Subversion of Tropes (2)

The wardens were rather confused, but they didn't dare question the authority of a royal family. At the same time, they didn't know how to treat me. The reason they were confused was that although I was brought in to be imprisoned, I didn't look the part of a captured criminal. Saven also began talking to the wardens and told them to treat me well and prevent harm from befalling me. As he continued to talk, he implied that my imprisonment was a result of one of the blood princess's whims and that I had committed no crimes.

When Saven finished his sermon and left, the wardens began discussing what to do with me.

Despite my circumstances, I was still a Pendel. The Pendel family might me to be scorned silently, but they wouldn't allow someone to take direct action against me. It would damage the Pendel's reputation if the Duke's son was mistreated unjustly in their territory, especially by those who were employed by them.

However, if they didn't treat me like a prisoner, they would antagonize the blood princess. They were essentially discussing who to piss off, a Duke or a crazy princess. Pissing off the princess might be an obvious choice, but they were probably afraid that with her personality, she would order their execution once she learned the truth. At the same time, if they pissed off the Duke they could live a life worse than death. I didn't pity their position.

I wasn't worried about becoming trapped in prison, I knew I would be out in a week or two at maximum. Duke Pendel did place, someone, to monitor my movements, I'm sure that spy has already told him about my situation. He'll probably get the king to give him some benefit for imprisoning his son. If I'm fortunate I might get a decent reward.

Honestly, the reason I was getting nervous was because of Kasa. She definitely dislikes prisoners, and I'm fairly certain that I accidentally convinced her during her outburst that the prisoners were all evil without question. What if she finds out I'm a prisoner? I didn't want to deal with it. I'm confused about how to deal with her already, complicating it would cause me to take make a wrong decision. A wrong decision could cause her dependence on our relation to turn into something similar to, in the worst case, obsession. Just the very thought scared me.

As I was pondering the future, a warden turned and asked me what I did for entertainment. I replied that I read books, and he went back to discuss what I said. After a few more minutes of their discussion, the same warden told me to take a seat and wait for them to finish preparations. He handed me a book he was reading so I could pass the time.

His book was similar to the novels I read, a story about a man taking on the world with his fists. If there was anything different, it was a bit more risque than my usual tastes. I was one-thirds through the novel when that warden asked me to follow him. As we walked, he said in a voice drenched in nervousness, "I'll take you to your ce- new residency for the next few days. We've moved things around and hope it will be to your liking." When all he heard from me was the sound of my footsteps, he gulped and continued.

"Due to the circumstances, we have to imprison you..." He stopped speaking when I stared at him.

The warden swallowed his saliva before continuing, "If you have any demands... we'll listen to them all."

When I heard what he said, I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from smiling. Since they gave me an inch I'll take a mile.

"I want the keys to my room, I also want meals delivered to me 3 times a day from a nearby restaurant. Lastly, give me the files on all the current prisoners here."

The warden was dumbfounded when he heard my words. He was about to say something but I interjected.

"My name is Rorik Pendel, understand your position and fulfill my demands. I can't guarantee what happens if you don't."

There was no need for me to act like a child right now. The wardens were trying to 'imprison' me until the princess left to avoid anger from both parties. They hoped I would tell Duke Pendle that they treated me comfortably. If I did, instead of being punished, they would be rewarded. Since the wardens chose to take this course of action they could only agree to my demands.

Sure enough, a few seconds later he ended up agreeing to my requests.

As we continued walking to my cell, I started focusing on the prisoners' reactions, which were quite amusing.

"Hey look, Celtin is bringing in a new prisoner."

"Doesn't that prison look like a child? Also, why does he have no shackles?"

"You fools, I recognize him, he's the son of the Pendle family who can't use mana or ki."

"Ah you meant Rorik Pendel, from a friend I know he visits the other prison, maybe he's here to entertain us."

"No look, Celtin put him in the middle of the three cells that were just vacated."

When they saw the warden, Celtin, lock me up and leave, they burst into an uproar. Many of them were wondering what exactly caused a Duke's son to be imprisoned in jail for dangerous criminals.

Their confusion only intensified when they saw the other wardens bringing me items such as pillows and books. A few of them even thought that I decided to live in a prison.

Just when the prisoners' thoughts were getting more ridiculous, a loud voice silenced them.

"You fools, isn't it obvious why he's here? How did I get stuck in a jail with imbeciles like you? I'll explain it in a way that you lot can understand. He doesn't want to live here, but he'll be staying here for a couple of weeks. He's not a prisoner, so they're giving him amenities we don't have access to, and he's going to be gone in a few weeks so he didn't move into this prison. He probably pissed off someone. "

When the prisoners heard this person's voice and statement, they started settling down.

I was surprised, whoever said that got the general idea of the story. I tried locating the person behind the voice, but it was impossible inside my cell.

'No matter, I'll ask Celtin later.' I thought to myself as I looked.

Speaking of Celtin, it looks like he told the other wardens my demands. The last few items to arrive in my cell were a stack of documents detailing the prisoners, my jail cell key, and dinner that I presumed was from a nearby restaurant.

The reason I wanted the papers and the ability to move around freely was simple, I was going to try and get a new soul technique. I wanted to come here before, but I was a bit worried about how I was going to accomplish my plans here. I never expected such a golden opportunity to fall into my lap. I need to thank that tyrant princess when I get the chance.

As I thought of the tyrant princess, I couldn't help but burst into laughter.

'That dumb girl, what did she think was going to happen if a noble was thrown into prison by someone like her?'

The other noble children who got thrown into prison were probably treated better than I am right now. What an idiot. Still, I shouldn't make too much fun of her, she's essentially my benefactor at this point. In fact, I should be nice to her.

'Yeah, I should be nice to her as thanks for this opportunity. The next time I meet her I'll make her compensate me with a few big silver coins instead of gold coins' I thought to myself as I turned the pages on the prisoner portfolios.