On the morning of the next day, Hestia decided to properly discipline this Elf.

Before Mirena could even wake up, Hestia had locked her inside a Dark Cell.

Hestia left only these words: "I'll release you when you truly obey my commands from the heart."

Then she left the pitch-black room with Luce.

Mirena was humiliatingly bound inside the Dark Cell.

A heavy collar chained her to the wall with thick iron links.

Every time she moved her hands or feet, the chains clanked loudly. Even her mouth was gagged with soft cloth, and her eyes were blindfolded.

After hearing the footsteps fade away, Mirena's heart couldn't settle.

—This had actually happened to her.

Locked in the Dark Cell as punishment, she'd get no food for a day. Worse, she had to stay frozen in this position.

Gurgle—

—Her stomach growled in protest.

Who knew what had gotten into Hestia, tying her here since dawn? It left her unable to use the toilet, stuck like this.

Mirena desperately needed the bathroom. She kept rubbing her smooth thighs together.

"Mmm..."

As she rubbed, the shackles on her feet clanked and clinked.

—Too noisy.

For an Elf like Mirena with razor-sharp hearing, the sound was pure torture.

So she froze in place, avoiding any chain noise.

Honestly, Mirena had no clue what that neurotic Vampire was thinking.

She'd obediently let her suck blood last night—yet this was her reward.

After escaping, she'd never return to Hestia's side.

But how to escape—

Mirena had zero ideas.

If she could remove the collar restricting her power (cheat), she might plan something.

But the collar on her slender neck had no clasp or lock. It seemed welded shut, custom-made for her.

Humiliation spread through her chest.

Anyway, she'd been moved here while asleep.

That woman—forced Mirena to call her "Master."

Yet she mockingly called Mirena "Princess," as if ridiculing her current state.

Damn it—

She had no escape. Once, Mirena tried sawing the collar off with a sharp kitchen knife.

But the knife did nothing. It was too sturdy—what was it even made of?

That time was awful; Luce caught her.

When Luce asked what she was doing, Mirena panicked inside.

She couldn't admit she was sawing her collar off.

She lied, saying she wanted to cook for her Master.

"Mmm..."

Remembering that, the urge to pee surged again. She squeezed her thighs tight to hold it.

—No, no, no.

She was grown now—no wetting her pants at this age.

Though Mirena wore only panties, her fair skin mostly bare.

Still, she refused to pee in them.

Peeing outside the toilet—even a man in his thirties would be shamed. If the Vampire heard, she'd mock her endlessly.

So Mirena held on desperately.

Surely they wouldn't lock her up all day. Hestia needed her blood tonight.

If not released, how could Hestia feed?

Using that excuse might free her.

But escaping meant offering her blood.

Just thinking of it made Mirena seethe.

Wishes don't always come true. Her plea never reached Hestia's ears.

Evening fell quickly. She remained trapped in the dark, gloomy room.

A whole day wasted here.

Food and water cut off. Cold crept over her hands and feet.

Hungry, freezing, and desperate to pee.

Suffering from cold and hunger.

In her daze, Mirena wondered: if she'd been more obedient, would this have happened?

If she just obeyed everything now, she wouldn't be locked here, right?

—But bowing to her enemy, crawling to please the race that killed her parents—Mirena just couldn't.

Then another emotion surfaced—

She was so scared.

She disliked the dark.

No—precisely—

She feared it deeply.

As a man in her past life, dark places haunted her.

If work ran late, she'd stay in the office rather than walk home.

Shadows triggered her mental illness more than the company's lights.

This nyctophobic Nikaido Yuki had seen therapists.

She'd cured it once.

But after being attacked by her knife-wielding sister in that dim kitchen, Mirena felt her fear returning.

By day, a sliver of light seeped through the cracked window. She wasn't too scared then.

But at night, not a speck of light remained.

Mirena trembled. She felt something grab her calf—just an illusion.

"Mmm!"

The gag muffled her perfectly. No one heard a word.