Until The Real One Shows Up

A few days later, at night, a dispatch arrived at the Central Palace.

“Your Majesty, it is said that the preparations for the execution of the criminal at the Great Temple are complete.”

“I’m glad it’s not too late.”

Wilhelm nodded his head in reply.

“I will execute the sentence immediately tomorrow morning. Be prepared for that.”

“I will follow the orders, Your Majesty.”

Colton withdrew, leaving only the two of them again.

Anastasia put down the teacup in her hand with a complicated expression. Tomorrow it would all be over.

“I feel weird.”

In the end, it was still hard to believe that all the tragedy she had to suffer was not because of her own greed or the mistake of the Goddess, but because of someone else’s greed.

If you thought of the heartache she had been through, it didn’t feel strange at all to go to Avelin right now, grab her by the neck, and slap her on the cheek.

But still… 

“Yeah, it’s all over now.”

Wilhelm was next to her and held her hand warmly. Anastasia’s lips naturally also had a warm smile.

Maybe it’s because this man was by her side right now. That’s why she can be so merciful.

“Now no one dares to doubt your place.”

What he said was true. After learning all the facts a few days ago, the socialites denounced Avelin, who had deceived the entire empire, and honored Anastasia, who stood up against it.

‘They’re like wasps always circling! Your Majesty, you must never forgive those who were attached to Lady Hazel!’

Anastasia remembered what the Duke of Barantes had said to her the day before.

It was said that not only her father, but also the maids of the Empress’ Palace gathered together to say so.

‘Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to get rid of the sentiment that easily.’

Anyway, the important thing was that she can now be with her loved one to her heart’s content.

Her heart warmed at the thought of him, and Anastasia leaned on Wilhelm’s side, clasping her hands against him.

Wilhelm smiled gently, pulled out one of his held hands, and wrapped his arms around her shoulder.

“There are a lot of things I want to do with you.”

Anastasia quietly opened her mouth.

“I want to go on a picnic to the riverside on a clear day, I want to go out to see the streets, I want to go on a trip to a hot spring…”

All the things she had done with him at least once in her last life. So, in this life, it was the memories that she believed she could endure with those memories.

But it wasn’t the case. The memories were as beautiful as they were, but Anastasia was still hungry for Wilhelm.

Even the kiss she had shared with him hundreds of times in her last life was always thrilling.

What a tragedy it would have been for her to go through her life with only those memories of him.

She didn’t want to even imagine that now.

“Let’s do it all.”

Wilhelm embraced her softly in a slightly warm voice.

“We have plenty of time now. right?”

He was right. Now there was nothing to worry about or chase after.

Anastasia smiled broadly at Wilhelm and nodded her head.

Wilhelm, who had been staring intently at her, opened his mouth with a playful smile on his lips.

“There are a lot of things I want to do with you too.”

“What are they?”

“For now, shall we start with what we can do right now?”

Before she could even ask what it was, Wilhelm came closer to Anastasia.

As Anastasia’s eyes reflexively widened, Wilhelm brought a deeper smile to her lips as he kissed Anastasia lightly and fell off.

“This.”

Now, the eyes that were completely round like a rabbit were cute. It was always like this when they suddenly kissed each other.

Wilhelm wanted to see the look on her face, but he would kiss her from time to time unannounced.

‘Cute or pretty, either one is enough.’

His wife was able to be both, and his heart, which was always in a state of overstimulation, started to riot when he saw her, not knowing what she was doing.

‘Is my wife going to kill me with a heart attack?’

To be honest, even if a real rabbit was right in front of him, it wouldn’t be as cute and adorable as this woman.

His heart pounded at the thought, and Wilhelm wrapped his hands around Anastasia’s cheeks this time and kissed her.

“This.”

He looked at her face again, and she was dyed a pretty peachy pink.

Carefully kissing her on the cheek, Wilhelm confessed to Anastasia with a smile.

“I love you.”

She laughed. He was moved to tears when he heard it.

If someone asked what happiness was, he would answer without delay, a life of love. And this overwhelming palpitation he felt now would be considered love.

He was so happy that the word “happiness” felt meaningless at this moment when she was alive and breathing safely in front of his eyes and smiling at him.

“I love you too.”

Of course, Anastasia felt the same way.

Two completely different people thought of each other with the same mind as the other. It was always exciting and fun to confirm the heart.

Anastasia, whose cheeks were still dyed a peach-like color, this time grabbed Wilhelm’s neck and kissed him first.

