WRBEFM 01

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Chapter 1

The most infamous detention facility in the Brocia Empire—Izetail.

Only the worst of the worst were gathered here. It was a place where demons who were deemed completely beyond rehabilitation lived.

A flawless prison where ordinary criminals couldn’t even dream of escaping.

People called it a living hell.

“Oh, revered God Lagos.”

Jingle, jingle.

Once again today, accompanied by the clear ringing of a bell, a priest clasped his hands together in prayer.

It was peaceful snack time.

Here, the prisoners could only eat their rations after performing a sacred ritual every day.

“God, thank You for giving us our daily bread…”

“Achoo!”

“…with grateful hearts…”

“Puh-choo!”

“Aaachoo!”

The priest’s brow furrowed at the succession of sneezes.

The other prisoners nearby tightly shut their mouths.

Glance, glance.

After barely suppressing the laughter that threatened to burst out, they all sneaked a look toward one particular spot.

At the very end of the long table, farthest away from the priest.

A small child sitting there seemed to notice the attention and turned her head.

She had fluffy pink hair that resembled spring cotton candy, and blue eyes that looked as though sapphires had been embedded into them.

Her delicate, doll-like features were equally adorable.

The cute little girl, completely out of place in this brutal prison, bowed her head.

“I’m sowwy.”

“…Ahem! Be careful.”

Perhaps the priest couldn’t bring himself to get angry at a child even if she was a prisoner. He merely left her with a warning and swallowed his irritation.

But just as he was about to resume his prayer—

BANG!

With a loud noise,

a man strode inside.

“What is this now…!”

The priest, whose patience had finally run out, glared toward the entrance.

But only for a moment.

His eyes shook violently when he recognized who it was.

At the same time, the child happened to turn her head as well, her eyes widening like saucers.

A handsome man with magnificent golden hair and golden eyes.

If sunlight itself were a person, it would probably look exactly like this.

“Your Grace!”

At those words, everyone nearby flinched.

Prisoner No. 666.

The worst prisoner in history and the leader of Vancadium, who until very recently had been confined to solitary and punished.

No one was allowed to address Rodrigo like that.

“Your Grace! Over here!”

The child fearlessly waved at the criminal and pointed to the seat beside her.

It was a clear signal telling him not to look anywhere else and sit right here.

The man raised one eyebrow.

He was a head or two taller than everyone else, and simply standing there gave off an oppressive aura.

Yet the child didn’t seem frightened at all and lightly urged him on.

“Come sit down. I thought you were going to be late, so I kept buying time by sneezing.”

Oh, no!

The priest clenched his fists upon hearing the child’s scheme.

How dare she interrupt this sacred prayer for such a ridiculous reason!

His anger surged, and he took one step forward.

Just one step.

“…Eek!”

The priest stopped dead in his tracks after sensing an overwhelming murderous aura.

It had only lasted for an instant, but the atmosphere had been terrifyingly murderous.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo looked at the priest trembling all by himself before shifting his gaze.

“Kid.”

“Karin.”

“Fine. Kid.”

Rodrigo looked down at the child with an emotionless gaze.

“Stop doing useless things.”

“…”

“I have no intention of spending time with you, so stop using those disgusting forms of address as well.”

A cold warning was embedded in his low, resonant voice.

The prisoners exchanged glances.

It was obvious what he was saying.

Don’t come any closer.

If you value your life, just stay where you are.

The prisoners were beginning to wish they could tell the child to stop.

There were people you could bring onto your side, and people you absolutely couldn’t.

It wasn’t something they should say as fellow criminals, but that man was a completely different kind of lunatic.

It would be better not to associate with him.

But perhaps because she was still young, or perhaps because she simply couldn’t read the situation—

the youngest prisoner in the prison opened her round eyes wide.

“I don’t want to.”

“…Cough!”

Someone hurriedly swallowed a cough.

Rodrigo let out an incredulous breath.

“This child is insane.”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“No, you’re insane. Kid. Completely out of your mind.”

“Nope. I’m smart because I take after Your Grace.”

“…Damn it. What nonsense.”

