Translated by Mara Sov
Revolutionary Period Black Rose (2)
Because of Valliants words, I decided to return to Lumiere earlier than planned. But what I found wasnt the bustling Capital of the Republic, but a chaotic city drowned with gunshots and screams.
So, I rushed towards the epicenter of it all
Only to find Christine collapsed on the ground, bleeding heavily.
After that, everything beca a blur.
I slowly dragged my hand down my face.
No matter what, the thick stench of blood just wouldnt go away.
I was simply lying here, helplessly looking down at Christine who rested in a bed
Her midnight dress was drenched in blood, there were bandages everywhere, and her skin was pale a sickening deathly shade of white.
But the worst of it was already over.
She wasnt dead, thank God, but she was still unconscious due to her severe injuries.
However, even If I knew all of this, I just couldnt take my eyes off her face.
I didnt get her involved with this ss to see her like this.
I trusted her skills, never once considering the possibility that so harm would befall her.
No, I simply didnt wish to believe she could be in danger.
A murky unpleasant feeling kept creeping around my chest, my breath was erratic.
Marquis. I finished healing the Baron.
Eriss voice ca from behind .
Alright.
A mont of silence passed, and then Eris spoke again.
Marquis, at least change out of your blood-soaked clothes. Staying like this changes nothing.
I turned to lash out at Eris, but I closed my mouth.
Eris looked at , her complexion was pale and she looked like she would collapse at any mont now.
No, she didnt deserve this. After all, she used all of her strength to save Christine and Baron Charon.
And here I was, ready to lash out at her
As I brushed my face with my hand again, Eris looked away and spoke.
Ill go rest first.
Im sorry. And thank you.
Its my duty.
With a bitter smile, Eris turned back and left the room with a slight limp.
The reason for her exhaustion were the cursed bullets from the Abyss Corporation.
I dont know how they worked, but I could see that the wounds inflicted by them wouldnt stop bleeding, and they even interfered with the healing miracles of Divine Power. I doubted an ordinary priest could heal such cursed wounds.
Had Eris not been with us, both Christine and Baron Charon would have surely died.
The thought makes my blood run cold.
Did they want her dead that badly?
They sought aid from the demons The public enemies of the Republic and even executed their plan regardless of whether the citizens of Lumiere would get caught in the crossfire.
What Christine had done to rit such a relentless response?
Marquis Lafayette.
Turning towards the door, I saw Baron Charon standing there.
Christines most loyal subordinate, who nearly died protecting her.
From what I heard, Baron, you were also struck by those bullets. You should be resting.
Nonsense. I am a Knight. A Knight who failed to protect my Lady the Countess, so how could I asha myself even further by resting? Forgive , Marquis, but I must at least complete my duty. Here, take this.
Baron Charon proceeded to hand so docunts.
As I began to read them, the Baron spoke up.
As per the Countesss orders, these docunts are to be given solely to you, Marquis, should an ergency occur.
Those words stabbed my frail heart.
In the possibility that she wouldnt be able to hand these docunts herself, she had instructed Baron Charon to do so.
Perhaps it was rely an action derived due to her thorough behavior.
But to , it was as if Christine had finished her work and handed it to , already counting herself as a lost cause.
It made realize how all of this was my fault for putting her in such a position.
Now, my broken heart was consud by wrath.
Before my regression, my entire life had been a series of failures.
From an early age, my future as a promising knight was shattered when I lost to Sir Gaston in the knight tournant.
My fiance, Christine, whom I had a good impression of, from our few etings, was assassinated without my knowledge.
With nowhere and no one to turn, I was branded as a complete failure by my father, the Blue Knight. So as a noble, I had no honor to speak of.
Because of this, I turned my gaze toward the common folk. They didnt seem to care that I, a noble, had been defeated by a commoner.
Just because I was generous towards them, they praised .
So, I tried to do more for them. In every battle fought, I tried to conserve my troops.
But despite those efforts, those who had followed , my soldiers, were completely crushed by the revolutionaries.
