Slow Prison Life

The Young Lady Screams at Dawn

The chapel in the early morning.

Margaret knelt before the alter and began fervently praying.

…….or to be more accurate, she made it look like she was fervently praying.

If you ever want to organize your thoughts, there is no better way to do it than to pray at the chapel. That was something Margaret had been taught by her mother.

“It’s impolite to talk to someone while they’re praying. It’d be discourteous to bother even the most popular of people.” ~Mama

“It’s God’s duty to hear out any complaints you have about the world.” ~Mama

Margaret put her hands together, closed her eyes, and bowed her head. The only noise you could hear were a few murmurs and grunts from nearby bystanders reading from scripture.

At first glance she appeared to be a respectful believer, and even if you were to sit right next to her you would be unable to hear her……..or understand what was coming out of her mouth.

“I managed to bring things all the way to hear, so why is this last step going so wrong God!? At last……….isn’t Prince Elliott mine at last!?”

Margaret, a woman who treats the man she imagines God to be with sincerity. Candidly handing out her orders.

“His Highness the Prince is madly in love with me……..but that damn woman needs to submit, otherwise all my hard work might be overturned when the King comes back! Don’t you understand that? Irresponsible, are you just trying to have her snap gradually?”

Margaret’s head fell more deeply towards the alter, her palms pressing against each other more forcefully as her fingers dug into her skin.

“That’s, you know I’m grateful for the good fortune you’ve given me so far? I am quite the lucky person to have grown up so well when I lived in the slums until the age of ten. What didn’t I see being raised as a beautiful young girl? Mom snagged herself a baronPapa before having to sell me to some perverted old manlolicon. All those noble boys were madly in love with the cute and honest me. Even the Prince told me I was better than that cold-blooded crazy girl…….when we’re already at the happy ending, you have to do what is supposed to be done!”

Growing frustrated having to say what she did, Margaret’s grumbling grew louder and louder.

“How much hardship did it take to get things all the way to here……….it was simple getting the men to reel in, and the women’s cruel harassment has already……….I’m supposed to be a noble daughter! What, ‘stop making that I’m so special~ face like a monkey’!? Or, ‘Don’t get close to my fiancee’? Huuuh? Aren’t you the ones who have been acting like your fiancees were some bug in the rug? ‘It can’t be helped since it’s a political marriage’, who are you, and why aren’t you saying it to him instead!? If I speak to him kindly when his heart is aching, then isn’t stupid to be surprised when your fiancee gets taken!? Are you stupid!? Die you pig! Your men are disillusioned for your cold attitude, so the cause of the fire behind all men’s cheating hearts is you fools!”

Margaret’s monologue continued to get louder. Her shoulders began to shake with anger.

“Aren’t having a friendly attitude and using diligent care the basics!? With plain men, ‘Is it just you?’; ‘I know? You try your hardest!’; ‘Somebody told me, you and I are attached!’–just those three simple whispers and you can get them to do what you want! And then you say ‘Don’t say anything unnecessary to him!’ Huuuh? Why don’t you say what’s necessary then!? Aren’t I just putting in the effort to be liked!? Spread some effort for your business, you shithead noble girls! Getting married with that kind of attitude, don’t you know you’re guaranteed a life of ease and comfort after giving birth to an eldest son!? It’s a shitty joke!”

Her head boiling with anger, Margaret finally began shouting at full power.

“You’re ignoring the rules of the business world thinking you can just steal a contract out from under someone after sitting back and taking it easy with the customer service! If it was like that then the elites would get topple over! Even a prostitute at the edge of the city knows to take careful consideration of your regular customers! With how great you all are, don’t say you can’t do it!”

The blood already having completely rushed to her head, Margaret even forgot to keep her body looking like it was praying.

“Well I got the superb Elliott and am now looking down on all of you! Mama was a prostitute from the poor part of town, but she diligently chose what customers she associated with and was able to become a baroness. Well I’m Mama’s daughter, inherited her beautiful face, and was able to pick up a prince in one go!”

Putting her foot on the altar, Margaret struck a victory pose. Some first-rate impiety.

Having thrown out everything she wanted to say, Margaret took a breath and calmed down.

Crossing her arms and taking an imposing stance, taking an air of importance. In front of God.

“Nevertheless……..even if I don’t do anything to Rachel, my rose-colored life with Elliott won’t fade away. It doesn’t look like there’s any love there from Rachel to Elliott…….even though he’s so cool, I wonder why she is taking such an attitude. Well she’s probably gotten a little used to it with being around someone as cool as George……..but Elliott is especially cool. What’s she so unhappy about?”

Mainly the contents.

“Well, her looks are certainly good too. Perhaps she’s just used to being pampered by men………”

It’s probably something else.

“Even if……that woman, if she were sent into the dungeon lightly dressed, the raw material would stand out…….. It’s not really that corset that’s ‘making’ her look right? Her waist is just im~possible………and those breasts, aren’t they really not padded?She………..

