Chapter 113 Chapter 113 - The First and Final Breaths (1/2)
CHAPTER 113
THE FIRST AND FINAL BREATHS
It is the sort of story which repeats through the ages; a power-hungry Duke blinds others with ambition and passion into assisting him in usurping the throne, yet is denied when his struggle proves lacking. It is the sort of story written by winners to belittle the fallen, to discourage ambition from those who would have it. Duke Erdicth knew, when Ishel's blade fiercely pierced his heart, that such story would be etched into the histories.
Duke Erdicth, Son of Grand Archduke Wovien Erdicth who served Royal Family more devoutly than all those before him, heard the whispers of the dark and converted, abandoning the oath his family had sworn generations ago, vying for the Crown. As he glanced down and saw crimson tide trickling through the etchings of his stained armor, he'd already written out the story itself inside his head. He knew he'd have no honor after death; his name would be turned into a jest, a joke, a mockery of highest order - and a warning.
However, that wasn't the story. He wasn't power-hungry idiot who believed himself better than the Emperor and the Empress. With his whole heart, he believed Evelyn can rule as best as any of them, especially when he took a glance at her a few minutes ago. In her, he saw dignity befitting a Ruler of the Nation. He saw fire, passion and drive, pure desire to better the Empire even further. Yet, no one would ever know his story. No one would ever learn his heart.
Ishel's eyes were cold, frigid despite taking a life of revered Duke. Erdicth - of given name Stor - knew Ishel didn't care for his story. Devon didn't care for his story. Empress didn't care for his story, nor did her Royal Father. He took a look at the obliteration surrounding him, feeling suffocation akin to nothing he ever felt before surge from within the depths of his soul. It was agony, watching men and women he bonded with fall one by one in the symposium of madness... one which he himself had composed.
He wanted to sound out agony and apology to all of them, yet voice wouldn't break past the barrier. He could only bitterly look at bloodied, maimed, brutalized faces and bodies being coldly scalded from the skies and into the pit of oblivion, to rest forevermore as mere itches of the past.
He began falling, the sort of fall that lasts no longer than a couple of breaths; horizon blended into a warp of various colors, all entangled within the sun's pure golden. He could swear it, deep inside, he'd seen the meaning of his story dancing in those colors. But his mind was muddled; he couldn't even ascertain as to what he was thinking. It was flash after flash of memories, of thoughts, of hopes and desires and lingering doubts all mixed together in a pot of complete mania, where there was no distinction between a sound and an image. If only... he were stronger, he would have won. If only... he was smarter, he would have won.
He crashed like a falling star against the floor, yet it felt strangely comfortable. There were no broken bones, there was no impact, no last flash before his death. He was wholly unprotected with Qi, an ordinary man of flesh and bone falling from hundreds of meters onto flat, sturdy concrete. There was only one result: death. Yet, he wasn't dead. He was very much alive, he felt. His closed eyes shook for a moment before opening up, and he quickly realized he was in a small, narrow alleyway, leaned back-first against the wall. Next to him stood a shabbily-dressed man of uncouth bearing and filth unbefitting of living. Even at the doorsteps of death, Erdicth couldn't help but frown; it was not the matter of nobility or others, it was a matter of personal desire of betterment. And, Erdicth concluded, man before him had none.
”... why... why did you save me?” Erdicth asked.
”You think I saved you?” the man asked back, seeming confused.
”... temporarily saved me.”
”Oh, yeah, that makes more sense,” the man said. ”Your Qi passageways are decimated, half your organs have given up, and for the life of me I can't figure out how are you still conscious. You can be considered a medical miracle.”
”... you are that filthy beggar everyone has been clamoring about recently?” Erdicth asked. ”You really live up to your name.”
”My, my, to think even the great Duke Erdicth has heard of me,” the man said, squatting down next to Erdicth. ”I'm honored.”
”... what do you want, beggar?”
”I've heard chatter,” the man said. ”That, recently, you've been employing services of a blacksmith.”
”Oh? What's that got to do with you?”
”Well, not to brag, but I'm a bit of a blacksmith myself,” the man said, smiling faintly. ”And I'm very interested in making acquaintances with that friend of yours, if you'd be so kind as to help me out here.”
”... it cannot be that you saved me for that reason alone, can it?”
”... it's because I've wanted to give you an opportunity, out of respect you've earned, to die warrior's death,” the man said, sighing faintly. ”Though you were a fool in the end, you fought till the bitter end. Someone like you doesn't deserve to die that way.”
”... hah, respect? Wherefore you respect me, little beggar? I am but a traitor of the Crown, shame of the Empire.”
”... for the last part of your life, you've yearned for one thing alone,” the man spoke slowly, suddenly raising his arm and placing his thumb onto Erdicth's forehead. ”And, for that reason and that fear, you braved betrayal of all you held dear, of all your ancestors and of all people you respected.” Erdicth felt a sudden jolt whereupon a strange current surged into his body like a tidal wave, besieging him near the point of suffocation. Just as he was about to cry out in protest, an image formed inside his head, and it struck his heart like a bolt.
”Y-you... you... you're...” Erdicth mumbled while his eyes widened like eggs, staring at this strange man before him, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
”You wanted them to hear your voice, yet they ignored,” the man said, smiling lightly. ”You wanted to tell them your story, yet they ignored. Though, really, you were a bit of a fool toward the end.”
”... you... really are...” by now, Erdicth's entire body was shaking as his eyes grew watery, eventually beginning to spit out tears ceaselessly. ”I... my death... my death is not in vain.”