A Wise Life in Captivity with the Mad Duke - Chapter 3

Modnaga Monastery was a building located on Resipisco Island, a remote area about thirty minutes by boat from the southern city of Ruthar in the Kingdom of Avelta.

Normally, monasteries served as places for believers to deepen their faith or as lodgings for travelers, fulfilling the role of the church. But Modnaga, despite its name, was no different from a closed ward where patients with mental illnesses were locked away.

It had a terrifying reputation: once admitted, no one could ever leave alive. However, since the monastery was under the Pope’s jurisdiction, even the King couldn’t easily interfere.

In the Kingdom of Avelta, where the power of religion was immense, the Pope and the King held equal authority. Because of that, I’d heard they signed an agreement not to infringe on each other’s rights.

Whether Modnaga’s original purpose had truly been to treat patients with mental illness or not, I didn’t know. But in my memory, Modnaga had long been used as a dumping ground for people their families couldn’t handle, with parents abandoning their children and children abandoning their parents.

When I lost my parents early and had nowhere else to go, I stayed in an orphanage for a while. Even then, the headmaster would send troublesome children to Modnaga Monastery under the pretense of “education.”

‘Back then, I really believed it was a place to study theology or help children with attention issues improve their focus.’

It was only when I got older that I realized Modnaga was used as a disposal site.

Anyway, up until the moment my body switched with Cheon Go-eun’s, I never thought Modnaga Monastery would have anything to do with my life.

That’s what I believed, but….

‘What the hell did Cheon Go-eun do for me to end up trapped here? Did she do this on purpose to screw me over?’

Of course, a closed ward wasn’t somewhere a patient could enter just because they wanted to. It required a psychological evaluation report and a guardian’s consent.

‘Either way, this is absurd. We both had our bodies swapped, but why throw my life into the gutter like this? I left her a bed of roses.’

Though people occasionally criticized my personality for being picky or sharp-tongued, I could proudly say I’d never been involved in any major scandal. Thinking back now, I didn’t even know who I’d been living so cautiously for.

I stabbed my spoon into the rice again and again in frustration.

Was it really true that no one had ever escaped this place? Was dying the only way out?

The thought of spending the rest of my life here made the days ahead feel endlessly bleak.

“Noona, are you not gonna eat that?”

Joel pointed to the pork cutlet on my tray. Resting my chin on my hand, I weakly pushed the tray toward him.

“Yeah. You can have it.”

“Yes!”

I looked at Joel, who happily swayed side to side, with a complicated gaze.

‘Does he even know where we are? How can he be so carefree?’

Finishing my meal in silence, I returned to the main building to go back to my room.

While waiting naturally in the first-floor lobby for the elevator, a sudden sense of familiarity made me lift my head.

‘Come to think of it, when did elevators even become a thing in this country?’

I’d been so used to modern conveniences that I hadn’t noticed how strange it was to move around by elevator here. With Avelta’s level of technology, this should’ve been impossible.

That meant there was only one answer. This, too, was a system powered by magic.

Recalling that fact, I couldn’t help but think how ridiculous it all was. They rejected and branded those capable of wielding magic as mutants, yet they couldn’t live without using the magical tools those very same people had created.

‘If magical tools have made their way even to such a remote island, then it’s easy to guess what the situation outside must be like.’

In this world, only a small number of people were born with magic. Each person had a different attribute, but once their power manifested, it was only natural that they’d rise to a position more advantageous than ordinary people.

People knew this all too well, which was why they ostracized those who could use magic and created a culture of rejection, labeling them as mutants.

Behind that discrimination lay a deeply rooted fear, the fear that mages might one day take away every opportunity humans had.

‘It’s nothing but an inferiority complex. If it weren’t, they would’ve at least tried to coexist.’

The problem had started with the previous king. Terrified by the unknown, the king at the time declared mages to be demons and witches the moment they appeared, publicly executing them.

Only later did he realize their potential usefulness and choose to let them live instead.

Because of that history, most mutants hid their abilities and blended in with ordinary people. Of course, there were a few who displayed their power openly and used it to intimidate those who discriminated against them. It was all a matter of personal nature.

Still, compared to eight years ago, it seemed society had advanced toward coexistence. Seeing magical tools being used in daily life was proof of that.

