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Join the ServerJeanne Decker sat in the sunless cell, quietly waiting for time to pass. There was nothing else she could do.
Naturally, her thoughts drifted to Levi once more.
Had Levi felt this same despair, sitting in a dungeon that day?
The thought arose only to be immediately dismissed.
Indeed, Levi had waited for his inevitable end with a sense of utter despair. However, she had not yet reached that point.
The Inquisitor interrogating her had been rude, yet seemed hesitant to torture her directly. This, she surmised, was likely due to the influence and connections of her adoptive father, Duke Alençon.
It appeared her fate here could still be swayed. If Duke Alençon, along with her mentor Count Dunois, and other powerful figures who supported her ascension as the Church’s Saintess, had not abandoned her, she might still have a chance to walk free.
Yet, having committed such a grave error, her future could never again be as smooth as it once was.
‘Error?’
A question arose in Jeanne Decker’s mind.
‘Was what I did truly wrong?’
Searching her heart, Jeanne Decker still did not believe she had erred.
Martha was, without a doubt, an innocent victim. The witch, having helped her twice and acted selflessly to save Martha’s life, Jeanne Decker could discern that she was certainly not evil; in fact, quite the opposite.
They were absolutely not people who deserved to die.
But the Church did not see it that way.
‘Could it be that the Church was wrong?’
Simply doing what she believed was right had led to such a consequence.
She had devoted herself to changing the world for her deceased friends, yet in the end, even she could not be tolerated by this world.
As things stood, at least in this regard, she could truly say she empathized with Levi.
****
The heavy door opened once more without warning. This time, the Senior Inquisitor, clad in black robes, appeared directly outside.
“It must be quite boring in here, wouldn’t you say? I’ll take you out for a diversion.”
The Inquisitor spoke.
Through the voice-altering mask, Jeanne Decker could not discern the Inquisitors’ voices. Yet, from the tone, she recognized that the person before her was still the same Inquisitor who had interrogated her previously.
Jeanne Decker twisted her body and stepped out of the cell, walking in the directed path under the Inquisitor’s watchful gaze.
She was ultimately led to a different interrogation room. The Inquisitor ordered her to stand by an iron window, using chains to shackle her restraints to the bars, preventing her from moving away.
Through the iron window, Jeanne Decker immediately heard a scream.
Jeanne Decker turned her head to look, then froze in place.
She saw Leah being tortured.
Leah sat before an iron table, her hands firmly secured by shackles. A Junior Inquisitor was fitting a torture device, embedded with fine needles, onto Leah’s finger. Leah, her face streaked with tears, shook her head desperately, repeating “No” in terror.
“If you don’t want to suffer, then confess honestly,” the Junior Inquisitor stated in an emotionless voice.
“I don’t know, I truly don’t know anything…” Leah sobbed uncontrollably.
The Junior Inquisitor did not reply, instead reaching for the needle on the device. The moment he pushed the needle forward, it would pierce beneath Leah’s fingernail.
Already, two of Leah’s fingers bore bloody marks from previous punctures.
Even before being pricked again, Leah let out a piercing scream. This sight nearly tore Jeanne Decker’s eyes from their sockets, and she instinctively cried out, “Stop!”
However, neither the Senior Inquisitor standing beside her nor the Junior Inquisitor inflicting the torture inside reacted.
The needle was pushed in a third time, and Leah’s almost hoarse throat once again emitted a shrill cry of agony.
“What are you doing!? She’s just an ordinary person! How can you treat her like this?” An enraged Jeanne Decker turned to glare at the Senior Inquisitor, loudly demanding, “Tell him to stop! Aren’t you ashamed?”
“She is the family member of a heretic,” the Inquisitor replied coldly.
“But she herself isn’t a heretic!”
“Her family was saved by that heretical organization, and it’s highly probable they’ve secretly contacted her since. Of course, they might have already made contact. Perhaps we can extract something from her. You cannot even begin to imagine how dangerous that organization is now; we cannot overlook any possibility,” the Senior Inquisitor responded indifferently.
“She’s been waiting in the academy for news of her sister! So many people can vouch for her! Why must you resort to such methods?” Jeanne Decker argued passionately. “She truly knows nothing! Let her go!”
“That is for us to determine. If she genuinely cannot reveal anything, we will naturally release her,” the Senior Inquisitor replied calmly. “This method of interrogation is already quite gentle. Such injuries pose no threat to life; she’ll recover in ten days to half a month.”
“You…” Jeanne Decker stared in disbelief as the Senior Inquisitor so casually discussed torture capable of leaving deep psychological scars. “Do you have no humanity at all?”
“Compared to those who beat people into false confessions for political executions, we are being quite humane right now. At the very least, we are still pursuing the truth, even if our methods are a bit extreme,” the Senior Inquisitor suddenly chuckled. “Do you think everyone who ends up on the pyre is a true heretic? At least this young girl inside won’t suffer that fate. She should consider herself lucky.”
Jeanne Decker froze in place.
“Are you very shocked, our Saintess? This is the kind of place this is, you see. Is this your first time witnessing the dark side of this nation? While you represented the Church with splendor and dignity outside, we were the ones doing the Church’s dirty work in the shadows,” the Senior Inquisitor replied with a mocking tone. “Do you want to save her? Very well, I’ll give you a chance. If you can provide the crucial clue you forgot to mention during the last interrogation, I can immediately make that young girl’s suffering cease.”
From the Inquisitor’s sarcasm, Jeanne Decker finally understood one thing.
This Senior Inquisitor harbored a certain malice towards her, the Church’s Saintess. She was the Church’s chosen public face, sailing smoothly with the support of several powerful figures. But these Inquisitors, they performed all the Church’s unspeakable work. It was likely that many within this Inquisition disliked her.
Considering the powerful figures behind Jeanne Decker, including Duke Alençon, the Inquisition dared not do anything too extreme to her for now. But this did not mean they couldn’t torment her—these Inquisitors were experts in that field.
This interrogation was not merely targeting Leah; it was also targeting her!
“But I’ve already said everything I know,” Jeanne Decker shook her head.
Although the witch had saved her twice, she truly didn’t know much about her. Her two encounters with the witch were the only valuable clues she could provide.
However, the Inquisition did not seem to fully believe her.
“Think harder, or else, look, that girl will suffer again,” the Senior Inquisitor pointed inside.
Jeanne Decker turned, despairingly watching the Junior Inquisitor prepare to act again.
At that moment, a deep male voice echoed in the minds of everyone present:
“Alright, stop.”
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore Not Me, The Fans. Start reading now!
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Because apparently we didn’t hate this nation enough already