Chapter 3. In the World Where Only You Died, and the One Who Died With Me
So the rumor that condemned prisoners were given a decent final meal was just that—a rumor.
Or perhaps even that was too much luxury for someone like me.
The stench hit me before I even looked down. Instead of food, a bowl filled with a highly volatile oil had been placed in front of me. The smell was so overpowering that there was no mistaking what it was.
“Eat it! Now!”
The guards pried my mouth open and force-fed me the oil.
Oddly enough, it didn’t hurt.
Perhaps my stomach had already been completely dissolved.
All I felt was a violent shudder at the unfamiliar, revolting smell.
Then, unexpectedly, the guards panicked.
“Y-Your Holiness!”
“What are you doing in a place like this?!”
The head of the Holy Temple had come in person…
…to visit the infamous witch.
“…You look even younger than I remembered.”
The same words I had heard when I was sentenced to death.
During my trial, the High Priest had hesitated before speaking, surprising even the Emperor.
“The accused has not yet reached adulthood. Is it truly right to impose the ultimate punishment? The Second Saint’s Great Code clearly states that those who have not yet come of age are to be spared execution…”
A cardinal had immediately objected.
“No matter how sacred the Great Code may be, anything that hinders the preservation of humanity and the continent must be cast aside. Furthermore, the accused has abandoned her duties as one of the faithful. She no longer possesses the right to God’s protection.”
“Honestly, Your Holiness is far too soft.”
“As expected of Cardinal Equuus. He knows how to make difficult decisions.”
“His Holiness is a kind man, but in situations like this, I can’t help wishing Cardinal Equuus had become High Priest instead…”
No one had defended the High Priest.
He had quietly fallen silent.
So…
Why had he come to see me again?
“Please… open the door for a moment. At the very least, I should hear her final confession…”
A confession?
Of what?
“I envied the Saintess and tried to kill her. I’m sorry.”
I’d repeated those words countless times under torture.
The truth had already been thoroughly denied by the Inquisition.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
“Your Holiness! Forgive us, but we cannot allow it!”
“If that deceitful witch harms Your Holiness…”
The prison erupted in protest.
They insisted that if I had dared target the Saintess, manipulate a Grandmaster and members of the imperial family, then even the High Priest wouldn’t be safe.
How could anyone grant confession to such a heretical witch?
Perhaps I truly was a monster…
Even if I wasn’t a witch.
Truthfully, I didn’t want to see him either.
I’d rather have had a sip of clean water…
Or just one chance to see Killes and Hector.
Of course…
Neither wish would come true.
The High Priest left in lonely silence.
The next visitor was the Saintess.
“She was once my only little sister. I should at least see her one last time…”
Sniffling pitifully, Sei eventually succeeded in dismissing everyone except a single Holy Knight.
“Ahahahaha!”
The moment I asked why she had gone this far…
She laughed.
Brightly.
Freely.
“As if it isn’t obvious.”
“I’m the Saintess. A duchess’s daughter. The future Crown Prince’s wife.”
“And you?”
“A monster.”
“Ugly.”
“Stupid.”
“Nothing more than a pathetic little insect.”
Even with my failing eyesight…
I could still see her radiant smile.
“You know… I hate moths.”
“Filthy little things pretending to be butterflies without knowing their place.”
“Whenever I saw one fluttering around, I wanted to rip its guts out.”
“Just like you.”
Her soprano laughter sounded like an evil spirit scraping iron bars with sharpened claws.
“Even if you…”
“Enough.”
“…!”
“…Huh?”
A rough voice suddenly interrupted.
We had both forgotten about the Holy Knight standing nearby.
“That’s enough.”
“Watch your tongue.”
“But everything’s already over.”
“There are still plenty of eyes and ears outside.”
“And we still don’t know whether that girl’s… power… has truly disappeared.”
“…Fine.”
Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Sei lightly tapped the prison bars with her finger.
“Anyway, I’ve seen everything I wanted.”
