Even After Death

It was dark and cold.

The silence added frigidness to the dungeon, where they imprisoned her for about a month at that time.

The stillness was deafening, and she was getting depleted each day.

But…

But that day was different because, at last, the day she had been waiting for had come –the day of her public execution.

She was about to be hanged in front of the people for the worst crime they could ever perpetrate in the kingdom – treason.

She helplessly lay on the moistened floor of the prison when she suddenly heard footsteps approaching her way.

“Rise! Everyone is waiting for you!”

Upon hearing those words, she slightly lifted her head to take a glance.

Standing outside of her small prison cell were two royal guards. When they noticed that she still had not risen from the ground, one of them mocked her. “Move faster! Remember, you are no longer the Queen of the nation. You are now the number one royal traitor.”

Although being disrespected, she did not answer back. In fact, she had no energy for that.

She weakly stood up and then moved towards the small entrance. The royal guards instantly put heavy handcuffs on her wrists and ankles upon reaching outside.

“Walk faster!”

One of the guards yelled at her and then pushed her on the way. Despite that instruction, she still slowly strolled while her head was lowered. Her gaze was on the ground, counting how many steps it would take for her to reach her death.

They walked through a narrow path surrounded by prison cells meant for vicious criminals. She did not belong there but somehow found herself incarcerated there one day.

All of a sudden, a broad figure came across them. Her guts began to tremble when she raised her eyes to see who it was. It was the man she did not want to see ever again, even after her demise.

“Leave,” the man said, commanding the two guards.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

When the two royal guards finally left, the man lifted her chin using his fingers. His eyes locked upon hers.

“You still have little time to save yourself from death. Admit your sin, and I will let you go.”

She stared back at him. The look in his eyes was dark and threatening.

She clenched her fist so tight she could feel her fingernails embedded in her flesh as she whispered, “I killed no one.”

“You will really play that card until the very end, Queen? There are several witnesses against you.”

The disdain in his voice pierced into the core of her heart. She could not believe that even this man would not dare acknowledge a single word from her.

Her fists gritted harder, and her teeth seethed with anger. She spoke sternly, “I did not kill anyone.”

The man let out a heavy sigh and answered, “I see. I guess I cannot do anything for you then.”

Hearing his remarks, she could not help but let out a cynical smile. “No, you have done enough,” she said with bitterness ingrained in every word. “Even putting me here in this situation.”

He laughed, then retorted, “You have done this to yourself. You act weak on the outside, but you are evil inside. You did not even show remorse for your actions.”

“Do you really believe that?” she asked sarcastically.

The man stood in silence while looking at her. Then, he glanced at the two guards waiting slightly farther from them.

“Take her.”

They immediately complied with his order and pulled her arms. But before they went away, the man spoke again.

“Making you the Queen is the worst mistake this kingdom has ever made.”

Those words were like hundreds of knives ripping her gut apart. Despite that, she straightened her expression and answered back. “I know that much. Being your Queen is the worst mistake I ever made.”

After saying those utterances, the royal guards finally dragged her away.

Knowing that the man still stood there, she could not help but feel her eyes moistened with tears as she walked away from him.

She let out a heavy sigh to prevent her tears from falling. She cried herself to sleep every night, but that day, she wanted to face the kingdom and the people without those droplets on her face.

She wanted to look strong.

However, she felt her heart shattered into pieces when they reached the public platform where the execution would be held.

Darkness then slowly devoured the blue-painted sky.

Standing at the center of the platform, cold shivers ran down her spine as the people kept screaming.

“Kill her! Kill her!”

The once cheerful chant of the crowd for her was altered into screams for her death.

“Kill her! Kill the traitor!”

After that, the royal guards hushed the crowd in preparation for the chief minister’s speech.

“To the people of the great kingdom of Etherion, I hope today’s predicament serves as a warning that no one — even the Queen herself — could betray the kingdom. Killing an unborn child of the King is considered treason and therefore punishable by death.”

The speech of the Chief Minister drew others chattering and gasping from the crowd.

“Her Majesty, Queen Katarina Frances-Amaris — because of her jealousy and evil intentions — slaughtered the unborn child of the king. Witness as she pays the price of her crime.”

“Kill her! Kill her!”

The statement of the Chief Minister, along with the violent curses of the crowd, made her legs tremble with fear. She wanted to end it — the sufferings, miseries, and sorrow. She wanted to end it all.

The Chief Minister continued, “It is not only the execution of the Queen you will witness today. Together with the Queen is her accomplice in committing the crime.”

Hearing the old minister’s last remarks, her eyes widened as she watched a woman climb the scaffold.

Her chest painfully throbbed upon her recognition. She knew her very well, for she was her personal attendant—Agnes, the one who had taken care of her since she was a child.

The knights immediately put ropes around their necks and made them line up on the platform – facing the crowd.

“W-what are you doing here? You should not be here!” she cried, shivering from bewilderment and terror.

The Chief Minister then screamed at the top of his lungs, “Death to the traitors of the Kingdom!”

The people followed his remarks, chanting, “Death! Death!”

“No… no!” she cried as she looked at Agnes. “You should never die here!”

Agnes gazed at her with swollen eyes and smiled. “I will never let you go through this alone, my Queen. I will always be with you.”

She was about to say something when the floor on which Agnes was standing was suddenly pulled apart.

She stood there while her personal attendant was shaking and breathing out of air. She was dying in front of her very eyes.

“My apologies. Apologies that you have to go through this because of my misfortune,” she wept, and the tears gathered on her lids eventually fell.

“It is such a shame that you became a casualty in the games of power. This would not have happened had you declined to be the Queen. Now, rest in eternity, Your Majesty.”

That voice.

It was the Chief Minister whispering behind her.

“I- I am afraid,” she muttered under her breath.

After a moment, her feet began to feel nothing. The floor where she was standing was finally pulled apart.

As she struggled to breathe and felt life escaping from her body, she could still clearly hear the cheerful screams of the people.

She tried to shred the rope twisted into her neck, but she was getting weaker. Her whole body shook, and her feet swayed back and forth.

She could feel it — the death coming her way.

It was the end. No magical item or power could save her from that fate.

And even before she closed her eyes to depart, the last thing she saw was the King. He was watching her die. Beside him was his royal concubine.

Their arms locked with each other.

“Despite all the things and words you have done and said, my heart still hurts for you. If only I could rewrite the past, I would have avoided loving you, Henri.”

Those words flashed through her mind. If only she could return to the past.

In the fullness of time, the last of her breaths ran out from her lips.

She died in front of the nation and in front of the man she loved the most.

She died, yet…

She woke up again.

The world was getting depleted of magical powers with each passing time. People who had magical mana in their system were getting fewer every year.

But despite the crisis, one kingdom still stood firm.

The Kingdom of Etherion.

King Alexander Amaris ruled the Kingdom of Etherion. Although few people had mana on their side, it was not a problem for the kingdom.

It was because they heavily relied on magical items and weapons. They dug up magical stones in unexplored lands and turned them into weapons and items for their benefit.

It was why, four years ago, the kingdom of Etherion went to war against another empire because of a land conflict. Each of them wanted to expand their territories and dig up the newly discovered land.

Marcus Frances, the knight commander serving under King Alexander Amaris, spearheaded the Etherion Knights. The battle that transpired between the two monarchies was regarded as the last great war of the century.

The war