Chapter 219: Chapter 219: You Like to Play So Much, Let’s Play_1
The riot squad, drawn by the alarm, had finally arrived at the scene, only to find that the warden had already taken complete control. They immediately lined up on the side ready to await instructions from their leader.
This was the first time Aiden had used a mercury automaton golem to suppress inmates, and he owed it all to Ophelia for causing trouble, which provided him with such an experimental opportunity.
"It was, it was them who provoked me first!" Ophelia tried to defend herself to Aiden.
"But weren’t you the one who struck first?" the inmate she fought with retorted, instantly backed by two roommates.
"You asked for it! If it weren’t for the barrier, this prince would have already drained all your blood!"
"Ha, that’s a big talk for someone who’s been caught twice trying to escape, useless candy!"
"What did you say!?"
Just as both sides began to argue and were about to start fighting again, Aiden, with no expression on his face, spoke up, "Tighten."
As soon as his words fell, the four inmates felt the iron rings on their necks and wrists suddenly tighten, leaving them speechless.
Aiden watched the inmates struggling to breathe, and after several seconds, he said, "Release."
Only then did the mercury automaton golem loosen its grip. The three female inmates, except for Ophelia, began to cough violently. As a vampire, Ophelia didn’t need to breathe, but she also needed to exhale when speaking; thus, having her neck clamped like that was quite uncomfortable.
"Come on, keep arguing, keep going! Say ’teacher, she started hitting me first’, hurry up!" Aiden mocked, "You think this is a nursery school? If you like playing so much, I’ll give you something to play with. Go clean the toilets, each of you scrubs twenty, then go into solitary confinement and play there for a day, hurry up!"
"Please, warden, it was clearly her who started it, we were just defending ourselves!" The three inmates immediately voiced their objections.
"Self-defense by ganging up in a brawl? When I entered, I could clearly see how much fun you were having, fighting so fiercely that the guards couldn’t intervene," Aiden glanced at them.
"We...we were just trying to break it up!" the latter two inmates tried to disassociate themselves from the fight.
"Breaking it up with your fists? Take me for a fool again and you’ll be cleaning the toilets for the whole week!" Aiden replied coldly.
The inmates unanimously shut their mouths.
Aiden then gestured and said, "Disengage."
It was then that the mercury automaton golem retracted the portion that had turned into shackles, freeing the inmates.
It reverted to its humanoid form and stood behind Aiden, crossing its arms as if it was a loyal bodyguard.
The inmates of the core zone exchanged glances; they had seen the warden patrolling around with a transformable ball of mercury before, and now it seemed... the warden’s toy had been upgraded.
Aiden signaled subtly with his eyes to the guards, instructing them to take the inmates to carry out their punishment.
The three inmates from the same room complied and started moving, but only Ophelia remained still in her spot.
"Ophelia, do you not have ears?" Aiden stared at Ophelia.
After a few seconds, Ophelia spoke as if with some difficulty, "I... I don’t want to!"
"You don’t want what?" Aiden raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I refuse to clean toilets! I, a noble vampire prince, have never suffered such an indignity!!"
Aiden’s demand had ignited Ophelia’s pride, and she picked up her courage to resist the warden once more.
"You’ve been digging a tunnel under the toilet in your own room for two years, and you still care about this?" Aiden brought up the past. "Never suffered such an indignity, right? Well, now you have. There’s always a first time for everything, so go!"
"I don’t care about that! This prince has put up with you for far too long!" Ophelia burst out, "If you have the guts, just kill me now!"
"I told you, you’re still in the observation period, letting you accept your punishment honestly is giving you a chance. Don’t cut off your own escape route, little girl," Aiden stared at her.
"Pah! Go to hell!" Ophelia was completely furious, retorting as soon as she spoke.
Aiden quickly turned his head aside, dodging the spittle that flew out with her "Pah!"
"Ophelia," he looked at her blood-red eyes, and slowly said, "I now want you to go clean the toilets, and while cleaning, you have to say loudly ’I’m sorry, Warden.’ If I can’t hear it, you have to repeat. If I can’t hear again, you continue until I can hear you!"
Ophelia proudly raised her head upon hearing this, "Report to the warden, there’s no need to go to the toilets, I can just say it here, it’s just one sentence—"
"The way you curse me next is how I’ll punish you," Aiden suddenly spoke up.
His words were like a sharp knife, cutting off the latter part of Ophelia’s speech.
She glared at Aiden, those few remaining words stuck in her throat, she simply couldn’t speak them.
"Go to the cafeteria and bring back two cloves of garlic," Aiden turned his head, instructing a prison guard.
Hearing this, Ophelia immediately felt the stench of garlic spreading in her mouth, her overheated brain instantly cooled down.
"Sorry..." Ophelia began in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s.
"What?" Aiden glanced at her.
"I’m sorry... Is that enough?" Ophelia’s face was full of dissatisfaction.
"What are you saying, speak up," Aiden was relentless.
"I’m sorry..."
"Thinking to settle it with such a quiet voice?" Aiden was ruthless, "As I said, if I can’t hear, then I can’t hear!"
"Hmph!" Ophelia’s expression twisted for a moment, then she practically squeezed out a complete sentence through clenched teeth, "Sorry... Warden!"
"Wouldn’t it have been over if you’d been sensible like this from the start? Get moving, and be quick about it!" Aiden gestured towards the direction of the toilets and then called two riot squad officers to supervise the work.
Time moved to the afternoon, and after lunch, Aiden made his way to the solitary confinement corridor.
He briefly surveyed the conditions of the prisoners held there, finally stopping in front of Ophelia’s solitary cell.
Ophelia heard the noise, turned her head to glance, and as soon as her eyes met Aiden’s, she turned her face away.
"It’s rare to see a prisoner that keeps refusing to learn her lesson like you; it makes me want to award you a medal," Aiden started to mock her.
Ophelia remained silent, not responding.
"I’m saying, aren’t you the sister of someone named Kael?" Aiden continued on his own.
Ophelia frowned slightly and gave him a glance, her eyes clearly asking "How did you find out?"
Aiden thought to himself that the reaction meant that probably the contents of the letter were true. Around noon, Isabella who had been on duty in the reception area had mentioned to him that a vampire claiming to be Ophelia’s family member visited this prison.
"Do you realize, with all the trouble you’ve caused, your family can’t even see you," Aiden crossed his arms, "Is fighting for a face that doesn’t exist that important?"