“If I didn’t come now, I’d never have another chance.”
“I have to attend luncheon.”
“His Imperial Highness and Duke Nuxieike have been terribly insistent.”
“I can’t keep them waiting.”
“But for my beloved little sister…”
“I suppose I’ll move my fork as slowly as possible.”
“For today only, I won’t even worry about getting fat.”
“I’ll finish every bite of dessert.”
“Dragging things out a little longer should at least give you enough time to sob while praying.”
Her skirts rustled softly.
Even the faint scent of lilies clinging to her seemed impossibly elegant.
“Oh, and I heard they’ll drag you out after noon.”
“Isn’t today rather hot?”
“You’ll be tied to the execution stake beneath the blazing sun.”
“That sounds awfully uncomfortable.”
“When I think about that…”
“…Maybe I should hurry and finish lunch after all.”
“Oh dear.”
“What a difficult decision.”
Her bright smile drove another nail into my heart.
“Goodbye, Astir.”
“I’ll say farewell now.”
“Have a pleasant trip to Hell.”
“You probably won’t be able to hear me at the execution grounds.”
The Holy Knight suddenly looked at me.
“She’s only nineteen this year… wasn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Then…”
“At last…”
“Poor Asha’s grudge has finally been avenged.”
His words were strange.
Without another explanation, he turned and walked away.
As Sei followed him, I forced out the last of my strength.
“W-Wait…”
Even I hadn’t expected myself to beg.
“I-I won’t ask you to spare my life…”
“Just once…”
“Just this once…”
“It’s the last time…”
Hot liquid surged from my mouth.
“G-Grandfather…”
“Please…”
“Just let me see him…”
“Only once…”
“…Ha.”
The only answer I received was cold contempt.
“He’s already gone to the luncheon.”
“Why would Grandfather ever want to see someone like you?”
“He doesn’t even want to think about a monster like you anymore.”
“If you had any brains…”
“You’d know that.”
“But if you had brains…”
“You wouldn’t be a monster in the first place.”
Clicking her tongue one last time…
Sei disappeared.
The public square was packed as densely as storm clouds.
The moment the condemned woman appeared…
The crowd erupted.
Stones.
Garbage.
Insults.
Boos.
“Kill the witch!”
“Burn her already!”
Astir remained silent.
She shed no tears.
She neither screamed nor begged.
Barefoot and limping…
She simply kept walking.
“Burn the monster!”
“Death to the sinner!”
The crowd only grew more excited.
At last…
The brown-haired woman climbed the ladder onto the towering pile of firewood.
“WAAAAAH!”
A single emotion swept across the plaza like a tidal wave.
Ecstasy.
I desperately twisted my body.
Toward the nobles’ viewing platform.
I was supposed to face the crowd.
Even knowing my poor eyesight wouldn’t let me distinguish anyone…
I searched.
Hector.
Killes.
Neither was there.
Then—
“…!”
Sei.
I found her.
Standing beside her…
A man dressed entirely in black.
There wasn’t a single person who wouldn’t recognize him.
Even if I truly were the monster they all claimed.
I still knew who he was.
Duke Nuxieike.
As though sensing my gaze, he turned toward me.
Because of my nearsightedness, his face was nothing more than a flesh-colored blur.
Yet…
I still understood.
His expression was cold.
Calm.
He knew that once I was tied to the stake…
Once the flames were lit…
Everything would truly be over.
And yet…
Not the slightest trace of emotion crossed his face.
He simply waited for the execution to begin.
“Not everything.”
“Only you are dying.”
His gaze spoke clearly enough.
Contempt.
Disgust.
Indifference.
Sei whispered something to him.
Without another glance at me…
He lowered himself toward her.
Just like that.
He dismissed me.
As though I had never existed.
Even though this would be the last moment of my life before him.
“Duke…”
A faint smile tugged at my lips.
Only now did I realize…
That I had desperately wanted to believe he was family.
