Contents
Chapter Seven
Overview
Tiyung endures isolation in the underwater Idle Prison, fearing torture or execution as leverage against his father. After days of deprivation and despair, a visitor enters his cell: Hana, a poison maiden Tiyung believed dead. Her sudden appearance overturns his certainty and signals a covert turn in his fate.
Summary
Tiyung narrates his imprisonment in Idle Prison beneath Idle Lake in Yusan, uncertain how long he has been held. He describes being seized at the palace, marched to the lake’s edge, and forced down a newly revealed staircase into what he calls the most secure, hellish prison in Yusan. He braces for torture but instead faces solitary confinement, foul food, darkness, and the disorienting moans of the lake’s iku.
He clings to fragments of routine and memory, counting his beard growth and recalling his promise to Sora to survive. Hungry and sick from infested meals, Tiyung avoids everything but stale bread and water. He wonders how long he will be used as leverage and when execution might come, believing his father’s broader plan has failed.
Footsteps and murmurs finally break the monotony. The door opens, blinding him with a torch, then shuts, leaving an oil lamp and a silent figure in his cell. As Tiyung’s eyes adjust, he recognizes the visitor: Hana, one of his father’s trained poison maidens, a woman he thought had died years ago.
The revelation jolts Tiyung from resignation to tense uncertainty. Hana’s presence suggests hidden agendas within the prison or his father’s network. Whether she has come to kill, rescue, or recruit him remains unclear, but her return upends Tiyung’s expectations and sets the stage for a covert shift in his captivity.
Who Appears
- TiyungNarrator imprisoned beneath Idle Lake; isolated, starving, and fearing execution; shocked when Hana appears.
- HanaA poison maiden Tiyung believed dead; mysteriously enters his cell, signaling a hidden intervention.