12 CH 12 ~ Execution

The whole trial ground became silent and Eleanora knew what was coming next, the emperor didn't even need to say it.

It was all because of Rena.

Her false testimony was the final hit and downfall for Eleanora.

'This is my end...'

Eleanora closed her eyes as she inhaled the cold breath inside.

'This is really the end…'

'There is no room for me in the picture anymore…'

Eleanora opened her jewel-blue eyes slowly as she glanced at the emperor painfully.

'I have lost… but please, don't be happy! I don't want you to be happy after what you have done to me…'

'I hope you suffer terribly for every tears I have shed for the pain you have given me and to the people who loved me.'

"I think the evidence here has weighed in an obvious result. Do you have anything to say in your defense, Lady Dalton?"

The emperor asked and Eleanora returned to her senses and stared into his red eyes.

Her heart was still clenching in pain,

Why did he not believe her?

She gave her everything to love him…what did her sincerity lack?

But now she also knew that there was no point in trying to dispute the allegations anymore, there was nothing she could do or say that would change their minds.

Maria was shaking her head and Eleanora knew what she was telling her to do.

If Eleanora escapes using all her magic powers or chooses to fight them, she can win.

But this will only prove her guilty; she will become a runaway prisoner, who escaped her death penalty.

A true knight will never run away from the battlefield even if she has to die.

The Daltons won't bow for mercy.

Eleanora's mother's face flashed in her mind, she had sacrificed herself instead of escaping.

This made her feel powerful all of a sudden as she sneered at the emperor, which surprised everyone.

She lazily tilted her head as she looked straight at the emperor with cold eyes.

"I sincerely hope you live a long life…suffer and regret your actions with every breath you take, Cathain De Valerian Valentino!"

Eleanora spoke loud and clear; there was no emotion on her face and the crowd gasped with horror.

She just cursed the Emperor in public.

"There is nothing I can do anymore to prove myself not guilty against the pile stacks of false evidence, but I hope for the truth to come into light soon."

"When I am gone and you are alone, I hope I haunt you. I hope my face is what you see when you finally meet your demise. My only mistake was to love you and I pray to the gods that you suffer the same!"

"I, Eleanora La Alexander Dalton deny the crimes upon me and even in dead, I refuse to admit something which I have never done!!!"

There was silence as she finished speaking.

No one spoke, no one moved.

No one had expected Eleanora to say something so intense.

Even the emperor was shocked because of her words.

They had probably assumed she was going to cry and beg for forgiveness from Jennifer as Rena had.

But Eleanora refused to bow to that girl though.

Eleanora turned to look at Jena and to her surprise, Jena looked straight back at Eleanora amused before she turned her face to avoid eye contact.

Guilt flashed through her caramel Brown eyes before it instantly disappeared as if she knew all along this would be the outcome.

And Eleanora became surer that she had planned all of this from the start.

Her miscarriages, living in that abandoned palace, isolation, the emperor, Rena, and her father...

Who knows what else?

She had pretended to be clueless so no one suspected her.

With a disgusting realization, Eleanora wondered if she'd even killed her own unborn baby for the sake of the empress position.

'Or was she never pregnant to start with his child?'

But that didn't matter anymore.

Just then, the emperor cleared his throat bringing everyone's attention back to him.

His voice tightens as he proceeds to speak after a long silence.

"Very well... but either you admit or not, we believe in evidence which you certainly don't have to prove yourself innocent; Lady Dalton."

"And added to that, you dared to insult and curse the emperor which is also a horrible crime."

He paused briefly before continuing again.

"So now, bring me 'that' sword."

He indicated to a random attendant to the side and they quickly began to unbox the sword.

Eleanora wondered about what kind of special sword he had prepared for her but everyone gasped after seeing the sword inside of the box.

The sharp blade reflected brightly as the emperor unsealed the sword from its gorgeous blue and silver cover.

