Chapter 88

Episode 88: Death, Be My Mark

* * *

“I want you to chop my body up so that I don’t come back to life.”

At my request, Anakin lost his words for a moment and rubbed his face dryly. He seemed to be picking words as he clenched his teeth over and over again. Anakin, who refined his voice with a sigh, asked me with sad-looking eyes.

“Are you asking me to chop your body with my hands?”

“Yes.”

“Is that included in preventing you from reviving?”

“…..Yes.”

I knew it was an unreasonable request. Most countries usually did, but the empire was sensitive to the damage of the body. If the body was damaged, the owner of the soul would go to hell. Perhaps because of that, criminals who damaged a dead body were severely punished.

No matter how much Anakin did not believe in God, even if he was an atheist, religious culture and customs were embedded deep in people’s perceptions.

It was Anakin who had already done a lot for me. I couldn’t even make him do this. The moment I said it was just enough, Anakin quietly said,

“……If I set fire, would that be okay?”

“I know it’s too much of a request. It’s okay to refuse.”

“No, I’ll do it. I want to do it. With my own hands… Please allow me to let you go.”

He was always like this. No matter what I asked for, he didn’t show any signs of dislike, and he tolerated my demands without saying a word.

Without saying a word, my touch, my gaze…… He understood and accepted everything.

It was strange to simply be loyal.

But if I hastily misunderstood his loyalty, I was the only one who would get hurt.

I was selfish, so I only asked you at the end, after I got to the end.

“Anakin, me…… Do you like me?

Only then did Anakin laugh a little. Then he said it a little playfully.

“You didn’t know? I thought you knew.”

“…….”

“I’m not good enough to kiss someone I don’t even like.”

When was it? No, it didn’t really matter when it started.

I had firmly believed that Anakin was not mine, but Eris’ black knight. So I used to doubt all the actions he showed me. As Eris, it would be a favour for me as the ‘character’ of this novel.

But no. It wasn’t.

I made you. You loved me, not Eris.

Tears flowed from the truth that I realised too late. I didn’t want to cry because it was the last time, but why was I always like this?

Anakin hugged me silently and waited for me to calm down. When I finally stopped crying, I thought I didn’t want to lose him.

To be precise, I hated and regretted his future that I could not see. I felt afraid to see him meet, live, and move forward with other people in a place where I was not.

To him, my appearance would be squeezed into this moment for the rest of his life. I hated it. I hated it and I was scared!

“Maybe it’s nonsense.”

I knew it was crazy.

“It could just be death. But if you still like it…… If you… If you want.”

I knew better than anyone else that crossing the world was not as simple as it sounded. Maybe it was impossible to devote Anakin’s whole life. But, nevertheless, I knelt down and dared to ask Anakin.

“Die for me. And come to my world and live with me.”

Anakin opened his eyes wide as if surprised when he heard it. He asked me back in disbelief.

“Really? Really… Is it okay to follow Master?”

“Fool, you have to get angry. I’m telling you to die.”

“I just thought I was abandoned. Even though I know it can’t be helped…… I guess I was expecting you to stay.”

“Anakin…”

(PR/N: Romeo and Juliet who? I only know Anakin and Eris)

Was he crying? Anakin was crying. The first time I saw them, I embarrassingly wiped his tears with the back of my hand. Anakin saw me like that and whispered. I’m happy. I’m allowed to chase you.… Because I’m happy.

Looking at him shedding tears, I suddenly thought I had the bottle in my pocket.

I thought I left it with the marquis, but I didn’t know how it was in the pocket.

But the moment I confirmed that I had the bottle, I took it out and filled it with Anakin’s tears. I felt like I had to do that.

It was a very small bottle, so even a few drops of tears filled it easily. The bottle filled with tears soon disappeared like snow melting in my hand.

It was neither the tears of the dragon nor any tears. It was Anakin’s tears. Were the tears of the loved one a condition? We looked at my empty hands silently.

Even though I knew I had to go back to the tower, I couldn’t take a step when I thought it was my last chance to see Anakin’s face.

