Chapter 38

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 38

I will be executed at noon today. Yuki was at a loss on how to proceed with the reality of her execution only hours away. They only told her she would be executed, but not the method in which she would be killed.

If this were feudal Japan, it would likely be a dishonorable execution by hanging. But I’m in neither Japan nor America right now. It’s suspicious whether I’m even somewhere on Earth. There’s no way for me to imagine what they have planned for me in a world of Witches, Mages, and Knights. Ugh, I don’t want to think about how I’m going to die!

Yuki rolled back and forth on her bed trying to think about something else. She wondered whether the day had the perfect weather for an execution. She woke up at a very early hour before the sun rose. The morning sun she saw rising over the mountains from the balcony was breathtaking.

Perfect weather for an execution? What an ominous thought, Yuki chided herself and slowly sat up. She lightly stretched and slapped her cheeks.

“Get a grip. I have to think about what I’m going to do,” she encouraged herself.

In the end, the powers Kaito spoke of never manifested for her. Nor was she able to remove the shackles fastened to her feet. Moving around recklessly had injured her ankles. The abrasions on her wrists from struggling against the ropes when she had a fever were peeling scabs now. Every time she saw the scabs she was painfully reminded how much time was passing, and of the blistered white welts of the burns on her chest.

Hurry up, brain. I have to do something before that man comes. I have to make my move before Padi’s brother—the boy whose name I still don’t know—comes. But how?

What could Yuki do when she was no different from a bird locked in a cage with its wings cut?

Unable to sit still, she paced in circles around the room. The chain attached to her feet clanged behind her.

“…Will the best time to escape be when they’re taking me to the place of my execution after all?”

Maybe someone will come to save me during that time. That faint hope lit the darkness weighing on her heart.

Oh no…I still have hope. Is it just me trying to escape reality? Or do I really hope someone will come to save me? Thinking about it too much has made it so I don’t really know the answer anymore. What do the others think of me? How much of a friendship did we develop? That’s all I’ve been thinking about since my imprisonment.

Her thoughts drifted to Ain, Tita, Nasette, and Luca.

“…I want to see them,” she sighed.

A hole had ripped open in her heart since she was separated from the others. Since that day she stopped being treated like a human, constantly exposed to hate and contempt. The warm and gentle way her friends looked at her felt nostalgic now. Just remembering their faces warmed her.

“…Yeah, I’ll see them. I’ll be the one to go and see them. I’ll tell them I’m fine and sorry for making them worry. Plus, I have to apologize to Luca…for saying selfish things and running away after causing him problems. I wanted to be his strength yet I only got in his way.”

The sound of Yuki’s solemn voice mingled with the rhythmic clang of the chain and the chirping birds. She rubbed the empty space on her right hand’s middle finger. She laughed at how ridiculous it was that rubbing where the ring once sat became a habit.

Yeah, I’ve gotta aim for the time they take me to my execution site. Yuki tried simulating what she was going to do in her mind. The chain is fastened to the bed. There’s no way for me to remove it. I’m certain the only place to unlock the shackles is on the part connected to my feet. I just have to make a run for it the moment they unlock the shackles and jump from the balcony.

Yuki mulled over several different situations—from what she would do if there were a lot of guards, to if she fell, and a thousand other ifs and buts. As she thought about it, the more confident she was she could make a jump for it no matter the situation she faced.

“Okay, I’m good. I’m sure I can do it. No, I absolutely will do it,” she encouraged herself, squeezing her hands together.

Someone roughly kicked open the door around the time Yuki glared at the fully risen sun. In strolled Padimate’s younger brother.

What the heck does he want? She was oddly calm. It’s okay. I can keep this calm.

“Time for your final meal. Eat,” he said, roughly slamming the tray on the table and sitting on the chair he brought last time.

A wet cloth sat beside the food on the tray. Yuki picked it up and wiped her face. The chilled cloth felt nice against her skin. She took a deep breath, sat on the side of her bed, and pulled the tray onto her lap.

“Thanks for the food,” she said, bringing both hands together in prayer. She picked up the spoon. She thought maybe the last day would be a little bit more extravagant, but food no different than what she had received the past ten days sat on the tray.

I’m glad just to be able to eat though.

Silence filled the room as she quietly ate her meal. She felt the young man’s eyes on her, but she ate without looking at him.

Anyway, I’m surprised he came alone. I thought for sure he’d bring guards with him. Maybe someone else will come in after I finish eating.

Yuki’s body tensed. She kept glancing at the door wondering whether someone else was on the other side lying in wait. She couldn’t taste the food. Her adrenaline was pumping. She accidentally made eye contact with the young man. He was looking at her with a smirk plastered on his face.

What a nasty smile.

His smirk was oppressive and arrogant. He looked at Yuki with contempt-filled eyes that seemed to say he was in an overwhelmingly higher position in life than her. She focused on eating, paying him little attention. She brought the soup to her mouth, but quickly pulled it away because it was still too hot. A little bit spilled over on her tray. She glanced over at him, hating the fact he saw her burn her tongue. As she guessed, his eyes were locked on her.

“You’re calm,” he commented.

“…What are you talking about?”

“Nah, just thinking the little Adolunde noble girly really does believe someone will come to save her. Do you really believe in such fallacies?” His casual smile lightened the seriousness of the matter.

As if.

“As if I’d think that,” she spat and hastily shoveled food into her mouth. She wanted to quickly finish eating to stop the chatty prince from talking to her.

“You say that, but you’re actually waiting, aren’t you?”

“Shut up,” she snarled, picking up the bowl and drinking the rest of its contents to quickly end the conversation.

“You’re waiting, right? Waiting for your precious prince with indigo blue hair,” the young man exclaimed triumphantly, as though he had her pinned.

“Huh?” Yuki said dumbfounded. “Who are you talking about?”

She went to stand up, but the door to her room opened faster than she could stand. In came several soldiers followed by a tied up Ain.

“Ain!” she shouted. Her eyes met a gagged Ain’s. He must have received quite the beating; his eyes were bloodshot and they were the least damaged part of him. His face contorted in agony at the sight of her.

How? Why? Why is Ain in a place like this?

…Isn’t it obvious? He came here to save me. What other reason would he have to come?

Yuki was overcome by an intense feeling of regret and guilt. He must have been through a lot of painful experiences to be dragged here looking as he did.

It’s all my fault.

Yuki went to run to Ain, but an intense wave of dizziness assaulted her the moment she stepped down from the bed.

Her head spun and her balance skewed. Every part of her brain seemed to be shutting down—the tips of her fingers and tongue were going numb. The dizziness was so extreme she had to throw herself on the ground before her mind blacked out on her. Ain’s figure distorted in her blurred vision.

What’s going on?

Ceaseless ringing assaulted her ears. Through the ringing she heard Ain screaming her name through his gag. Oddly enough, amid all the noise she clearly heard the young man’s voice.

“It’d be a pain for us if you resisted after all. So we had you drink a drug to knock you unconscious.”

His voice broke off there as all sound faded from the room. Yuki didn’t hear the ringing anymore.

He got me.

Her vision gradually blurred and everything faded into darkness.