Chapter 818: The Last (51)
I ran until I was out of breath. I didn’t know what I was running for, but I knew I had to keep moving for now.
Nothing might change. I didn’t think anything would.
It probably wouldn’t be of any help, either. It would most likely only be a hindrance.
But I kept moving.
“Oscar!”
“Oscar! You must leave.”
‘What am I doing?’
Even I didn’t know. As I turned my head unconsciously, I saw the people colliding with the soldiers. I saw those who were screaming and running.
Even in such a chaotic situation, the troops were still evacuating citizens.
Charlotte, who was facing the enemies with her sword drawn, also caught my eye. Everyone looked desperate.
Looking up from the window, I saw the Son of Light quietly looking at the end of the State.
—A traitor! There! There! A bunch of dirty rebels!
—The princess who betrayed the Empire! Here’s the Imperial Empress who devoured her own family! The cancer that ruined our nation is with the rebels!
“I am not a princess, shades of the Empire!”
—Are you denying your true ident.i.ty? Do you deny the will of the Empire?
“The will of the Empire is buried with the victims. I am a citizen of the State! I’m a human like everyone, forgotten ghosts!”
—Are you denying your legitimacy? Do you deny your specialness? Do you deny that you are of imperial blood and that you are the master of the Empire?
“I am not special! The ones truly special are the people who changed this country, those who sacrificed and shed blood for it! How can you call something that hasn’t changed special? Those who changed it are the masters of it! They are the ones deserving to lead it!”
—You’re stupid! You are stupid!
“The real fools are you who are stuck in the past! Aren’t you the ones trying to shackle yourselves? We will fight until the end! I will bury my bones here too! Not as the princess of a fallen empire! Future generations will remember me as Charlotte of the State!”
A voice that I shouldn’t be able to hear was stuck in my ears. It echoed throughout the State.
“Why are you resisting, Charlotte?”
There had to have been a way to appease the angry ghosts. If it were her, she would have a way to calm them down.
“Why…”
Why did she brandish her sword with the soldiers when she wanted to save the people?
No, I actually knew the answer. Maybe she was trying to preserve the history of our brilliant resistance. It was to protect our pride.
“Don’t leave the future of the State built with sacrifice and blood to your enemies! Remember how you got here! Remember how we built this place!”
The voice still rang in my head and resonated in my heart. The comrades who fought together, the future, the glory, the future generations, the people who gave their lives for their ideas.
She didn’t want to give up on them either. Even she, who said the b.l.o.o.d.y revolution was a failure, wanted to defend them.
Perhaps that was why. That might be the reason why I was running now.
Booooooooooooooooom!!!!
A huge explosion began to erupt with a loud sound.
My body bounced off, and my vision quickly turned dark.
It might be better to lose consciousness. I thought about it for a moment, but then I stood up.
A large hole created by the explosion was visible. The wind blew in, and the heat and shouts of war suddenly felt a little closer.
When I looked up once more, the figure of the Son of Light as if looking at me caught my eye.
I climbed up the railing with my lips tightly bit and grabbed the crack in the outer wall.
That was reckless.
Right. That was reckless. If I fell, I would die.
That might not be bad either.
Alice wasn’t even a hero. She didn’t have any special powers, nor did she deserve anything.
Without finding any reason to approach this vision of the Son of Light, I reached out once more.
‘What am I doing now?’
Trying to convince him?
‘Will it change anything? What can I change?’
Could I, who was full of lies, be able to change something with just that?
However…
“I want to change.”
I wanted to change. Although I was n.o.body and had a hard time approaching the Son of Light, if I did this, it might change something.
I had such expectations without even realizing it.
My arms and legs trembled, and I was out of breath again. My body shook violently in the sudden wind.
“Aaaaaah!”
-Kill them!
“Stop them! Stop them!”
I kept hearing the voices. With a crackling sound, the debris on the wall continues to fall.
I gritted my teeth and stretched my arms once again. I forced my frozen legs to move upwards.
I wanted to think that Alice could do it, not Oscar.
