Chapter 132
She believed that parading herself as Enoch’s longtime lover, sweet and fragile, that would make the infamy vanish.
And she wanted to flaunt it in front of Kido, his former fiancée.
Surely that pride of hers will keep her from admitting out loud that her fiancé was stolen from her.
“Vivi, don’t worry about the rumors. This place is all about hierarchy. They’re just trash who can’t say anything to your face, aren’t they?”
Enoch gently stroked Viviana’s cheek and smiled tenderly.
This too was a display of composure and affection meant for Kido to see.
Viviana looked triumphantly toward Kido.
She saw Kido getting scolded by a guard after being caught carelessly tossing completed canteens in with just a splash of water.
“Number 49! You need to scrub the residue off those canteens properly!”
“Scrubbing them too hard is actually bad for your health.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“It’s a medical fact. Aluminum leaches out and accumulates in the body.”
The pleasure of deception Viviana had been savoring evaporated.
How exactly was she supposed to torment her to make her suffer?
Kido had nothing left to lose, and there seemed to be nothing more to take from her.
Hadn’t she always been a powerhouse in high society, someone who took no damage from psychological torment or personal attacks?
She wasn’t giving the desired reaction, and she wouldn’t provide much entertainment as a plaything, either.
To think that Kido Beatrice, who once lived so full of herself, has become such an insignificant existence that she can’t even serve as any form of comfort?
Lost in thought, Viviana heard Enoch speak.
“Numbers 1 and 2 were talking to Kido here. Turns out they share the same cell.”
“Aren’t cells assigned by rank? Why would my cousin share a room with the top-ranked prisoners?”
“According to other prisoners, during room assignments, the last number was paired with the first and second in order. The rooms in the 40s block were overcrowded anyway.”
How anticlimactic.
She’s always been ridiculously lucky.
Before Viviana, who was grumbling internally, a prisoner was being struck on the head with a canteen.
“How long are you going to dawdle! If you don’t meet your quota, I’ll send you to hell too!”
“S-sorry, I’m sorry!”
It was a scene of higher-ranked prisoners exploiting lower-ranked ones like a rigid food chain.
Looking in the same direction, Enoch spoke up.
“Vivi, just pretend to work while avoiding the guards’ eyes. The lower prisoners will handle the tributes on their own. You’re the leader of the 10s block, after all.”
“Is that so? All right.”
Viviana smiled sweetly as she gazed at the canteens piled before her.
From just that one scene she had witnessed, she had keenly grasped the reality of this place.
“A world where your prisoner number is everything.”
Public opinion, etiquette, noble virtues? None of it mattered here.
Viviana was pleased. Delighted, even, to be positioned as a predator.
Setting a goal to trample Number 7, Clara, and climb higher, she put down the cloth she’d been using to wipe the canteens.
Then she called over Prisoner Number 11 and spoke with a sweet smile.
“Could you tell Number 49 to clean all of these?”
“Understood, boss. But all of them by herself?”
“Since I’m the leader of the 10s, I should make life easier for the prisoners in my group. It’s my request, so I’m sure she’ll oblige.”
At Viviana’s saccharine voice, Prisoner Number 11 relayed her words to Leah, the leader of the 20s block.
Leah nodded expressionlessly, then shot Viviana a subtle glare.
But she complied and gave the order to the leader of the 30s block, who looked around before grabbing any random prisoner from the 40s block to pass it down.
Watching this scene, Viviana felt as though she were seated at the very top of the world.
‘If I torment her like this using the chain of command, Kido will eventually break and grovel at my feet.’
That seemed like it would be entertaining enough.
To Viviana, drunk on her sense of superiority, Enoch added:
“By the way, Kido was putting on airs, saying that Prisoners Number 1 and 2 adore her, calling them her ‘loyal dogs’ and such.”
“You’re telling me that she said that kind of bold lie about Duke Dachten and Prince Enrique?”
If those words reached them, she would disappear without a trace.
It would be troublesome if she died already. Viviana sneered inwardly.
But their delusion wouldn’t last much longer.
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