At least, I hoped they weren’t being forced into labor to make them.

“Are you going to the eighth floor, Noona?”

Joel, who had gotten into the elevator with me, pressed the button before I could.

“You too?”

“No, I’m on the seventh. But since you said you don’t remember anything, I’m worried you might get lost. So I’ll come with you just this once.”

Joel looked thoughtful for a moment, then suddenly spun toward me.

“Yeah, it must be because you hit your head when you fell earlier. This won’t do. I’ll take responsibility and explain everything from the beginning again!”

That was how Joel’s impromptu lecture titled ‘An In-Depth Guide to the Monastery’s Structure’ began.

According to him—

The first floor housed the reception desk and the shop.

The second floor was the lounge (cafeteria).

The third floor was for the staff’s quarters.

The fourth to sixth floors contained the patient wards, numbered in reverse order from Room 200 down to 101.

The seventh to ninth floors also contained patient wards, from Room 100 to Room 1.

The tenth floor housed the head of the monastery and the caregivers.

That was the general layout.

“And at the first-floor shop….”

I thought his lecture was finally over, but Joel circled right back to the beginning.

At this point, I was sure he just wanted to keep talking for the sake of talking.

Just then, the elevator arrived at the eighth floor. Covering my ears that felt like they might start bleeding any moment, I quickly headed toward my room.

At that moment—

[Cotton candy. Number 18. Eighth floor. Repeating: cotton candy. Number 18. Eighth floor.]

An announcement echoed through the hallway, a string of words and numbers that made no sense.

When I turned in confusion, Joel said proudly, as if he’d been waiting for me to ask.

“‘Cotton candy’ is a code word for an emergency or a warning. If they used direct terms, it would make the patients uneasy, so the caregivers agreed to use secret codes.”

“Why ‘cotton candy’ of all things?”

“It’s the most popular snack in the shop. The patients who don’t know better just think, ‘Oh, someone’s getting cotton candy. Lucky them,’ whenever they hear it. I used to think that too.”

“You really do know everything.”

“If you live here for about three years, Noona, you’ll end up knowing it all too.”

“…Three years?”

I couldn’t help but look at Joel again in disbelief. How could he stay so cheerful after spending three years in such a bleak place?

Just as I tilted my head at the unanswered question—

“Move! Everyone, out of the way!”

A man suddenly came running from the opposite direction and slammed into my shoulder as I stood there unprepared.

“Ah!”

Clutching my shoulder, I turned around. The man, who had turned at the sound of my voice, met my gaze and scowled harshly.

“What are you staring at, you bitch?”

“Ha. If you bump into someone, you should apologize, not curse.”

Normally, I’d just let things slide, thinking it wasn’t worth the trouble, but this was far beyond rude.

If you know you hit someone and even looked them in the face, the least you can do is apologize.

As I frowned and held my ground, the man suddenly started trembling and let out a low, deranged laugh before stepping toward me.

The moment I saw his face clearly, I instinctively stepped back. His bloodshot eyes and raspy, metal-scraping breath gave off a disturbing sense of danger.

“Hey, you bitch. What did you just say? What? Apologize? You think I’d do something like that for you?”

The man twisted his lips grotesquely, then suddenly grabbed my neck in a violent fit. I had no time to dodge before his grip crushed my windpipe, cutting off my breath as I widened my eyes and struggled desperately.

“Hey! Let go of her, now!”

Thankfully, Joel, who had been nearby, shoved the man to the side, sending him sprawling across the floor with a dull thud. The man glared up at us with murderous eyes.

“Noona, are you okay?”

While catching my breath, I nodded and glanced at the name tag on the man’s chest.

No. 18.

My heart sank instantly.

…Oh no. I think I just messed with a lunatic.

Before I could even process it, the man who had been mentioned in the announcement earlier—No. 18—lunged at me again.

Just then, two caregivers ran toward us, shouting. The sound made him freeze for a moment before he bolted in the opposite direction, only to be caught almost immediately.

No. 18 thrashed and screamed in the caregivers’ grip, snarling like a beast. Then, lifting his head abruptly, he glared at me with venom in his eyes.

“The next time I see you, I’ll kill you. Got that, bitch?”

Rubbing my sore neck, I bit my lip hard.

What the hell did I even do to deserve that?