Chapter 64：Execution

Atop the castle's balcony which overlooked Karkow's city square, Wilhelm Erich Rommel accompanied by his brother; Walther Aldrich Rommel, the Drussian magistrate of Karkow; Jurren Kol Heupers and their superior; Sicilia Gella Dunnwal lay witness to an almost unbelievable scene.

The city square was filled with a jeering crowd that hurled insults at a particular person.

One may expect that the person the crowd was insulting was one of the lords standing in the balcony of the castle. After all, they could have been seen as conquerers who unjustifiably laid claim to the people's lands and livelihood.

However, the crowd's insults were instead directed to a person standing in the middle of the square. That person in question stood on a stand to be displayed in front of the crowds, tightened around her neck was a noose which was tied to a wooden bar that was suspended a few feet above her head.

It was an execution.

The condemned woman still wore her noble undergarments yet its appearance was ruined by dirt and mud. The area around her left shin was stained with blood while her hands lay limp by her side. Her eyes only gazed downwards with no signs of movement, only sometimes twitching sporadically.

Contrary to how formal executions by hanging typically went, the condemned's hands were not bound by anything whatsoever. The answer why was rather simple. If one were to look closely at her hands, one could see that all of her fingernails were missing while her fingers itself were slightly crooked.

There was no doubt that the bones of her fingers were broken. Whether the finger-bones were dislocated from their joints or the bones itself were systematically broken, the condemned's hands were now broken beyond repair. No matter how hard she may try, she will never be able to free herself from the noose.

The fact that she was still free to move her hands and even attempt to free herself in an act of complete futility only added more insult to injury. It was as if the punishment of death and humiliation wasn't enough for whoever decided on her execution.

All Wilhelm had to do was glance to his right to see the person responsible for coming up with something so sick and twisted. The silver-haired and purple-eyed Sicilia who calmly stood behind the balcony with her hands behind her back and a faint smile on her face .

Unlike the others who arrived from the core regions to repel the crusaders, Sicilia was the only one who remained in West Porrand once the threat was eliminated. On the other hand, Erika Bismark Pollorov and her Omega Corps returned to Maximinus.

The reason why Sicilia stayed that she told Wilhelm was so she can 'finish up some paperwork' but he felt that there was more to it than just that. It was just a hunch, but Wilhelm had a feeling that Sicilia wanted to personally witness the condemned's execution even if it inconvenienced her.

Although Wilhelm was never really the 'morally correct' kind of person, he would still detest the kind of actions that would purposely inconvenience oneself in the pursuit of momentary happiness. Especially for something as cruel as this.

When Wilhelm turned his attention back to the condemned woman, he noticed a slight almost indiscernible change, or at least it was an almost indiscernible change from where Wilhelm stood.

She was crying.

Yet, it was in a rather uncanny manner. Typically, one's face would scrunch in anger or sadness as they cried. However, not a single muscle on the condemned's face moved while the tears just slowly leaked from her eyes.

It was a truly pitiful and pathetic sight.

Never before has Wilhelm ever witnessed such a cruel public humiliation.

Not only was the condemned openly mocked by the crowds, but she was mocked by the very people who a year ago, would have supported her with all of their heart. Or at least, it was supposed to be that way until the Imperium intervened.

The condemned's name was Stefanie Geinen Naftes; the princess of Porrand and the last surviving member of the Porrish royal family, effectively leaving her as the heir apparent. Her title should have meant that she was the one destined to be beloved and venerated by the people of Porrand.

Instead, those very same people who were hurling abuses and insults at the princess. Although Wilhelm knew that it was actually rather easy to sway the ignorant masses to one's side, he had to admit that this was the first time he had seen such an extreme example. And it was all thanks to the Drussian propaganda campaign.

It was at the point that Wilhelm almost felt sorry for Stefanie. She was broken, both physically and mentally. First her bones were methodically broken at the hands of Sicilia during an 'interrogation'. Then Stefanie was forced to witness her own subjects cheer and demand for her own demise.

This has already on for too long. Stefanie should already be put out of her misery.

When Wilhelm glanced around the balcony, he could tell that everyone excluding Sicilia held the same sentiment.

Soon, Walther spoke up on behalf of everyone else.

"Pardon me my lady, but don't you think that it's time to call it?"

Sicilia nodded slightly in response to Walther's suggestion before she replied.

"Yes. I do believe that it is time. Very well, everyone say goodbye to the princess."

Everyone seemed confused when they heard Sicilia reply. Stefanie was alone on the stage, there was no executioner to cut the rope and execute Stefanie. This time it was Jurren who spoke up on behalf of everyone else.

"Excuse me my lady, but the executioner isn't even on the stage yet. I was beginning to wonder if you even summoned one.

