10 Chapter 10 Insightful Prison Warden_1

The solitary confinement cell in Rose Iron Prison was a cramped chamber with an area less than three square meters, furnished only with a squat toilet and a basin of water. There wasn't even a wooden plank to sleep on, so prisoners had to lie on the floor beside the toilet, covering themselves with a blanket to sleep. The room had no windows and could only communicate with the outside world through the small food delivery slot and a tiny grid above it on the iron door.

Offenders placed in solitary confinement had to eat, drink, defecate, urinate, and sleep all within this tiny space of less than three square meters, truly experiencing days as long as years. Compared to this place, an ordinary cell could practically be considered paradise, which is why the prison used solitary confinement as a form of punishment for inmates who broke the rules.

Aiden personally escorted Veronica to the solitary confinement cell, locked the iron door behind her, and then went out to fetch a chair to sit by the door.

"What are you sitting out here for?" Veronica stood in front of the iron door, frowning at him.

"Someone has to watch over the solitary confinement cell. If a prisoner committed suicide by running into a wall, it'd be a serious problem," Aiden replied somberly.

"At least get a female guard. How am I supposed to use the toilet with you sitting out here?" Veronica shot him a sharp glare.

"Don't worry, I'll just chat for a bit and then leave." Aiden said as he placed a greased paper package in the food delivery slot, "Hungry?"

"What is this?" Veronica didn't immediately take it, but she had already caught the fragrant scent wafting from the package—her werewolf senses were far more acute than those of normal humans.

"Open it and you'll see."

Veronica opened the greased paper package with suspicion; the steam burst out, carrying the rich aroma of chicken wings and drumsticks that had been roasted in fat.

Veronica instinctively swallowed, the scent of fat, spices, and honey, especially tantalizing in the deep of the night after being roasted by fire.

But she still restrained herself, eyeing Aiden warily, "The unexpected offer of generosity. You haven't spiked this with some strange drugs, have you?"

"Give me a break, I'm not about to lose my job over this," Aiden scoffed dismissively, "It's here if you want it. Eat it or not, it's your call."

Veronica hesitated for a moment but finally took the greased paper package and turned to sit down with her back against the iron door.

"What exactly do you want?" she asked through the iron door.

"Like I said, just to chat for a bit. Looking after the psychological health of the inmates is part of the warden's duties as well," he responded.

"Psychological health? What are you talking about?" Veronica looked bewildered.

"I'm not joking with you; I've set up a position for psychological counselling for inmates in this prison," Aiden explained earnestly, "Occasionally I conduct face-to-face conversations with prisoners, playing the role of the confidante warden."

Introducing a psychological correction post was something Aiden had learned from his experiences in a past life; even before becoming the warden, he had advocated for this initiative. The prison system in this world was still fairly rudimentary, and although there were psychologists in the outside world, no one had ever thought to pay attention to the psychological issues of criminals.

"But what do we have to talk about?" Veronica relaxed slightly.

"Lots of things, such as your and my hobbies, interests, even our annual income..."

"So, you're setting up a blind date with a death-row inmate?" Veronica caught onto his joke and cracked a smile as well.

"Then let's talk about your journey to becoming a murderer."

"I didn't kill anyone." The smile vanished from Veronica's face and her voice grew heavy.

"Then tell me how you were wronged," Aiden continued without missing a beat.

"You…" Veronica paused, "You're willing to believe that I was wronged?"

"How could that be?" Aiden replied without hesitation, "This is a prison, full of thieves, robbers, con artists... and murderers. I won't say there are no truly good people, but they are few and far between. Very few criminals seriously confront their own guilt, each and every one feels that they have been wronged. In our line of work, the last thing you should do is to easily believe a prisoner."

"Then why do you ask me?" Veronica's gaze grew dim.

"Even though I don't believe you at the moment, I'm willing to hear your story," Aiden said calmly, leaning back in his chair, "I've read through your file, and indeed there are some points that don't add up."

"..."

Veronica remained silent for a very long time, so long that Aiden began to wonder if she had fallen asleep.

Finally, Veronica spoke: "You ask me like this, but I also don't know what to say. If I had killed someone, of course I'd have a lot to confess. But the fact is that I didn't kill anyone. That day I was just patrolling as usual, and after work went home as usual. Then the next day, I was inexplicably arrested."

"The file says that on the morning of the incident, you had a confrontation with the victim, is that true?" Aiden asked straightforwardly, following the order of events.

"Yeah, they were selling fake alcohol in their shop, so I arrested the owner. Then the family came to the station making a fuss, a common occurrence," Veronica recounted calmly, "That person cursed at me a few times and even tried to interfere with my work. I was about to detain her as well, but a colleague stopped me."

"What did she say to curse at you?"

"I don't remember the rest, but the most offensive thing she said was that I was a mongrel born of a whore and a stray dog."

"Seriously, didn't that make you want to kill her?"

Empathizing with the situation, Aiden himself felt that it would be impossible not to get angry after hearing such outrageous words.

But Veronica let out a cold laugh: "Ha, if just that one sentence was enough to make me want to kill, then I would have started killing from the age of eight and kept killing up to now. Warden, you are a normal person; you probably can't understand the feeling of being born inherently different from others. I've been in the Mounted Police Brigade for almost six years, and there are those who hold their positions without merit, as well as corrupt individuals who take bribes. Even without comparing myself to them, I do believe I have always been quite dedicated to my job. And yet, every month, anonymous letters from the public would still be sent to the police force, suggesting that my superiors should fire me, with the sole reason being my lycanthropy. There are nastier things written in those letters than what she said to me."

"Okay, so then..." Aiden felt a bit awkward and quickly steered the conversation back on track, "That day, when did you return your service weapon?"

"Exactly at half past twelve," Veronica responded immediately.

"The victim was murdered at twenty past twelve, which is why you were suspected," Aiden nodded, "The crime scene was the area you patrolled, weren't you nearby at the time of the incident?"

"Because of the incident that morning, I was reassigned to patrol another area in the evening. The superiors also worried that I would cause trouble if I passed by that tavern."

"But in the end, the investigative team still determined that during your patrol you sneaked off to that tavern to kill, because the service weapon you left in the armory was missing a bullet," Aiden mentioned the most critical piece of evidence.

"Honestly, I also don't know how that happened..." Veronica lowered her eyes, "That day I returned my service weapon as usual, I had even checked it before taking it out to patrol, and at no point did I fire the gun."

"Are you serious?" Aiden furrowed his brow intensely.

"Everything I've said is the truth, believe it or not," Veronica replied irritably, her discomfort evident as Aiden suddenly expressed his doubts.

"No, I mean, do you really not understand what might have happened? If you didn't kill the person, then there's obviously only one possibility," Aiden said.

"What are you talking about?" Veronica's ears perked up all of a sudden.

"If what you're telling me is true, then it must be someone on duty in the armory who has given false testimony to frame you," Aiden concluded.