Taming the Protagonist

Chapter 40: Cold Cell · Part One

The snow-haired girl, draped in a cloak over tight-fitting clothes, was so out of place in the damp, gloomy cell filled with the stench of mold and decay.

Her hands shackled, she sat with bent legs in the corner of the cell, expressionlessly watching rats scurry across the bedding.

The burly man in the opposite cell had lost count of how many times he’d hurled vulgar insults at her, and Hitana had lost count of how many times she’d suppressed the urge to kick the cell door open and tear his mouth apart.

Deserved punishment, nothing to complain about; the girl had no major grievances.

In fact, for an accidental injury like this, if both parties reconciled, Hitana wouldn’t have needed to be locked up at all—but the victim kept pleading, even begging for reconciliation, while the perpetrator stubbornly insisted on a trial by law.

According to Chishuang Territory’s laws, accidental injury could be a minor or major offense, usually resolved with a fine.

But as Anselm, who knew Hitana well, had said, this girl hadn’t brought any money or rather, the money she received from Anselm was all with her sister; she didn’t have a single copper coin on her.

And Hitana didn’t want Marina to know she’d caused trouble, so she ended up sentenced to the cell.

More ironically, because the victim argued strongly in defense of the perpetrator, Hitana only had to symbolically spend twelve hours in the cell—just one night.

The foul smell in the cell made the girl cough twice.

To say she didn’t miss the fresh incense and warm bedding of her room in Anselm’s mansion would be a lie.

Hitana Lansmarlos was a very pure person.

She herself didn’t realize how surprisingly compatible she was with Anselm—in their candid loyalty to their own desires.

“Hydra... Hydra...”

Hitana muttered the name that inspired awe among all the nobles and merchants of Chishuang Territory.

At this moment, she wasn’t angry, only filled with complex confusion.

In this harsh, cold environment, Hitana finally had enough time to reflect on her sister’s words.

“How... did it come to this?”

The girl, alone, buried her face in her knees, moonlight streaming through the square opening above the cell, falling on her clear, pure snow-white short hair.

Calmly reflecting on Marina’s words, Hitana sadly and powerlessly realized that her sister didn’t seem to be wrong at all.

Even racking her brain, thinking as hard as she could, she couldn’t find a single truly bad thing Anselm had done after dealing with Count Chishuang.

For herself, there were plenty—making her strip, shocking her every day, treating her like a doll to be manipulated... ughhh!

Miss Young Wolf, mortified and furious, gritted her teeth, letting out low whimpering growls; amid her indignation, there was a trace of emotions even she couldn’t quite understand.

“I hate him so much because he’s been too bad to me?”

Hitana stared at her toes: “If Hydra... were nicer to me, would I not—”

The moment this thought emerged, Hitana’s brows instinctively furrowed.

“...No, that’s not it.”

The hatred, suppressed by the calm clarity of the moment, surged back in her heart, washing away that strange, mixed emotion completely.

“He’s a liar... using abnormal means to deceive everyone, including my sister.”

She murmured: “Results achieved through despicable means, how can they be good?”

“Right... he could have used more normal, more just methods. Why did he have to deceive?”

Gradually gaining clarity, Hitana suddenly looked up, as if certain of everything, clenching her fists: “Hydra, Hydra must be hiding dangerous, malicious, unspeakable secrets! Everyone’s been fooled! Only I know... only I have the chance and ability to expose his hypocrisy!”

“...Just you wait, Hydra.” The girl resolved, “Not only will I use you up completely, but after I’m done with you—”

“After what?”

“After, of course, when I’m strong enough not to fear his retaliation, I’ll—”

“I’ll...”

Hitana looked at the young noble standing at the cell door with a beaming smile, her voice trailing off.

Leaning on his cane, holding a book in the other hand, Anselm smiled gently: “You’ll what?”

Hitana fell silent, turning her head further into the cell.

“The Hitana I know isn’t a girl who only dares to badmouth others behind their backs.”

Anselm said this, opening the cell door and stepping inside: “Or are you afraid of this?”

