Freya made her way towards the Cafetaria, her foot steps light.

Some of the other inmates who were talking amongst themselves before her arrival went silent the moment she walked passed them towards Mek Bran to pul her random welfare meal of the day. Then, she took the meal box to one of the empty tables and started eating.

Freya sighed inwardly when she noticed that the silence didn't end, even when she was just doing a normal thing she did: Eating. People had become scared of her again. The four years assimilating herself within the Fortress of Meropide, vanished with just one match at the Pankration Ring.

Perhaps, with the way she was, people would never stop seeing her as a monster.

These thoughts of despair were well hidden beneath her usual impassive expression, until someone stopped next to her. The woman looked wary of her, and her smile was awkward.

"Erm, may I sit with you?"

"Of course. There are lots of empty seats on this table." When Freya nodded, not only herself was surprised. Freya was one, surprised that someone wanted to actually sit with her, let alone asked her permission. The other woman was surprised that Freya let her sit next to her.

There was an awkward silence between them, one that Freya didn't bother to breach- she had learned long ago that it's better to not disturb a somewhat peaceful silence, no matter how deafening it is.

"Freya... Uh," the woman visibly gulped, "What you did at the Pankration Ring... Thank you."

Freya was silent, her confusion was hidden well beneath her aloof expression. Her silence was apparently taken as a light green for the woman to rant about herself. July, she said her name was, and like her, she was invincible and was dubbed as the weaklings amongst the inmates of the fortress and that often got bullied by the strong and powerful ones. Apparently, Freya and July weren't the only ones, and after her show of 'strength' at the ring, she had apparently became a symbol of hope and protection for the supposedly meek members of the Fortress of Meropide, and that ever since, no one had dared to lay their fingers on the group again.

"...All thanks to you," July puth both hands in front of her bowed head, "You showed us what real strength is. In silence and humility. So now, I, July Aisgersson, the head of the humble L'espoir group, hereby declare our deepest and undying loyalty to you!"

Freya flinched at the sudden burst of declaration, "...Undying?"

July still bowed her head, palms pressed together in front of her, "Yes, madame. We will continue to follow after your footsteps and heed all directions you gave us for the protection you bestowed upon us. Your kindness and nobility will always be remembered!"

A headache began to pulse at the back of Freya's head. "I... I'm afraid you're taking this a bit too far..."

"No, madame! Whether you acknowledge this or not, we will always stand by you! You stood out there at the ring on our behalf without even knowing us, out of your humble heart, and for this, there is nothing our group will not do to ever repay that kind of mercy!"

Freya put down her fork. "I actually had my own agenda..."

In opposition to her expectation, July only stared at her with even more wide, admiring eyes, "So it's true. You really are a hero. You don't even want to take any credit for what you did for us and go as far as telling me that for my sake. Please, madame, what you say will never deter us from doing the good work we've done so far, and that if you need anything of us- manpower, coupons, favors, anything, please! We are at your service!"

"I don't think... that will be necesaary, but... thank you, I guess."

***

The Duke sat on the chair by the small round table at the Infirmary with his legs casually propped up on the table, "Why the long face?" he asked casually as his silver eyes, sharp yet gentle, gazed up and studied her.

Freya gently patted the side of Wriothesley's forehead that was marked with a fresh cut after his training at the ring. She glanced a bit to check his expression to see any signs of discomfort before continuing patting the alcohol gauze to his cut, "I fear that the match I had had attracted too much attention."

"Yeah?"

Freya began recounting her eventful lunch towards the Duke, who eventually laughed gracefully in amusement. "I'd say it's a good attention. As the Duke, I am pleased. Keep it up."

"What do you mean 'keep it up'?"

"People are afraid of you ever since your match with Katya. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is an advantagous edge for anyone aiming to live prosperously in the fortress. Of course, having well acquaintaned yourself with Sigewinne, my trusted Head Nurse had given you an advantage on its own. But with acknowledged power, it is another boost of its own. No one would dare cross you, except for me, of course, though I don't see why I would, since you're being such an outstanding inmate already."

