He removed it because of you!

Hua Jing blinked, her head still heavy from the events of the previous night.

"How did I get here?" she asked, her voice hoarse from exhaustion.

Xia Lin, who had been adjusting the blankets around her, froze mid-motion. She turned slowly, eyes widening in disbelief.

"You... don't remember?"

Hua Jing frowned.

"Remember what?"

Xia Lin scoffed, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Are you joking, My Lady? How could you not remember?"

Hua Jing sat up slightly, only to wince as a dull pain shot through her arms and legs. Her entire body ached, her muscles sore from the torment she had endured in the lower prison.

She sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples, trying to piece together the last thing she could recall.

"I remember... the lower prison," she murmured, voice distant. "I remember the darkness, the suffocating air, the pain."