The Underground Prison of Srome bore almost no resemblance to the administrative offices above.
There were no polished floors, clean walls or comfortable furniture, only narrow corridors of cold stone where moisture gathered between the cracks and the damp air carried the smell of earth and rusted iron.
Old torches burned at irregular intervals along the walls, their weak flames barely pushing back the darkness as Dolan and the other officials were escorted deeper underground.
Their footsteps echoed through the corridor until the prisoners were separated and placed inside individual cells.
Heavy iron doors closed behind them one after another, each metallic CLANG!
travelling through the underground passage before slowly fading into silence.
Dolan entered his cell without resistance and remained standing near the bars as the others were taken farther away.
Eventually, only Alaric’s footsteps remained.
Alaric stopped where his voice could reach every occupied cell.
“Listen carefully. By order of His Highness, you will remain isolated here for three days while the investigation continues. During that time, none of you will receive visitors, and you are forbidden from communicating with anyone outside these cells.” His gaze moved slowly across the prisoners before his voice hardened.
“You will also receive no food and no water for the entire three days.”
The reaction was immediate.
Several officials stiffened behind the iron bars, while one of them stepped forward in disbelief.
Another began whispering nervously to himself, and somewhere farther along the corridor, a prisoner struck the bars with both hands.
“Three days without food or water?!” he cried.
His expression remained cold as the frightened voices began spreading through the underground prison.
Dolan alone remained silent.
His fingers rested around the iron bars as Javier’s earlier words returned to him.
The Crown Prince had told him to remain there for three days and to behave exactly as everyone expected him to.
Whatever purpose lay behind the punishment, Dolan understood that it was part of Javier’s plan.
Alaric turned away once the order had been delivered, but before he could disappear into the corridor, Dolan called after him.
“Sir Alaric.” His footsteps stopped, and after a moment he turned back toward Dolan’s cell.
Dolan tightened his fingers around the iron bars before asking, “His Highness really intends for us to endure this for three days?”
Alaric studied him for several seconds.
There was something unusual in Dolan’s question, something different from the fear and desperation coming from the other prisoners, but he chose not to question it.
“If His Highness told you to endure three days, then endure three days. When the time comes, he will return.”
“Understood.” Alaric gave him one final look before turning away, his footsteps gradually fading into the darkness until the underground prison became quiet once again, disturbed only by the occasional frightened whisper from the other cells.
For a while, Dolan remained standing before eventually lowering himself against the cold stone wall.
A single torch burned several meters beyond the iron bars, its weak flame flickering whenever a current of air passed through the corridor and causing the surrounding shadows to stretch across the walls.
His throat already felt dry, though he knew it was more from anxiety than thirst.
Three days without food or water would not be easy, but strangely, that was no longer what occupied his thoughts.
Javier’s words returned to him once more.
I know you are not the culprit.
Until that moment, Dolan had believed his confession would be the end of everything.
Instead, the Crown Prince had seen through him almost immediately and, rather than exposing the lie, had chosen to use it.
Dolan still did not understand what Javier had discovered or what he intended to do over the next three days, but for the first time since stepping forward inside that chamber, the fear tightening his chest gradually began to fade.
Three days.
Dolan leaned his head against the cold stone and continued watching the distant flame.
A faint smile slowly appeared on his face, small enough that no one outside the cell would have noticed it.
“I’ll wait, Your Highness.”
The torch continued to flicker quietly beyond the bars as Dolan closed his eyes and prepared himself for the three days ahead.