17 Chapter 17. Interrogation Room

"Come on, don't take too long. His Majesty is waiting, let's take her," said another guard while holding the man's arm.

Ara snorted disapprovingly of hearing that. She was then dragged away by the two bodyguards very roughly.

"I can walk alone, you don't need to treat me like this," said Ara, but unfortunately the two bodyguards didn't pay attention to her words.

She was dragged out of the corridor, towards into a dimly lit room. Fig was then led to a chair made of iron, sat there with her hands and feet tied.

There were many empty chairs there of the same shape.

"You come out," the Crown Prince ordered to the guards in the room.

"Alright, Your Majesty," said the guards in unison and then left the room and stood guard at the door.

In the room, only Ara was left with the crown prince. No talk was heard in the room, silence. It wasn't until a moment later that Zhang Jiangwu began to speak.

"Last night, the royal border was attacked by several people from various directions. They looted the villagers around the place. The soldiers managed to overcome this, but none of them were caught. Some of them even escaped to residential areas," said the Crown Prince at length.

Ara frowned at that, "Are you telling me a fairy tale?" Ara replied, her voice sounding very relaxed and not afraid of anything.

Zhang Jiangwu's hands clenched into fists, "Do I look like someone who is joking? Also, don't you have any manners?" said the man then walked to the side of the room and took a whip from there.

Hearing that, Ara fell silent and didn't respond.

"Are you ignoring me?" Said Zhang Jiangwu again, and at the same time, he swung the whip in his hand at the woman's body.

CTAARR…

CTAARR…

Ara clenched her fists, holding back the stinging feeling on her skin. No sound could be heard escaping from her mouth. And it manages one of the crown prince's eyebrows raised, a smirk appeared on his lips. He became very sure that the woman before him right now was one of those intruders.

"Stop pretending. You better tell the truth, you're wasting my time," Zhang Jiangwu said then walked to the front of the girl.

"I never asked you to lock me here," said Ara.

Again, another lash landed on her back. Makes her gaze sharper.

"Your Highness the Honorable Crown Prince, I don't understand what you are saying, what do you mean? Intruder? Why discuss that with me? I'm just a slave. If you want to punish me then do it but before that release all my friends from prison. Aren't you ashamed of what you said earlier? Or is the Crown Prince of this kingdom not able to keep his word?" said Ara at length.

Zhang Jiangwu's jaw tightened, his hands tightly clenched in anger. But only for a few seconds, he tries to control his anger.

"Hahaha…." Zhang Jiangwu laughed, he then grabbed a chair and sat right in front of the girl.

"What's your name?" asked Zhang Jiangwu, lifting Ara's chin with the tip of the whip's grip.

"Are you interested in me now?" replied Ara.

"Which kingdom are you from? The kingdom of Amania? Silver Kingdom, Tiando kingdom, or Skylos kingdom? It would be easy if you told the truth, Miss. Don't make things difficult, it's all pointless." Zhang Jiangwu said then folded his arms right in front of his chest, he leaned back on the chair.

Ara took a deep breath, "Are you currently accusing me of being one of the intruders?"

Zhang Jiangwu chuckled at that, "Isn't that true? Never mind, I've been very nice to you, you better be honest."

"Unfortunately, I am not the person you say. I'm not an intruder, I've said before, I'm just a slave," said Ara still with her stance.

"Are you going to continue like this? Okay, looks like you did ask me to treat you harshly," said Zhang Jiangwu, he then called someone.

"What are your orders, Your Majesty?" said the man.

"Make her confess everything, use any means," Zhang Jiangwu ordered.

"Alright, Your Majesty," the man replied then walked to the side of the room, then heating two iron rods.

Ara who saw that shuddered in horror, "W-what are you going to do?"

"Didn't you ask for it, Miss?" Zhang Jiangwu replied, a faint smile appearing on his lips when he saw the girl's frightened expression.

Ara was silent, she thought hard until the man had finished heating the iron in his hand.

"W-wait," Ara said stopping the man's steps.

"Would you like to admit it, Miss?" Zhang Jiangwu replied.

"Th-that..." Ara's words stopped. "Keep that thing away from me first," she added, looking at the hot iron.

Zhang Jiangwu smiled faintly, then motioned for the man to obey the girl's words.

Ara took a deep breath, maybe she could use this situation to escape. She then cleared her throat softly, "I-I can help you find the other intruders," she said quietly.

Zhang Jiangwu straightened his back, "What do you mean?"

"You want to catch those intruders right? I can help you," said Ara.

Hearing that, Zhang Jiangwu fell silent. "Don't lie to me, Miss. Do you think you can fool me and use me to escape from here?"

An answer that Ara had expected. "I'm telling the truth. Why would I lie to you? after all don't you have a lot of soldiers? Do you think I can run away from you?"

Zhang Jiangwu was silent for a moment, as if in thought. "How can I trust you, Miss?"

"See my current state. I can't do anything, the only way I can prove that I'm not lying is to take you to meet them all," said Ara, trying to convince him. The way she spoke was as if she was part of the intruders.

"Kill me if I lie to you, Your Majesty," she repeated. 'That's if you can afford it,' she thought again.