Second Female Leads' Playbook

Just as Ralph wanted, I was tortured and toyed with by Lady Sabrina, but never hurt to the point of breaking me. I believed he wished to torture me to the point I was exhausted both physically and mentally as well as making me suffer from as many repercussions from my power as possible. He succeeded. When I returned to my prison cell these two days, dozens of gashes peppered my whole arms and body. Bruises littered my skin. 

I looked at the hay on the floor of my prison cell. I was about to... when a clank broke my thought. A tray of food was pushed into my cell. I hopped to the tray and squatted down. I was hungry and began to dig in. Soon, I was annoyed, the bowl was getting in the way of me. I stood up and with my feet I kicked the bowl to the side. The rice in the bowl scattered on the floor. Satisfied, I continued with eating. 

When I was pecking at the bowl of water in front of me, I saw the reflection of myself in the tiny bowl. I realized. I realized I was not a bird. I was Arina, I was human. What was I doing? I braced myself, it wouldn't do. If this continued, I would lose my mind. I was already losing my mind. My power as a gray finch was too weak, I could not stay in that form for more than a few hours. And these two days exceeded my limit. 

After three days in prison, I knew the guards' schedule. I pretended to sleep on the hay when the guards walked past for their night shift. After the guards disappeared around the corner, I knew they wouldn't return until before dawn. When the prison became still again, I slowly got up. My hand went to my head and took down a hairpin. It looked like a normal hairpin, small and insignificant. I pushed away the hay littering the floor in front of me until the stones hidden underneath the hay appeared. I sliced my hair pin on the stones that made up the floor, over and over. My hand hurt from holding such a small hair pin and the repetitive action. After a few hours, finally there was a scratch mark on the floor. 

Every manor was warded by those who had the power to form wards to protect their manor from attack of their enemies. Most wards also specifically prevented enemies from teleporting into the manor. The only way to break the ward was from the inside. If there was a huge damage on the ward, the people responsible for warding the manor would notice. However, if it's just a small crack, they would hardly notice as it's unavoidable for cracks to form in daily life. 

The hairpin given to me was made specifically to produce a small crack on the ward. Carlisle didn't say why, but he said by making a small crack, someone would come to save me. But first, I had to get the info on what Ralph was up to with the tribe from grassland. That's our plan from the start. He even gave me a pill that can nullify any power, including the power suppressing shackles, that was used on me once taken, for me to spy on Ralph. 

I had used it yesterday after I was released from the torturing hand of Lady Sabrina. I used that pill, which was stored in the locket around my neck, to get away from the power suppressing shackles (which was placed back on me once I returned the prison) and shifted into a bird again. I flew out of the small window in my cell and looked through Ralph's study. Our training consisted of simple lock opening as well. I found Ralph's letter with the tribe leader in a locked box behind a portrait of galloping horses. 

Ralph didn't care about exposing his secret alliance with the tribe leader in front of me. I suspected that he planned to kill me once I spilled what I knew about Carlisle. Probably before Carlisle returned to the capital. That's why he was not afraid of me exposing him. He thought I could not escape. And I really didn't for so many days. Furthermore, as long as Carlisle hadn't returned to the capital, no one would save me. I really had to get away before he decided to kill me.

Someone suddenly teleported into my prison cell. As expected, that crack was for teleportation. I looked up and tried to see who was the person saving me. The prison cell was really dark and I could only see limited things with the help of moonlight. That someone squatted down in front of me. The moonlight shone of his face. It's Carlisle.

"Master?" I widened my eyes in shock. I never expected him coming here himself. I didn't imagine him to appear to save me in my jumbled bird brain delirium right? I nearly raised up my hand to touch him to make sure he was real.

A half smile slid on his face. "Yes, I am real." All delusions said they were real. 

He flicked his finger on my forehead, just like how he used to when I was a bird being toyed with him. I moved backward before his hand touched my forehead. 

"Glad you're not dead, dumb bird. What did you find?"

I told him what I found about the secret alliance between Ralph and the tribe leader as well as the correspondences in the locked box. 

He nodded with a cold smile on his face. 

He took something out and placed it in my hands. "It's nearly time. I have to go." He stood up and stepped back. His face was again shrouded in darkness. 

Go? Didn't he say he would save me? I couldn't stay here any longer. I would die. I would lose my mind. 

I quickly grabbed his sleeve before he really teleported away. "Master Carlisle, our plan..."

"You have to stay here. If you disappeared, Ralph would suspect. Then we couldn't take him by surprise," he said coldly. 

"But... but... you said..." I continued to hold onto his sleeve. "Master, I can't handle their torture any longer." My voice wobbled a bit as I thought what torture was waiting for me.

Carlisle knelt down again, but his face was still shrouded in darkness. I just knew his head was turned sideways, gazing at my hands which were grabbing his sleeve. 

"Master, they forced me to..."

His hand gently touched my forearms. Without knowing it, the sleeves covering my forearms had slid back and exposed all the bruises and gashes on my forearms. He stayed there for awhile and then his hand slid down. He then wrung my fingers away from his sleeve. He immediately stood up and stepped backward away from my reach.

"Arina, you're just my tool. Know your place." Then without another word, he teleported from the room. Leaving me alone in my cell room. 

How stupid. Did I think I was in the position to demand things from Master Carlisle? I was just a tool he was making use of. My hand dropped and then I touched the thing he gave me. 

I numbly picked it up. I opened the packaging paper to find a few slices of red bean cake. My eyes felt sore as I pecked at the food on my hand numbly.