RPL 3

Chapter 3

The calm, composed voice held neither mockery nor hostility.

Yet an endlessly deep malice could be felt in it, and my blood ran cold.

Whether I was “Regina” or “myself,” that woman had no intention of letting me out of here.

She wanted me to stay locked up and die.

“Who are you?”

The sharp voice that left my mouth echoed through the space.

The woman sighed.

“That’s better than going mad.”

Then she said something completely unrelated to my question.

“I asked who you are.”

Her sigh and tone, as if asking why I hadn’t just died and was instead giving her a headache, made my voice grow rougher.

“If life is nothing but suffering anyway, it’s better to end it in an instant than to prolong a painful existence by going mad.”

“Shut up! Just answer the damn question!”

Blocked by the thick door and unable to reach her body, I pounded on the door with both hands as I shouted.

“Who are you! Who the hell are you!”

Rage boiled up at being trapped in a situation where this was all I could do.

How long did I scream and pound on the door?

“……”

I was panting from exhaustion when it came.

“Dying only takes a moment, Regina.”

The name Regina struck my ears clearly.

I had somewhat accepted that I had possessed Regina, yet this was the moment the last hope I had been clinging to shattered into pieces.

“Please think carefully and decide.”

The silence that had stretched on as if waiting for my answer ended, and the sound of footsteps began. The woman was leaving.

“Hey.”

I opened my mouth and called after the departing woman.

Someone who, far from pitying a child locked in this damn place, wished for her to die.

That woman was clearly the villainess of the original—the Empress.

“I’ll be waiting.”

If that woman was the Empress, she would never let me out of here.

Even after realizing that, I continued speaking.

“I’ll get out of here alive, no matter what.”

The woman’s footsteps, which had paused briefly at my call, resumed.

And so the woman left.

Without leaving a single word behind, as if what she had heard was not even worth responding to.

* * *

“Damn it!”

After the Empress left, I couldn’t hold back my anger and kicked the innocent chair.

‘I’ll get out alive! For sure! Absolutely!’

I had never intended to die in a place like this even a little bit to begin with.

But if I died the way that woman wanted, I wouldn’t be able to stand the injustice of it.

I would definitely survive and get out so I could see that woman’s face twist in fury.

“Ugh, this is ridiculously exhausting.”

I sat down hard next to the chair, still fuming.

Even just this much of a tantrum had exhausted Regina’s body.

It was only natural that her stamina was weak after being locked up in a place like this for years, surviving on nothing but hard bread.

“……!”

I was catching my breath when the voices of the men bringing the bread drifted from far away.

Whatever had them so excited, their voices were cheerful.

While I was one step away from going completely insane.

“Those bastards.”

Perhaps because I still hadn’t cooled down from my anger.

The hard bread, the conversation they had exchanged on the first day I arrived here, and even the contents of the original all floated up one after another, making me grind my teeth.

“I’ll stay quiet. I won’t ask to be let out. Please just give me something else to eat. The bread is too hard. I’m hungry. I’m so hungry.”

The Regina who had been locked up here wouldn’t have known.

But I, who had been a reader and had binge-read the entire finished novel, knew.

Why Regina—why I—had to eat that dried-up, rock-hard bread.

“It’s so cold. Please bring me a blanket. Please.”

How much more miserable the already poor environment had become because of them.

“Please… give me some medicine. It hurts so much. It hurts. Please save me.”

How those men had laughed at and mocked a young child begging to be saved.

“Damn bastards. You should experience it yourselves before you come to your senses.”

I ground my teeth, stood up, and staggered toward the door.

Then I squatted in front of the door and formed a loop with the chain connected to my ankle.

‘I can’t keep living like this.’

If I continued surviving on nothing but bread in this harsh environment, I might actually die.

Setting aside how furious their actions made me, I had to do something if I wanted to survive.

‘Begging like Regina won’t change a single thing.’

Clank, clank.

After making a loop with the chain, I gauged the distance to the pillar and wound the excess length of chain tightly around my body.

Unlike a smooth rope, I wasn’t sure if it would work as planned, but the chain was dense and there was a gap in the food slot, so it seemed possible.

Meanwhile, the men’s voices drew closer.

“She’s quiet today. She seemed completely crazy for a while.”

“She’s got every reason to go crazy. Stop the nonsense and just put the food in.”

They were here. Right in front.

I lifted the chain loop I was holding.

At the same time, the food slot opened and a wooden bowl containing the bread suddenly appeared.

‘Just a little more. Come in just a little more.’

As if my wish had been granted, the man’s hand began to come into view.

Hand, wrist, and finally even the elbow entered through the food slot into the room.

Just as the man was setting the wooden bowl down, I swiftly slipped the chain loop over his arm.

“Huh?”

Then I pulled with all my strength.

Clatter-clatter—thud.

In an instant the loop tightened and bound the man’s arm. His arm soon slammed against the narrow edge of the food slot.

“Wh-what the hell!”

