[IYFILWATIP] Chapter 17

Francis spat out blood and laughed weakly. He looked directly into Kirona's eyes and, like a madman, began to speak loudly. 

"People will think I failed in my revenge! But who could say that after seeing the look in your eyes? That expression of despair. The broken gaze. The way you loved me with all your heart, not even realising I had come to kill you! It was thrilling! Perhaps this is revenge even greater than death!" 

"What should I do with you?" 

Kirona swallowed the emotions rising to her throat and asked calmly. 

"...Francis, what should I do with you?" 

"Would you spare me if I asked for mercy now?" 

Francis wore a resigned expression. He knew as well as she did that there was no chance of a peaceful death for him. His crime was not just any crime; it was an attempted regicide. 

It might have been a personal act of revenge without any backing or conspiracy, but that didn’t matter. He would be tortured until he remembered even his infant memories. After that, they would slowly let him die, ensuring he suffered the most, paying dearly for betraying the royal family. 

"...No, just kill me. As quickly as possible. If you still have any affection left for me, it would be even better if you could do it without torture." 

With those words, Francis lowered his gaze for the first time. The knights were furious at his brazen attitude until the end. They all drew their swords and approached, but Kirona held them back with one hand and looked at Francis indifferently. The armoured knights now waited only for Kirona’s command. 

Kirona took a deep breath and then gave the order. 

"Grant him his wish. No torture." 

"Your Highness!" 

"The Emperor will be furious when he finds out!" 

The protests came in a torrent, but Kirona ignored them all and shouted again. 

"Do you know why I didn't send him to a formal trial? And when did I ever say not to punish him? Whether you send him off in a small boat into the open sea, give him a horse and banish him to the eastern borderlands full of monsters, or just behead him with a single stroke, do as you see fit. But I’m telling you again, no torture." 

Kirona kicked Francis in the back, knocking him to the ground. He groaned in pain and crawled on the floor. Kirona watched him in silence before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up. 

"Francis, you’ve done well. Pretending to love someone you don't truly love must have been hard. I won’t kill you or torture you. Consider this my final kindness to someone I once loved and the payment for your excellent performance." 

"Hah." 

"But you didn’t win." 

"..." 

"You think you’ve taken my heart and crushed it. But let me tell you, you lacked patience. You could have succeeded in a much more spectacular revenge. I was completely deceived by you, and I loved you far more than you think. I was even planning to have your child, to make you the father of that child, and to make that child the next crown prince. If you had waited until then, your revenge would have been the most perfect in the history of the empire. But not now. You failed." 

"...What do you mean?" 

"True revenge is about taking something important and crushing it. Emotions like love don’t matter to me or the Emperor at all, but you didn’t know that." 

Kirona pulled Francis closer and whispered a long-held secret into his ear. The satisfied smile on Francis's face twisted into a grimace. 

This was Kirona’s revenge. The secret she revealed to him was one that rendered the revenge Francis had spent his life preparing utterly meaningless. Kirona smiled slightly. 

"How does it feel? A bit regretful now?" 

Francis soon began to sob. He wailed like a beast. Kirona left him there and turned away. 

When she emerged from the underground prison and stepped outside, a heavy rain was drenching the world. Kirona sat on the windowsill in her office, listening to the sound of the rain as she stared blankly outside. 

The fleeting hope she had held was shattered before her eyes, and the man she had loved had betrayed her. It was clearly a situation where she should have felt sorrow, but strangely, no tears came. 

The empty space within her was not filled with the sweet words Francis had whispered to her over time. Instead, it was filled with the words he had shouted like a madman after betraying her. 

"What gives life meaning and drives people are not such weak emotions, but much stronger things." 

"I’m going to ride. Prepare a horse." 

Kirona gave the command to Marie, who was anxiously watching her every move. It was an order she hadn’t spoken since she was thirteen. 

"Your Highness, what are you saying? Riding a horse? In this weather...?" 

"Prepare it. Didn’t you hear me?" 

Startled by Kirona’s unusual tone, Marie hurried out.