"Oh we don't need an executioner."

As Sicilia said this, she reached into her inner coat pocket before taking out her musket pistol.

"I'll do the deed myself."

Before anyone could even react to Sicilia's actions, she already aimed her musket at Stefanie before she fired a shot.

In a feat of incredible accuracy Sicilia's shot seemed to landed on its mark as the sound of a rope snapping and barrels moving overcame the noise of the crowds before the trapdoor bellow Stefanie suddenly opened.

What happened next was a short drop and a sudden stop.

...

Soon after Stefanie's execution, Sicilia excused herself before she made her way for the private bedroom that was reserved for her within the castle. The moment, she entered her bedroom, she fell backwards onto her bed in act of complete exhaustion.

After staring silently at the ceiling for a few short moments, Sicilia started to speak to herself. Of course, she did it in a quiet enough manner so that no one snooping can overhear her.

"Well that was a let less... riveting? No... that's not the right word... amusing? I had something that I wanted to say... Just what the hell was it again?"

Sicilia subconsciously scratched her head as she said this.

"It doesn't matter, I guess that it could just say that it was just a lot less... entertaining than I hoped it would have been. Damn it, Stefanie really spoiled everything didn't she?"

For some reason, Sicilia rolled onto her belly as she spoke to herself.

"Trash snuck-up princess. She thinks so highly of herself and yet she couldn't even take a single hour of my 'treatments' before she has a mental breakdown. If she was gonna ruin the mood she could have at least had the decency to have a strong mental fortitude."

Once again, Sicilia rolled on her bed until this time, her belly was facing the ceiling. As she stared at the ceiling, Sicilia continued speaking to herself.

"It's no fun to torture someone when they're already broken. Wait... why am I even making such a fuss over this. It's not like this is the first time in my life that I was disappointed. What am I even doing? "

Sicilia was sure that she never done anything remotely similar to this before and she was definitely certain that she never felt this way before. Just what the hell was going on? Soon, Sicilia's voice started to tremble as she thought over the possibilities.

"Oh... Oh God... Is this what Maxwell calls a 'midlife' crisis?' Didn't he say that the typical age for one would be around 30-50 years of age? That... that can't be right. I'm twenty years old damn it!"

As she said this, Sicilia got up from her bed and made her way for the mirror of her bedroom. In her reflection, Sicilia saw the mess that her usually pristine silver hair was in. Although Sicilia would typically be offput by things such as this, she managed to ignore it as she spoke to her own reflection.

"Get a grip of yourself Sicilia. You were born as the third child of a noble family of a desolate nation that was on the brink of collapse. You had nothing. You were born with nothing. And at the end of it all, people may not have even known you even existed. But look where you are now."

Sicilia couldn't even describe what kind of expression her reflection held as she spoke to herself.

"Now you're one of the most powerful and influential people to have ever existed. Don't you dare forget that... It's not like... power is meaningless..."

Sicilia's voice started to slow down as she came across a realisation.

"That... that could be it... This power... it's... it's meaningless... What's the point of this power if I'm going to die anyway?.."

Sicilia trailed of into silence as she came to the conclusion of her situation, in the quiet of her room, she only stared blankly at her reflection.

However, she quickly noticed something in the reflection of the mirror. It was a figure, standing in the shadows of her room, who donned a black, hooded cloak and a blank white mask which concealed its face.

Typically, Sicilia would have been slightly embarrassed by this sort of situation but fortunately, she didn't have to concern herself with such things with the hooded figure; Operative 0. Soon, Sicilia turned around to face 0 before she spoke up.

"Oh my... I almost forgot you were there."

Sicilia attempted to fix her hair and straightened her posture as she gave her orders to 0.

"So tell me, was your mission successful?"

"Target survivability chance: 0%. Target kill: Confirmed. Mission Objectives: Completed. Mission successfully accomplished."

Sicilia sighed when she heard 0's report before she made a random remark.

"I'm never going to get used to that. Perhaps we should pay Johann another visit and have something done about that 'eccentric' personality of yours."

In response to Sicilia's remark, 0 only slightly tilted her head slightly sideways in what Sicilia could only describe as confusion. It was almost cute in a way. In fact, when Sicilia saw 0 like this, she almost forgot that 0 was a genetically modified being made from the deepest, darkest, depths of the Imperium.

Whatever humanity that 0 may have once had was all wiped away the moment Johann snd his researchers laid their hands on her.

In essence, 0 was really nothing more than a blank slate that can be ordered to do or be anything that Silica wished.

When Sicilia thought of this, she couldn't help gasping out loud as she finally came across a life changing revelation.

A solution to her midlife crisis.

She was going to become immortal.