And in my trial, I realized that all I had done, that I had beco, or what I thought I was, was simply a delusion on my part. I realized that in the end, I was no different from the other corrupt nobles.
I was left with nothing in my life.
The sunset cast a bloody hue over the streets of Lumiere.
After a mad ride, I arrived in front of a building as I dismounted my horse.
In the docunts prepared by Christine and handed to by Baron Charon, there was a location of a building drawn on the map of the Capital.
The location of a secret eting place for the Radicals,
The secret eting place of the radical faction, the so-called Saint-Justs club.
Secure the periter. Let no one in or out.
As you command, Marquis.
I drew my sword and knocked on the door.
Who goes there? Huh?! Marquis Lafay
The door opened, and an annoyed man ca out, his eyes widened as he looked at .
But before he could shout, I clamped my hand over his mouth, shoved him back, and slid my blade across his throat.
Kkreurgh
The man choked on his own blood before collapsing.
Even after killing this man, my wrath continued to surge unrestrained.
As I gave myself up to this feeling, I tossed the corpse aside and kicked the door open, storming the building.
Bang!
The sound of the door being kicked open echoed loudly, and as heads turned in my direction, I quickly dispatched them all.
Ahh, haa
I lodged a dagger into the forehead of soone desperately reaching for a pistol, and he fell over like a puppet with severed strings.
These n wouldnt move ever again.
After heading deeper into the club, I struck a bronze statue with my sword, creating a loud noise, and drawing another poor fella out.
He t his end as well.
After doing this a few more tis, the club was completely silent.
Because of this, I could clearly hear so voices coming from a room at the end of the corridor. As I approached it, the door opened.
Hey, you there. Whats with all this noise
Ah, I finally t a familiar face.
One of the radicals listed in Christines docunts.
The fat pig paled as he slamd the door shut.
Im sure the room was quickly engulfed in chaos.
I waited a few seconds before opening the door, and as the commotion turned into confusion, I kicked the door with all my might.
Ahhh!
The entire door flew off like a piece of bark while those within the room scread.
One, two, three, four, five, sixten.
All the nas from Christines list, the mbers of Saint-Justs club were here.
Heh-.
This would save so trouble.
Would you look at this? All these fine gentlen clustering like rats in a trap.
No one said anything.
Realizing their gazes were fixed on my bloodstained attire, my smile widened.
Ha, hahaha. Whatever youre thinking youre mistaken, this blood isnt from the people inside this club.
You see, this? This is the Countesss blood.
Upon the ntion of the Countess of Aquitaine, all the mbers of the assembly shuddered.
I can still feel her cold, blood-drenched body laying limp in my hands.
Just rembering this made my mood worse than it already was.
Looking in the eyes of every single man present here, I said.
Why are you all silent?
Arent you the ones who keep yelling the sa things over and over?
The cause of the revolution, the justice of the Republic.
Liberty. Equality. Fraternity.
The ones who yell the valours of the Republic, who claim to adhere to them fully, were the first to rationalize every single dented act, simply because sothing displeased them, using the excuse of purging the corruption of the old regi. Hypocrites every single one of them.
As I slowly moved toward the center of the room, they retreated to the corners as if to avoid .
Finally, the leader among them, Senator Saint Just, was the first to speak.
Ma, Marquis Lafayette! What in the world are you doing? This is preposterous
What is so preposterous?
T-This blood! What have you done to the people outside?!
Ah? Oh I see, you an your subordinates, well, they are all dead, so theres no need to worry about them anymore.
Even while I maintained an easy-going tone, I could feel my insides twisting.
There are countless things I want to hurl at them.
But I know that its all aningless.
This is madness. We shall denounce the Marquiss violent act in the Assembly-
Saint-Just words were cut off as I aid the sword in my hand at him.
Weird. I believed that a dead man tells no tales.
Hu, hugh!
Eeeek!
A coward who was near the door made a run for it, while I simply threw a dagger, hitting his leg/
Agh, my leg, my leeeeg! Aaaaah!
