"......It's getting late. You can go there and rest. At least there are wooden mats and blankets. It's okay."
"So, what about you, big brother?"
To be honest, the girl was indeed a little tired.
"I have something else to think about...Oh, by the way, thank you for what you did just now."
What Favia said was that when the prison guard threw him unconscious on the ground, someone acted as a cushion for him. That person was Abigail, who could not be seen by others.
"No, it's okay.....It's Abby who should say thank you. You saved me when I fell from the sky."
At this point, the blonde girl glanced at Favia cautiously.
Earlier, in the boundless sea, the girl who was awakened by the loud noise looked at the blood-stained young man in front of her. Although she was extremely panicked, she still mustered up the courage to pull him not to fall into the seabed. Finally, she was carried by the turbulent current and drifted close to the unknown shore.
Therefore, after persisting for so long, she, a child only, was really exhausted.
"Then let's just consider it as canceling each other out."
"Oh......"
As the girl closed her eyes, the dungeon fell into its usual quietness.
It was a dark place filled with silence at all times. The room was dark without any light, and even the moonlight could hardly come in at night. There was no warmth at all, only deathly silence and coldness.
While waiting for Abigail to open her eyes again, although she didn't know what time it was, she saw Favia 'sleeping' in another corner.
"Can we go back? This place is so scary..."
"Do you really want to go back?"
"Ah, Abby, I didn't mean to wake you up..."
Favia's sudden response startled Abigail.
"I just haven't slept yet... Actually, I really want to go back."
".....Yeah?"
"Yes, no matter what, it's wrong to leave without saying goodbye."
That gentle expression made the blonde girl hold her breath for a moment.
Hold your hand against your excited heart and take a deep breath.
Although we have known each other for a short time, this person would do such a thing unintentionally.
There must be a limit to surprise attacks.
If it was intentional, she even wanted to accuse the man of being a bad kid.
The girl averted her eyes, quietly came to his side, and placed the mat she was draped over her body as close to his side as possible.
While feeling the indescribable smell in this dungeon that was enough to numb the brain, her hands tightly grasped his collar.
"Favia...brother."
She murmured to herself in between sleepiness.
In this way, the Chateau d'If prison, which is known as the hell on earth, welcomed the old Italian priest 'Faria', who only looked young in Abigail's eyes, and the real Abigail, who only he could see, one day in 1811.
Ten years later, in the Chateau d'If he will meet a man who has suffered five years of darkness but does not hate others, and this will arouse the dark rage of revenge in this kind man...
But before that, there was an unexpected visitor, a young man who had not yet woven his conspiracy in the European world like a spider web and had not yet found his life goal.
214: Napoleon of the criminal world who has not yet chosen a path (3k5)
The so-called prison is a cage that makes people feel bored.
Not to mention in the 19th century, in the Chateau d'If surrounded by the sea, it would only make people feel endless torture and endurance every moment.
In the dark cage, the moss and mildew on the wall were the only "decoration" here, and the ceiling was so low that Favia could almost touch it when he stood.
In the early morning, when the first ray of weak sunlight tried to pass through the narrow crack in the door, the dungeon was still dark.
When Favia opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was the cold and dampness coming from the stone wall. As soon as he stood up, his body would become stiff from being still for so long, and his joints would make a slight "crackling" sound.
As a result, Favia had to move his limbs to dispel the stiffness and coldness in his body.
After a while, the iron door was pushed open with a creak, and the jailer handed in the prisoner's breakfast.
A piece of bread as dry as a stone and a bowl of green water.
This simple and inedible food was not too difficult to swallow for Favia, who was used to surviving in the wild.
After all, no matter whether it was the dishes from the Roman period or those first cooked by Aika Sajo...to be honest, although none of them tasted good, the worst food would have to be the food at the Chateau d'If. After all, it is surrounded by the sea, and the jailers themselves are barely making ends meet, so they naturally cannot treat the prisoners too well.
And every time this happened, Favia would tear off most of the bread and give it to Abigail. After all, although the blonde girl could not be seen by outsiders, she needed normal meals to survive.
However, it was precisely because of this that she could take the opportunity to run away during the day when the jailer delivered meals and Favia delayed the conversation with him, and then come back when the meals were delivered in the evening... Abigail also tried to steal the key, but unfortunately she seemed unable to get access to it.
Favia didn't care about this. He thought that it would be enough if the young girl could not be locked up in this dungeon forever. If possible, it would be best if she could leave the Chateau d'If.
After all, she was not like him, and a child of her age could not endure such mental torture.
When the time for delivering breakfast passed and Abigail went out, it was already afternoon time, and the air in the dungeon became even more depressing.
Faviahui lay on the wet stone slab and groped the stone wall with his fingers. Over time, there would naturally be marks on the stone wall, but these marks would soon be wiped out by the humid environment.
Sometimes I can only close my eyes and listen to the faint sound of the waves.
For Favia, this time in the Chateau d'If was probably the most uncomfortable time. There was neither a good environment nor healthy food, and even magic could not be used. The only thing that could accompany him was this dungeon that ordinary people would feel painful -
When delivering dinner to the jailer, the blonde girl, who had found the opportunity to go out since morning, walked carefully into the iron gate to avoid bumping into the jailer's body.
Because she herself knows that although outsiders cannot see her, they can touch her body.
"Speaking of which, there seem to be rats recently."
After handing three slices of bread and two bowls of slightly cleaner water to Favia, the jailer suddenly said.
"Is that right?"
"Yes, we finished the food that should have lasted for seven days in just three days."
