Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 337

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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337. The Princess’s Crime (1)

Prison break.

Serena knew exactly two methods of prison escape.

‘Playing dead and digging tunnels.’

Unfortunately, there was no genius priest who knew the location of Treasure Island in the cell next to Serena.

Digging tunnels seemed somewhat possible, but there was no Bible to hide tools in, and besides.

‘I’m being executed tomorrow, where would I find time to dig!’

“Hand in hand~”

After hearing about the 12th layer’s forced teleportation gimmick from the Princess, Olive told them to hold hands tightly.

Serena attached magic magnets to everyone’s foreheads and desperately wished as she descended the stairs.

‘I want to be teleported together with Olive or Ying!’

And when she opened her eyes.

“Princess! The magic magnets seem to be working!”

Serena saw Ralph smiling happily. Both the cell and roommate were identical to the previous two attempts.

Her head throbbed painfully. Serena pressed her temples and gritted her teeth.

‘Is it really fixed on Ralph?’

Was it random teleportation with fixed results, or was it not random teleportation at all?

‘If it’s the latter, there must be rules. What could they be?’

Serena thought about what she and Ralph had in common.

‘We’re both from Huji and alive. Other than that…’

The Princess’s silence grew long. The Princess and Knight had fewer commonalities than expected.

‘Different genders and ages. Different social status and ways of thinking. Ralph is positive, I’m negative. Different specialties too – Ralph has swordsmanship, I have magic. Even our family situations are different – Ralph has a happy, loving family, I have a broken one.’

The scales in her mind gradually tilted toward ‘random but with fixed results.’

‘Sigh. Maybe I should have changed the party composition. Though they probably wouldn’t divide by nationality. The only things Ralph and I have in common are that we were physically close before falling into the labyrinth, and after falling we fought Lucas together… Hmm?’

Serena and Ralph were comrades who had defeated Lucas, the One in Ten Thousand Man.

And the 12th layer is a prison, where they’re locked in the same cell and scheduled for execution tomorrow.

Serena derived a causality she didn’t want to acknowledge from this.

‘Don’t tell me Ralph and I are imprisoned together because we killed Lucas?’

It was so absurd that Serena laughed out loud.

“Hahahaha!”

“Princess, what’s wrong?”

“Hahaha, it’s nothing. I just had a silly thought.”

Serena reassured the Knight with a practiced forced smile, then turned away and erased the smile.

The Princess pretended to investigate the cell while silently screaming at the wall.

‘Don’t tell me I’m really teleported with Ralph because of that? Biron started it first!’

Biron might not seem like much of an enemy now, but at the time he was a formidable opponent comparable to a labyrinth layer boss.

Without Krom’s noble sacrifice, they would have had to challenge him multiple times.

‘Even though it was undone, Biron killed me first! It was justified revenge! It’s legal!’

In a medieval fantasy world, revenge and duels should be legal by common sense!

Of course, befitting a class-based society, legalizing revenge required appropriate status and justification. Serena thought she and Ralph satisfied both requirements.

‘But execution? Why?’

Serena chewed her lower lip and paced around the narrow cell in circles.

Ralph seemed worried about the Princess suddenly acting strangely, his fingers twitching as if wanting to stop her.

“Pr-Princess?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Yes. I’ll be quiet.”

Like a squirrel on a wheel, the Princess circled the narrow cell round and round. She was so focused on thinking she didn’t notice getting dizzy.

‘If they’re going to imprison people for killing in the labyrinth, what about Olive? She must have killed at least one person while conquering labyrinths.’

Olive was the best guide, but her character and ethics weren’t the best either.

Just from the glimpses Olive had shown, Serena could bet her inherited fortune that she had secretly eliminated at least one person over unhelpful party members or loot distribution issues.

‘Did she kill too many and go straight to the execution ground without delay? No. This is a prison-concept labyrinth. Killing people the moment they enter wouldn’t make it a labyrinth. Then…’

Serena stopped walking. Instead of overthinking, a plausible possibility occurred to her when she thought simply.

‘They don’t care about what happened in other labyrinths. They only judge based on what happened in this labyrinth? So Ralph and I are imprisoned for murder and scheduled for execution tomorrow?’

“Grrrr.”

Serena suppressed the rage rising from deep in her chest.

Any other crime would be one thing. She didn’t want to accept being executed for murdering Lucas Viren.

‘That bastard killed me first!’

Even though it was undone by regression, striking first before being killed shouldn’t be a capital offense.

‘Besides, imprisoning without trial and executing the next day doesn’t make sense! How are we supposed to conquer a labyrinth like this!’

Serena kicked the wall with her foot, then collapsed as her toe hurt.

Ralph, startled by the Princess’s repeated strange behavior since arriving at the 12th layer, approached restlessly.

“Princess, are you alright?”

“Phew. I’m fine. You should rest too.”

Serena let out a deep sigh and offered Ralph the seat beside her. The Young Knight stammered out the words he’d been holding back.

“What? Please don’t worry too much! I’ll definitely protect you! The cell door looks like it might break, so it would be good to go out there if you ca-calm down! And my sword! I definitely brought it but it disappeared, but I still have my shield so don’t worry!”

