Slow Prison Life Chapter 1

A fun new series that I found. I actually found this because it had just been turned into a book in j.a.pan, so if the book ever becomes available in your country, be sure to support the author. I am translating the web novel version, but I do know that the novels have extra chapters in them that were written for their release. In the meantime, enjoy.

The evening's festivities were a rousing success, but the venue quickly descended to silence as the Prince declared the annulment of his engagement.

In the middle of a luxurious banquet hall was a handsome young man with long blonde hair that reached his shoulders. Prince Elliot, eldest son of the King. And at his back was a lovely young woman with fiery red twintails.
These two's gazes were planted squarely on a n.o.blewoman who was being taken away by one of the Prince's aides.
The woman had tied up chocolate brown hair, and despite her current situation, she was unnervingly calm. The Prince's (original) fiancee, Rachel, the eldest daughter of Duke Ferguson.

The Baron womanTwintail was trembling behind Elliot's back as he and all his aides stared daggers into Rachel.

“Rachel. If you have even a bit of shame, then you will apologize to Margaret immediately!”

Two people were standing on each side of Rachel, twisting her arms. They were Sykes Abigail, the head knight inside the castle, and George Ferguson, Rachel's own younger brother. Both of them soon spoke up as well, berating Rachel.

“You're getting what you deserve you witch! You are the one who incited those other n.o.ble women!”
“……please just admit to your sins honestly Sis. How much more do you intend to drag the Ferguson family's name through the mud?”

These men were condemning a woman who could no longer move anything other than her mouth.
But whatever they said to her, a fire in Rachel's eyes refused to extinguish as she stared back at the prince while wearing a cold expression.

“I have done nothing, so there is no need for me to apologize to your girlfriend.”

Her white porcelain skin looked all the more beautiful when held in contrast to her dark brown hair.
Thin lips painted pink with pale eyes darker than cobalt.
Her naturally pale face had a mature touch to it, and her eyes gave off an intense yet intelligent feeling.
The dress she was wearing had a calming design to it, showing off the figure of the wearer rather than trying to appear glamorous.

Rachel was the same age as Elliot, but she looked older with her somewhat plain and calm appearance. She kept that image intact while repeatedly voicing her denial to the charges in a quiet tone.
She remained the same as the Prince continued to lay his anger upon her…….with that att.i.tude of hers, the words Rachel kept repeating came out more and more believable.
The Prince was annoyed.

In fact, the fact that Rachel's att.i.tude was no different from how she usually was only served to annoy Elliot even more.

Why is this rebellious……..!

Rachel had never fought with him before and always acted with the utmost discreetness. Hers was an exemplary att.i.tude for a n.o.blewoman to take up with her future husband, and it was probably partially the reason why she was chosen to be the Prince's fiancee in the first place……although because of that, if there was ever a problem it was because of Elliot's restlessness.
The Prince's mind wandered…..one of the reasons why he had never liked this woman from the beginning was because of her att.i.tude. Adults around Elliot had yet to break their habit of treating him like he was a child. And with her being the way she was, it just showed how much Elliot had to do to grow up……
He had thought that confronting her like this, adding pressure from all sides, would finally break that superwoman demeanor of hers, but the only result from all this was a growing desire inside him to punish his fiancee who absolutely refused to apologize.

“That's enough already Rachel. It was pointless to give you time to reflect on your actions.”

Elliot rose his chin up, and Sykes began dragging Rachel to the dungeon.

“Rachel, life is long. Enjoy yours inside the prison.”

At Elliot's mockery, for the first time Rachel's expression distorted from the calm look she had before. However, it wasn't the look of humiliation that Elliot had wanted……it was a sarcastic smile.

“Yes, Your Highness. I'll be sure to have lots of fun and enjoy a long, leisurely life.”

The sudden show of emotion took the Prince back, and an expression unlike anything this Duke's daughter had ever shown before left him speechless……..but before the Prince could come up with a meaning for her words, Rachel had been pulled out of the hall by an indignant Sykes.

Rachel coldly watched on as her fiancee continued to spout out funny theories and ridiculous logic.

There was nothing she could do about this guy.

It is said that men take longer to mentally grow up out of their childish att.i.tudes……..but this idiot was supposed to have become an adult years ago.
It is ridiculous that Rachel would want to hara.s.s this woman who means nothing to her, and it is really annoying that she had to be lectured by this guy.

How hard would it be to educate a royal fiancee?
And then there were all the surrounding people snickering at the scene without knowing anything and smiling like they were happy that justice was being served. Were they all born without brains?
Honestly she had never wanted to marry Prince Elliot or become the queen in the first place. As the daughter of a duke, she was just fulfilling her familial obligations. Why is it that she had to keep leading this idiot around like she was his mother…..?

Rachel, who had originally only agreed to become this idiot Prince's wife out of familial obligation, was actually quite apathetic throughout this whole stupid farce. She didn't care about anything Elliot was saying and wished he would just get on with it.
And right when Rachel was thinking like that,

“Rachel, life is long. Enjoy yours inside the prison.”

she became unable to hold her poker face any longer. A large smile spread across her cold demeanor as her true feelings spilled out.

“Yes, Your Highness. I'll be sure to have lots of fun and enjoy a long, leisurely life.”

She would do it. Did this guy not understand what his future would hold?
The Prince seemed to have made this decision rashly, but in truth the news about his intentions had already been leaked to Rachel long ago. Although she had thought he would at least some of the information she had gotten would have been inaccurate, but…..
Apparently she had given him too much credit. All was well though. This meant all of the preparations she had made won't go to waste as he had already completely annulled their engagement. The expectations she held were enough to make her laugh.
Rachel's heart was burning hot even as she remained her composed exterior while Sykes walked her to the dungeon.
At the Prince's command, she could forget all of that queen education she had been subjected to and live a leisurely life.

Trapped inside the royal palace's dungeon which hadn't been used in recent years…..Rachel was excited thinking about her future life.

There was no more painful or bothersome queen education.
There was no more by-the-minute schedules.
There was no more family tutors trying to teach her useless facts, no more noisy made to interrupt her sleep, and an opportunity to read lots of books.
She had the free time to do whatever she wanted, and she could have a tea break whenever she so desired. Plus there would be n.o.body there to get angry with her should she sleep until noon.

A time where she could do whatever she wanted had come for Rachel during her prison life.
Consciously holding down her feet that wanted to start skipping, Rachel kept her feet moving forward to her sunny future.