"..."

The Duke ignored Freya's silence and continued on speaking his mind, "You blend in the life of the fortress by keeping your head down and avoid any complications. This is a sound strategy, though not always the best at some circumstances. For example, no matter how you keep yourself invisible, you eventually cannot stand by when someone you know is in need. Take Sigewinne, for that matter. Her missing Vision and your concern for her safety urged you to take a bold move that you wouldn't otherwise taken."

"..."

"Despite the well intent intervention on your part, a shame really. I was really looking forward to see how the matter plays out on its own."

"Uh... What?" Freya asked confusedly.

"Sigewinne's missing Vision was an attempt to distract me. I believe there was another attempt of rebellion here, or maybe, the best case scenario, an escape attempt. I was going to let things unfold on its own to see who was behind all this, before you swooped in with your grand performance at the Pankration Ring."

Freya's heart lurched down to her stomach. Eyes wide with trepidation. The Duke just sat casually with his arms folded while his expression gave not much away, "Y-you... y-you knew about the... Vision... And I-I...I blew your plan... I... I can't begin to say how sorry I am..." Freya hung her head in shame. She should've known. The Duke was always scheming. He was smart, and there she was, swooping in with thousands of her hard earned coupons out of thin air and ruined his covert strategy.

She peeked a look at him timidly. Wondering what kind of punishment awaited her. To her bewilderment, he chuckled, "It's not like I was going to send you to max prison for undoing my plan. Relax, Freya."

She looked at him, confused yet relieved at the same time.

"What you did turned out beneficial for all parties involved. After your stunt, all attempt of escape or rebellion seemed to cease altogether with the emergence of another powerful player on the table. You. While they don't know where your loyalty leans toward, all grand scheme must be postponed for a while, especially with your closeness to Sigewinne," he explained, "Sigewinne gets her Vision back. For me, this is clearly a win. For you, this means no one would dare bully you anymore and will treat you with respect moving forward."

"..."

Wriothesley scoffed. "Don't look so surprised. Of course I know everything that is going on under my watch. Sometimes I did choose not to interfere to keep myself impartial, but it all worked out well in the end."

"Uh... right." Freya brushed off her embarassment and continued treating the cut on his forehead. She was too eager to drop the matter regarding herself and steer the conversation away, "If I may ask... Why do you fight so much? Everyone knows you're unbeatable at the ring."

"I have to keep my senses sharp," was the only answer the Duke gave, although it seemed like there was more to it, but Freya didn't ask further since he didn't look exactly forthcoming to it.

"All done," she said after gently securing the plaster on his cut.

But before she could back away, she felt his calloused fighter hand wrapped around her small wrist. She gasped when the Duke pulled her slightly close when she retreated. What she didn't expect was the way he turned her palm and looked up to her.

"What you did for Sigewinne..." his silver eyes gentle, and his smile threatened to melt something in her chest despite the jarring Cryo Vision he owned, "...I thank you." Another soft gasp left Freya when he leaned down to press a kiss on her hand.

With a gentle brush of his thumb on her hand, the Duke stood up and before letting her go and left the Infirmary, leaving Freya's heart thumping at the unexpected gesture.

***

The jazz music from the gramophone echoed through the dim walls of the Duke's office. Two steaming cups sat on the table. The Duke himself sat at his chair with an arm crossed. With the background of the huge Cerberus wall ornament behind him, his aura seemed to darken even more with authority.

At least to inmates and to anyone harboring secrets before him.

To Clorinde, however, the Duke in his all seriousness just looked like he was a lost anemic boy trying his best to best her at the game of Invokation TCG.

"There is an honor in admitting defeat, you know?" the Champion Duelist said flatly.

"...At this point I am suspecting that the deck has been tampered with," the Duke said seriously.

