I crawled toward the golden bars, my knees scraping against the smooth marble floor. My fingers gripped the cold, unforgiving metal as I glared up at the madman watching me from the other side.
"You're unlawfully imprisoning the crown princess of the empire." I said, voice low and tight, my fury bleeding into every slow, measured breath.
Jasper set his glass of wine down onto the table beside him and strode forward. He placed both hands against the bars, leaning in until his shadow merged with mine, his eyes gleaming with something between amusement and derision, as if I were a foolish animal too stubborn to accept its cage.
Above his head, the affection points flickered wildly. No longer the neat, unwavering 0%, it now glitched and pulsed like a broken machine, mirroring the chaos festering inside him.
"All I have to do is declare that the princess has been possessed by a demon and must remain at the Spire for purification."
