The Execution (2)
While the crowd murmured and I remained lost in thought, someone suddenly leaped onto the platform. The marquis family’s soldiers recognized him and hesitated, failing to block his path to my side.
“Ishtel! Are you all right? What do we do—my sister’s face…”
Zar cupped my swollen cheek, utterly at a loss.
How had my brother come to be here? Then again, since they had summoned every citizen near the square, it was only natural that nobles had been included as well.
Though he was usually far from dependable, his presence beside me in this moment felt like a tremendous source of strength. Yet that comfort lasted only a heartbeat. My body began to shake as though seized by a feverish chill. When I could do nothing but tremble in silence, my brother pulled me tightly into his arms.
“Grandmother, Ishtel didn’t know! There’s no way she would have done it if she had! That wicked girl clearly deceived Ishtel and approached her with a deliberate scheme!”
Despite Zar’s desperate plea, Marchioness Lilche did not blink. Instead, as though hammering the final nail into place, she drew a glittering necklace from within her robes.
Regentera Rose Necklace
A golden necklace engraved with a rose pattern, bestowed solely upon the women of the Regentra ducal line. Proof of Karina’s lineage.
“Do you know what this is? The Regentera Rose Necklace, given only to the women of Regentra. This very necklace was found in Ishtel’s desk drawer.”
“What?”
When Zar echoed her words in disbelief, the marchioness fixed her gaze on me and pressed harder.
“Ishtel, answer for yourself. Tell us what this necklace is. Do not even think of lying. We have already verified its authenticity completely.”
A collective sigh rose from the square. Those who had still harbored doubts now seemed convinced of Karina’s identity the moment they saw the necklace in the marchioness’s hand.
Lies and excuses would be useless now. I gave up on defending myself.
“Ishtel, say something. Please?”
Zar spoke in a coaxing, soothing tone. But there was truly nothing I could say. I let my forehead fall weakly against my brother’s shoulder.
I felt his shoulders quiver. He must have realized that I had known the truth all along and still chosen to hide Karina.
“My sister… my good sister.” Murmuring in a voice thick with tears, my brother turned to our grandmother once more.
“Grandmother, you know better than anyone how kind-hearted Ishtel is. That’s why she did it. The girl wept and begged for her life, so Ishtel pitied her, took her in, and kept her hidden.”
In my silence, my brother spoke for me. He fumbled desperately with the ropes binding my wrists.
“So please untie this. Why did they tie it so tightly? You’re hurting my sister.”
But the knots had been tied too securely; the rope refused to budge no matter how hard he pulled.
“Grandmother, I beg you—let go of your anger and forgive Ishtel.”
“No. That cannot be allowed. The crime of concealing remnants of treason must be punished without exception, no matter who commits it. Even if that person is a Regentra.”
“Punishment? You mustn’t! It cannot happen! I won’t allow it!”
Terrified, my brother tightened his arms around me. Marchioness Lilche gave the soldiers a short, sharp glance. They rushed forward and tore us apart.
“No! I said no! Let go, you bastards! Do you know who I am? Ishtel! Ishtel!”
Zar thrashed like a child, sobbing as the soldiers dragged him away. More soldiers swarmed in, seizing his arms and legs, and forcibly removed him from the platform.
He was shoved into a carriage and sent home under escort. A few soft-hearted onlookers wept openly as they watched my brother disappear into the distance.
Once Zar was gone, only the Marchioness remained on the platform, her expression as cold and unforgiving as a sheet of ice.
“You took it upon yourself to handle a matter of the family. What punishment do you believe you deserve?”
Her will was unyielding.
Anyone who knew Marchioness Lilche—Belona Regentra—understood how terrifying her thirst for vengeance could be.
She had spent her entire life hunting for that person, and I had hidden her. No matter who I was, there was no escape.
“If it will soothe the marchioness’s wrath, I will accept any punishment.”
“Is that so?”
For the briefest moment, a satisfied smile curved the marchioness’s lips. She beckoned Julian, who stood below the platform, and whispered in his ear. Julian looked at his grandmother and let out a deep sigh.
“Let’s go.”
Julian took me by the arm and led me down from the platform.
Is she forgiving me? I heard people whispering. But contrary to their hopes, Julian escorted me to the opposite platform and stopped directly in front of Karina, who knelt beside the guillotine.
“Mmph… mmph…!”
Gagged, Karina struggled as though begging me for help. Yet in this moment, there was nothing I could do for her.