Clorinde scoffed. "Please. You were the one who shuffled them."

Wriothesley let out a huff and put down his cards before throwing his hands up in the air. "That's it. You win. I swear you just come in here to see me suffer humiliation every time."

Clorinde chuckled good naturedly as she tidied up the cards while Wriothesley went to nurse his cup of tea. When he saw her also tidying up the board game, he groaned.

"Oh come on. Leaving already? Same time next week?" Wriothesley asked with a playful grin.

"No and yes. I'm not leaving already, there is a matter I want to discuss with you before that," Clorinde said, taking a sip on her tea.

"Oh? We talking business now?" asked the Duke with mild curiosity.

"Aye. This is more of a courtesy, to be honest."

Now that definitely made Wriothesley curious.

"Lay it on me."

"I wish to have a private meeting with one of your inmates. As for the nature of the meeting, I'm afraid I can't disclose it with you early on."

"That is a tall order you're making, Clorinde. As the Duke of the Fortress of Meropide, you know I can't grant you such an obscure...meeting, without proper warrants."

Clorinde's expression hadn't much changed, except for her silent contemplating expression. It was enough for the Duke to read between the lines.

"So you're doing an under the table investigation. What has prompted you to break protocol, dear Champion Duelist?"

Clorinde knew that the Duke, despite his charming reckless front, secretly harbored an intelligent mind behind his brute strength facade, and a strong sense of justice, so she more or less expected his rejection, and was more than prepared for his apt guess to her intention.

"As the Duke, you are under no obligation to give me a pass on this. But I'm hoping, as a friend... you might consider keeping this between us."

Wriothesley took a document that Clorinde produced. As he took a look at the aged report, Clorinde spoke, "...I am investigating a closed case from about four years ago. I just need to clarify something. Say, it's an itch I want to rub."

The raw image of a dead body, murdered in cold blood until it was unrecognizable assaulted Wriothesley's view as he continued to lightly sip on his floral tea. It was until he flipped to the next page that the memory of the case reemerged to his mind.

"You want to interrogate Prisoner 1659."

Wriothesley cursed inwardly. He didn't mean to sound the way he did. However, whether Clorinde noted that hint of accusation behind his tone, her expression remained unchanged. "More like an interview."

"Hm." Wriothesley took another leisure sip at his tea, his icy eyes contemplative, fleeting between the pages in his hand to Clorinde's impassive face.

Clorinde was just, and everything she did had always been in accordance to the Law and the protection of people of Fontaine. Behind her stable and clear headed mannerism, he knew all too well of the danger that lie await for anyone that might cross the law or the wellbeing of the people of Fontaine. He knew just how ruthless she can be for justice. It was always one of the things that he admired about the woman, and why it was easy for them to become such close friends.

"Private meeting, huh? You'll have to forgive me, but I will have to reject your request."

There was a shadow behind Clorinde's aloof expression. "And how do you know I haven't already interviewed your prisoner? Like I said, this was just a courtesy."

She was right. The Duke scoffed. "You do realize I can report this to the Marechausse Phantom, right? You're no detective, no warrant, coming in here playing detective under my jurisdiction," smirked Wriothesley as he took another sip.

Clorinde sighed and finally looked at the Duke with an annoyed glare. "...Fine. You win. You want to get in the loop, you get in the loop. But if this gets out to the Steambird front page tomorrow, you better start polishing your knuckle gears, because I will be polishing my gun."

If this threat was directed to anyone else in Fontaine, they would stutter and pale like a kitten drenched in icy water. Wriothesley was one of the few people that had the ability to laugh so heartily at such words coming from the aloof Champion Duelist. "My, my. Don't you dare threaten me with a good time."

The edge of Clorinde's lips upturned into a smile. She knew just how much the Duke liked any chance to get into the ring with her. Though as soon as the smile appeared, it disappeared, and was replaced with a serious look. "I have reason to believe that we... I, might have put an innocent person behind bars," she confessed, and Wriothesley raised an eyebrow at that, "I'm here to make sure that I did not."

