~Chapter 02~
“Ugh, it’s bright……”
Ivyn reflexively squinted her eyes as she looked ahead.
*Thud, thud.*
Someone was walking toward her.
At the very moment her eyes, gradually adjusting to the light, began to make out the person’s face…
“Ah…”
The sound of that holy melody mercilessly exploded in her ears.
Ah, divine.
His tall, well-built frame and handsome face.
The broad shoulders that matched his height of nearly 190 centimeters.
A waistline so slender it reminded one of a wolfhound, contrasting his thick chest.
But the love and grace of God were not bestowed solely upon his body.
His handsome features seemed as if they had been sculpted over a long time by a skilled craftsman, and an air of dignity and authority seemed to emanate from his every subtle motion and movement.
“Ivyn Kinzell. It seems you’ve regained consciousness.”
However, the holy moment of appreciation did not last long.
After confirming her condition, Theordor signaled outside. Two soldiers waiting there entered and dragged her away somewhere.
“I told you, I’m really not Ivyn Kinzell!”
“Shut your mouth, spawn of evil.”
“No, I’m serious…”
“If you spout that nonsense one more time, I’ll beat the back of your head until it stings.”
“……”
The place the soldiers led her to was a separate chamber located in the underground prison.
*Clang.*
As they opened the door, a stuffy air, mixed with the smells of blood and sweat, wafted out.
“Ugh…”
In the interrogation room, about five or six prisoners were already tied to chairs.
Ivyn recognized a few of them.
‘Aren’t they the people who were in the wagon with me…?’
Among them was the young nobleman who had advised her to stay calm inside the transport wagon.
“You bastards of the Holy Theocracy! How dare you lay your filthy hands on the young lady!”
The moment he saw Ivyn being forcibly dragged in by the holy warriors, a blonde youth who was also captured as a prisoner began to struggle and resist violently.
*Thwack!*
A dull thud followed.
The youth’s face turned helplessly to the side.
“Take out all the remaining prisoners.”
As soon as Theodore’s command fell, the holy warriors swiftly dragged the other prisoners out of the interrogation room.
“Ah, my lady! My lady!”
“You damn bastards! If you touch a single hair on the lady…!”
*Whack!*
“Guhk!”
The youth, finally struck by a soldier, spat out saliva mixed with blood and fragments of broken teeth onto the floor as he was dragged out.
“Now blindfold the prisoner Ivyn Kinzell.”
“Wait, why blindfold… Wait! I said I’m not really Ivyn!”
However, Ivyn’s desperate cries held no power.
*Swoosh.*
Soon, a rough black cloth was placed over her eyes.
“……!”
As her vision was suddenly plunged into darkness, the vague anxiety that had been swirling inside her began to take clear shape, and a wave of nausea rapidly rose. The slight lift in mood she felt upon seeing the holy knight’s face naturally faded away. It felt as if the dream-like, unreal sensation she had felt all this time had finally returned to reality.
The sound of her pulse throbbing in her ears grew rougher, and her throat became parched. Extreme helplessness washed over her.
Unfathomable darkness… and the holy knight’s dry silence.
How much time passed like that?
Just as beads of cold sweat began to form on Ivyn’s pale, smooth forehead, Theodore’s heavy voice pierced her hazy consciousness.
“All remaining soldiers are to wait outside the door as well.”
“Yes, Sir Knight.”
*Thud.*
“……”
Now only two people remained in the interrogation room: the prisoner, bound and staring into the darkness, and the holy knight of light, gazing at his trapped prey.
Ivyn suddenly wondered what kind of eyes he was looking at her with.
*Thud, thud.*
The holy knight slowly stepped toward the trapped prey.
In the strange silence flowing between them, the original story’s final fate of Ivyn Kinzell came to mind.
*Died in prison after harsh interrogation…*
*Died in prison after harsh interrogation…*
*Clench.*
Ivyn bit her lower lip.
What was welling up from deep within was fear.
*Shiver, shiver.*
Her body began to tremble.
It felt as if all the abnormally suppressed emotions were bursting forth at once, like a flock of birds scattering across a field.
It was different from being hit by the dump truck in her past life. Back then, she died instantly without feeling any pain or agony. But this time, she was facing direct ‘torture’.
She had always had a very low tolerance for pain.
So much so that she avoided going to the hospital because she was afraid of sharp hypodermic needles.
“Y-you might not believe me… but I’m not Ivyn Kinzell…”
“……”
“Ah… That’s not it. Then… Status Window! Status Window!”
“……”
“This isn’t it either!”
They let me transmigrate but won’t give me a status window?
What am I supposed to do now!