The Knight’s voice was loud as he felt he needed to be energetic since the Princess was dispirited.

Though she felt sorry for the Knight trying to cheer up, Serena had already decided what to confirm in this attempt.

“Let’s wait until the others come.”

“Yes! We’ll do that!”

The Knight who had been bravely shouting while raising his shield with a lioness head meekly sat against the wall at the Princess’s words.

Clank clank. The guard made his first patrol round.

During the next patrol, he brought white porridge, and during the one after that, the prison lights went out. Though Serena told him to sleep comfortably, Ralph kept his eyes wide open and endured.

After staying up all night together, the long-awaited breakfast was distributed. It was the same steak as in Serena’s memory.

‘Smells good.’

Since knives couldn’t be used, the steak was cut into easy-to-eat pieces, with juices flowing out and mixing with the mashed potatoes.

Whether butter was added when mashing the potatoes, it melted from the heat of the meat juices, creating a savory aroma.

‘How does it taste?’

Serena stabbed the steak with a wooden fork. Ralph’s eyes widened as he stopped her.

“Princess! Even if you’re hungry, you should eat the food we brought!”

“It’s delicious. You should try some too. There doesn’t seem to be any poison.”

The steak was tasty. Not as good as the Minotaur steak Prince Willow had grilled, but it still met the standard for ordinary steak.

“Princess.”

Ralph didn’t eat the steak and called Serena with a face drained of all color.

“Serving steak in prison. Something’s strange.”

‘Oh no.’

Since Serena had stayed quiet, Ralph began to get suspicious.

His reaction was different from the previous Ralph who had positive thoughts like ‘Steak is great! They could serve steak in prison!’

“In the novels I’ve read, there are three cases when special meals like this appear in prison!”

‘Oh, there are two more?’

She wouldn’t have listened if there was only one, but suddenly became curious since he said there were two more besides what she knew.

“What are they?”

“One is when there’s a celebration in the country, and the second is when the prisoner or their relatives purchased the special meal.”

Purchasing special meals. At this combination of words she’d never heard before, Serena blinked her one eye rapidly.

‘Is that possible?’

In her previous life, prisoners could buy snacks from the commissary with their own money.

But purchasing main meals as special food rather than snacks?

‘You can buy meals too? Ugh, I don’t know.’

Whether real or not, that wasn’t what mattered now.

The reason Ralph brought up the topic wasn’t because of the first or second cases, but because of the third one.

“The third and final case is… I’m sorry to say this, but it’s before a death row prisoner is executed.”

Ralph looked dejected, as if he truly felt bad about having to say it.

But the young knight who had spoken his mind even before the prince who would one day be king didn’t hold back in front of the princess either.

“Of, of course it would seem strange to you, Princess, to execute someone just one day later! I think it’s strange too! But we must be cautious! If something happens and we act then, it’ll be too late!”

Every single word he said was correct. Serena imagined patting Ralph’s head in her mind.

Seeing that Serena seemed to be listening intently to his words, Ralph continued earnestly.

“As I mentioned yesterday, I can destroy that door. How about we break down the door and escape from the cell?”

If this weren’t the third attempt, it would have been a proposal she’d accept. Though she felt sorry for Ralph, Serena had decided what to confirm in this round and shook her head.

“Let’s wait just one more day.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Once again, the waiting that only Serena knew the end to began.

Clank clank. Ralph, who had been dejectedly watching only the corridor through the gaps in the bars, perked up his ears.

Though he had heard the guards’ footsteps many times, this time the sound was very different from usual. Ralph urgently called for the princess.

“Princess! There are many guards! Five of them are coming! Something’s strange!”

The steak that had appeared since morning. The number of guards that didn’t seem like an ordinary patrol.

Ralph, sensing an ominous premonition, called out to Serena anxiously. Serena bit her lip.

“Count Ralph. Stay still. You must never resist. Never.”

“What? Princess, what do you mean by that?”

“No matter what happens, I will be safe. You’ll be fine too… Don’t be too afraid.”

The purpose of five guards coming together was clear. They were coming to drag the two death row prisoners to the execution ground and put them on the guillotine.

Thinking of the fear and anxiety Ralph would feel on the way there, it might be better to end his life here.

The princess couldn’t forgive herself for thinking such a thing and slapped her own cheek.

Smack!

“Princess? I didn’t say those things to make you anxious…!”

‘Kill Ralph for Ralph’s sake? Are you becoming like Mother, Serena?’

Serena scolded herself with the second thing she hated hearing most.

She had slapped her cheek so hard that it stung and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. Serena didn’t wipe away the tears and looked at her loyal knight.

“Count Ralph. Even if the worst situation you can imagine unfolds from now on, I will be fine. You will be fine too. I swear by all the deities of the Heavens. So.”

Clank clank. The guards had come nearby. Serena gripped Ralph’s hand tightly.

“Will you trust me even after death?”

“I trust you.”

Ralph gazed at the princess with straight eyes like when making a knight’s oath and clasped her hand.

“Thank you.”

Click.

As soon as Serena finished speaking, the guard who had reached the cell opened the barred door.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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