128 - Evil Husband (15th Anniversary Edition) Chapter 128
128
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The nobles didn't immediately grasp Archduke Erzeht's command. Frozen with blank expressions, they only fully understood the meaning of his words when the sharp edge of a sword reached their necks.
Only when facing death did they belatedly recall the story that had secretly spread through The Capital some time ago: the tale of Archduke Erzeht massacring civilians at a tavern on Fiore Street.
The Imperial Family had added plausible justifications to mask the Archduke's slaughter, and he had been placed under house arrest as punishment.
The nobles had ridiculed Archduke Erzeht, claiming he had gone mad. They had savored it as gossip, never imagining that the blade of his madness would turn towards them.
A desperate scream echoed, tearing through the air. They tried to escape to survive, but there was no escape route for the nobles anywhere.
The soldiers who had been willing to die for the Traon Empire now stained their hands with blood for Cesare.
Before the red blood splattered on the pure white marble walls could even trickle down, new blood was added. The golden Winged Lion Statue was dyed crimson.
Watching the scene of everything turning red, Cesare laughed. He was delighted to see all the nobles of The Capital being beheaded, just like his child.
What did it matter to weigh the severity of their sins, to uncover who had interfered with the child's death?
Those who had stood by until Aileen was beheaded at the Guillotine. Those who had consumed it as amusing gossip also had to take responsibility for the sins they had committed with their eyes and tongues. A sin that could not be repaid with anything but death.
"Your Excellency, Archduke Erzeht."
Aileen's voice echoed in his ears. Even knowing it was a hallucination, Cesare didn't bother trying to regain his senses.
"To tarnish the grace I received from you with such a dishonorable death, how can I apologize? I have committed a great sin that cannot be washed away even with my death. I hesitated for a long time, feeling endlessly guilty even to send you a final letter, but I have presumptuously ended up writing to you."
A small, trembling voice whispered in Cesare's ear. He didn't need to see it to know. He vividly imagined Aileen, glancing at the guard, hastily writing her will with the meager paper and pen she had managed to obtain.
"The Morpheus I was creating is a painkiller to alleviate the suffering of soldiers. If, by any chance, you find my research useful and the research data remains, you can order Professor Glenda of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Palerchia University to complete the research. Professor Glenda is my mentor from my university days, and she may be able to complete the drug."
Aileen, writing the letter while holding back tears, flickered before his eyes. Cesare reached out into the air. But the illusion did not stay in his hand and merely scattered in vain.
"I don't know if you will see this letter. But if there is even a little bit of the affection you once had for me left, and you look for my traces..."
The child writing the letter finally began to cry. She rubbed her tearful eyes roughly with her sleeve, and with her eyes swollen red, she moved the pen.
"What I have done is entirely due to my foolish greed. It was done out of a stupid desire to develop a great medicine and gain fame and power, so I hope you won't be concerned."
After writing each letter with great emphasis, the child hesitated for a long time. Then, she wrote the last sentence.
Instead of begging for her life, which was about to be beheaded at the Guillotine, she sincerely wished only for Cesare's well-being to God.
"May only glorious moments be filled in your future."
That was all. There was no resentment towards her unfairness, those who had framed her, or Cesare, who had failed to protect her, written on the paper. He read it over and over again, but Aileen's will was only that.
If she had written even a resentment and made it a little longer, he could have heard her voice for a long time.
Cesare awoke from his hallucinations and auditory hallucinations by the sensation of blood splattering on his cheek. He looked at the nobles being beheaded by well-honed blades and raised the corners of his lips.
It didn't take long for all the nobles of The Capital to be beheaded and killed. It was a massacre that would be etched in the history of Traon.
Cesare sometimes regretted the massacre he had committed before turning back time. He couldn't bear the surging anger and killed all the nobles of The Capital on the same day, so he couldn't thoroughly investigate Aileen's death.
Of course, it was meaningless at the time. What was the point of judging the right and wrong of death? After all, the dead do not return. He had only thought that he should hold a proper requiem.
It had become a poison now, so Cesare couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
There was something unsettling about Aileen's death, that it was simply pushed forward by spies from the Calpen Kingdom to tarnish Cesare.
It happened after Cesare captured the King of Calpen as a prisoner and was dealing with the resistance led by the Crown Prince.
The King of Calpen, who had planted spies and created the spark of the incident, was in captivity. The spies within the Empire would have no choice but to waver whether to choose Calpen or Traon.
Even if the King had ordered Aileen's death in advance, it would have been difficult for the matter to proceed so smoothly and quickly.
However, from the time Aileen's crime was discovered until her execution, it flowed smoothly without a single obstacle.
It was impossible unless there was someone who proactively led or induced the situation so that Aileen would be executed before Cesare returned home.
There were a few candidates he could guess, but this place was a world where 'Aileen was not executed.' Cesare was acting cautiously so as not to make mistakes this time.
He must not repeat the same mistakes as in the past. He needed to be patient in order to create a world for Aileen.
Therefore, he was keeping alive those who had not yet committed crimes in the current timeline. He was gradually moving up from the bottom, eliminating those involved in Aileen's death one by one.
He couldn't help but get blood on his hands in the process, but he tried to hide it from Aileen as much as possible.
This was not Aileen's sin, but his own. But Aileen would think it was all her fault.
That was why. He could never be honest with Aileen, who wanted honesty.
That he had turned back time because of her death. That he had taken the lives of countless people and even ruined his own body. Aileen would break down the moment he confessed.
But he couldn't hide it forever. God had given Cesare the opportunity to turn back time and change the past.
That opportunity did not mean eternal happiness. In order to save one life, one had to pay a price commensurate with it.
Cesare was willing to die and intended to finish everything before the given time ran out.
That all of this was for you, no, that it was caused by his own greed to wish to revive the dead. Cesare would only be able to speak honestly at the very last moment.
However, Cesare's best was only to induce Aileen to gradually approach the truth so that she would not be too shocked.
"Please let me know what you want, Cesare."
Looking at Aileen, who was waiting for his answer while enduring without crying, he couldn't help but hug her. Aileen, who was hugged in his arms, pushed him away, saying she didn't like it, but he didn't care. He just hugged her and didn't give her a proper answer in the end.
It couldn't be helped. From the beginning, if he had listened to Aileen's wishes, he would not have turned back time.
He was willing to accept death, but he wanted Aileen to never forget him forever.
Cesare didn't want to be forgotten by Aileen. He wanted to be an immortal being in Aileen's memory. Even knowing that it was a terribly selfish sin.
