The Execution (1)
* * *
“Miss! Miss, oh my dear miss!”
The nanny’s usual affectionate fussing felt unbearably grating today. I turned to Molly with an irritated expression.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
“It’s… well… it’s…!”
Whatever it was, Molly’s face had gone deathly pale.
“If you’re not going to speak properly, come back later. I have something to discuss with Abigail right now.”
“No, miss. You must come out this instant.”
“I’m asking what the matter is!”
My already frayed nerves finally snapped, and I raised my voice. But Molly, who had clearly lost her mind, paid no attention to my reaction. She seized my arm with a firm grip and pulled me to my feet.
“Come with me. Right now.”
In the end, I found myself being dragged along by Molly, walking after her without knowing where we were headed.
“Where are you taking her, Duchess?”
Ravi, who had been standing outside the residence, followed behind me and asked. Yet neither I, who had been questioned, nor Molly, who led the way, offered any answer.
It had been a long time since Molly had been this beside herself. She only ever looked this ghostly pale when she came running to fetch me after His Majesty the Emperor had collapsed. While I worried about what could possibly be wrong, the lost necklace weighed far more heavily on my mind, leaving no room for any other thoughts.
When I came back to my senses, we were at the eastern palace. This was where the Emperor’s residence and Karina’s quarters were located.
“Molly, why are we—”
My question was swallowed by a scream that rang out from afar. A sharp, piercing cry shattered the early morning stillness.
“Release me! I will not take a single step from here until I see His Majesty!”
It was Karina’s voice. Though I couldn’t see her, there was no mistaking her furious shouts.
“Your Majesty! Where are you! Please, save me!”
“What on earth…?”
Confused, I hurried toward the source of the noise. Just then, Karina appeared from around a corner behind a marble pillar. She was being dragged out by soldiers who held both her arms in a firm grip.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
No matter how loudly she screamed, the Emperor was nowhere to be seen. Karina struggled desperately to keep from being hauled away, but she was no match for the strength of grown men.
“Stop. What is the meaning of this?”
At my command, the soldiers paused. Only then did Karina, who had finally noticed me, stop her frantic shrieking.
“Duchess… surely you aren’t…?”
The golden eyes that fixed on me swirled with deep rage and despair. And something else I had never seen before—grief and bitter resentment.
“What are you talking about? What have I done?”
I had no idea why Karina would look at me that way. I waited for her to continue.
It seemed she wanted to say something more. Her lips parted, but no words came out. She appeared to have no idea what she should even say.
“Why are you taking this child away?”
“The Marchioness of Lilche has ordered the arrest of the remnants of the rebellion.”
The answer came from behind me. I quickly turned around to find Yulian standing there.
“Remnants of the rebellion…?”
In that instant, every nerve in my body stood on end. A chill raced up my spine and struck the back of my head like lightning.
“Karina Regentra. For the crimes of tarnishing her family’s honor and driving the empire into war, she is to be taken to Pleco Square and executed.”
The moment Yulian finished speaking, Karina’s agonized scream filled the eastern palace. The servants lined up along both sides of the imperial corridor held their breath as they watched her being dragged away.
There was no whispering, no gasps of shock or sighs of dismay. Everyone was so deeply stunned that they could not believe what was unfolding before their eyes.
I was no different. No—if anyone here was the most shocked, it was me.
Caught completely off guard by the sudden turn of events, I could only stare blankly as Karina was taken farther away. What snapped me back to reality was Yulian’s hands seizing both of my wrists.
“Ishtel Regentra, you are also under arrest for the crime of harboring a traitor.”
As Yulian crossed my wrists and held them together, soldiers bound them tightly with thick rope. In the blink of an eye, both hands were restrained.
“No, young master! What are you doing to our miss? What is this?!”
A horrified Molly rushed forward to undo the ropes. The soldiers immediately blocked her. Seeing me treated like a criminal, Molly collapsed to the floor with a wail and began to sob.
“Our miss doesn’t know anything! She doesn’t know anything at all!”
Where Karina’s screams had faded, Molly’s heartbroken cries now echoed. The sound was so painful to hear that even the maids pressed against the walls began to weep along with her.
The shock and terror that had been building since Karina was first dragged away finally burst free at the sight of the rope binding my hands.
“Sir Lilche, must you really go this far!”
