Chapter 2
“Have you truly gone mad? Why in the world would you ever want to see that vicious woman again?”
“I only answered because you asked if I had any last words to leave. Is this going to be conveyed to my wife somehow? No… no, don’t. She would cry herself sick if she heard it. I don’t want to see her sad. So tell them I left no message at all.”
The executioner felt fire boiling in his gut.
As expected, the Duke of Angel could never have committed treason. It was all a setup.
And the reason he now stood here, facing death, was all because of that woman—because she carried the blood of the Greenwoods.
Yet Cedric himself calmly placed his neck into the guillotine.
He looked like a man who had nothing left to cling to in this world.
No.
It was more like he was someone who understood exactly why he had to die.
The executioner stared hard at Cedric’s steady figure for a long moment before exhaling and securing him firmly in place.
Above Cedric’s head, the guillotine blade glinted menacingly in the sunlight as it stood poised straight up.
“It will be over in an instant. You won’t even have time to feel pain.”
“I see. That’s a relief.”
The crowd still screamed “Kill him! Kill him!” loud enough to make one’s ears ring.
Cedric closed his eyes.
And as he did, the roar of the mob drifted far into the distance, while the face he longed for most—his wife—began to emerge from the darkness.
Her round, large green eyes.
Her soft, straw-colored hair.
“Darling. I… I have something to tell you.”
He could almost hear Ines’s voice, whispering into his ear with that radiant smile of hers.
His gentle, kind-hearted wife—foolishly kind, some would say—was surely crying even now, blaming herself.
He wished she wouldn’t cry.
Because he could no longer wipe her tears away.
Hearing the executioner’s words brought him a strange sense of comfort.
It meant no one had yet discovered the secret he shared with Ines.
I thought I had no regrets left in this world.
If possible…
Just once more, he wanted to see her face.
If he could turn back time, he wanted to give Ines a life far happier than the one she had known.
That was the only regret he had about living.
Not that he had asked her to become strong. Not that he was leaving her behind, alone, while he went ahead first.
“Ines.”
For the last time, Cedric summoned her name aloud.
A name he would never speak again trembled faintly in the wind.
Snap.
The rope holding up the blade gave way.
And in that instant, Cedric’s world was swallowed by darkness.
The top floor of the northern tower.
Ines lay curled up on the bed. Outside, there was commotion.
A thin shaft of sunlight slipped through the cracks of the blocked window, signaling morning, but the top floor was as dark as her own life had become.
Then she heard footsteps climbing the tower. She recognized them—the guards bringing her breakfast.
Normally, they shoved a hard lump of stale bread and some watery soup through the food slot and left without a word.
Today should have been no different. They hated her so thoroughly they refused to be near her for even a moment.
But instead of the usual screech of the metal plate covering the slot, a lock clicked open and bright lamplight flooded into her room.
Blinded by the sudden light, Ines squeezed her eyes shut. The soldiers laughed, mocking the pitiful sight of her scrambling deeper under her filthy blanket.
But only for a moment. They had no time to waste.
“Your meal. Eat.”
There were two guards. One set the food on the table, while the other began prying off the wooden boards nailed over the window.
Confused, Ines could only watch them nervously. But when one guard warned that if she didn’t eat now, he’d take it away, she quickly rose.
The bread was not the usual black, rock-hard lump. It smelled of fresh butter. The soup was warm. Even the steak looked appetizing.
The hunger she hadn’t realized she’d been suppressing surged through her like a crashing wave the moment she inhaled the aroma. Without thinking, Ines slid off the bed and devoured the meal in frantic bites.
A temptress, they said. What a joke.
People had claimed Ines Greenwood seduced the Duke of Angel with some extraordinary feminine wiles to steal the position of duchess.
They believed that when dragged to the execution grounds, criminals would confess anything to save their lives—but somehow she had bewitched the duke so thoroughly he never opened his mouth.
The guard scoffed inwardly. If the duke saw her now, he’d lose affection instantly and confess everything this very moment.
