.
Any sudden movement sent pain through her injuries.
Lying on the bed, Hualà clenched her small pink fists in grief.
“Damned Sidella! Damned Demon Queen! I swear I’ll escape—just watch!”
Outside the Prison Cell, the footsteps of patrolling Watchmen could occasionally be heard, approaching and receding along the Surveillance Corridor.
From the outside, it seemed the Human Race Brave Lady had finally quieted down and fallen into a deep sleep.
Until the Demon King Castle clock struck midnight—the shift change for the Prison guards.
In the darkness, Hualà slowly opened her eyes.
A sly smile appeared on her lips as she slipped quietly from the hard bed.
As a clever Brave Lady, how could she not have a backup plan?
The failed escape during the day had merely served as a distraction.
The real plan began at night!
She rolled off the bed, carefully lifted the bedleg to retrieve the Saint Sword, then pushed aside the bed to reveal a hidden hole beneath.
This tunnel, leading outside the Prison, had taken her two weeks to dig.
“Hehehe~ I’m a genius!”
Hualà covered her mouth in pride, then clutched the Saint Sword and leaped into the tunnel, landing on her butt with a puff of dust.
“Ow—so painful!”
Rubbing her bruised backside, she hunched over and crawled forward in the cramped tunnel, which barely reached a meter in height.
The rough dirt ground scraped her milk-white stockings, leaving several small tears.
Bats really were creatures that invaded every nook and cranny.
Even in a tunnel less than two weeks old, they had made it their home.
They fluttered around HualÃ’s face, trying to chase away the large intruder.
“Go away!”
She waved her hand to scatter the bats, then soon found herself blocked by a solid earth wall.
Gripping the Saint Sword tightly, she began digging forward.
In her memory, if she kept going this way, she’d reach outside the Demon King Castle Prison!
But as she dug, perhaps due to the lack of air, her hands started trembling.
A strange heat spread through her body.
Her face flushed unnaturally, and an odd sensation welled up within her.
Scenes from her punishment in the Interrogation Room by the Blood Queen flashed through her mind, making her legs squeeze together.
As moisture seeped out, mixing with the dirt to make the tunnel muddy, Hualà suddenly realized what she was doing and jolted awake.
Even if she were a fool, she knew something was wrong.
She dropped the Saint Sword, hastily lifted her Brave Lady skirt, and a blinding red light flashed.
On her pale stomach, a vivid Magic Pattern glowed.
HualÃ’s expression turned to horror.
“When did this happen?!”
Her fingertip accidentally brushed the Heart Mark on her belly.
A jolt of electric numbness shot through her body, making her tremble.
Tears welled up and spilled onto the ground.
In the last moment before losing consciousness, Hualà saw the words written above the Magic Pattern.
[No Entry Spell, small fry HualÃ~]
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