Ravi shouted at Yulian in protest. Yulian deliberately avoided his gaze and answered in a cold voice.
“Stand down, Sir Telia. This is not a matter for you to interfere in.”
“But even so, how can you treat the Duchess this way!”
“It’s all right.”
I barely managed to steady my trembling voice as I spoke to Ravi. He looked at me with eyes full of worry. Though he was the knight sworn to protect me, his face was filled with despair at being unable to do anything in this situation.
I lowered my head to look at the rope binding my wrists. Even though only my hands were tied, I felt utterly powerless.
The terrified maids began begging Yulian to release me. But he ignored their tears completely and pulled me forward by the arm.
“Duchess, I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
Abigail threw herself at my feet, sobbing as if in repentance.
Just as I had suspected. It seemed the lost necklace had indeed been taken by her.
No words would come. I wanted to tell my nanny and the maids, who believed I was being led to my death, that it wouldn’t come to that. Yet between my dry lips, not even the faintest sigh escaped.
Who could have told them? How had they found out? It was a secret only she and I had known.
But… yes, Count Silanda had known her true identity as well. The secret had begun to crack long ago. Today was simply the day the fracture had finally been discovered.
It was all over.
I walked along in a daze, following wherever Yulian led me.
* * *
The place we reached by carriage was Pleco Square.
Had this square ever held so many people before? It seemed the rumor that the Marchioness of Lilche had forcibly gathered every commoner in the vicinity was true.
The Marchioness’s private soldiers parted the crowd, clearing a path for me. I walked toward the center of the square in a stupor. With every step, countless eyes poured over me. Those who recognized me gasped in horror at the rope binding my hands.
As I continued forward in my daze, I saw a tall platform erected in the middle of the square.
A guillotine towered high into the sky, and beneath it knelt Karina. Thick ropes bound her body, and a gag had been forced into her mouth.
On the platform opposite the guillotine sat the Marchioness of Lilche in a chair. The old woman watched me approach with eyes that did not waver in the slightest.
“Will Grandmother really kill me?”
As I stepped onto the platform where the Marchioness waited, I glanced at Yulian beside me. He could not meet my eyes and merely gave a slight shake of his head. Whether that meant no or that he did not know, I could not tell. Leaving only that uncertain answer behind, he departed, abandoning me on the platform.
Once I stood atop the high platform, I could see Grandmother clearly. And behind her stretched an endless sea of people. The weight of so many gazes fixed upon me was overwhelming. Each and every stare seemed to press down on me with crushing force.
The Marchioness of Lilche rose slowly from her chair and approached me.
Slap—
A sharp crack rang out as my head snapped helplessly to the side. My ear and cheek burned, and my hearing went dull. A short scream burst from the crowd of onlookers.
Because my hands were bound, I could not wipe away the tears that rolled down my cheeks and fell in heavy drops. The first time in my life I had ever been slapped, the feeling was not so much pain as sorrow.
“Ishtel Regentra!”
The Marchioness of Lilche’s sharp voice rang out across the entire vast square.
“You dared to hide the descendant of Paviel Regentra within the imperial palace? The bloodline of that traitor to the family and rebel against the empire?!”
The moment the Marchioness finished speaking, the people gathered in the square recoiled in collective horror. They had heard that the descendant of Paviel Regentra had been captured, but it seemed they had not known that the person who had sheltered him was me.
“Knowing full well that he was the blood of Paviel—your grandfather’s mortal enemy and mine—you still did such a thing?!”
“……”
“Why did you spare that criminal and even take her in?!”
“……”
When my silence stretched on, the crowd began to murmur once more.
“Why would the Duke’s daughter of Regentra save the descendant of a traitor? And behind the Marchioness of Lilche’s back, no less?”
The voices of those standing nearby reached my ears. But I could not give them an answer. That question was one neither the me who had taken her in that day nor the me who now stood before this square could answer.
“I don’t know.”
In the end, I answered honestly.
At my words, the people gathered in the square let out a collective sigh.
It seemed they had all been expecting some grand, profound answer.
They must have believed there was some deep and righteous reason behind saving the descendant of a traitor.
But I was neither particularly good nor particularly evil. Even as I had feared she might covet everything I possessed, I had never wished for her to stand before a guillotine like this.
It had simply been a choice made from such feelings. I had not known that choice would eventually lead us both to this place.