Far from bewitching anyone, Ines Greenwood had not a single trace of her once dazzling past left.
One guard cast a contemptuous look at her ragged appearance, no better than a beggar in the square.
As Ines ate, the other guard continued prying off the window boards as ordered.
Soon the boards fell away, and bright light filled the room as the noise outside poured in more clearly.
“Hey, you.”
One guard poked at her head with his finger, pushing it around mockingly. Ines endured the harassment silently, scraping up every last spoonful of soup.
“Look at you, scarfing it down like an animal! I guess you’ve forgotten shame and table manners both. Huh? Shouldn’t you at least know why you’re being served a fine meal today?”
“…Because it’s Saint Cristan’s Day, isn’t it?”
Her voice trembled with melancholy.
Saint Cristan’s Day.
Three years ago today, she and Cedric had held their grand wedding ceremony.
There was a saying that couples married on Saint Cristan’s Day would find each other again in the next life.
It was a popular date for noble weddings and engagements.
Assuming the special meal was simply a holiday gesture extended even to prisoners, Ines had eaten without question.
But the guards exchanged glances—and burst into laughter.
Their sneering didn’t matter. But when Ines, uneasy, rolled her eyes toward them, she finally asked:
“Then… how long am I supposed to stay here? Please, let me meet Her Majesty the Empress. I have something I must tell her.”
“You crazy bitch.”
The insult shot out immediately, harsh and unforgiving. The guard’s eyes gleamed with fury, as if he could not tolerate Ines speaking the Empress’s title so casually.
“Why would Her Majesty come to this filthy northern tower? Do you still think you’re a duchess? You really have lost your mind.”
“What do you mean, think I’m a duchess…? I am the Duchess of Angel…”
“Hey. What’s a duchess without a duke? What nonsense. You’re nothing but a prisoner of the northern tower.”
“W–what? What did you just say?”
Before Ines could finish, the guard jabbed her forehead with his finger, annoyed.
“Her Majesty was gracious enough to order that the window be opened so you can witness your husband’s final moments. So be grateful deep in your heart. And if you spout one more arrogant word, you’ll be in serious trouble. Watch your tongue.”
Ines staggered to her feet, stunned. The tray she brushed against fell to the floor with a loud clang.
One guard reached to grab her by the hair, but the other stopped him. As long as she’d finished the soup, nothing else mattered.
They wanted to stare longer at her miserable state, but they couldn’t defy the order of a noble. They left immediately, locking the door behind them.
Ines barely noticed them go.
She rushed to the small window, gripping it tightly as she peered outside.
Standing on her tiptoes just to reach the proper height, she could see the distant outline of the square far below.
Her legs trembled from the effort, but she clung to the window regardless.
“No… no, this is wrong—something is wrong!” she screamed, voice cracking. But no one in the northern tower listened.
“Her Majesty…! Bring me Her Majesty the Empress! Please! She promised me—she… she promised me! This can’t be happening—!”
If you listen to me, I’ll make sure you’re rewarded generously.
How had she responded back then?
Hadn’t she thrown herself at the Empress’s feet, expressing her gratitude over and over?
The Empress had spoken so kindly—that although the title of duchess would be seized for the sake of the crown prince’s future, she would ensure Ines could still live a reasonably comfortable life.
Ines had even cried at the mercy in her voice.
“No… no, no! Please! Someone—someone come! There must be a mistake! Cedric—my husband, why is he there?!”
The square was too far to see clearly. Her vision blurred with streaming tears. Ines rubbed her eyes harshly.
The guillotine blade, dangerously suspended in the air, caught the sunlight just enough for her to make out Cedric’s position.
She had to stop the execution. Somehow. Before it happened.
But her desperate hope crumbled into nothing.
A roar of “Waaaah!” rose from afar as the blade flashed—then dropped in a single instant.
Ines saw it clearly.
Her entire body swayed. She nearly collapsed, catching herself against the wall just in time.
Everything.
Everything was over.
It was over.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