This platform, where Karina and I now stood, was far higher than the one where the marchioness sat. As befitted a place for public executions, it was tall enough that even those at the very back of the square could see clearly.
I thought of all those who had lost their lives on this guillotine while countless eyes watched.
No matter what crimes they had committed, they too must have trembled in terror beneath this crushing weight before they died. Karina’s grandfather. All the others who had risen against Regentra.
I looked down at Karina, who knelt beside me. Would she follow them? Beneath that cold, gleaming blade?
While I stood there in a daze, Julian approached and loosened the ropes around my wrists. The deep red marks left behind stung and burned.
A soldier who had followed Julian set a heavy axe down beside me.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
The soldiers grabbed Karina from both sides and hauled her to her feet. With every eye in the square fixed upon us, she was dragged onto the guillotine.
Her slender neck was placed into the curved groove. A muffled scream leaked through the gag in her mouth.
“You said you would do anything, didn’t you?”
From across the way, the marchioness stretched out her hand and pointed at the axe beside me.
“Correct your own mistake with your own hands. Cut that rope and set things right.”
Where the marchioness pointed, a taut rope stretched toward the guillotine’s blade. If I struck it with the axe, it would snap instantly, sending the blade crashing down onto Karina’s neck.
At those words Karina thrashed and wept, but her bound body could not escape the guillotine.
My granddaughter Ishtel Regentra sheltered the descendant of Pabiel Regentra who stands before you. Even after learning her true identity, she turned a blind eye and took the girl in, deceiving both the empire and her own family. But I remember. I remember the ending brought about by my elder brother’s good intentions long ago.
That ungrateful sinner dared to call the future Duchess—who would become Crown Princess—a widow who devours the imperial family. Furthermore, she tampered with the Empress’s ornaments at will and coveted the rights and duties of the Crown Princess. Not content with that, she used her venomous tongue to sow discord between His Majesty the Emperor and the Duchess. Such a sinner deserves death!
“Kill the ungrateful sinner!”
“We cannot allow the descendant of a traitor to live!”
The nobles, who knew the full story, hurled jeers at Karina. Ever since she had dragged Count Silanda from the political stage, she had become a threat in their eyes.
A commoner who had tarnished noble honor. To them, she was a being who should never have appeared at all.
In contrast, the majority of commoners gathered in the square looked confused. Some pitied Karina as she lay upon the guillotine; others felt sympathy for me, standing at the center of this chaotic storm.
“Even if she is the descendant of a traitor, she never even met her grandfather…”
“Shh! Be quiet. Don’t you know you shouldn’t say such things carelessly?”
“She only acted out of a good heart… Now only the Duchess is in trouble…”
The people seemed to think it tragic that Karina stood on the guillotine merely for being the descendant of a traitor, yet they could not understand why she had turned against me.
“Carry out the sentence!”
The moment the marchioness gave the order, a soldier forced the axe into my hand. My face reflected in the spotless, gleaming blade.
I could not help asking myself again: why had I saved her that day?
Because she seemed pitiful? Then why not simply give her a few gold coins and send her far away? Why bring her into the imperial palace? Knowing full well that the truth would one day drag me to this execution platform, why had I kept her by my side?
That taut rope. If I severed it with this sharpened blade, would everything end? Could I truly correct my choice, just as my grandmother demanded?
I gripped the axe tightly and walked toward the guillotine. When I stood before Karina, the cold gleam of the blade reflected in her golden eyes.
Karina, who had been struggling against her bonds, suddenly went still. The eyes that had been watching me slowly closed, as though she had accepted everything.
Those aren’t the eyes I remember.
The day she first came to me covered in mud. The day she danced beneath the sunset in the square. The day we rode back to the palace together in the carriage after leaving Count Silanda’s estate.
Her eyes had always burned with a desperate longing for life. The vitality and warmth that came from the fierce desire to survive—emotions I had never possessed. I think I had secretly admired them.
That was why I had saved her. I wanted to stay close, to watch her, to live with her, and to understand the passionate heart that belonged only to her—the one thing I lacked.
All my life I had lost far too many precious people. Yet I had to keep living. I never had the luxury of caring for myself. By the time I came to my senses, heavy burdens already rested on my shoulders, and I had to grow cold in order to bear their weight.
Sometimes the very fact that I was alive felt foreign to me. My existence was defined by the expectations of others and the needs of my family. To someone like me, Karina’s freedom and her burning desire for life had seemed both strange and beautiful.
Shing—
In the next moment, I brought the axe down on the rope.