The next day.

Even as she was dragged away by the guards, Sesenia’s body remained unresponsive.

Whatever it was that Elzere wanted to hide so desperately, she had paralyzed Sesenia’s entire body, leaving her unable to speak properly.

In this state, she was placed on the execution platform.

“Sesenia Bestel. You, as the Empress of a nation, not only abused Elzere, who carries the Emperor’s seed, but also attempted to kill the Imperial Prince, the Emperor’s child. You have been brought here to receive the death sentence. Do you agree?”

“……”

“Are you refusing to answer? If you don’t respond, we’ll take it as agreement.”

“…No.”

Her mouth finally moved, as if driven by the will to not die without saying a word. Her mouth still felt numb, and it took tremendous effort to move it at will, but this much was enough.

“No?”

This was all the rebellion Sesenia could muster. She glared at her sister Elzere, who was holding a child in her arms. Elzere’s eyes widened in surprise at Sesenia’s speech, but she quickly shook her head. Her expression said that there was nothing Sesenia could do now.

The Emperor had his arm around Elzere protectively, and a step behind, Ian grinned with apparent delight.

“No. I do not agree.”

However, as Sesenia continued to speak, the reactions around her grew increasingly uneasy.

“How can she be so shameless? They say she tried to kill the Prince. Even her own sister.”

“Good heavens. She’s not human, she’s no different from a demon.”

Ignoring the voices condemning her, Sesenia raised her voice.

“Is it not a crime for the Emperor of a nation to have an affair with the Empress’s sister? Was it wrong of me to send her to the North instead of killing her, simply because she was my sister? I didn’t know she was pregnant, didn’t know she had given birth. If I had known… if I had known…!”

What would have been different?

Sesenia, who was about to say something, suddenly lost her spirit.

“If you had known, what? Would anything have been different?”

At that moment, the Emperor questioned Sesenia.

She should have answered something, but Sesenia bit her lip hard at the Emperor’s words.

‘Indeed, what would have been different?’

But she didn’t want to suffer without saying anything. At the very least, she wanted to plant a seed of doubt in their minds. Even if she died here, even if happiness found them, she wanted them to doubt and suspect each other someday in the future.

In this situation where no one would listen to the truth even if she told it, she wanted to do at least that much.

“I know you won’t listen no matter what I say, but I still have to speak. To show how much they have to hide, my sister Elzere even used poison on me yesterday to keep me from talking.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

She knew well that it wouldn’t help at all.

“Everything they’ve created is fake.”

Still, she had to say it. Because the only one who could protect herself was herself.

“Nonsense.”

It was then that Sesenia realized. Seeing the Emperor unmoved by any of her words, responding to nothing except the mention of being poisoned, she understood everything.

“Nonsense… But now I see that you knew too.”

“Knew what?”

“That my sister had given birth to a child. That I hadn’t done anything. If you had known, that statement ‘Would anything have been different?’… It proves that you, the Emperor, knew everything as well.”

Observing his behavior, Sesenia finally felt it. That she alone had been ignorant of everything. That everyone else had known.

“I know you won’t listen to anything I say. But you know what? You, the Emperor, and everyone else are strange. It feels like you’re all trying to cover everything up unusually quickly. Executing me like this without even a trial despite my being the Empress… Even trying to dismiss the fact that Elzere, that woman who claims to be my sister, poisoned me… Isn’t it all too suspicious? As if you’re trying to kill me as quickly as possible?”

Sesenia shouted towards those who were harshly criticizing her.

“If that’s not the case, if there’s really nothing to hide, then give me a trial. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The atmosphere changed noticeably. Despite any grave crimes she might have committed, she was still the Empress.

And people began to waver like reeds in the wind. Everything had happened unusually quickly. Even if the Empress’s guilt was certain, ordering an execution without a trial was unprecedented.

Those who belatedly realized this began to murmur.

As if to quell this, the Emperor hastily spoke up.

“Ridiculous.”

“Isn’t it rather suspicious that you’re trying to have me killed here without a trial? I suppose you all, the Emperor and my sister Elzere, have something to hide, which is why you’re all trying to silence me. Isn’t that right?”

The murmuring of the crowd grew louder.

