Chapter 528: Chapter 529: Lady of the Fresh Flowers_1
Rose Iron Prison, core area, prison guardsâ cafeteria.
"Iâm done eating, and I still have to stand wind post duty, so Iâll leave first," Veronica said, expressionlessly picking up her tray.
"Oh... okay, bye," said the young prison guard, Isabella, sitting opposite her, forcing a smile and waving her hand.
Just as Veronica left her seat, she came face to face with Flandre, the warden, who was carrying her tray.
"Ah, finished eating, have you?" Flandre greeted her with a smile.
But Veronica didnât notice her and walked straight past her.
"Veronica?" Flandre couldnât help but feel a bit embarrassed.
"Ah," Veronica suddenly realized and turned her head, apologizing in a fluster, "Sorry, Warden, I was just... I was thinking about something."
"No worries, have you been too tired from the overtime recently?" Flandre asked with concern, noticing that the other wasnât quite herself.
"Iâm okay," Veronica managed a forced smile and walked away with her tray.
Flandre finally sat down opposite Isabella and immediately asked, "Veronica, has she been overloaded with work these last few days? She looks totally out of it."
"Not at all, sheâs an iron woman who can stay lively even after pulling two all-dayers in a row. Sheâs just encountering a life crisis this time; itâs understandable that sheâs been affected," Isabella sighed heavily and shook her head, "Please go easy on her, Warden."
"Life crisis? What do you mean, did something happen at home?" Flandre was taken aback.
"Donât you know about the âFlower Ladyâ who has appeared at the reception these past few days? The whole place is buzzing about it," Isabella said in a lowered voice, her tone mysterious.
"Stop beating around the bush and get to the point!" Flandre urged.
"Recently, a super beautiful woman has been coming to the reception every day at the end of the day shift, saying she wants to see the prison governor. Itâs been three times now."
"Arenât there always a lot of people wanting to see the prison governor? Theyâre mostly inmatesâ relatives."
"Itâs different!!" Isabella corrected, "This woman comes every day with a big, cheerful bouquet of flowers, waiting there, sometimes even bringing a little gift, saying sheâll wait for the prison governor to finish work."
"That wouldnât beâ" Flandre finally understood.
"A suitor! Definitely!!" Isabella confirmed with certainty, "You havenât seen how extravagant the bouquets she carries are! And the little gifts, they have lipstick marks on them, kissed on right there, tsk tsk tsk... I was embarrassed just looking at them, I notified Veronica the first day she came."
In the department, most colleagues who were somewhat close to Veronica knew who she was interested in.
"Are the young people of today so bold?" Flandre wondered, puzzled, "But Veronica doesnât need to be so downcast; sheâs not bad herself."
"Itâs not on the same level, Warden, you have no idea how beautiful that Flower Lady is!" emphasized Isabella, "With such a formidable enemy, Iâd be demoralized and lose my fighting spirit, too."
"How beautiful can she be?"
"A peerless beauty! Iâve never seen anyone so gorgeous; sheâs unrealistically beautiful!" Isabella shook her head in awe, "So beautiful that even I, a woman, would want to roll in the sheets with her."
"Uh..." Flandre was at a loss for words.
"Donât get me wrong, Iâm just making an analogy," Isabella waved her hand.
"Even so, itâs still hard for me to imagine what he looks like," Flandre said.
However, seeing Veronica, who was always strong-willed, become so dispirited, one could imagine her admirer must be quite exceptional in appearance.
"Anyway, that person will definitely come again today, just take a look at the reception or side door when the time comes."
"We need to find a way to talk to her about this, but these emotional issues are really a bit..." Flandre felt somewhat at a loss, "sigh, I hope it wonât affect her work because of her mood."
"No worries, the worse her mood looks now, the more intimidating she is to the prisoners," Isabella said as she used her fork to roll up the last bit of stir-fried noodles and put it into her mouth.
...
Meanwhile, in the core areaâs small exercise yard, the prisoners, having eaten lunch, were taking their daily time outside.
After running around the yard a couple of times to warm up, Camilla moved to a shaded bench, "Girls, scoot over."
Ophelia, the vampire sitting on the bench, frowned slightlyâthough she would occasionally engage in small talk, she didnât particularly like the coarse Camilla, especially now with the sweat on her body, but she still made some space anyway.
Not long after Camilla sat down, the two saw Veronica, with a dark expression, slowly patrolling past them.
"Wow, the she-wolf is in a really bad mood today," Camilla whispered, "What on earth happened recently?"
"Who knows." Ophelia was uninterested in the topic.
"Hey, sis!!" The two suddenly saw Fille approach Veronica.
"Ho, is this succubus addicted to seeking death?" Camilla smirked.
In Aidenâs absence these past days, Veronica completely took over the prisonersâ emergency management and disciplinary measures. Aiden actually handled prisoners quite tactfully, but by comparison, Veronica was even more stringent, implementing punishment immediately for even minor infractions.
Especially in these last two days, no one knew what had happened, but Veronicaâs expression was terribly sour, and it was all over her face, causing most prisoners to want nothing more than to avoid her, let alone provoke her.
A newbie who was clueless mouthed off, threatening other guards that he would harm their families once he was out. When Veronica heard about this, she didnât say anything and just moved him to "crazy" Haloâs cell, not even bothering to give a warning.
This morning, that self-inflicted prisoner was lying on the railing, crying, begging to be switched back to his former cell. However, not only did Veronica ignore this request, but she also found a way to cancel his day shift, forcing him to stay continuously with Halo.
No one knew if that poor newbie had been driven mad yet.
But now, Fille was actively approaching Veronica, who was clearly on edge, pretending to be great pals and reaching out to link arms with her, only to be avoided by Veronica.
"Physical contact with a guard on purposeâare you complaining your sentence isnât long enough, or do you think you have too many days left to live? Keep your distance!" Veronica glared at Fille fiercely, "This is my last warning. I donât know when the warden will be back, so stop bothering me with this!"
"No, thatâs not it. I heard thereâs a fox spirit who has been coming to the prison daily to see Mr. Aiden, so I wanted to ask you about it," Fille said urgently, spreading her hands, "How come you never told me anything about such an important matter?"