After I returned to the basement, Aisha had reverted to her previous near-death state.
I didn't expose her immediately. This feeling of playing along with her charade wasn't bad either.
After briefly eating a few bites, Aisha had already recovered more than half of her condition.
She also started referring to me as Benefactor.
And she kept playing the victim in front of me.
"As a young lady, I was orphaned from a young age. My mother was a maid in an ordinary family. Because she possessed a slight bit of beauty, the master became interested in her while the mistress was pregnant. As a result of illicit conception, she ended up carrying me.
For this, my mother was almost driven out of the house by the mistress. Dragging her weak body after just giving birth, carrying me, who had just been born, she had to fend for herself in the snowy weather.
Fortunately, that tragedy didn't occur. Although I was the master's daughter, I could only work as a maid alongside my mother every day.
My mother kept instilling in me that when I grew up, I should serve the mistress's son—that is, my older brother.
My life was so bleak, yet my mother and I managed to survive through sheer effort. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long; a sudden light from the sky brought my mother and me to Ranoa.
Because we were penniless when teleported, my mother carried me and tried to seek help from the magician who had once been our tutor in Ranoa. At the time, my mother thought she was serving as a Court Magician in the Ranoa Kingdom.
But it turned out the magic tutor had already left Ranoa. My mother and I were imprisoned by Prince Pacus.
My mother is currently being tortured by Pacus, and I am locked up here alone. When I grow up, I will probably meet the same fate as my mother.
Benefactor, you don't need to worry about us. Thank you for bringing me food. I am deeply grateful to you."
Wow, this recitation of her tragic life story was simply perfect. Based on my understanding of the original novel, 99% of what she said was true; only the part about 'illicit conception' was questionable.
However, any man with a shred of sympathy would not be able to ignore such a situation.
So, I acted like an indignant youth and declared:
"Little girl, rest assured. Even if it means going through mountains of knives or seas of fire, I, Daolin Grellat, will save you and your mother from this cage.
Where is your mother now? I am fully prepared. I cannot just save you alone and let you continue living helplessly in this world."
Aisha blinked her eyes like an adorable little girl and looked at me with pitiful eyes, saying:
"My mother is locked in the room next to Prince Pacus's room, guarded 24 hours a day by his Royal Guards. Benefactor, it should be difficult for you to access that room.
However, because of my tragic experience, Ms. Jingjie York, who guards that room, sympathizes with me greatly. But she has leverage held by the Prince, so she hasn't chosen to release my mother and me. If you can find her, perhaps you can ask for her help."
So thoughtful? She has already paved the way for every step. What a genius kid.
I nodded seriously: "Alright, I will go communicate with Ms. Jingjie tonight. I will take sole responsibility for the crime of breaking into the prison. That way, she will also let us off the hook."
Just like that, I was successfully persuaded by Aisha to help rescue them both out of the city.
After the shift change personnel arrived that evening, I left my post guarding Aisha. As I left, Aisha's gaze fixed on me with teary eyes—it was truly too expressive.
If she were in the era of my previous life, she would undoubtedly be more than qualified to be a child star. Perhaps she could act from her teens until she was over 60 without any issue. A natural-born actress.
Upon arriving at the Royal Guard barracks, I found Jingjie York and asked to speak with her privately.
When we reached an empty alley, Jingjie spoke first: "You must be the new Daolin, right? I more or less guessed what you're going to ask. I can help you, but what I want to tell you is that this girl is definitely not simple. You've probably been deceived by her."
I feigned confusion and replied, "What hidden information do you know? How was I deceived by her? I thought everything she said sounded very real."
Jingjie hesitated for a moment before saying:
"What she said is indeed true; I even verified it with her mother. But she is absolutely not the delicate little girl she appears to be. Her purpose in saying these things is precisely to make you take her and her mother away from here.
Also, what I need to tell you is that Pacus also knows this little girl is seeking help from the Royal Guard to escape. If you take her away and get caught by Pacus, you and your family will all become slaves. That way, he can capture you and sell you for money.
That little girl has already incited three people to help her leave here before. Can you guess why she is still locked up in that prison?"
I was speechless. So this was a sting operation. Pacus is also a smart man; knowing I had no leverage, he decided to create leverage directly. That way, he could control me.
Although he and Aisha weren't colluding, in a sense, they were indeed cooperating.
One deceives people into taking them away, and the other waits for someone to take them away so there's a reason to capture them and turn them into slaves.
You could call them the progenitors of the'scam-and-kidnap' scheme. It seems Pacus has the upper hand right now. However, this suits my intentions perfectly. I've wanted to experience the feeling of kicking an iron plate while attempting a scam like this since my previous life."
I said to Jingjie:
"As long as her experience isn't a lie, that's enough. Who wouldn't want to escape suffering and regain freedom when imprisoned? I have no family in Ranoa, and I'm not afraid of being captured by Pacus.
If I have the chance to save such a little girl but give up because I'm worried about my own safety, I fear I won't sleep well for the rest of my life.
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