The handle of the sword was decorated with silver and blue gemstones, comprised of several blue and white jewels and gold carvings that made that sword look extraordinarily beautiful and eye-catching…

But it also had countless people's blood on it.

Unlike everyone, Eleanora remained calm and felt funny.

'So now my own sword will be colored with my own blood…'

This is the sword she had used to win countless battles as well as the thirteen birthday gift from her father.

'You are really cruel, Your Majesty!'

He was going to kill her by using her own sword!

The sword that has her name engraved on it is going to kill its own master.

The emperor gripped the sword handle tightly and inspected it to ensure its sharpness.

The edge gleamed towards her as if begging to come closer, to greet it like she always used to do.

The memories of her father gifting her this sword on her thirteenth birthday to how she had defended this empire with that same sword flooded her mind and she closed her eyes with a heavy heart.

'Everything had been for nothing.

'No one could defend me...'

"You have been found guilty of the charges against you, Lady Dalton."

The emperor started as he slowly took a step towards her.

"Therefore, with the power held within me, I, the emperor of the Valentino Empire, Cathain De Valerian Valentino; sentence you, Eleanora La Alexander Dalton, former empress of the Valentino empire, to death."

"Your sentence is to be carried out immediately!!"

Eleanora's heart skipped another beat as cold sweat formed at the back of her neck.

She didn't want to be scared but she was.

Every step closer he took to her, the more she wanted to run.

'Why had I waited so long before trying to escape?'

'This man had been my death sentence long before now but I had been too blind to see it.'

With shaky legs, Eleanora unwillingly knelt before the wooden stump, where Maria was still grabbing her leg, telling her to run away.

Then a knight grabbed her and made her knelt beside Eleanora.

"Forgive your useless lady, Maria. You are going to die because of me."

Eleanora spoke in a guilty and painful voice with a painful smile and Maria looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"N...No...Don't say that; my...Lady_"

Slash!

Blood splashed on her face as Maria's head rolled down on the ground and a few cheering sounds could be heard from the crowd.

Everything seemed to be frozen around her and Eleanora felt dead inside.

There is no point in living this life anymore.

She has no more hope, she is tired of wanting to be loved and live.

Even if she survives, how will she live?

Can she live despite knowing that the thousands of years of glory of their duchy were destroyed because of her?

Everyone in the duchy died and her father was in prison because of her?

Can she give her child a good life as a murderer and former empress?

The answer is clear…

No, she can't.

Eleanora didn't need to be pushed or shoved; she willingly placed her head on the block and closed her blue eyes, waiting for this pain to end.

She has admitted her defeat, she has lost the last battle of her life.

She felt like she couldn't breathe, and tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Her stomach twisted as the baby in her belly started to kick hard.

Maybe it was sensed that his father was going to kill them but Eleanora bore it as the pain in her heart was greater than this.

' How naive I had been.'

' I had built myself to be one of the smartest people in the empire, but in the end, it seemed I was actually the dumbest.'

' I won every battle where I lost the main battle of my life. I protected this empire, but I failed to save myself and my babies, my father, Maria, and our duchy.'

As Eleanora felt the emperor stand in front of her, she turned her body upside down to face the ceiling instead of kneeling down and opened her eyes to look at him.

One last time,

His red eyes had mixed feelings that she couldn't understand and she didn't even want to understand them anymore.

Both of them stared at each other silently, his red eyes showed a brief hesitation before it disappeared and he raised her sword in his hands to carry out the execution.

A bitter smile appeared on Eleanora's face as she forcefully transferred her powers to someone; and parted her cracked lips to speak.

"I hate you, Cain; I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR KILLING ME AND…"

"OUR CHILD!"

Hearing Eleanora's last words, the emperor's red eyes widened in shock but it was too late to stop his hands which were gripping the sword and it fell on her neck even before his brain could process her words.

SLASH!!!

Eleanora felt the air shift, the faintest sound of the sword swinging and her lips curled up into a smile...

Finally, she is free from this pain.