Margaret had been watching her surprisingly closely. A huge difference from how the men reacted upon seeing Rachel in light clothing.

Margaret suddenly let out a short gasp.

“No, wait a second………She has a face that’s as good as mine, and an extremely good figure………is she so smart because she is the daughter of a duke? If I remember right the King and Queen were happy with her, and she never got jealous no matter what Elliott did……..”

Margaret was shocked. Giving a sharp glare towards the altar, she then dramatically pointed up towards God.

“Hey God, what is this!? Being born in the upper crust, having both beauty and brains, all this luck…….Rachel shouldn’t be the only one you’re favoring! Isn’t your job to make sure that good fortune gets spread out evenly!? For all the work you’ve done for me compared to the donations I’ve given you, you’re a damn salary thief! ………No, of course I’m not saying you should just give me a larger portion of luck you know?”

The young lady put her hand to her chin, and began to think while walking around the front of the alter.

“The difference………no, I wonder if my way of thinking is just different? Didn’t Rachel just get too much? I’m not very good at rising up…….but even among nobles there are some pretty unimpressive guys right? If it’s just a difference in God’s grace, then I wonder what that difference means………”

Margaret walked around aimlessly before stopping right in front of the altar. The tips of her fingers resting on her chin began to tremble.

“No way……..no, that’s right…….that must be it!”

Making a sudden ninety degree turn, Margaret once again pointed towards God’s figure and began to shout.

“God…….in truth, you have no integrity and are just attracted to physical appearance!? Rachel and I have good luck because you like our faces, and because Rachel has a better style, so she gets special treatment! So that’s how it is!? Damn, all the mysteries have been solved!”

While shouting out her theory the young woman began stamping her feet on the altar. Her disbelief had already hit the point where she would receive diving punishment.

“It all adds up! Damn! So that’s the reason God’s biased, and why I haven’t been able to rise above Rachel no matter how much time passes! God!! If it’s like this then all of my donations until now have been pointless, you bruuuuutttttte! Ah shit………I thought my life would be perfect as long as I prayed, return my pure feelings!”

It’s a bit of a stretch to ask for repayment when the total sum of your donations amounts to some spare change in your wallet, but Margaret ignored this fact for the moment.

♠

A priest rushed in from the chapel because he had been hearing a strange noise for a while now, and from a distance saw that the door was wide open. Perhaps an animal had gotten inside and those noises were its cries.

“In the end, is it about time for the cats’ mating season?”

The priest went ahead, placing his hand on the door in order to confirm the situation when the double doors swung open in front of him.

“Hm?”

A lovely redheaded young girl was standing there with her hand on the handle. Her gaze was turned down, and her shoulders were shaking.

“Hey, ma’am. Did you need something?”

“…………God is”

“Yes?”

The lovely young suddenly looked up, and began shouting with a furious expression on her face.

“God, is dead!”

“What!?”

The priest gave a sideways glance back as Margaret ran past with tears in her eyes.

“Damn……brute……..I was never going to reach the top because God’s love is worth nothing……..!”

God preferred Rachel’s looks, and he’ll knock away my marriage to Elliott! Go Go Margaret! Fight on yourself! In the first place it’s good that you can achieve your goals without holding any debt to God!

God’s favor was just one way for Margaret to deal with her rivals, so she wasn’t really that disappointed.

With the stubbornness of a weed, she would always try and try again.

She had the motivation to face those born into a noble family head on.

Margaret ran down the path with a scowl on her face.

“……..that’s right, there’s no fun in taking down a noble family as a noble family. In order to drag Rachel down, needs to aim to make her look like a disgusting woman……..all right, I’ll do it myself!”

Margaret threw a fist in the air towards the sun.

“What’s a God!? He’s a loooooser!”

♠

Rachel patiently heard the report from the maid hiding in the darkness about Margaret roaring around.

“I see…….so that’s how she is.”

“Yes. She is a person of many soliloquies……the researcher took down everything she said in the last three days.”

“The person in charge of investigating can’t cry about some cries. Margaret will also be happy you told me.

The noblewoman then took a sip of her tea that had already gone cold and took a look up at the ceiling.

“But……..”

“Yes?”

“That person might cause some trouble.”

♠

Just as the maid finished her report and was about to head home, she suddenly slouched down and pulled out a throwing dagger, silently glaring at the silent staircase, but Rachel put her hand up to calm her down.

The door then opened from the outside, and one young girl wearing blue armor came down. She wore a simple set of informal armor and a mantel overtop to keep dirt off, but the young girl with a ponytail was clearly wearing the traveling clothes of a knight.

“It’s been a long time Rachel. Sorry, I wanted to see you earlier, but I was delayed! I came straight here before visiting home.”

“No, Martina. It’s nice of you to come.”

The maid prepared a seat in front of the cell, and Rachel smiled.

“Before I give you a report……..how about a cup of tea?”