Chapter 5. Who Died Alongside Me?
The official presiding over the interrogation looked incredulous as he called the next witness.
“Witness! How dare you address the criminal with an honorific?”
“I merely addressed the person I served as I always have.”
Vincen answered firmly, no longer trembling.
“Hmph. It is believed that you remained in close proximity to the accused for quite some time. Testify regarding the criminal’s wicked deeds. Depending on your testimony, you may also be required to explain your own relationship with the accused. Choose your words carefully.”
“There is nothing.”
The answer came down like the edge of a blade.
“Nothing?”
“I have nothing to report concerning Lady Astir’s conduct. There was never anything suspicious about her.”
“Witness, you have heard the previous testimonies. People of far higher rank and reputation than yourself have testified to the accused’s crimes. Are you daring to claim that all of those testimonies are false?”
“Yes.”
His reply was unwavering.
“My lady is innocent. If anyone claims she committed a crime, then that testimony is perjury.”
“Boo!”
The gallery finally erupted into jeers.
“Watch your tongue! Among the witnesses you are recklessly slandering is none other than your own master, His Grace Duke Nooksieike! How dare a mere squire—”
Before the official could finish, Vincen spoke again.
“I have served the Order of Knights for over twenty years. I have never once brought shame upon the wages I received. Though I have never been formally knighted, I have lived and trained as one of its members. During all those years, I witnessed nothing suspicious.”
“What nonsense!”
“Has he gone mad?!”
The jeering grew even louder.
The official glared at Vincen as though he wished to devour him.
“Witness! Are you truly attempting to shield this criminal, distort the truth, and insult His Imperial Majesty, His Holiness the High Priest, and Saintess Seray herself?”
Instead of answering him, Vincen suddenly shouted toward the high platform where the Emperor, the High Priest, and the Duke were seated.
“I speak the truth! His Grace the Duke subjected a helpless child to relentless abuse! And now he seeks to unjustly take her life as well!”
“…!”
The official was struck speechless by the sudden outburst.
Even the spectators fell silent.
In the strange stillness, Vincen’s voice echoed through the courtroom.
“His Grace abused Lady Astir! If he could torment an innocent child without reason, why wouldn’t he fabricate crimes against her as well?”
It was unimaginable.
Perhaps even he had never imagined he would do such a thing.
He wasn’t even someone who could dare meet the Duke’s gaze directly, let alone speak before the Emperor.
“My lady’s only crime was that she couldn’t endure the pain… that she couldn’t hold back her tears! She committed no other offense!”
…Even though you always scolded me.
You were the one who constantly warned me never to raise my voice before the Duke.
And now you were breaking every rule you had ever taught me.
“If that alone is a crime worthy of death, then tell me this—how does Your Grace intend to atone for driving her to such a fate?”
His finger pointed directly at the Duke seated upon the dais.
“……”
The Duke remained perfectly still.
But his arms were folded—a familiar habit.
I knew exactly what expression lay behind that motion.
Contempt.
Disgust.
“How dare you accuse His Grace! Guards! What are you waiting for? Seize this madman immediately!”
The official was no longer acting as an examiner.
He sounded like an executioner.
The guards rushed forward to restrain Vincen.
He shook them off and shouted again.
“Your Grace! Answer me!”
Thud!
A heavy blow landed against him.
Yet he shouted once more.
“If you possess even a shred of conscience, answer me! Place your hand upon the Holy Scriptures and swear before Heaven! A woman who had no food and survived by picking up discarded crusts of bread… who had no firewood and had to beg the maids in the kitchen for a cup of hot water… where would she have found the money—or the means—to obtain poison?”
Thud!
Another brutal strike.
His knees were forced to the floor.
Still, he continued.
“You drive a person beyond the limits of endurance, then call the words wrung from agony the truth! Do you even know what suffering is? Do you understand what it means when someone says they cannot bear it any longer? No… of course you don’t. That’s why you could commit such cruelty against an innocent child! Torture her to your heart’s content, then declare the confession extracted under torture to be the truth! You should be ashamed—”
BOOM!
A deafening crash silenced him mid-sentence.
A gag was forced into his mouth.
Heavy chains bound him tightly.
Cruelly, it was not only his words that came to an end.
“A witch is capable of ensnaring the minds of others with ease. Vincen Root, it is possible you have fallen victim to her deception. We shall grant you one final opportunity. State your position clearly. Will you retract your reckless statements and provide proper testimony?”
One of the judges rose to his feet.
His voice was cold enough to freeze the air.
“Mm… mmm…!”
A terrible foreboding seized my heart.
I wanted to scream at Vincen.
Just nod.
Please… just nod.
But he rejected the final path left open to him.
“Vincen Root. For the crime of maliciously slandering the dignity of His Grace the Duke, and for disrupting this solemn court held before His Imperial Majesty and His Holiness the High Priest… your offenses cannot be overlooked.”
The icy sentence fell.
“For the combined crimes of defamation and perjury, the court hereby sentences you to tongue extraction and life imprisonment with hard labor.”
“!”
My breath stopped.
Only mine.
The spectators answered the verdict with thunderous cheers and jeers of approval.
“Idiot! In the old days he’d have been burned at the stake alongside the witch. Times really have gotten soft!”
“Tongue extraction? They’re going to rip out his tongue? Ugh… how horrifying. To have your tongue cut out alive and spend the rest of your life doing hard labor… Can anyone even survive that?”
Every cruel remark carved into my heart.
“No… please… please…”
Watching Vincen dragged away like discarded baggage, I collapsed.
He was taken somewhere different from the courtroom entrance.
To the underground prison.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
Holding onto Vincen with the hand that wasn’t carrying the candle, I sobbed.
