Chapter 257 – Ending (4)
We confidently entered the front door and headed to the queen. There were no people who dared point the tip of their sword at us.
The guards and direct knights must have also known that there was no chance of victory. He gave up resistance much more neatly than expected, which made things easier.
The ministers who were supposed to be attending to business inside the castle seemed to have already run away, and the people followed us into the castle, perhaps because they wanted to see the end of this story. The land where lowly things could not dare to tread was now filled with a rushing murmur.
In the meantime, I had a few questions:
No matter how much the queen harassed us, the country’s management was clearly flawless.
Despite this, the support of the crowd and close associates was directed towards us.
It didn’t take long for the question to be resolved.
In front of the final door leading to the throne room,
When Neva, no one else, very politely and brilliantly smashed that heavy, luxurious door to pieces,
We all had an audience with the queen as she sat forlornly alone.
In the throne room, which was so dark and gloomy that the rare and elaborate decorations inside seemed useless, she was really the only one sitting upright, waiting for us.
No one stayed by the queen’s side. Her matted hair and roughly applied makeup told all about her condition.
Nevertheless, as if she had not yet been discouraged, her intense gaze was full of clear hatred and murder.
It was clearly headed towards me.
Don’t be swayed by anyone else, just focus on yourself.
It was as if I thought everyone around me was someone who did not exist. No, maybe no one really saw it.
The eerie atmosphere made the crowd that followed us hesitate and retreat. A little boy who followed her without knowing anything ran out of the castle, crying as if he had seen her ghost.
However, the only people who stayed at that moment were me, her, and all of her colleagues. To be honest, other people didn’t matter. I just walked slowly in front of her as she spewed out her clear hatred right before my eyes.
“Stop.”
Instead, I wanted to stop my steps towards the queen. But I had no reason to stop.
It was different from before, when I was trembling and just watching. I was scared, but I was still able to do it.
“I told you to stop!”
Her loud screams that rang out in all directions threatened to tear our eardrums. The scream, at a level that made it hard to believe that a person could make such a sound, made ordinary people who were slowly moving away from the throne room go home like a whip.
It was not a shout containing magic or mystical power.
Contains only her emotions and evil,
It was just one person’s last notice.
“A stupid and shallow bastard. All he knows how to do is give his body to other girls and ride on their power.”
When I stopped, she got up and came over to me. There was still a long bright red carpet on the street between us, but for some reason, we could see each other’s faces so clearly, as if we were having a conversation right in front of us.
Black marks were etched on her cheeks from her evil tears. The makeup ran down her tears, and was scattered by the violent gesture, staining the area around her eyes black.
“Okay, I’ll admit it. You’re incredibly talented at selling your body. The best prostitute ever! That’s right, you won! That’s amazing! You got this far with just one dick!”
Her trembling voice,
The vein in my neck looks like it’s about to burst.
The blood flow rushed to her head, and it turned red. Her face was redder than the carpet we were standing on, redder than my cloak, and her face was overflowing with anger and hatred.
“Now are you going to kill me? Cut off my head and hang me in that square! Give the idiots who can’t even tell their own way and give them stones one by one and tell them to throw them until they see my skull! Oh, that would be great! Isn’t it a relief? It’s the best. It’s revenge!”
Frivolous and contrived applause passed between us. Clapping so hard that her palms exploded, she walked away unsteadily.
Even when Rico and Neva stood next to me and grabbed their weapons, she didn’t stop.
“You’re going to die of joy, right? Huh? Aren’t you excited to have the chance to personally hang up that vicious bitch who has been tormenting you so much? My dog?”
The queen gritted her teeth, trying to use the same tone as before. Her beautiful, well-fitting dress was torn to reveal her legs, and her shoes, which had highlighted her, were already thrown somewhere and rolling around on her.
“Queen.”
I asked her that question. Seeing the fall of the woman who had reigned so high, she said something she had never asked before.
“Would you mind telling me your name?”
“What?”
The queen asked back, as if she was dumbfounded.
I don’t know how to describe her expression.
In the midst of suffocating despair and resentment,
“What is your name?”
I saw the futile hope that I was trying so hard to hide.
“…”
She finally shut her mouth. She bit down on her lip, which was leaking blood from chewing so hard, that she didn’t say anything.
She glared at me instead.
This time, I felt a slightly different gaze.
I still want to kill myself, and I resent myself so much that I can’t express it in words,
Still, I didn’t hate it.
“Don’t be a damn thing. You pretend to be good and noble until the end.”
Rather, that may be why she spoke out her harsh words.
