Doctor Hailey

“Dad?”

Hailey frowned at the unexpected sight of Hethos pointing a finger at her.

“What?”

“Why would I be your father?” His words left her stunned. What on earth did he mean?

“Why am I your daughter?”

“Hush, hush, hush, this isn’t going to work.” The jailer’s eye roll was unmistakable.

“Give me your hands, both of you.” Thud. Crack. The sound of the handcuffs clicking shut echoed through the room.

While Hethos remained indifferent, Hailey’s hands fell limp, the weight causing her shoulders to slump.

God, did he have any idea how delicate a surgeon’s wrists were? She glanced at the cuffs around her own wrists and shook her head in disbelief.

“Follow me quietly.” With a turn, the guard led the way, and she shuffled along in his wake.

In this lifetime, she had hoped to contribute to the advancement of medicine. But life seemed to have other plans, presenting challenges at every turn.

In her previous life, she had been impoverished but resourceful. In this one, she was wealthy and intelligent, yet adversity still seemed to find her.

Perhaps trials were necessary to truly appreciate life’s blessings, she mused. Perhaps one day she would regale her grandchildren with stories of resilience. This too shall pass.

Though she tried to reconcile herself to the situation, the weight of the handcuffs seemed to grow heavier with each step, accentuated by the splash of dirty water beneath her feet.

How had she gotten here?

“Why aren’t you moving any faster?” “I’m coming. I’m coming.” Hailey pursed her lips and willed her leaden feet to cooperate.

As they descended the stairs, Hailey’s eyes widened at the scene unfolding before her.

“Get in line properly!” The guards’ admonitions rang out, punctuated by the tapping of batons against prisoners’ heads.

“You there! Aren’t you hungry?”

Hailey stopped in her tracks, taking in the sight of the bloodied faces and weathered expressions surrounding her. This was prison.

“Who’s lagging behind?” “Don’t you know you’re going to miss your meal?”

“Hurry up!” The urgency in their voices was palpable.

When had they arrived?

The cries of the prisoners behind her grew louder, causing a throbbing sensation in Hailey’s head. She fought back a whimper.

“I can’t lose my cool here. Stay calm, diaphragm…” She took a deep breath and pushed forward, each step feeling heavier than the last.

“Are you trying to show off your nobility by being late? People here are sensitive about food.” Hethos’ rebuke came in a hushed tone as he looked back from his place in the meal line.

With a stature and presence that commanded attention, Hethos stood out in the crowd.

Looking at him gratefully, Hailey nodded slowly. “Thank you.”

“It seems that in the Royal Prison they serve meals on trays, even bread and soup.”

“Other prisons don’t?”

“Most don’t. They don’t care if the prisoners survive or perish.”

Hailey looked at Hethos with curiosity. “You seem well versed in prison life.”

“I have been wrongly accused a few times, but always managed to get out quickly. But never have I been treated so unfairly!” His voice rose in indignation.

“I feel the injustice as well.”

Hethos chuckled at Hailey’s remark.

Soon their food arrived.

“Is that bread or a brick?” Hailey raised an eyebrow, inspecting the unappetizing food.

And what was that strange hue in the soup? She hesitated, debating whether to eat.

Meanwhile, Hethos, eyeing the guard intensely, spoke up, “Considering my size, shouldn’t I get a larger portion?”

Survival instincts kicked in, and Hailey resigned herself to the need to eat something to get through her time in prison.

“If you’re just going to stand there and watch, why don’t you join us?” A voice from the other side of the prison made her frown.

“Can’t you see I’m eating?” She replied curtly.

Earlier she had taken only a few pieces of bread and some soup; there were too many prisoners and it wasn’t worth fighting for more.

The bread was truly tasteless, hard as stone. But she ate it anyway, along with the strangely colored soup.

Who knows what they put in it. As long as it filled her stomach, that’s all that mattered.