As soon as she touched his lips lightly, she entered with a passionate movement that made him want to be violent.

All of a sudden, Wilhelm’s strong arms gently embraced Anastasia’s slender body.

Anastasia smiled softly and wrapped Wilhelm’s neck around her.

It was time to go to the only paradise on earth that Goddess allowed.

~~~~

The next day. Avelin Hazel, no, Scarlett’s execution was prepared.

Many people were terrified by the black magic that they thought would no longer exist in Rosenberg being used again.

The imperial family arranged for a public execution to dispel their anxiety.

It was difficult to completely destroy humans who came into contact with the existence of darkness.

First, wash their body with holy water, and then tie them to the stake.

In that state, the sinner had to drink a drug that slowly killed their body.

It was a drug that is quite painful as it did not kill someone quickly, so it was not used well unless Rosenberg committed a heinous crime.

Even though they weren’t allowed to writhe in agony because their body was tied tightly at the stake, they had to endure the pain as it is with an upright posture without being able to twist their back at all.

Around the time when they stop breathing, the sinner is set on fire on the stake in order to completely destroy the defiled body.

The problem was that holy water was sprinkled on the stake to prevent uncleanness, but damp wood did not catch fire well.

In the worst case for a sinner, the fire would have to be restarted multiple times to completely burn away the body. It was beyond imagination how severe the pain a sinner would feel in such a situation was.

“Sinner enter!”

And Scarlet, who had already heard all these stories through the priests, suffered from great fear and anxiety while waiting for her execution.

She couldn’t handle the stress and all her lovely pink hair was turning to grayish white.

‘… Save me, save me please!’

Her mouth was blocked, and she called out to the devil earnestly, even internally.

But the demon didn’t even show his nose.

After taking away the signs engraved on her with black magic, Scarlett had an ominous feeling that maybe she had been completely abandoned.

“It’s a witch, a witch! Behead that crafty villain who tried to harm the Empire right now!”

“She dared to manipulate the will of the Goddess to bring down the good Empress, she must be crazy!”

“Everyone throw stones at her!”

When Scarlett, restrained on each side by the priests, appeared at her execution site, the enraged people began to throw stones at her.

Numerous wounds appeared on Scarlett’s body, as she was hit by a spate of stones by the frenzied crowd.

She had her mouth bound, so she couldn’t even scream in pain.

The stoning stopped once they managed to restrain the angry crowd, but Scarlett’s head was already bleeding with tears everywhere.

Colton looked at Scarlett with such pity, and opened his mouth and began to explain at length why her execution was to be held today.

“… Thus, she deceived the imperial family, the Empire, and the Goddess for sinner Scarlet, who dared to manipulate the will of the Goddess, and who, along with the murder of several people, attempted to steal the valuables of the Empress.”

Colton, who had been stating Scarlett’s long list of accusations, paused for a moment to catch his breath. As much as the silence caused by that, there was a heavy tension around her execution site.

“Above all, she is beheaded for betraying the will of the Goddess by tampering with black magic, which is strictly forbidden by imperial law.”

“Behead her! Behead her!”

The crowd began to roar. At the same time, one of the priests removed the gag from Scarlett’s mouth and poured in a dark red liquid.

“No, no…!”

Scarlett resisted strongly, but it was meaningless.

From the moment the poison was absorbed into her body, Scarlett felt a burning pain throughout her body and twisted in agony. 

“Ugh…!”

Immediately after the poisoning, the priest gagged Scarlett’s mouth.

Her white gag turned red as she vomited blood, and a moan mixed with pain whirled through her throat.

Her body was tied tightly to the stake, and the correct posture she was forced to take maximized Scarlett’s pain.

“Oops… ugh!”

She struggled for her life, but to no avail. Finally, the priest lit a fire on the wooden altar.

As the scorching heat engulfed the flesh of her body, she realized that she was really dying.

Rather than the hell after death, Scarlett was severely afraid of the pain that was slowly gnawing at her life the moment that she stopped breathing.

[10, 9, 8…]

She heard a counting sound in her ear. Scarlett, who had been weeping at the familiar voice, opened her eyes.

[3, 2, 1… End! The contract is over.]

“Eup!”

[You fool, you should have surrendered your body to me before you suffered like this.]

With the click of his tongue, she felt a huge presence coming into her.

In the agony that a dying human body dared not bear, Scarlett eventually lost her mind.

And after a while.

– woosh!

With the destructive sound of the stake that Scarlett was tied to, a huge demon dragon appeared, smashing the surrounding wood pile with its sharp claws.