Walking towards him, I stomped over the daggers handle still lodged in his leg.
A terrible scream filled the room.
Heh-. Isnt he screaming just like a pig?
Ah, I see how it is! Theres no use in trying to reason with animals, is there?
While all the councilors were trembling, pale as a ghost, one of them drew a handgun and fired.
That futile resistance was deflected by my mana.
Ah, aah.
Despair settled upon everyone, and one of the delegates ca forward and knelt before .
Ma-Marquis! Save ! Senator Saint-Just is the main instigator of it all! I was just dragged here, knowing nothing!
Councilor Behrnach! What are you saying!
Hes trying to save his own skin! Marquis Lafayette, Behrnach was the one who planned it all! I had no idea these vile heathens had planned such terrible things!
Ha.
Only a hollow snort escaped .
These are the sa people who condemned .
Where is the Liberty?
The sa people who pleaded for my execution, saying I plundered the lands of the citizens of Francia, these sa n are now branding entire regions as traitors, seeking innocent blood, just because of difference in opinion.
The Equality?
These n, who are now dressed in the finest clothes, gathered in a mansion seized from the nobility as they discussed their next target.
How could those who commit terrorist acts in the heart of the Republic, claiming several innocent lives, dare to say they strive for the peoples Equality?
Fraternity?
Why would those who preached unity and democracy try to kill Christine?
Just because she had won the peoples hearts by improving their lives? Just because the Assembly lost their claws over the peoples opinion?
Since they couldnt win this battle through their oh-so-loved democracy they sold their souls to borrow the power of the sa demons they once condemned.
-They dont understand your motives, Marquis. Your loyalty and dedication are too valuable to be offered to those who are blinded by their own ideology and are deluded from reality
I was already aware of this.
And, maybe.If I was on my own, I wouldnt have cared.
-As a noble, do you throw away everything you have, including your titles and lands, just for sothing soshallow as patriotism? Then you are truly a Hero of this land. But you see, there are parasites feeding off your dedication. Tell Marquis, what sort of compensation is there for the sacrifices you and your followers have made to get where you are?
But I was responsible for those under as well.
I was the one who demanded their sacrifices to appease the Republic.
No matter how resolved I was, the seed sown by Valliant took root in my shattered heart.
-Has your cause even achieved anything, Marquis?
Maybe I couldnt claim to have known the path toward the optimal outco, but I strived for a better future nonetheless.
Thats how I convinced myself.
But the Revolutionaries won. And I lost.
Everything I stood for was deed aningless, they sentenced to theGuillotine, in the na of their Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!
Thats why, when I had received a second chance, I sided with them, to guarantee my own survival and the survival of those who believed in .
However, I was keenly aware that they werent truly just. And deep down I knew they werent worth my Loyalty.
Even then, my loyalty was towards this Nation, my pledge to the people who lived here. I would protect them.
Better deluding myself this way than facing another end as a treacherous wretch.
For what end? I still couldnt fathom the value they saw in this twisted democracy they continued to sing praises of!
In the end, I convinced myself of this nationalist behavior, to engrave my duty to protect the people.
Thats the least I could do.
Unlike my father, who built his honor on the sacrifices of others, I convinced myself I fought to save many!
So what is the result?
Did I and those who followed receive treatnt befitting our sacrifices?
My retainers, who, even in tears, believed in and gave up their titles, their lands, their privileges
Count Lionel the man who couldnt forsake the history of his noble blood until the very end.
ChristineMy dear Christine..Limp like a corpse .So much blood flowing out of her.I wouldnt be able to forget this sight even if I tried.
Ah, Marquis, please. I didnt know it would co to this. Spare !
A beast so vile I couldnt even bring myself to utter its na stood in front of .
You want to spare you? Youll regret this wish very soon.
For the first ti in my life, I was surprised to find myself able to laugh in this situation.
Youll end up begging to be killed instead.
/genesisforsaken
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