At Wriothesley's silence, she added. "Relax. I don't plan to beat your inmate up like I did the last inmate. You know that was a necessary measure, and there was a life at stake."

Wriothesley recalled the last case in which Clorinde broke protocol and intervened in this way. It was a case of a serial killer. The convict got his punishment, yet withheld an important information that was completely missed by the court- the whereabouts of one of his living victim. The Marechausse Phantom officers failed to break the convict, until Clorinde broke protocol and dealt with it herself, almost killing said convict due to her cold blood interrogation method.

"Yes, yes. You saved a young woman and returned her safely to her family," the Duke nodded, "But let's not forget to mention the fact that I did an insurmountable amount of paperwork just to cover for your ass?"

Clorinde bowed her head to hide her amused smile, clearly did not feel guilty at all for putting the Duke at a very uncomfortable position in the past. "I believed I settled that debt by humoring you with our weekly meeting down here."

Wriothesley scoffed.

"Don't play coy," Clorinde snickered, "You know you enjoyed my company more than you let on. You are lonely, Your Grace. Have you considered my suggestion into participating in balls held at the overworld? It is a perfect place to find a good, honorable wife. As I said before, I am more than happy to provide you with events list, should you choose to participate in the near future."

Wriothesley's ears warmed up at the embarassing suggestion. "I believe we are getting out of topic."

Clorinde smiled knowingly. "Right. About the interview. Now that you know my intent, there is no reason why you can't come to supervise the interview proceedings. So, what do you say? Help a friend one more time?"

"Fine," relented the Duke, hiding the fact that he was now also curious.

"I do have one more request regarding that," Clorinde said, "Please do not notify the inmate before this interview. I would like to see her honest, unadulterated response."

"You got it. In fact, let's get this thing started. I happen to know where she is at this time of the day."

***

"Inmate 1659."

Freya jumped at the stern voice, resulting in her knocking the vial of potion in her hand and wet the table with a blue liquid. She hurriedly got a rack out and cleaned the mess. Her head was suddenly in a mess. Not only because someone called her by her number, but because the voice came directly from the voice of the Duke of the Fortress of Meropide.

She stood up from the chair at the Infirmary and looked back to see Wriothesley walked in with the Champion Duelist- the very person who arested her and brought her to this very place.

"Your Grace," she greeted the Duke and turned to the lady wearing black and purple, her stomach churned out of anxiety of why the Champion Duelist was here, "Madame."

"Clorinde!"

The cheerful voice that belonged to Sigewinne sounded somewhere behind her, and Freya saw the sweet Head Nurse made her way to Clorinde with happy hops. "I'm so glad to see you here! How was the lipstick I gave you? Are the new formula to your satisfaction?"

The Duke cleared his throat. "Head Nurse Sigewinne, I'm afraid Clorinde coming this time is not for pleasure."

"Oh?" asked Sigewinne innocently, looking at Clorinde.

"Perhaps we should continue this chat another time. I have an official matter to attend to here for the time being," she explained.

"Of course. Is there anything I can assist with?" offered the melusine.

"If it is not too much trouble, could we borrow the Infirmary for a moment? I already have the guards stationed at the entrance so that we can have privacy."

Sigewinne smiled and nodded. "Lucky for you, today has been a slow day. Please, take your time, Your Grace and Clorinde. I will be taking a break at the Cafetaria instead."

"Thank you, Sigewinne. You may leave," said the warden of the Fortress.

As Sigewinne walked away from the Infirmary, Freya made a move as if to follow suit to give the Duke and Champion Duelist the privacy they requested.

"You may stay."

Freya froze in place and turned to him and Clorinde. "Is everything alright?"

Clorinde stepped forward. "Everything is under control. Nothing to worry about," she took a seat next to the table on which Freya spilled some potion earlier, then gestured with her hand. "Please take a seat Miss Freya."