Ah, please, Universe!
Answer me with something!
“Enough of that nonsense, Ivyn.”
As the holy knight approached her to make the sign of the holy cross, a sweet vanilla scent mixed with the smell of damp wood wafted by. It was a strange, moist-smelling fragrance.
Do all holy knights smell like this?
“……”
*Gulp.*
It was just as she swallowed dryly.
*Thump, thump.*
Someone outside knocked on the iron door with a gauntleted hand.
“Sir Knight, a telegram has arrived from the diocese.”
What followed was the sound of military boots.
*Thud. Thud.*
The man’s presence was gradually moving away from her.
*Thud.*
“……”
A heavy silence settled in the now-empty room.
Left alone, Ivyn finally seemed to relax a little, letting her head hang down limply.
A short sigh escaped from between her plump lips.
Her mind was a mess.
It felt like more than a day and a half had passed since she was brought here as a prisoner.
What did the original story say again…?
Come to think of it, the descriptions of the necromancer family’s side weren’t very detailed.
There was only a brief mention that reinforcements arrived after Ivyn died.
“Ha…”
Ivyn let out a deep sigh into the silent air.
In truth, she still hoped this situation was a dream.
Damn transmigration stories.
They’re only fun to read as a reader. Being the extra, not even the main character, was truly hell.
She finally escaped a miserable life and transmigrated into her favorite romance fantasy… but forget about a heart-fluttering romance with the handsome male lead—here she was, facing off with the male lead as a minor character in the early chapters, riding the train of misery…
*Choke up.*
She felt like crying from the unfairness, but Ivyn clenched her teeth.
She had to save her tears.
Crying here would only make her more dehydrated.
How much more time passed like that?
Just as she was gradually weakening from hunger and thirst…
*Clang.*
The thick iron door opened again.
Theodore had returned.
Ivyn’s head, which had been hanging limply due to exhaustion, reflexively lifted.
What her extremely sensitive hearing picked up was the sound of sloshing water.
“…… W-water?”
Just hearing the splashing sound made her mouth open on its own.
“Yes. Fresh water is right here.”
*Clatter.*
As Ivyn flinched, the restraints rattled.
She hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for a long time.
*Swish.*
As the cold mouth of a water bottle touched her lips, Ivyn desperately began drinking the water pouring from it.
“Hahp… Gulp… Kuk…”
She drank so hastily that she choked, but she soon pressed her lips to it again.
“That is the sincerity, Ivyn Kinzell.”
The dry voice of the holy knight poured over her head like holy water.
“Answer the interrogation with that desperate sincerity to live.”
*Swoosh.*
The scent of damp wood approached again, clearing the darkness from her eyes.
The blindfold had been removed.
“Euk…”
Ivyn momentarily squinted her eyes against the lines of light that seemed etched onto her corneas.
As her vision cleared, the handsome holy knight’s face came into view.
He was shaking water droplets from his fingertips.
It seemed to be water she had spilled while drinking.
“This is your last chance, Ivyn Kinzell.”
Theodore picked up a bundle of documents from the table.
“If you don’t cooperate properly, I will have no choice but to hand you over to the Inquisitors. You know well what that means.”
Of course she knew.
Inquisitors—their other name was ‘Torture Technicians.’
People who dealt with heretics who couldn’t be reasoned with using various torture tools and fire.
“Shall we begin now?”
The holy knight asked as if it were a very simple question.
Ivyn barely managed to nod her head.
‘So the interrogation begins…’
—
*Captured as a prisoner of the Holy Theocracy, Ivyn resisted fiercely. True to her innate nature, she did not yield and did not compromise. However, due to the endless torture and harsh treatment from the Theocracy, she eventually met her death in a cold stone room…*
According to the original, Ivyn was supposed to ‘resist fiercely.’
She was to refuse the interrogation, responding with an uncooperative attitude and a barrage of curses.
‘But… what if I respond to the interrogation with a different attitude?’
In the original, it was clearly described that the Kinzell family forces stormed in *after* Ivyn died.
If Ivyn’s death was a matter of timing…
‘Then, if I stubbornly endure the interrogation until the rescue team arrives, wouldn’t that work? By complying as much as possible, I mean.’
As Ivyn organized her thoughts, she slowly raised her gaze to meet the holy knight’s eyes.
She had nowhere to return to.
Wasn’t she the one who had stubbornly endured the unpredictable corporate life? Moreover, she had already read the novel several times.
That meant she knew as much as she could about the holy knight’s personality and the Theocracy’s situation.
Now it was time to use that knowledge to her advantage and endure.
‘Right, let’s give it a try…!’