He smiled, tapping his neck.

“You’re the one who’s afraid!” Hitana instantly bristled, leaping up, “Once I’m done using you, I’ll expose your true face! See what you do then!”

“Hmm...” Anselm mused, casually knocking a rat off the bedding with his cane and sitting down nonchalantly, “Is that all?”

This made Hitana feel seen through, glaring furiously at Anselm: “That’s all? You think I can’t do it?”

“I mean, is the extent of your hatred for me only to expose my true face?”

Anselm, unconcerned with the filthy bedding, set his cane aside, chuckling with interest: “Then you don’t hate me that much.”

Hitana paused, thinking it over—how could it stop there?

“Then I’ll pin you to the ground and beat you half to death!”

“Hmm.”

“And put this collar on your neck, shock you a hundred times!”

“And then?”

“And... and... you, you pervert, do you want to be punished that badly?”

Stared at by Anselm’s half-smiling gaze, Hitana felt like a clown, shouting in furious rage.

“Just curious.” Anselm stopped looking at Hitana, starting to read his book, “Curious about how much you hate me.”

“Anyway...” The young wolf huffed, deeply displeased, “Anyway, much more than you think.”

Anselm, reading his book, didn’t continue the topic.

He could have asked what he’d done, whether Hitana had any right to hate him; Anselm had ten thousand fact-based, non-lying ways to further crush Hitana’s dignity and sense of self.

But he didn’t, not just because the timing wasn’t right, but more importantly, in this second phase of long-term training, he would change his role.

Torment was always a means, not an end.

About twenty minutes later, Hitana, unable to stand it, finally asked: “Why’d you come in here? If you want to torment me, hurry up! Don’t sit there being disgusting!”

“I came to this cell only because you did.”

Anselm said without looking up: “Because in the eyes of everyone in Chishuang Territory, you’re the most special person to me, and your mistake means I failed to discipline you properly.”

“Even if no one demands it, and the law doesn’t require it, my own standards compel me to accept the same punishment as you.”

“...” Hitana was stunned for a long time, then muttered dryly, not knowing what to say, only tossing out “hypocrite.”

“You’ll understand one day, Hitana.”

Anselm glanced at her, saying meaningfully: “If I ever fall to this point again, you’ll understand why I’m doing this.”

Hitana didn’t like riddles with Anselm, so she sulked and stopped talking, shrinking into the corner.

The silence lasted who knows how long; the guy in the opposite cell got tired of spewing filth.

It wasn’t until the guard brought dinner that the quiet was broken.

The young guard, clearly without any background and pushed out to suffer, tremblingly brought two plates of mushy food and a bucket of water to the cell door, looking as if he were the one locked up.

“L-Lord Hydra, your... your dinner...”

The young guard’s voice was near collapse, his hands shaking so much he nearly spilled the food: “I, you...”

“It’s fine, just leave it there.” Anselm waved the guard away, smiling gently, “It’s not your fault; it’s my request. Don’t worry, no one will hold you accountable.”

The young guard, tears streaming, knelt and kowtowed several times to Anselm before leaving.

“Go get our dinner, Hitana.”

Anselm returned his attention to his book.

“...” Hitana didn’t speak, pursing her lips as she walked to the cell door, bringing in the food and water.

The girl looked at the milky mush on the plate, her mouth twitching: “This stuff, is it meant for humans?”

“Why should prisoners get good treatment?” Anselm picked up the plate, eating the unappetizing mush without changing the expression, “You made a mistake, you take the punishment, Hitana.”

Seeing Anselm’s calm demeanor, Hitana thought, if a pampered noble like Hydra doesn’t find it gross, how could I not handle it?

Having skipped lunch and dinner, she was starving.

Steeling herself, she scooped a big spoonful into her mouth, and then—

“Urgh—!”

The horrific taste assaulting her taste buds made her stomach and throat convulse.

Before her mind could react, her body’s instincts had her spitting out all the food.

“Cough... cough cough! Pfft!”