“I guess there’s nothing I can do since the people who make the decisions have already made up their minds to kill me… But I want you all to know… that they’re… killing me with lies…”

She had already given up on everything.

It wasn’t that they were killing her out of ignorance. They were killing her to better suit their own purposes. Once she realized this, there was nothing more she could change.

“And you’d better be careful. To be honest… who knows if that child is really the Emperor’s? Isn’t the Prince, who betrayed me, his long-time friend, and sided with my sister, also suspicious? Even if he’s of royal blood… might he not be your child?”

Sesenia looked at him with a smirk.

“Wh-what nonsense…!”

“Don’t insult my pure love!!”

As expected, Ian burst out in anger, his veins popping.

“Whether it’s pure love, or a royal child obtained by flirting with this man and that… who knows.”

“Is that all you have to say, Sesenia?”

Elzere, holding the child, looked at Sesenia as if she were pathetic. It was true that this was all she had. Words without any evidence. But Elzere failed to see the Emperor standing behind her, his expression suddenly changed.

“Don’t you know that what you’re saying could be considered an insult to the royal family? How foolish.”

“Is that all you can threaten me with, Elzere? What does insulting the royal family matter when I’m about to die anyway? You’re the foolish one, Elzere.”

You’ve ruined yourself.

The child her sister had given birth to, whom Sesenia had glimpsed, was undoubtedly a child of royal blood.

Golden hair. It was a trait that only royalty could possess. It was obvious that the child was the Emperor’s. But doubt had taken root in the Emperor.

‘At least you won’t be very happy while you’re alive, sister.’

Sesenia smirked and looked at them.

“If Prince Ian had no connection to Elzere, he wouldn’t have been so eager to testify against me, would he, Your Majesty? Well. That’s all I have to say. I won’t say anything more, it’s getting tiresome. And be careful. A sister who didn’t hesitate to poison her own sibling… Elzere, who has that kind of relationship with Prince Ian, won’t leave you, the Emperor, alone either.”

The Emperor’s expression turned severe. Seeing this, Sesenia tightly closed her mouth. As if she knew much more but was choosing not to say it. The seeds of doubt she had already sown had taken root in the minds of the Emperor and others present.

‘The Emperor had never been able to have a child.’

Not just with her, but with any woman he spent the night with, the Emperor had never been able to conceive a child. There were even rumors that the Emperor was incapable of having an heir. That’s why he treasured the child Elzere had brought more than anything.

But these things made the Emperor’s doubts grow.

Even Ian’s gesture of stroking Elzere’s shoulder to reassure her, all of these things amplified their suspicions more and more.

“Kill Sesenia, who’s only talking nonsense. She’s saying nothing but absurd things!”

“Absurd things…”

It was then that Elzere noticed the Emperor’s expression towards her had changed from before. Frighteningly. Coldly.

“Elzere. You really do seem to want to silence your sister.”

“No. It’s just, just…!”

“Do you really use poison?”

“That… that was just to prevent her from saying strange things. It was to stop Sesenia from confusing you with weird talk!”

“So you admit to using poison.”

The reason why Elzere had used poison on Sesenia was unclear. She might have poisoned her to prevent Sesenia from repeating here the things Elzere had said while abusing her in prison before her death.

Or perhaps she wanted to show that she could bring Sesenia down with her own power.

Whatever the reason, Elzere had been truly foolish.

At that moment.

“Waaah!!”

The child in Elzere’s arms started crying. Elzere had pinched the child’s arm in an attempt to escape this situation somehow. Sesenia, facing them directly, saw this scene all too clearly.

“Your Majesty. Your child has started crying. What should we do… I think he’s cold. We’ve been in this frightening place for too long.”

Still, the Emperor didn’t move. As if he really wanted to hear something more.

“Kill me.”

It was then.

Sesenia opened her mouth.

“What did you say?”

“I said, just kill me. You’re going to kill me anyway, aren’t you? Even if you hold a trial, you won’t spare me, and even if I speak, you won’t take my side. So just kill me.”

Who could ask for their own death? But Sesenia was bold. Like someone who wanted their death to come quickly. As if there was something more behind it.

“What’s wrong? Can’t you kill me now?”

“Of course we can. Sesenia Bestel. You are sentenced to death.”

That was the end.

“I, Sesenia Bestel… wish for death.”