“Please… please!”
I stretched out my arms again.
“Ah!”
I stumbled and, from there, felt my body falling.
‘This little thing…’
I couldn’t even do something so simple. Alice would die here without being able to do anything.
As I thought about that, I heard a voice again.
“You can open… your eyes again, Alice.”
“…”
“Alice.”
“You…”
“I’m Cho Hyejin from the Blue Guild. Forgive me for my rudeness.”
“W-Why are you here…”
“Are you heading towards the Vice Guild Master?”
I felt someone riding a griffon grabbing my hand and lifting me.
“Yes… Yes!”
“I’ll take you there.”
“…”
“…”
“It’s not bad to get help, Alice.”
It seemed like she discovered what I intended, but…
“You can do what you can do and do what you want to do.”
I automatically nodded at her soothing voice.
Cho Hyejin quietly handed me a spear. I grabbed it with a tingling sensation.
She smiled and slightly pushed my back.
I looked down again. I saw the scene where the battle was still taking place.
They were blocking the arrival of reinforcements, but I heard several voices.
Along with screams, the people struggled to protect the State.
“Oh, Son of Light.”
-…
“Oh, Son of Light!”
-…
“Please stop them!”
-…
“Please, put away your wrath. Everything is my fault. Everything happened because of me. They have no sin. The only thing they did wrong was to trust and follow someone who is not qualified. It’s not their fault, please… please…”
-…
“Oh, Son of Light… If you can hear my voice, please… please answer me. So I can take it all by myself… So that I can finish my role… I hope you can help me, Lee Kiyoung.”
-…
“Aren’t they the people that you love? Don’t you love them more than anyone else? Didn’t you say that not knowing is not a sin? Didn’t you say that it is not the people of the Empire that are wrong, but the people who lead them, Lee Kiyoung?!”
-…
“They did nothing wrong! If there is a crime, if someone has to be punished, I should be held accountable!”
However, I couldn’t hear any voice. I clenched the spear in my hand and looked at Lee Kiyoung again, but I couldn’t hear him.
“Lee Kiyoung. Lee Kiyoung! Forgive our sins. Take pity on them. Please give them one more chance. May the Son of Light extend your last… last mercy… sniff… for those… you love and cherish. Please… please… please.”
It was then that the light burst out of the spear.
-I… I’ve already given you a chance.
I wasn’t the only one hearing the voice. I didn’t know what it was, but I could see everyone looking upwards.
“…”
-I’ve already given you a chance.
“I…”
-…
“What choice do I have to make? What choice must I make so that you can forgive them? If you tell me to kill myself, I will. If you tell me to swim in the pain of eternity for the rest of my life, I will. If what you really want is the judgment of sin… What choice should the handmaiden Alice, who’s here by your grace, make in this position?”
-I said I’ve already given you a chance.
“I don’t know. I have no way of knowing what kind of opportunity we were given or what kind of opportunity you gave us.”
-You.
“…”
- You are… the opportunity I have given them.
“…”
-Proud daughter of the revolution. You don’t have to ask me for permission. I did not choose you, but you chose yourself. You have made your own qualifications, you have achieved them yourself, and you have changed yourself.
“Sniff… Sniff…”
-Daughter of the Revolution. Get what you want for yourself
[When the day of destruction came, the leader of the State fell to her knees. Oh, Son of Light, forgive us of our sins. Pity the lambs, and give them one more chance. She cried for those she loved and cherished and asked the Son of Light for one last mercy. The Son of Light answered, “I’ve already given you a chance. What choice should I make?” If what the Son of Light really wants is the judgment of sin, what kind of choice should Alice, the lowly handmaiden who is here with the grace of the Son of Light, choose? Then the Son of Light said again…]
“Sniff… Sniff… Sniff… Sniff…”
[Daughter of the Revolution. You don’t have to ask me for permission. I didn’t choose you. You chose yourself… Now, Follow your own will. He said… -Excerpt from unnamed Bible 27:19.]
A huge light then began to spread out into the sky.