I didn’t want to go. But I had to go.

I didn’t have any promise, but I might not be able to see him forever.…!

“You know, Anakin. I love you.”

Eventually, before going back into the mirror, I looked back at Anakin and smiled,

“I wanted to keep saying this.”

I didn’t remember Anakin’s expression.

* * *

I pointed out that I was a witch, but when I got up, everyone just looked at me on the guillotine and didn’t swear or gossip.

It shouldn’t be like this. I certainly had to be rebuked to never come back to this world again.

I looked among people, but I couldn’t see any of the people I was looking for. Of course, among these many people, there was no way that a miracle would happen to find a face at once.

However, even if it was hard to find a face, the voice could be recognized at once. As I asked, Kynthia was screaming for me among these countless people.

“Strike that witch on the neck!”

The hoarse voice, full of tears, was desperately shouting for my death. The people assimilated by the scream soon clenched their fists and shouted together.

“Strike that witch on the neck!”

Kynthia was the only one out of all these people who didn’t want me to die.

My fingertips were shaking. But I shouldn’t make it obvious. Because the witch should not be seen as ‘human’.

“Strike that witch on the neck!”

If the world was a big play, what song would resonate at the end? Suddenly, with that thought, my neck was pushed onto the execution table. I hoped it was a grand and wonderful orchestra ensemble.… I hoped vaguely.

Yes, I knew it.… The song I heard before seemed to be ringing in my ears.

When I hummed a verse, it was rattling.

Everything was over.

* * *

It was a dark night where he couldn’t even hear the birds cry. Perhaps it was because of the weather that gave a chill, or because the place they were headed for was the morgue.

The season was spring, but the temperature was cool enough to snow, so the two men were firmly dressed.

Under the torch, he walked through the underground passage of the imperial palace, where two shadows were intertwined like the paths of a labyrinth. The reason why Jason and Hubris, who have never met each other, were together was because of Lady Misérian.

On the night Lady Misérian’s death penalty was confirmed, Alecto secretly called the two together.

“…Instead of her, do you remember what you said to me in the past? You said it would be easier to revive Helena if she had died.”

“Yes, that’s how I replied.”

“Then can I take it as a sign that you can save the dead?”

At that, Jason, who was next to him, turned his head and looked at Hubris. Even without saying, everyone in this room knew what it meant.

This was because there were only two women in the intersection of these three men, who seemed to be close but were not.

When Hubris nodded silently, Alecto asked Hubris.

“Survival means the master of the soul will come back, right? It’s not like a living body.”

“My power is not magic, Your Majesty. It’s different even from Magic Engineers.”

“That’s all it matters. ……We will place Eris Misérian in a space where the bodies of the imperial families are placed underground.”

Originally, it was something that was not allowed. Aside from the fact that she was no longer in the royal family because they broke up, she was executed for treason.

However, it was taken into account that she remained the crown prince’s fiancée for a long time, and that there was no one to collect her body and hold a funeral because the Misérian family was killed.

After persuading, Alecto decided to keep her body for a while, and bury Lady Misérian together when the temple collected the bodies of the unclaimed and held a collective funeral.

Of course, Alecto had no intention of sending Eris’ body to the temple from the beginning.

“Save her. Jason will guide you through the underground passageway. And I will leave it up to you, Jason, to escape the country.”

At the words of the crown prince, Hubris asked.

“What are you going to say to the temple?”

“A body of a similar size has been saved. There is no fear of being caught anyway, as it is the law to cover the bodies of the royal family with cloth so that they cannot check the faces.”

The reason Alecto allowed the public execution in the first place was because he thought it would be easier to escape if Hubris could save Eris, making her a completely dead person and showing everyone.

The general public would never dream that the dead could be revived, so even if they saw Eris’ face in the process of escaping, they would only regard her as a similar person.

Alecto paused for a moment and drew a picture of the face that would be trapped in the tower. He didn’t intend to look at her face in case he had any lingering feelings of regret or obsession.