“Sniff… h-hic…”
I could barely breathe through my tears.
“My lady. Please compose yourself.”
“Vincen…”
“You have a fever.”
He interrupted me with unusual firmness.
There was a reason.
“!”
Several men dressed in black uniforms were watching us.
The Duke’s knights.
My body froze.
The memories of my previous life wrapped themselves around me like chains of terror.
To my soul, it felt as though only yesterday those very men had bound me hand and foot and dragged me into prison.
“My lady is unwell. I shall escort her.”
His steady hand supported me.
Fortunately, the black-clad knights did not stop us.
Judging by my tear-stained face and disheveled appearance, they seemed to accept Vincen’s explanation that I was merely ill.
Supported by him, I returned quietly to the storage room.
I obediently let him do as he wished.
I drank the water he handed me.
I lay down where he told me to.
“Vincen…”
He turned toward me.
My eyes drifted to the line of his jaw.
“I-I’m sorry… Truly… truly sorry…”
Behind his calm gaze, I finally recognized confusion…
And concern.
I simply hadn’t noticed before.
Perhaps he had always looked at me that way.
Perhaps he had always cared.
Just as he had quietly defended me before those knights only moments ago.
“From now on… I’ll do everything you tell me. From now on…”
The tears rose again until I could barely finish speaking.
“You have a fever. It would be best to conserve your strength and rest.”
Was that the first piece of advice he had given me in this lifetime?
I answered weakly with a small nod and closed my eyes.
Without making a sound, he left the room.
The truth was…
I wanted to apologize properly.
I should never have belittled him by saying he was “only a squire.”
So what if he wasn’t a knight?
So what if he had been born a penniless orphan?
Vincen Root.
You were the only knight I ever had.
If only I had listened to you sooner…
If only I had been wiser…
Nothing would have happened to you.
Even now, I was still so foolish.
Set fire to the Duke’s estate?
It had been an absurd idea.
The ducal household was no place that could be shaken so easily.
The men who had blocked my path were highly trained knights.
If Vincen hadn’t stopped me, I would have been captured instantly.
Everything would have ended there.
I would have become an arsonist and met my death even sooner.
If only that had been the end of it.
Vincen would have been implicated as well, accused of failing in his duty to watch over me.
The thought of ruining his life all over again because of me filled me with unbearable agony.
Once I acknowledged my guilt, it came crashing over me like a tidal wave.
Two more names surfaced.
Hector.
Killes.
The men who had tried so desperately to save me…
Only to be imprisoned because of it.
And then…
“You idiots… you fools… Why…?”
The screams I had heard within the flames echoed in my ears once more.
Even when I first realized I had returned in time, I hadn’t cried.
But now the tears surged uncontrollably.
After crying until no more tears remained, my face burned, yet my mind had finally calmed.
Reuniting with Vincen had awakened feelings I hadn’t experienced since my return.
This life no longer contained only people I wanted to kill.
It also held people I longed to see again.
Vincen.
Hector.
Killes.
And…
Him.
The one whose identity I never learned.
The one who had leapt into the fire to save me…
And died embracing me.
At the very end, his unwavering touch conveyed his resolve without a single word.
Since I can no longer save you… then I will die with you.
A powerful emotion welled up inside me.
As much as I despised myself for it…
I couldn’t suppress it.
It was stronger than gratitude.
Stronger than guilt.
Far more primal.
Curiosity.
Who was it?
Between Hector and Killes…
Who was the one who died beside me?
Neither angels nor demons had appeared yet.
If fate had truly granted me another chance at life, I had no intention of being tortured and executed again.
It wasn’t merely a desire to survive.
There was now something I wanted even more desperately.
Even more than killing the Duke.
Even more than killing Seray.
I wanted to discover…
Who that person was.
To do that, I first had to stay alive.
Since my previous death had been murder, I needed to eliminate, one by one, every condition that had led to it.
When you don’t know the right answer…
You begin by eliminating the wrong ones.
From that perspective, even the outdoor chapel—where I had once been forced to scrub with freezing water as punishment—could prove useful.
In my previous life…
My terrible reputation had become the noose around my neck.
“Not once did anyone see her attend the temple properly. Despite Saintess Seray’s repeated invitations, she skipped every charity event, every volunteer gathering… even every prayer service.”
“I saw it with my own eyes! She even fell asleep during Mass!”
Viewed individually, each offense had been trivial.
Yet during my heresy trial, every single one of them became decisive evidence of my guilt.
Back then, whenever Seray was present, she tormented me so subtly that I couldn’t attend charity work.
I had no money, so donating was out of the question.
And after being beaten daily by the Duke for my poor grades and forced to stand as punishment, exhaustion always overcame me.
So I had dozed off.
I hadn’t donated.
I couldn’t recite prayers eloquently.
For that…
They called me a heretic.
They declared I deserved to be burned alive.
A bitter smile touched my lips.
This time…
I would make sure no one could question my devotion.
For now, I had neither money nor freedom.
So I intended to remain quietly inside the chapel and pray.
“!”
The moment I stepped outside, I froze.
…What?
How could I see all of this?
Everything was astonishingly clear.
There was no better word for it.
Every object had sharp outlines.
Distinct shadows.
Nothing was blurred.
It wasn’t only time that had returned.
My eyesight had returned as well.
So…
I hadn’t been born with failing vision after all.
For the first time, hope filled my heart.
Yes…
If my sight could be restored…
Perhaps I had been given another chance as well.
“…!”
But that fragile hope shattered instantly.
“Explain what happened yesterday.”
Black eyes.
Black hair.
Black clothing.
Standing before the Duke of Nooksieike inside the chapel…
My heart froze in my chest.
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