"Maybe someone needs to grow so he ate it secretly."
"Hahaha, Father Faria, you are such a joker. If you really want to give it to the rats to eat, you might as well eat more."
"hope so."
Then, when the jailer closed the iron gate, the blonde girl who had been by Favia's side for most of the day finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he poured the food out of his full sleeves and said to Favia with great joy:
"Brother Favia, I'm back! I went completely undetected today! Isn't that amazing!"
"Yeah, Abby is awesome."
"That's natural!"
"But it looks like it has been called a rat."
"Abi, I'm not a mouse. Even if I am a mouse, you are the big mouse, and I'm just a small mouse!"
The two of them were talking while chewing the bread slowly.
Speaking of which, Favia still remembers when she first came in. At that time, the girl who secretly took food was afraid that she would be discovered if she took it in her hands, so she stuffed it all in her mouth and brought it back, almost suffocating herself to death...
There's no need to force yourself like this.
To this day he still remembers her answer.
At that time, Abigail kept her head down, mumbling in a low voice as if she was very uneasy:
".....If you don't eat like this, you will be hungry...Sorry, Abhi, I messed up, I'm sorry..."
The girl at that time seemed to be worried about losing something, so her eyes became so lonely and sad.
In fact, Abigail also remembers what happened after that.
In her eyes, feeling extremely guilty, Favia calmly tore the ugly bread soaked by her saliva, chewed it gently, swallowed it with a "gulp", and smiled gently, then said in a warm voice:
“…very delicious bread indeed.”
In an instant, the blonde girl's face turned red.
Ahhh, what is this? Indirect kiss? Ahhh, can't you just tear off the crust of the bread.....If you can't do that, you can eat it secretly at night...
However, Abigail clearly remembered the expression she had at the very end of that day, just like the expression she had when she was a child waiting for her 'brother' - a clear and flawless smile.
Night was the most difficult time in the dungeon. There was silence all around, and only Favia and he alone could hear the girl's breathing and heartbeat echoing.
This is how a day passes, and we continue to wait for the dawn in the darkness, and then wait for the darkness in the dawn, and so on.
And days like this will continue day after day.
In fact, Favia was not idle these years. In this prison, he used many methods to make his own pens, paper, ink, blades, lighting, ropes and other props...
However, Favia does not think that the current situation is good. He is now "Faria", so there is nothing wrong with this and he can continue to insist.
But Abigail is just a child who deserves to live a good life. The world she lives in should not be so small.
Therefore, if he finds an opportunity, he will definitely send it out of the Chateau d'If.
........
In April of 1814, the Sixth Coalition defeated France and occupied Paris for a time. As a result, Napoleon was forced to declare unconditional surrender and signed the abdication decree at the Palace of Fontainebleau in Paris. Since then, the First French Empire was destroyed.
Then Louis XVIII returned to France and became King of France again, and the Bourbon dynasty was restored.
However, these are not a big deal for the Chateau d'If in Marseille, because for the warden and the jailers, it is just a change from emperor to king, which will not have much impact on them anyway.
Rather than caring about the change of national regime, they care more about the present, just like the prison inspector who arrives at this moment.
In the 19th century, prison inspectors were primarily instructed by prison superiors to record prisoners' behavior and performance, including their daily activities, interactions with others, and violations, and to report on prison conditions, including prisoners' movements, the condition of facilities, security conditions, and so on.
But having said that, inspectors of this era did not care about the living conditions of prisoners, and appeals and requests were often ignored. They simply enforced prison rules and regulations.
However, the prison inspector who came to the Chateau d'If today somewhat surprised the warden of the Chateau d'If, because he was not just going through the motions, but was instead recording something in a small notebook.
The silver-haired inspector inspected the prison's cells and dungeons one by one. He also asked several prisoners about their meals and whether they had any requests.
They unanimously replied that the food was too bad and demanded to be restored to freedom.
The inspector asked them if they had any other requests.
The prisoners shook their heads. After all, what else could they hope for except freedom?
That's right.
The inspector turned to the warden with a blank expression and said:
"It seems that all the prisoners only say the same thing, the food is bad or they are wrongly accused. So if I have seen one prisoner, I have seen all of them. What a pity. I gave up my time for calculations and found this part-time job to see if I can learn anything from these evil people."
The warden didn't dare to speak. Although this inspector was younger than him, his eyes were extremely fierce. Moreover, he was an inspector sent by his superiors, so of course he could only obey.
"Excuse me, are there any other prisoners in this prison?"
"Yes, there is one in the dungeon."
"Take me to have a look," the inspector said calmly, "Although the probability is very high, we should still go and have a look for the sake of necessary rigor."
"Please wait a moment, what did that person say..." the warden said. "He is a good man. If possible, could you please tell the higher-ups to reduce his sentence?"
"I feel like your attitude towards him is a little bit subtle. Is he a special prisoner? What crime did he commit?"
"I'm sorry, we don't know. We were just asked by our superiors to keep a close watch on Father Faria... But he was a poor man, and he was definitely persecuted by the damned Napoleon... Of course, it was also our fault, maybe I was the only one who was wrong..."
As they talked, the inspector and the warden walked down a smelly, damp, dark staircase, which was already very uncomfortable for the eyes, nose, and breathing just by walking through it.
"Warden, are you mentally ill? But the environment in this place is really bad... Is this the place?"
".......Um."
"Okay, give me the key and let me interrogate you alone."
The warden handed him the key and left.
The inspector opened the cell door and looked inside the cell expressionlessly.
