Dungeon.
Claudio Belles’ body was suspended in the air, with both arms tied with ropes. Had it been a normal, soft girl, rather than a mercenary, who had been captured today, being dropped in the air like this would have been physically exhausting without any other means of torture.
In the dimly lit dungeon, Erasmus Rolan takes an imposing step down the ladder and looks at Claudius Belles, hanging in the air, as if he were looking at a dead weight in a bag.
But Erasmus Rolan said kindly, “Who gave you permission to treat Miss Claudius like that? What would President Edward do to her?”
Erasmus Rolan’s pretentious words fell on the ears of Claudius Belles, who found them only amusing.
His eyes were blinded by a black cloth, but he still sneered, “Is this how Mr. President invites me to tea? It’s really too rude.”
Erasmus Rolan raised his hand and gestured to the men beside him, “Lower Miss Claudio.”
The rope slowly descended and Claudio Belles’ feet landed on the ground, her arms still dangling, but much better, and the guard removed the black cloth from Claudio Belles’ eyes.
He looked at Erasmus Rolan with an icy stare, undaunted by the middle-aged man with imperial aura in front of him. “May I ask what is the President’s reason for detaining me?”.
Erasmus Rolan sat on the stool in front of him, absently preparing the best tea made especially for the royal family on the wooden coffee table, and with a soft laugh, said, “Miss Claudius, I have invited you for tea, how can it be to arrest you?”
“If President Edward knew that the President invited me to tea like this, he would probably bomb the Presidency. If the President doesn’t want the Presidency to become cannon fodder, he’d better let me go quickly. I can still pretend this hasn’t happened.”
Erasmus Rolan looked at the arrogant woman in front of him with a glint of dismay in his eyes, this woman was now clearly in the crosshairs and yet she dared to speak to him with such arrogance, even if she was not a mercenary or a suspected enemy, she was still an extraordinary woman.
“The woman Edward the Third sees really has something different from the crowd. She has reached this point and still has the courage to threaten me.”
Claudius Belles said lightly, “The life of a small man like me is not worth much, although I was picked up by President Eduardo, but I am still a member of President Eduardo. If President Eduardo were to kill me, President Eduardo would really lose face, and if President Eduardo were to feel uncomfortable, his temper would be very violent. It would not be good to put all the blame on Mr. President.”
“It is true that you are Eduardo Tercero’s man, but I sent my men to find out something unusual about you, and I suspect that you are an enemy spy, and it is perfectly reasonable for me to arrest you.”
Claudius Belles’ red lips curved conspiratorially, “If Mr. President really had a clear conscience, why didn’t he arrest me while President Edward was in R, and why didn’t he go through the public process and instead have his men take me straight to a private dungeon like this one?”
Erasmus Rolan looked at her with growing amusement, “He even knows private dungeons, he looks like a real mercenary.”
“If knowing a private dungeon means I’m a mercenary, is Mr. President’s abuse of punishment black?”
Erasmus Rolan’s face was impassive, but his heart fluttered at that girl’s anger. “Two years younger than Gertrude Rolan, why is she so hostile?”
Erasmo Rolan’s secretary suggested, “Mr. President, since this girl is so hostile, why don’t we thwart her.”
Erasmus Rolan looked at Claudius Belles with an expressionless face and said to his men, “You have three days to tell her everything you know about her. If you don’t do it in three days, you will all jump into the cold river and feed the fish.”
“Don’t worry Mr. President, she is just a child, we will make sure she confesses the truth.”
Erasmus Rolan turned and left the dungeon immediately.
The president’s secretary sat on a stool with freshly brewed tea in the teapot, and with a graceful motion poured the tea from the teapot into a cup, and ordered the orderly and the other men unhurriedly, “What are you still doing Miss Claudio, since you are not interested in tea, serve the whip.”
Pop – pop – pop – pop –
One strong lash after the other was delivered forcefully against the slender body of Claudio Belles.
Claudius Belles, eyes closed and hanging, gritted his teeth and made not a single plea for mercy.
“Say, what country sent you as a spy!”
Claudius Belles is sullen and silent.
The secretary refilled his teacup and said calmly, “Never mind, we have three days and three nights left, you refuse to talk now, take your time.”
Claudius Belles opened his eyes and stared at the male secretary, his eyes still sharp and more determined, “You better beat me to death, or you better not try to bend me to your will.”
“Hmph, don’t worry, I’ll knock the wind out of you until the three days are up, keep fighting for me!”
The heavy leather whip was wielded hard against Claudius Belles, lash after lash, and before long Claudius Belles’ clothes were stained with blood, and the white skin was faintly visible as the whip lashed his clothes.
But the man who was tortured did not ask for mercy at all.
This caused those who used torture to run out of patience.
The secretary had thought that such a scrawny girl, a flower-boned child pampered by Eduardo Tercero, would have confessed with a few lashes and probably would have cried out for Eduardo Tercero to come and rescue her, but this girl was a stubborn ass!
The secretary snatched the whip from the guard’s hand and brought it into action herself, shaking Claudio Belles hard!
This whip is like beating someone to death!
Claudius Belles’ brow furrowed in pain and a cold sweat broke out on his back, blood mixed with the cold sweat, irritating the wound and choking it with pain.
“Pray or not!”
Pop!
Another whip was thrown at her.
“Recuse what? You’ve abused private law, and when President Edward returns, I’ll have President Edward send you to hell.”
“Keep talking tough! I’ll see if you live to see the day when Edward the Third returns to R!”
A whip, thrown hard at her again!
The secretary personally brandished the whip for over half an hour and was sweating all over, but the girl was still tight-lipped, grunting like so much in pain, completely like a stubborn donkey, not opening her mouth in any way.
The secretary threw the whip down hard on the floor impatiently, “Looks like eating the whip won’t get you to confess, so let’s play something new.”
The warden brought the new instruments of punishment.
Claudius Belles was hanging, sweat and blood already stained his clothes, he was almost deflated from the beating and slightly raised his eyes to see a hot fire.
That’s right, they were heartless enough to subject her to the torture of the red-hot iron.
This punishment, even in ancient times, was brutal. The hot iron, baked in the fire, viciously crushed on the person’s skin, scorching it, was a more painful moment than death.