Rodrigo continued the utterly meaningless conversation before clicking his tongue.

Perhaps realizing that there was no point in arguing like this, he abruptly turned his back.

“Uh, wait?!”

Karin jumped to her feet in alarm.

By then, the thoroughly irritated Duke had already left the dining hall.

The child hopped down from her chair.

Naturally, she carefully grabbed the baguette that had been served for lunch as well.

“You still have to eat!”

Tap tap tap tap!

The child hurriedly chased after him on her short little legs, shouting with all her might.

BANG!

Before long, the dining hall door closed.

In the brief silence that followed,

the priest, who had been staring blankly after the Duke and the child, let out a bewildered breath.

“W-What the hell are those two supposed to be?”

Damn.

I thought I’d succeed this time.

Should I think of another method?

I, Karin, had lost sight of the Duke right in front of my eyes and returned to my room without accomplishing anything worthwhile.

“Karin. Don’t you think it’s about time you gave up?”

“Hm?”

After returning from the dining hall, I was munching on the bread I had left over when I tilted my head.

Veronica, the pretty prisoner who shared my room, let out a deep sigh.

Then she affectionately ruffled my hair.

“As you know, this big sister of yours spent quite a while in noble households. So I happen to know quite a bit of information.”

“…”

“No matter what else you do, you mustn’t mess with dragons, sweetheart.”

As she said that, she gently tapped the tip of my nose with her index finger.

“I’m telling you this because I’m worried about you. How could I live in this shitty—… I mean, bleak prison without our adorable little cutie? Hmm?”

It seemed like a rather nasty swear word had slipped out halfway through, but whatever.

It wasn’t worth worrying about something so trivial.

A mature child…

No, an adult should sometimes know when to pretend they didn’t hear something!

One month ago, the moment I recovered the memories of my previous life, I stopped being an ordinary child.

My body was still that of a four-year-old, but my mind was that of a fully grown ten-year-old!

In other words, I was smart enough to do pretty much everything on my own.

Of course, Veronica knew nothing about my circumstances.

She was particularly careful with her language around me, saying that children should only hear and see pretty things.

“Karin. Who did I say were the people you needed to be most careful around in Brocia?”

“Dragons and the Imperial Family!”

“That’s right. Good girl.”

Her sharply raised eyes narrowed.

“Dragons are notorious for their cruel personalities. And that man you met earlier is apparently both their leader and a mass murderer. Even this big sister, who normally goes crazy over handsome faces, is starting to avoid him.”

“Hmm.”

That was true.

I only talked to him because I needed to make him one of my allies.

Just as my big sister said, Vancadium was infamous for being cruel and ruthless, both now and in the past.

Besides—

He is incredibly handsome, though.

His manner of speaking was way too rough.

His personality was incredibly twisted.

And his mood swings were no joke!

As I nodded in agreement with her, Veronica grinned and pulled me tightly into her arms.

“Oh, you adorable little thing.”

“Guh!”

“How did a baby like you end up in this shitty—… I mean, this terrifying place?”

“Mmm.”

“Are you really not going to tell even me why you came here?”

“Yep. It’s dangerous if you know, Big Sis.”

“Oh my, how frightening.”

Veronica took my words lightly and rubbed her cheek against mine.

But I was serious.

Explaining how I had ended up here was very, very complicated.

“…You really intend to go in there?”

“Once you enter, there’s no way to get out, sweetheart. Are you really going to go?”

“If that’s the case… there is a way.”

Izetail was the worst prison in the Empire.

It was impossible to get in there over some ordinary incident.

In that case, I simply had to commit an extraordinary crime.

Even if I had to fabricate it!

“We can falsify the court records. We have someone on our side inside Izetail, too, so forging the documents should be easy enough to conceal perfectly.”

“What charges should we give our little baby?”

“Make them as heinous as possible, please.”

A criminal the likes of which the world had never seen before.

“Make me an incredibly evil person.”

“…All right, sweetheart. But this will become part of the official record, so don’t grow up and regret it later.”

Hmph. Regret?

I’d do anything for revenge.

I’d already prepared everything perfectly!

[Karin]