The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1289 - 197 - The Fall Of Milham Kingdom - Part 2 (4)
Lilia’s POV
I pushed the door open and stepped into the office belonging to the Church’s Highest Order. The place had that usual suffocating quiet that most church buildings seemed to have, like the walls themselves were trying to keep every sound trapped inside. Shelves lined with thick books stood along the walls, and a faint smell of old paper and candle wax hung in the air.
Sitting behind the desk was the man I had come for.
An old priest.
One of the same priests who had been involved in the ritual conducted by the administrators decades ago.
I walked a few steps into the room and stopped right in front of his desk.
No reason to drag things out.
"The Princess asked me to deliver a message," I said plainly.
He looked up at me with tired eyes, clearly not expecting someone like me to just stroll into his office unannounced.
"You are under arrest for conducting experimentation that cost human lives, along with the mass abduction of people fifty years ago," I continued. My voice stayed calm, almost bored. "If you don’t want me to immediately slash your head off your neck, then I strongly suggest you stay exactly where you are and avoid doing anything stupid."
The room fell quiet again.
The old man just stared at me.
For a moment he looked confused, like his brain was still trying to process what I had just said. His eyebrows slowly tightened, and his eyes sharpened as if something inside his head finally clicked.
Ah. There it is.
The moment of realization.
His fingers twitched.
Then his hand suddenly moved toward the sword resting beside his desk.
Too slow.
Way too slow.
My blade flashed before he even managed to lift it properly.
Steel cut through flesh in a single smooth motion.
The sound was quick and sharp, almost clean.
Blood burst out of his neck in a sudden spray. I angled my slash carefully so the blood wouldn’t splash all over me. The last thing I needed today was walking around smelling like iron.
Instead, the blood shot upward in a messy arc, painting the air above him.
His head remained barely attached to his neck, hanging at an unnatural angle. The cut was deep enough that it was practically falling off already, but not completely separated.
His body slumped forward in the chair.
I exhaled slowly.
"Honestly," I muttered under my breath.
I reached for the cloth sitting on his desk, grabbed it casually, and wiped the blood off my sword with a few calm strokes.
The blade returned to its clean shine.
"I can’t believe the Princess is making me do jobs like this," I said while glancing down at the corpse.
I paused, thinking about it for a second.
"Feels like I’m slowly turning into more of a commander."
Another moment passed.
"Hm."
I shrugged.
"Maybe that’s not so bad."
I tossed the bloodied cloth back onto the desk.
***
Leon’s POV
The administrators had been sentenced to death.
There was no long appeals as well as drawn out debates. Just a clear and immediate decision.
Execution.
And not quietly either.
Their deaths were going to happen right in front of a public audience.
By the time the preparations were finished, the news had already spread across the platform where everyone followed the latest announcements. The crimes committed fifty years ago were now completely exposed. Names, details, as well as records. Everything had been laid out for the public to see.
Nothing hidden anymore.
Naturally, people were shocked.
Most citizens knew pieces of history, but history had a funny way of being... cleaned up. Ugly parts got buried under politics and time until people forgot they even existed.
But now those buried crimes had been dug up and shoved right into the sunlight.
"You can’t do this to us! Don’t you know who I am?!"
One of the administrators shouted hysterically as the guards tightened the rope around his neck.
Myrcella stood nearby, watching them with a small, composed smile on her face.
A large crowd had gathered around the execution platform. People packed together so tightly that it looked like a sea of heads stretching across the plaza. Everyone wanted to see it with their own eyes.
Only one day had passed since their arrest.
The Queen herself had formally approved the immediate execution at the gallows. After their deaths, their bodies would be placed on crosses where the public could see them.
Not exactly a peaceful retirement plan.
And judging from the crowd, the people weren’t planning on being gentle about it either.
Many in the audience had lost someone decades ago.
Wives. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Daughters.
Husbands.
Sons.
Parents.
Lovers.
Fifty years might sound like a long time on paper, but grief doesn’t follow calendars. The anger in the crowd made that very clear.
Even after all that time, the wounds were still there.
Still open.
Still painful.
Letting these people escape punishment after what they had done was simply not an option anymore.
While the executioners prepared the ropes, the crowd had already started throwing stones.
"You scum!"
A rock flew through the air and smacked one of the administrators straight in the face.
"You think you can just hide for fifty years and get away with it?!"
"You, low life...! Don’t you know who I am?!" the same administrator screamed again, clutching his bleeding nose.
"Shut up!" someone in the crowd yelled back. "You murderer! You killed my mother!"
"That’s right!" another voice shouted. "You don’t get to talk about who you are when we already know exactly what you are!"
"Give me back my daughter!"
More rocks followed.
Some hit the stage. One unlucky administrator got hit in the shoulder and nearly lost his balance.
The air was filled with shouting, rage, and the dull thuds of stones hitting wood and flesh.
For fifty years, the people had been left without answers.
Families disappeared.
Lives were ruined.
And no one had ever properly explained why.
Now the truth was finally out.
It wasn’t a truth anyone wanted, but it was the only one left.
Fifty years of pain.
Fifty years of waiting.
And now, finally, justice was standing on a wooden platform with a rope around its neck.
"Princess!" one of the administrators suddenly cried out, his voice breaking with panic. "Please! Let me out of this! I’ll do anything! Anything! Just get me out of here!"
He sounded less like a powerful official and more like a terrified animal.
"We were wrong!" another one shouted quickly. "I admit it! I’ll confess to everything! But please, you can’t do this to us!"
He glanced desperately toward the crowd, then back at Myrcella.
"Our families have contributed greatly to the kingdom! My son and daughter served on the cabinet of the former King! They did their duties well!"
Myrcella listened quietly.
Then she gave a small shrug.
"Well, unfortunately," she said calmly, "that’s not nearly enough to compensate for your crimes."
Her smile sharpened slightly.
"And besides, your family happens to be one of the most corrupt groups in the kingdom. If they stop contributing, I doubt the country will suffer much."
The administrator opened his mouth, probably preparing another desperate argument.
Myrcella sighed softly.
"Now then," she said. "This has gone on long enough."
She gave a simple nod.
That was all the signal Veronica needed.
Veronica stepped forward and raised her blade.
With one clean motion, she sliced through the rope mechanism holding the trapdoors beneath the prisoners.
The administrators barely had time to react.
The trapdoors snapped open.
Their bodies dropped instantly.
The ropes tightened with a harsh jerk.
For a few seconds their bodies thrashed in the air. Legs kicked wildly. Hands twitched as instinct fought desperately against the tightening noose.
The crowd watched in silence.
Slowly the struggling weakened.
Their faces turned a deep purple.
Their tongues hung out as the last bits of air escaped their lungs.
Then their bodies went still.
Just like that, after fifty long years of unanswered suffering.
The administrators were finally dead.