Freya looked at Sigewinne's receding sillhouette, inwardly shouting to her, 'Take me with you!' but alas, the melusine didn't hear her inner cry of help, and she was forced to endure the dominating aura of not just one powerful person, but two, and suddenly the small Infirmary room felt somewhat restricting.

She sat across the Champion Duelist, wary, knowing that she had caused her much trouble in the past the day she arrested her. The fact that Clorinde didn't seem to care much about any of that, and that she regarded her with impassivity only heightened her anxiety.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Duke leaned his weight against the wall, watching with his piercing gaze despite his casual and unbothered body language.

"Fear not. I am merely here out of formalities. Closed cases sometimes need to be follow upped upon. Just basic routine."

"I see. Please proceed, madame," she said, her expression neutral despite the huge hole she felt at the pit of her stomach.

Clorinde nodded. "Very well. First and foremost, I heard you have been dubbed as one of the upstanding inmates in the fortress under the Duke's watch?"

Freya nodded. "So I heard. I try to learn from my mistake and start with a clean slate."

"You've done well, Miss Freya. It is what the Fortress stands for these days. A place to start anew."

"I understand."

"Alright. Unto the next question. After four years doing your time, do you have anything to say or a wish to challenge your sentencing?"

"No, madame."

"Why is that?"

"I did a horrible mistake. I believe the sentence is fitted for my crime."

"I understand. That is all I wanted to follow up- oh hang on."

Clorinde pulled out a picture and put it in the middle of the table, then gestured for her to examine it. Freya leaned forward to take a good look.

It was a picture of a battered otter plushie that she wasn't familiar with.

"Have you ever seen this plushie?"

"I am not familiar with it. If I ever saw one of these... I don't remember," answered Freya honestly.

"The Marechausse Phantom officers took a lot of pictures at the crime scene of your case four years ago. This was one of them."

"Oh um..." Freya slid the picture close to her, now fully looking at it. She squinted her eyes. The moment she noted the many sewings at the back of the otter plushie, her heart lurched down to her stomach. "It's been four years, my mind was a bit hazy. You said this was found near the crime scene? It's probably mine, though it's been so long..." Freya was silent for a long while as she looked at the picture with dread hidden under the facade of confusion she had, "...Yes. Yes. That sewing marks. I sow it myself. I remember now. It is definitely mine."

"Well, this plushie was found drenched in bleach at the same day when the crime took over. A melusine officer thought it was strange hence she took a picture of it," said Clorinde, her expression neutral yet her eyes were studying her.

Tension had began to form at the back of Freya's neck. "Maybe the doll was being caught in the middle of what happened. Maybe I knocked a bottle of bleach in the process. I don't know. It was hazy. I was losing control. I don't remember much detail."

"Were you under duress, anytime before, during or after the trial?"

Why would the Champion Duelist ask this kind of question? Is this really routine?

"No."

"If you were somehow under duress, we can appeal to reopen the case or at the very least lessen your sentence-"

"I wasn't under any kind of duress," Freya cut the woman hastily.

"We will spare no resources and can grant you protection-"

"-Anything that happened, I did it, and now I am serving that sentence that is far kinder that what I think I should've gotten. I don't plan to complicate things and just want to move on."

Both Clorinde and Wriothesley looked at the small woman with each their unreadable expression.

"I see," Clorinde looked up at Wriothesley and gave a curt nod, before turning her eyes to Freya. "Thank you for your time and your cooperation."

The Duke straightened up and walked Clorinde out of the Infirmary, leaving Freya alone.

Once outside and out of earshot, Clorinde began. "Have you ever seen a convict so hastily shut down the idea of exoneration or lessening their sentence before?"

"Yes," answered the Duke.

"Oh? In which case?"

"In which case they were trying to protect someone."

"That concludes the first part of my... long investigation," Clorinde said with a sigh.

"She is innocent."

***