When she was an orphan in Korea, there were many days when she couldn’t eat like this and had to survive on tap water.

Having rice and kimchi for a meal was considered a blessing, and on days when seaweed was available, it was a feast.

When she stopped stirring the soup with the spoon, she noticed several teeth marks on it.

She shouldn’t get used to this place; she needed to escape quickly.

“You eat quite well.”

“Not as much as Mr. Hethos. Didn’t he even try to take the tray earlier?” Hethos shrugged and leaned against the prison wall.

“By the way, why the formality? I understand that I may seem quite noble in my demeanor, but I’m not a noble, and being treated like one is rather unpleasant.”

“I am not speaking to you because I mistake you for a noble,” she said firmly.

“Hurry up and get in!” At that moment, a loud voice echoed from the end of the corridor.

Covering her mouth, Hailey peered through the bars.

Two guards were dragging another in.

Thud! The prisoner rolled to the floor from the guards’ rough handling.

A groan of pain escaped him.

“Fa, Faello! Why are you here?” Hethos exclaimed in surprise, his voice cracking.

“Ugh, brother!” The prisoner, struggling on the floor, barely raised his head.

The guard opened the door to Hethos’ cell and kicked Faello, a young man, forward.

“Get in!”

“What are you doing?” The guard’s gaze shifted to Hethos.

“Did you say that to me?”

“Yes! Why have you brought Faello here?”

The guard drew his baton from his waist.

“Because we have a separate cell for him, you think you’re special?”

“S, sorry!” Faello quickly stepped in front of Hethos.

“B, brother, please forgive me quickly.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to beat you both fairly.”

As the guard tried to enter the prison, Hailey hurriedly approached the bars.

“Surely you’re not going to beat them now?”

The guard quickly turned his head.

“Hey, are you still acting like a noble?”

Despite the guard’s dismissive tone, Hailey’s voice remained icy.

“Fine, let’s play noble. The investigator dragged me here all of a sudden and still hasn’t made contact with our Salisbury family. I’m worried about the consequences. It seems that the Investigator’s family is more powerful than the Salisbury family.

The approaching guard stopped abruptly, taken aback by her directness.

Her gaze bored into him.

“Contact the Salisbury family immediately. Father must know his daughter is here. Even if I have committed a crime, it should be reported immediately. Shouldn’t he come and see how his children have been ruined by her upbringing? Why is there no communication?”

She clenched her fist in frustration.

“Do I look like a real prisoner? These people don’t even realize their lives are in danger because they wait so patiently.”

Though she had never flaunted her family’s status before, once she started, she knew she had to go through with it.

“Do you think your puny Salisbury heir can survive being treated like this?”

Should I go on? Hailey, pretending to take a deep breath, closed her eyes tightly and continued.

“Do you want your children thrown into a prison where they can’t even get a piece of bread? Lock up all your heirs and let them be beaten in front of you. Should I beat them myself? Am I too kind? Should I just let them roll around on the prison floor without touching you? Huh?”

Hailey’s sudden outburst left the guard stunned, unable to respond.

Hey, what if I stay frozen? You should run now! Hailey had a feeling that if she couldn’t reach her father, she would be stuck here indefinitely.

“The one who brought the innocent here is Investigator Grand. If I contact the Count and tell him that I’ve been arrested, it will at least prove that the guard is not working with the investigator. If you want to live, contact my father immediately.”

“I, I will contact the Count immediately.”

The guard ran like the wind towards the entrance.

Hailey exhaled and collapsed. Her heart was still pounding.

Taking such a bold step took all of her energy.

“Are you okay?” Hethos and Hailey asked Faello at the same time.

Faello struggled to his feet, his clothes stained with blood in several places.

Hethos shielded his face with his arms, concern etched into his features.

“What happened? Weren’t you supposed to be guarding the forge? Why were you dragged here?”

“Because Count Salisbury went to the forge…”

“Father?”

No, why does Father always come up?