Rattle-!!
As the dungeon guards entered the dimly lit dungeon beneath the Imperial Palace and illuminated it with torchlight, they approached two separate cells and forcibly pulled out the traitors.
Maintaining hygiene in the dungeon was a basic concern for the guards, as there was nothing more absurd than criminals dying to disease before their execution.
Yet, the appearance of Lizzy and Cesar, emerging from their cells, was far from hygienic.
They were both so disheveled and wretched that they would leave even beggars on the street at a loss for words.
"Brother..."
Upon seeing Cesar, Lizzy called out to him with a quivering voice.
It had been so long since they last saw each other that she couldn't contain the rush of emotions, and tears welled up in her eyes.
During her long imprisonment, where her sense of time had become utterly warped, she had learned to accept the irrationality of their reality.
But now, as she observed the people attempting to drag them to the execution site, all the emotions that had been suppressed by her acceptance began to surge back to the surface.
Rattle-!!
"Ack...!"
However, when the guard noticed Lizzy standing motionless, overwhelmed by her emotions, he harshly slapped her cold, gaunt face.
The guard was unaware of the details of the investigation into the evidence collected from the Claudia family mansion.
To them, Lizzy was a traitor who had incited a war and was responsible for sending guards to their deaths.
In a battlefield teeming with Auror Knights and Mages, what could mere guards armed with spears and swords hope to achieve? And what were the odds of their survival?
"Lizzy... Ugh!"
As the anger of the guard who had slapped Lizzy reverberated throughout the dungeon, the other guards joined in, thrusting their fists into Cesar's solar plexus, grinding their teeth in frustration.
Even the most senior guard, who should have intervened to stop such mistreatment by his subordinates, simply closed the prison door and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.
After all, since they were condemned criminals slated for execution that day, turning a blind eye to the violence inflicted upon them, as long as it didn't result in their deaths, was a minor transgression.
Compared to the prospect of dying miserably on the battlefield, their impending beheadings seemed like a relatively merciful fate.
"Cough...! Ah... ! Ahhhhh!"
It was the violence of adult men who were consumed by their anger.
How could a woman's body, which was also weakened by the imprisonment, endure it?
Even though she wanted to beg for them to stop, Lizzy couldn't help but instinctively curl up and tremble when she saw the hatred in their eyes.
Lizzy, was so sick of their merciless punches and kicks that it made her think that she would die before even reaching the execution site and crawled miserably to the corner.
However, they grabbed her red hair and dragged her towards them again. There was no mercy in their ruthlessness.
Thud-!!
Their punches and kicks that had been assaulting Lizzy and Cesar only stopped when the most senior guard threw the tobacco he had been smoking to the floor.
"Keu, keuhuh...!"
Her pale skin was covered in dust as well as blue bruises. Moreover, the corner of one of her swollen eyes could not open properly.
On top of it, she coughed bright red blood and what made it worse was the cold air that brushed her entire body intensifying the hot pain all over her body that was caused by the beating.
Sympathy almost bloomed inside the senior guard's heart when he saw the state that Lizzy was currently in. But it quickly faded as he remembered his son, who was an adult now and would soon be taken to the battlefield.
Whether he would be a father crying on the battlefield while holding the body of his dead son.
Or, his son would become a crying child holding on to his dead father's body.
"Let's go. It's time."
The chains that bound the two traitors' bodies rattled, leading them both to the execution site.
* * * * *
A multitude of people had gathered at the execution site above the dungeon of the Imperial Palace.
The Emperor and the Empress.
The Princes and the Princesses.
As well as, the heads of great noble families, including Alfred and Brutein.
Naturally, Ferzen stood next to the guillotine, which was adorned with a razor-sharp blade, overseeing the execution.
Typically, the rope of the guillotine would be divided into several branches, and each branch would be assigned to a guard.
These guards would sever the rope with a sword, lowering the blade when a signal was given, commencing the execution without anyone knowing who had triggered it.
However, since seeking the assistance of another person at the last moment seemed cowardly, Ferzen decided to personally conduct this execution.
Creak-!!
When Lizzy and Cesar made their entrance to the execution site through the dungeon's door, countless eyes turned towards them.
"Kuhum..."
The first to react to the arrival of Lizzy and Cesar were the high-ranking officials standing next to the Emperor and Empress. They were aware of the guards' actions against Lizzy and Cesar.
Since it was impossible to discern the guards' emotions as they were about to be sent into battle, the Emperor could only sigh and turn a blind eye to their misconduct.
"Ensure that the traitor, Cesar Poliana Claudia, is securely fastened to the guillotine."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Lizzy was made to kneel in the exact center of the execution area, while other guards led Cesar onto the stage and positioned his head under the guillotine.
