Surprised, I widened my eyes. Tyrian’s voice echoed in my mind.

The small, round snake eyes twisted.

“I’ve never wished for you to be wrong. Not once when you were Hilda, not now, not even once!”

“…….”

“I’ve always wished for you to live.”

I realized that he wasn’t only talking about the current situation.

He was recalling and suffering from a past that I didn’t know.

“Are you okay?”

「… Yeah.」

He said it with a more genuine expression than before.

“We can seek revenge for the tragedy our tribe suffered, even if it’s later. As long as you’re alive.”

“…….”
“Then, focus on keeping your body safe. I request that of you.”

The loosened guillotine descended all the way. The heavy blade, easily capable of cleanly severing a human neck, hit the ground.

Thud!

The eerie sight, enough to send shivers down one’s spine, temporarily silenced the murmurs of the crowd.

The executioner, who had demonstrated the guillotine, expertly reattached the loosened rope.

Drrrrrrrrrr.

Chasing the rising blade of the guillotine with my gaze, I responded.

“I misunderstood; I don’t have the intention to give up everything and just die.”

「…….」

“I won’t die alone. If there’s a way for me to survive, I’ll naturally choose that.”

「…….」

“So, don’t make a face like you’re going to cry. Snake-themed.”

「There were times when I was human.」

It was frustrating.

“Even if you wore a shell.”

「…Hmph.」

Tyrian, who snorted, asked after a while with a noticeably softened voice.

「So, is there a way?」

“Well, I thought there wouldn’t be…”

I surveyed the surroundings.

The executioner, who had presented the guillotine as if it were a performance in front of the people, stepped aside as if he had completed his task.

The guards were staring at the upper VIP seats.

There, with the long awning, the execution platform was visible at a glance.

A place where the person supervising this seat would sit.

‘The king’s seat.’

Both the executioner and the guards were waiting for the king.

Nobles who had heard the news gradually filled the audience seats.

Commoners watched the execution from the ground, almost eye level with the guillotine, while nobles, including the royal family, observed from above.

I looked around.

‘There are quite a few. Do people find it entertaining to watch someone die?’

Execution would take place only after the king appeared. Until then, it was the time left for me.

‘I need to prepare something inside.’

Perhaps because the guillotine was filled with people, the vigilance of the carriage guards seemed to have decreased slightly.

The situation wasn’t just better because the surrounding people’s gazes served as surveillance.

At this moment, people who had jeered at me inside the carriage were everywhere outside.

That’s when it happened.

“Ig, Ig.”

A faint call stimulated my ears.

Without turning my head, I only rolled my eyes.

From the place where the guard stood opposite, a middle-aged man tightly pressed against the carriage grille caught my eye.

Thinking I might have seen wrongly, I squinted my eyes, but it wasn’t a mistake.

No, why is this person here?

“Kay?”

Murmuring in disbelief, a question followed casually.

“What’s happening here now?”

I briefly scanned the surroundings. No one had noticed that he was talking to me yet.

I quickly moved my lips.

“It’s a long story. How did you get up here?”

Kei, understanding my words somehow, pressed his body more discreetly against the grille.

“Chaei sent someone, saying you’ll die soon. Come up right away!”

“Chaei?”
“When you meet, kneel and say thank you. If it weren’t for Chaei, you wouldn’t even know you were in this situation.”

“Why did Kei come?”

“Why ask? How else do you think I ran into you again and sent you like this!”

In a tavern-like manner, tears welled up in the resilient eyes.

At first glance, it seemed like a conversation between lovers, but it was far from that.

Kei and Chaei were phantoms of Amtein, respectively a quack pharmacist and a madam of the Window Guild. In particular, Kei, also known as the lame peddler pharmacist, had deliberately obtained a questionable potion to ease Giovanni’s guard.

While I was in Amtein, they admired me, but as cunning individuals, they wouldn’t have intervened in such a dangerous situation for no reason.

“After you left, my medicines became a hit! They sold like hotcakes! But no matter how much I make the same, it doesn’t have the same effect as it did back then. It seems like it’s because of you.”

I couldn’t hear well due to the rambling speech.

“What did you say?”

“Looks like my guess was right after all.”

My attention shifted to the serious expression.