There had never been such a thing.
“…Let’s never…”
“…meet again.”
You love the Saintess more than anything.
Then follow her to Heaven.
I’ll go to Hell.
So when we die…
Let’s never see each other again.
The ropes tightened around the stake.
I looked up at the sky.
Almost as though praying for rain clouds.
But the heavens were perfectly clear.
A typical midsummer afternoon.
Scorching.
Relentless.
As if the sun itself intended to set my body ablaze before the executioners could.
“K-Killes…”
“Hector…”
The names I had spoken most recently escaped my lips first.
“…Father…”
Then another.
One I hadn’t spoken in years.
“…Mother.”
And finally…
The name I’d been forced to forget for far too long.
“Even in Hell, repent to the Saintess!”
“Even in death, God will never forgive you!”
The Saintess had been a villain only to me.
Yet…
That had never mattered.
Was I the witch simply because I hated the Saintess?
Just as God had chosen her to be the Saintess…
Had I become the witch simply because she declared me one?
But there was no time left.
Some instinct told me I had to suffocate before the flames reached me.
I desperately inhaled the smoke.
Even fantasies were luxuries now.
Then…
Was a hallucination a luxury too?
“AAAAAAAH!”
“AAAAAAH!”
A scream erupted from below.
Raw.
Violent.
As though someone were coughing up blood.
“Astir!”
“…!”
“Astir!”
“No!”
“Please!”
“Astir!”
No.
It couldn’t be.
It couldn’t…
Yet…
I knew that voice.
Even if I couldn’t tell exactly whose it was.
“Don’t!”
“Please!”
“Stop!”
“Please stop!”
“Astir!”
Ah…
Why now?
I’d wanted to see them just once.
Just once before I died.
They had been the only comfort…
The only happiness…
In my short life.
The only people I had dared hope could become my friends.
Perhaps even…
Someone I could love.
But not like this.
Never like this.
No matter how selfish I might have been.
Never.
“My God!”
“What are you doing?!”
“Your Grace!”
“Save His Grace!”
“Hurry!”
“Hurry!”
How…
How was I even capable of feeling shock while dying?
A tall man dressed in white suddenly appeared before me.
They said angels wore white.
But he had no wings.
He was alive.
He rushed toward me and frantically tried to untie the ropes.
When they refused to budge…
He slammed his head against them.
As though sheer force would somehow set me free.
He had clearly lost his mind.
“…Go…”
I gave up trying to inhale the smoke.
Instead…
The black fumes filled my mouth even faster.
“…Go back…”
“Please…”
“Leave…”
This was a meaningless death!
Unlike someone like me…
Your life mattered!
Go!
While you still can!
He knew that too.
For just an instant…
He turned his head toward the ground far below.
Toward the world he could still return to.
But he came back.
Clung to me again.
Then—
“AAAAAAAH!”
A scream unlike anything I’d ever heard.
Pure agony.
The kind only fire could produce.
Yet even that scream ended all too quickly.
He dropped to his knees.
Stretching out his arms…
He embraced me.
Though we were closer than anyone could ever be…
Smoke lay between us.
My failing eyes couldn’t see him.
My ears couldn’t hear him.
A cool, gentle breeze suddenly swept across us.
A breeze that had nothing to do with the execution grounds.
As if the heavens themselves had chosen this moment to play one final trick.
The wind briefly parted the curtain of smoke between us.
For the first time…
I saw one of his eyes.
Who…
Who are you?
They weren’t emerald.
Nor hazel.
The orange flames greedily devoured yellow and crimson alike…
Reflecting within his eyes.
The wind carried the fire upward.
As though the breeze itself bore the name…
Fate.
Ah.
So this…
Was truly the end.
I closed my eyes.
“AAAAAH!”
Within the darkness…
Astir screamed as though consumed by fire.
Why?
Why?!
Why had this happened—
Again.
She had returned.
Back to the North.
Back…
To Nuxieike.