As soon as he was strapped there, Cesar felt the back of his neck tingle for a moment as he felt the energy of the razor-blue blade hanging 2 meters above him.
Although he had somewhat anticipated this death for a long time, he was still a human; how could he not be afraid?
However, the paralysis that had gripped his facial nerves, including his right arm, prevented him from displaying an expression of fear to Ferzen.
"Here it is."
Ferzen, who was handed a sword by a retreating guard, opened his mouth after inspecting the well-maintained, sharp blade.
"Cesar Poliana Claudia."
"..."
"For the crime of treason, conspiring with the Obern Kingdom to assassinate a member of the Imperial Family in the Roverium Kingdom, you are hereby sentenced to death on November 13th."
"..."
"From this point forward, the name Claudia shall be forbidden. Your bodies will not find rest in this world; they shall become carrion for the birds."
Following the formal protocol, Ferzen moved his sword closer to the rope connected to the guillotine's blade.
"Do you have any last words?"
"Ferzen von Schweig Brutein."
"..."
"No matter how powerful and splendid a nation may have been, it will still go down the path of decline and repeat its history of destruction."
So, if the day when the Ernes Empire falls comes,
"The reason must be Brutein."
If there was pus that was about to fester and burst, it would only be right to remove it quickly.
How could they not only see it as a problem but embrace it as if it were an honor, without knowing that it is eating away at their flesh?
"...This country is fundamentally wrong."
The Imperial Family must take root and sprout in the country.
However, wasn't the one who took root and sprouted in this country the Brutein?
"That's a boring thing to say."
"..."
"Have you ever touched upon the absurdity experienced by the Imperial Family?"
The way the world works is, after all, full of absurdity and unreasonableness. And only after experiencing it firsthand can humans claim equality for their own selfish desires.
"Don't you think that the Theory of Duality is too old?"
Even if he knew that he was making a mistake, is there any person more suited to argue about the Theory of Duality than the villain?
Therefore, Ferzen looked down at him indifferently and continued speaking.
"Is that all you want to say? Or, do you want to blame God as well?"
"Why should I blame something I never believed in in the first place?"
Even though it was a world where God clearly existed, Cesar wondered whether they could really call it God.
In a world created by the hands of something said to be omnipotent, how could something called evil exist?
Or maybe, it had the will to eliminate evil but did not have the ability to do so?
...If that was the case, it meant that God was not omnipotent.
Or maybe, it had the ability to eliminate evil but did not have the will?
...If that was the case, it meant that God was evil.
Or maybe, it had neither the ability nor the will to eliminate evil?
...If that was the case, why should it be called omnipotent?
Therefore, Cesar neither believed in God nor resented it.
"Ferzen."
"..."
"When the time comes for you to die… I hope all of your karma will become a mirror that reflects who you truly are."
Children and wives,
Dying a miserable and lonely death, neglected by family and retainers, would be the most fitting end for him.
"I hope that everything you have accomplished… will be completely taken away from you."
In fact, it might not take long for it to happen.
He had fulfilled his sinister desire by having his family name trampled on, torn apart, and ruined.
After they were gone, he would undoubtedly seek out the second Claudia family.
However, since there was always someone who pursued the truth.
There would be a day when justice would be served.
"I won't forget you… Even at the end of the Reincarnation cycle."
"..."
After silently listening to Cesar's final words, Ferzen raised his head and gazed at the rope connected to the guillotine's blade.
"If there was someone who told me that the days I lived weren't bad… When my life comes to an end."
Didn't that mean he had lived a happy life?
Yuriel.
Euphemia.
Jeremiah.
Princess Elizabeth.
Since he was confident that there would be plenty of people standing by his side on his deathbed, Ferzen quietly gripped the sword he held, not showing any reaction to Cesar's bitter curse.
He then looked down at Lizzy, who was kneeling in the middle of the area while looking at him. Then, without hesitation, he swung the sword.
Snap-!!
When the strong rope was cut, the sharp blue blade hanging 2 meters above Cesar fell to the floor in an instant...
Kwang-!!
Thud-!!
With a heavy noise, Cesar Poliana Claudia's head was neatly cut off.
"..."
Faced with a large amount of blood splattering on his face and clothes in the process, Ferzen slowly lowered his hand that had been wielding the sword.
Before he knew it, he discovered that he had become desensitized to these evil deeds.
TL Note: Ahhhhh, data BG3 epilogue was just…..Muah….Cheff kiss!
I will have to replay it just so I can get those new Minthara dialogues, and the Shadowheart epilogue.
And Swtor just got a new story update as well, so I'll be playing that with my hot sith warrior!!!
Fuck, I'm such a simp for the sith warrior, I mean it's so cooollll!
Got my ass reading a bunch of star wars fanfics this weekend hehehehhee.
You can rate this serieshere.