Right now he seemed flustered by the unexpected situation, but he would soon put strength into it and try to pull free.

With this body I couldn’t overpower him. Knowing that, I clenched my teeth and crawled on all fours toward the pillar.

“Uh, uhhh? Uh?”

“What are you doing? Pull your arm out.”

“Right now, right now that thing! That thing inside!”

Barely reaching the pillar, I tightly hugged it.

“Let go of this! Let go, I said!”

“You sons of bitches!”

And I shouted at the top of my lungs.

The flustered man’s arm trembled.

“Who are you to say that! You little bitch!”

What? Little bitch?

‘Who the hell is calling who that!’

At the man’s words my eyes spun for a moment, and instead of what I had originally planned to say, something else burst out of my mouth.

“Don’t you have kids of your own?”

Ugh.

But separate from my eyes spinning, as the man began to put strength into pulling free, the chain wound around my body tightened and it felt as if my body would be torn apart from the pain.

A groan slipped out on its own.

To forget that pain, to keep from letting go of the pillar, I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed with all my strength.

“Don’t you feel even a little sorry for me! My mom is dead! And I’m locked up here!”

“What the hell is this bitch saying!”

“Does it feel good stealing my food and pocketing the money that was meant for me! You bastards!”

Regina had been imprisoned. She had not been locked up to die.

Therefore, while imprisoned she was supposed to receive proper food and daily necessities necessary to maintain her life.

Delivering those things to Regina was those men’s job.

But they had not performed their duty. They had filled their own pockets with what should have gone to Regina.

It may have been on the Empress’s orders, but since they had carried it out so cheerfully, they couldn’t claim to be free of sin.

Perhaps from shouting too much, I tasted blood in my throat.

“You’re demons! Demons, I tell you! Satan himself would cry and run away! Even animals are better than you!”

“Sh-shut up! Just undo this, hurry!”

The voice of the man who didn’t know what to do drilled into my ears.

“Don’t you have kids of your own! Would it not matter if your own child ended up like me!”

“Your mother was a criminal and you’re a criminal, so what do you want us to do about it!”

I opened the eyes I had squeezed shut. My insides boiled.

‘Who’s the criminal.’

On top of suddenly being possessed and locked up, I had received death wishes, been called a bitch, and now even been treated like a criminal.

How could I not be furious?

Separately from that, it was also true that I was angry at their complete lack of guilt even when I pointed out what they had done to this child.

‘So this is how you’re going to play it.’

My arm felt as if it would be pulled out of its socket, but I bit down hard on my lower lip and continued speaking.

“If I ever get out of here alive—”

“What?”

“I will never forgive you.”

“Don’t make me laugh! How are you going to get out of here!”

“I’ll tear you limb from limb and massacre your entire family.”

“……!”

The man, who had been shouting just as loudly as me, sucked in a sharp breath.

The sound was so loud it reached even my ears on the other side of the door.

“From the old to the young—anyone who has even a drop of your blood. Every last one of them. Without fail.”

And then.

“……Wh-what do you want. We can’t let you out of here! Doing this won’t change anything!”

I formed a bitter smile at the man’s words.

‘So he’s scared of his own family getting hurt?’

I didn’t think the threat was wrong.

Someone had done evil to me first, and because of that I had suffered loss—staying quiet and just taking it would have been the strange thing.

For a moment the strength nearly left the arms hugging the pillar, but I tightened them again and answered.

“Food.”

“……What?”

“Bring proper food.”

“……”

That was it. My eyes had spun and I had briefly gone off track, but this was what I had originally intended to say.

‘If you don’t want your arm cut off, bring proper food.’

‘I know.’

No matter how angry I was about my situation, the only thing I could demand from those men was “food.”

‘Just as that man said, he can’t let me out of this place.’

Having finally grasped the situation, the man shouted.

“I’ll bring proper food! Undo this! My arm is seriously going to be cut off!”

I hesitated for a moment, then let go of the pillar. I no longer had the strength to keep holding on.

I had only been able to hold him because I kept the chain taut; the moment I relaxed, he had his other hand free and could easily undo the loop.

“Ugh. How does a little kid have this much strength……”

Following the man’s force, my body was dragged toward the door.

“If you’re going to go crazy, at least go crazy quietly!”

“Hey, are you okay? Let me take a look.”

“Damn it! The skin’s been scraped off! Son of a bitch!”

Just as I expected, the man who had easily pulled his arm free shouted furiously from outside the door.

“You got locked up because you committed a crime, yet you don’t know your place!”

“Let’s go get you treated first. Hurry.”

Sprawled on the floor, I let out a hollow laugh at the man’s words.

I wanted to pour a whole bucket of curses on him, but unfortunately I didn’t even have the energy left to reply.

“Hah… hah…”

I was in a state where I could barely just breathe.

‘Just try not bringing proper food.’

I probably wouldn’t be able to use the method I just used again, but I would make him regret it one way or another.

Even while lying collapsed and panting, I steeled my resolve.