“Who are you? Can you do anything? Do you know who I am? Do you know what I think and how I lived? I act like a hypocrite just in moderation. It’s disgusting to see.”
However, I had no intention of killing her.
She just wanted to know her name.
“What is your name?”
“Please shut up! Oh, yes. You want to make it even more miserable? Sounds good? Smart! But what? You really don’t give a fuck anymore?”
Every time she was asked her name, the queen swore and cursed.
“You will live like that for the rest of your life. There is nothing you can achieve on your own. You depend on others to survive and pretend to be noble, clean, and pure. A great saint is here.”
As if she was letting out all the emotions she had been holding inside, she continued to let it out without getting tired.
“Can you be this happy for the rest of your life? No way. You will never die well. All your limbs will be torn apart, and you will wander around like a beggar before dying miserably. When will your luck run out? How long will God be on your side? Shall I give it to you?”
However, the more it went on, the more it fell apart.
She crashed in such a mess that Rico and Neva also withdrew their weapons.
Maybe it was I who made the queen like this.
Her presence in her country, her encounter with her, may have ultimately led to her downfall.
I felt sorry for her as she was left alone in the end, but I couldn’t guess what she was thinking,
There was one last punishment left for her.
We did not kill her so that she could fully enjoy her punishment.
“Tell me your name, so I can give you a name.”
Her stomach was swollen.
Everyone knew that the normal pregnancy of women in another world did not swell that much,
From the moment she kicked in the door, everyone could guess that she was pregnant.
“I will no longer call you queen. Instead, I will call you by your name. You may not live here any longer, but you will not be killed either.”
The queen laughed. No, I guess I should say she was crying. At a stage somewhere between crying and laughing, she sat down on the carpet and squeaked at me.
“… Do you think you are merciful? Or do you think you are good?”
Gradually, there was more crying than laughter,
“Absolutely not. You are a devil… Just because you have wings on your back doesn’t mean you are a devil. Someone like you is a true devil.”
The crying turned into sobbing.
“If it weren’t for you, none of this would have happened. You made me like this…”
Maybe what she says is true. I was her devil, her curse, and her ordeal.
Because she had already made so many mistakes, everything she realized after meeting me may have been a stranglehold on her.
Maybe even to my sisters,
No, maybe it’s the same for everyone else I’ve met.
“What should I do now? Ugh…?”
I found out later that she had actually lost the trust of those around her even before we invaded.
They tried unreasonable things to catch me, but they all failed, and they probably didn’t even care about the state affairs that they had done so well.
Her ability to be intelligent enough to defend her cruel nature was gone, so there was no way anyone would remain by her side anymore.
She just,
She was left alone with her unborn child, sitting on an empty throne.
The queen, who had finally realized her own mistakes and the suffering of others, seemed to have reached a point where she could no longer bear it.
She lived her whole life unable to empathize with others, but she had no choice but to suffer from constant self-loathing due to the contradictory existence of herself and her unborn child.
Because she is more vicious than the previous queen who tried to kill her,
She seemed to be filled with disgusting maternal love and anxiety every time her new life stirred inside her.
As much as she loved me, she couldn’t help but love the child in her belly,
Just as I ran away, the unborn child was also destined to despise her mother one day.
Just as she wanted to kill me, she wanted to erase the child from her life and regain her freedom,
Just as she couldn’t kill me, she couldn’t kill her child with her own hands.
All she had left was a feeling of guilt she could never repay. It was only when she could no longer maintain a normal relationship with me that she felt a sense of guilt suffocating her.
Behind the shattered image of the queen, there was only regret.
And, in front of it,
“I asked you what your name was. What is your name? Please tell me.”
The blade of her God’s judgment, her salvation, and her condemnation that would slowly kill her throughout her life was pointed at her neck.
I held out my hand to her as she sat down and gave her the final punishment.
“… Alune.”
A curse that will ensnare her so deeply that she will never forget it again.
“Then the child’s name is Alun. It doesn’t matter if she is a daughter or a son.”
That’s how Queen Alune of Albator left.
Her clouded eyes did not look at us until the moment she left the royal palace,
It was the first time her bare feet fell onto the stone road without shoes.
“Queen, no, Alune.”
I spoke to her behind her for the last time.
“I will go see you often.”
For a moment, I thought my steps would stop, but
She just slowed down a little and seemed to think about something, then she walked forward again.
“Can I send it like that? What’s the kid’s crime?”
Rico asked, clicking her tongue. But, I could tell.
“… Send it to me.”
She can never give up her child,
She can’t give up on life.
For that, she loved me too much,
Unfortunately, I loved her.
