"G-Good morning, Alice," Aldrus whispered, looking down at the yawning girl nestled between his arms.

"Uh...?" She rubbed her eyes. "Aldrus? W-What...? Again?" Alice blinked a few times before scrambling to her feet. She quickly looked away, suddenly finding the metal bars of the cell to be the most interesting thing in the world.

A heavy silence fell over them for a second, and then they both blurted out at the same time:

"S-So, how are you feeling—"

"Why are your eyes so baggy—"

"Oh—"

"Oh—"

"..."

Well, that’s awkward... Aldrus thought, staring fixedly at the floor. Mister Jailer, could you please hurry up with breakfast...?

***

A few minutes later, Cedric stirred.

"Ugh... Good morning," the blond boy muttered, sounding entirely drained despite having slept like a baby all night.

Cedric didn’t notice right away, but the moment the words left his mouth, Aldrus snapped his head toward him, glaring with such intensity it felt as though he were trying to read his mind.

"W-What...? Hey, Aldrus! Don’t stare at me like that, you’re creeping me out..."

Aldrus ignored the complaint, his comically intense glare quickly turned serious. "Cedric... I need to talk to you. In private," he said softly, making sure his voice didn’t carry over to Alice.

The blond boy’s expression hardened. "...Sure."

Taking advantage of the fact that Alice was deliberately keeping her distance—still staring out into the corridor for whatever reason—they quieted their steps and moved toward the far corner of the cell.

Once there, Aldrus wasted no time. "Listen, I thought of something last night. A way to... well, a way for us to get out of here, maybe."

Cedric’s eyes went wide, seemingly ready to shout in surprise, but he quickly caught himself. If Aldrus wanted to speak in private, he had a damn good reason for keeping Alice in the dark. "...Alright, tell me."

Aldrus nodded and began to lay out the plan. It was crucial to keep it strictly between the two of them. Success relied heavily on a single chance, and Aldrus had concluded that the safest route was to leave Alice out of the loop.

After all, she was the most important piece.

After a few minutes of whispering, they agreed on the exact approach, hoping they could pull it off either that same night or the next.

***

The rest of the day went by normally, save for one detail.

Alice was growing increasingly annoyed. Though she tried her best to maintain her composure—hoping to achieve the peace of mind needed to find a way out—both of her cellmates had been whining far more than usual.

"Man! These fucking guys! Hey, let us out already!"

"Damn... Alice, what do we do now? We have to get out of here soon! Aiden might be in danger!"

"Hey, Aldrus. What are you going to do once we get out?"

"Me? Ha! Forget everything else, the first thing I’ll do is turn this damn metal crap into dust!"

"Ahgg... I’m losing my mind. I just want to get out..."

"Hey, mister jailer! Haven’t you thought about helping us out? We could all escape together, you know..."

"Cedric! Stop yelling at him! What if he decides to keep us here longer just out of spite?"

She had been listening to variations of this all day long. Eventually, her annoyance gave way to a creeping sense of desperation.

"...Me too," Alice mumbled, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"What was that?"

"I want to get out of here too!" she snapped.

Aldrus stared at her in silence, his expression twisting into a complicated grimace.

Sorry, Alice. We need this much pressure. "Y-Yeah... I’m not sure I can handle this much longer either."

It wasn’t entirely an act. Although the obsessive complaining was part of the plan, the sentiment behind his words was real. Just two days had passed, but it was already enough to breed desperation. He had no guarantee the plan would work; ultimately, everything depended on whether their theory about the artifact was true.

On top of that, Aldrus was still worried sick about Aiden and his team. Even though the jailer claimed only Aiden had been captured, he couldn’t trust the enemy’s word. They could easily be lying, keeping the others locked away somewhere else.

They were lucky enough to be fed and avoid torture or worse. At the very least, the universe didn’t seem to want them dead just yet. Still, the true scale of the danger remained unknown; their lives hung entirely on this single gamble.

***

Nighttime.