Hitana rushed to the water bucket, ignoring the ladle inside, gulping down two mouthfuls, then vomiting again.

“You, you—” The girl, utterly disheveled and incredulous, looked at Anselm, who was reading calmly as if nothing happened, “How did you eat that stuff that tastes like animal corpses?”

She stared suspiciously at Anselm’s plate: “Did they put some special seasoning in yours?”

“This is what you brought me.” Anselm looked up at her, somewhat amused, “If you don’t believe me, try a bite yourself.”

He placed the plate on his lap, pointing at it.

Hitana hesitated for a moment, then leaned toward Anselm’s lap, cautiously sniffing the mushy slop.

“You!”

The young wolf nearly vomited on Anselm’s dinner, saved only by the fact she hadn’t eaten today.

“You... if you have no sense of taste,” Hitana said, backing away while covering her nose, “why bother eating so well?”

“Who said I have no sense of taste?”

“Someone with taste can eat that stuff?”

“Then, do you have a choice?” Anselm countered, scooping another spoonful into his mouth and swallowing without flinching.

“I... I can choose not to eat.” Hitana gritted her teeth, stubbornly defiant.

“That’s for you.”

Hitana clearly saw Anselm’s throat twitch, but before she could gloat, the ever-composed boy said:

“But for me, Hitana—I told you, your mistake is my failure to discipline. Even if no law, no person, has the right to demand this of me, I will accept the punishment I should bear.”

“I indulge your disrespect toward me, but that doesn’t mean I allow you to act arrogantly toward everything.”

He pointed at the pile of mush that made Hitana’s stomach churn just looking at it: “This is one of the punishments.”

Hydra calmly gazed at Hitana: “This is my choice.”

“As for you,” he lowered his head to read again, speaking nonchalantly, “you can keep ignoring that plate if you think it’s a punishment you don’t need to bear. No one cares about your choice, including me.”

Silence fell over the cell.

Hitana stared blankly at Anselm, quietly reading without another word. The word “hypocrite” stuck in her throat, unable to be spoken.

She felt that saying it now would make her the real bastard.

Clank—

Amid the clatter of chains, the girl suddenly stood up.

She grabbed her dinner, walked silently to Anselm, snatched his plate, and poured its contents into hers.

Then, without hesitation, she tilted her head back and poured the entire plate of slop into her mouth.

“Mmph! Guh—”

Her face twisted in agony; within seconds, she rushed to the water bucket, lifted it, and forced all the slop down her stomach.

Having drained the bucket, Hitana half-collapsed on the floor, panting heavily.

“What do you mean... your failure to discipline... my business is my business, the good has nothing to do with you, the bad...”

The young wolf wiped the water from her mouth, turning to glare fiercely at the unshaken Anselm: “The bad doesn’t get blamed on you either!”

Clutching her stomach, she returned to her corner, curled up, and silently pulled her cloak tighter.

Only then did Hitana suddenly realize that the comfortable, warm clothes keeping her from feeling much cold in the cell were all bought by Anselm.

The girl secretly glanced at the young noble sitting on the hard wooden bed, dressed in his expensive clothes, yet unbothered by the filth and stench even Hitana found hard to endure... and the rats.

[This is my choice]

Anselm’s calm gaze and voice surfaced in Hitana’s mind.

“...”

The girl clenched her teeth, an absurd sense of guilt and complexity surging uncontrollably.

Hydra is a liar, but he never lies to me.

He’s... serious.

He sees my crime as his mistake.

Why? I’ve... never given him a kind look.

We’re not even related; isn’t he just using me?

Using my talent... Does he really see me as his?

[Maybe he’s trying to buy me]

This chaotic thought was quickly extinguished by the overwhelming guilt and complex emotions in Hitana.

Too many had tried to buy her.

Having made a name at Tianlu Tower, she had, as Anselm said, received countless olive branches from nobles, all rejected by her.

How could anyone, to buy me... go to such lengths?

Or rather, if someone was willing to go this far to buy her, what reason did she have to refuse?