The three of them lay on the cold floor once again, doing their best to sleep despite the chill.

However, this time, there were two subtle differences.

First, Alice seemed to be struggling to fall asleep. Aldrus couldn’t tell if she was just uncomfortable with his presence, or if their psychological pressure was finally bearing fruit.

Second, Aldrus and Cedric were only pretending to sleep. Both had a role to play. Their hearts raced with anticipation as they patiently waited for Alice to drift off.

Unfortunately for them, the night played out just like the previous two. At some point, Alice stood up and began to wander. That single movement was enough to make the duo clench their fists, ready to act. Yet, the blond girl merely kept pacing around before ultimately settling right back into Aldrus’s embrace.

Sigh...

"I didn’t know... Damn, you’re a lucky guy, Aldrus," Cedric hissed into the dark.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Huh? You’re not dating?" The blond boy tilted his head.

"We’re not! She just... I don’t know, she does this every time. Anyway, it didn’t work tonight, but I didn’t really expect it to. Still, she’s acting differently. I’m sure we’ll get our answer tomorrow... I hope."

"Sigh... Alright, I’m sacrificing my sleep for you, man. I hope you know that," Cedric whispered. He was placing all his trust in Aldrus’s strategy, throwing a heavy weight of responsibility onto the boy’s shoulders.

The next day followed the exact same pattern.

Both boys constantly brought up how badly they wanted to escape, how they planned to do it, and what they would do afterward. Without realizing it, Alice’s mind began to loop endlessly over their words. The seed of a fierce desire slowly started to bloom in her heart.

Even though she had wanted to leave this place from the very beginning, her hopes had been bleak. She hadn’t voiced it to her cellmates, but on that first day—waking up chained in the dark—she truly believed they were going to die.

For as long as she could remember, her strength had never been enough. She had always been viewed as a disappointment, someone who could never hope to reach the stars. At some point, she had actually started to believe it herself.

But now, facing real danger, her instincts screamed at her to fight. Her conscious mind refused to believe she could do anything meaningful, but with Aldrus and Cedric... maybe, just maybe, they could stand an actual chance.

Surrounded by their non-stop complaints, her thoughts shifted. Even if she could only offer her agreement, she wanted to try.

It was their third night in the cell. The three of them lay on the floor, mirroring the nights before. Everything seemed to be repeating in an endless cycle; the only thing that had changed was what was inside their hearts.

No one said a word; they simply fell into the routine of the past few days.

Alice stayed awake for a long time, noticeably longer than before. Throughout the day, she had been trapped in her own thoughts, occasionally chiming in with her own complaints. And after a few more hours, she finally fell asleep.

Aldrus and Cedric fought with everything they had to stay awake. They had purposely deprived themselves of sleep to ensure they wouldn’t miss the moment.

And this time, their grueling efforts had paid off at last.

In the dead of night, the blonde princess began her usual sleepwalking routine. She wandered the cell, barely visible in the gloom. By now, they had all grown accustomed to the oppressive darkness, but discerning movement at night was still a challenge.

Where are you... Please, Alice.

Aldrus gripped his clothes tight. Alice was taking longer than usual to return.

Come on, please work!

His heart hammered against his ribs, and his vision began to blur. The sleep deprivation, his bruised body, the quiet worries, the faces of his family... it all coalesced into a suffocating knot of emotion that dragged him to the absolute brink of a scream.

Just as he closed his eyes, fearing the worst, a deafening crash jolted him to his feet.

*CLANK*

"Cough, cough! A-Alice!"

A thick veil of dust erupted into the cell. The air instantly took on the metallic taste of iron.

"Aldrus, now!"

The familiar shout of the blond boy snapped him out of his shock. Raising his forearms to shield his face, Aldrus opened his eyes through the dark and the rising dust. There, right in front of him, he saw the sight he had yearned for most.

Broken iron. An opening.

The ’weak point’.

Ha... Ha-ha! You did it... You did it, Alice!

A path to freedom.