༺ I Don’t Need a Guillotine for My Revolution ༻
Written by – 카르카손
Translated by – Mara Sov
༺ Revolutionary Period – Black Rose (3) ༻
By the time I left the club, darkness had fully descended.
My subordinates appeared somewhat unsettled by my disheveled state and the pungent scent of blood, but none spoke a word.
“Let’s return.”
“As you command!”
Riding through the streets, we arrived at Lumiere’s main square.
There, we encountered a familiar face leading a group of men.
Prosecutor Maximillien Le Jidor.
The man who has dedicated everything to the Republic and democracy tensed at the sight of me in the moonlit square.
Was he on his way to punish the members of his faction following the assault on Christine?
“……Marquis Lafayette.”
“Prosecutor Le Jidor.”
The silence that followed was palpable,
And before I could say anything, Jidor bowed his head towards me.
“……I regret the unfortunate incident that has befallen the Countess Aquitaine.”
“Regret?”
A chuckle escaped me as I descended from my horse.
Le Jidor’s entourage moved to protect him, but with a gesture, he halted them.
As I approached him, I yanked his collar.
Even as his neat clothes became stained with blood, Le Jidor’s expression behind his glasses remained unchanged.
“Regret, huh? Always regretting something…….”
I couldn’t stop the hollow laughter.
“Were I to slit your throat this instant, wouldn’t that be a true cause for regret?”
After a moment of silence, Le Jidor spoke.
“Those who have wronged our nation’s people and disturbed Lumiere’s tranquility, engaging in acts unbecoming of a citizen, should be judged under the laws of the Republic. That includes me, if necessary.”
Le Jidor’s eyes were firm, unblinking.
“As such, should the Marquis take my life without due process, the Republic will pass judgment on the Marquis.”
I laughed, despite myself.
Your confidence, where does it come from?
Your righteousness, how do you maintain it?
“Maximillien Le Jidor.”
He was the one who sought to nullify my existence, to be the harbinger of my demise.
“Your friends, the other hypocrites of your faction have ignored the laws and harmed my people.”
His words, which haunted my dreams, returned to me over and over.
“Answer me, Prosecutor. Did the Countess of Aquitaine, Christine, ever violate the law?”
You speak of justice, yet you have stripped me of everything.
“We, who yielded our territories as a bargaining chip to parley with you, I, who allied with you to safeguard the Republic, my troops who have bled on the battleground for this nation! Have we ever gone against the Republic?”
Yet, none of this should have come to pass.
“Speak!”
Just because you’re not just, doesn’t mean you should trample on the justice you speak of with your own feet.
“If you have something to say, say it!”
How could you even allow this to happen to the people who trusted me and who staked their future on you?!
“…Marquis, I understand your anger but-“
“Understand? Have any of you ever tried to understand the plight of my people?”
They never understood our sacrifices.
Of what we gave up on – our lands, our privileges, our birthrights.
They never recognized the good we did – all that wealth and food donated to a crumbling Republic.
The blood we shed was deemed worthless, even when we turned against those who were once our comrades in arms.
“Just because we are nobles! Just because our perspectives are different! You think you can cast us as the enemy and throw us away like worthless trash!?”
Has anyone ever given up anything to stand with us?
“Didn’t you say the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?”
You are so delusional with your beliefs that you brand everyone who disagrees as traitors.
“You said that with these sacrifices, democracy would take root in this land, and a true reform would occur.”
But was that truly necessary? What is the worth of an ideal built on top of a mountain of corpses?
“You, who are so drunk in your ideals that you’d remove anyone who disagrees with you, labeling them as a necessary sacrifice, are more arrogant than any noble that has lived in this land.”
It’s funny, isn’t it? The one who defends his ideas with a composed face and calm behavior is the one committing acts that shouldn’t be done, crossing lines that shouldn’t be crossed……
“Self-righteous hypocrites who believe they are absolutely right because they are not corrupt. Fools who think they are not wrong just because they aren’t part of the ‘old regime’. Can’t you simply admit the errors in your way?”
And yet you dare to spout hypocrisy with that shameless mouth?
“There’s no justice in this country. Nor are there those stupid ideals you keep preaching about.
And you know what is the funniest thing, Prosecutor? You are the one responsible for the failures of this Republic.”
Prosecutor Maximillien Le Jidor tried to say something but his lips, which tried to move several times, closed without making a sound.
After a long silence, Jidor’s lips finally opened, and he spoke in a voice choked with emotion.
“Even if that’s true.”
The man’s face, which seemed unshakeable, now clearly showed signs of exhaustion.
“The day we forsake our duty, and let order crumble, will be the day this land is forever lost in chaos.”
Laughing at his words, I turned my head.
In the corner of the main square, stood the guillotine…The same guillotine that ended my previous life.
It was the instrument of the Republic’s justice, a symbol of their order.
In a land as rotten as this one, a revolution was only a matter of time.
However, if the new regime is just as bad as the old one, who kept demanding the blood of its people……
This begs the question of if this blood-soaked new order was even worth it.
“You know what I think, Prosecutor? If this is the kind of order you desire, then it’s better if it falls.”
Turning my back to that cursed symbol, I drew my sword and pointed it at Jidor.
I….We have sacrificed too much to stand with the Republic.
To prove that we are worthy of them.
“Now I ask you this. Prove it to me. Show me whether this Republic is worthy of our protection.”
Now it’s your turn.
“If you cannot. If this justice you speak of, your ideals, this Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity are just empty words.”
I spoke through gritted teeth, suppressing the rage that seemed to scorch my insides.
–
The following day, rumors about Christine’s assassination attempt spread through the Capital.
There was also a heated discourse about the incident in Saint Just’s Club, where ten councilors as well as their followers and subordinates were brutally murdered.
The National Assembly convened an urgent meeting, but for the first time since its conception, Prosecutor Maximillien Le Jidor was absent. An unprecedented event, yet, one that no one dared to point out.
Instead, the entire Assembly seemed paralyzed with fear, and the members were more cooperative with us than ever before.
With a mix of emptiness and anger, after two days, I could feel myself approaching my limit. However, during this time, Christine finally awoke.
“……Christine.”
“Pierre.”
Although she appeared fragile, Christine was conscious and gazing at me intently.
It was only then that I felt I could truly breathe again.
There were so many things I wished to tell her, but I couldn’t voice any of them.
After a long and uncomfortable silence, Christine was the one who spoke first.
“……I heard you saved me. Thank you.”
“No. It was my fault you were in danger in the first pla—”
“It was not.”
Christine interjected with certainty.
“I brought this upon myself. I was fully aware of their conspiracy, but I held off on confronting them, choosing a more political approach until you returned.”
Christine took a moment to catch her breath as she was still weakened,
“Thus, the fault lies with me. This is not your burden to bear.”
She seemed to be trying to alleviate my guilt……
……While at the same time keeping me at a distance.
I walked towards her bed and knelt on one knee before her, taking her long midnight hair in my hands and gently kissing it.
“……Pierre.”
Perhaps, there was still a chance for us to mend our relationship.
If it happened, would she rely on me more?
“Shall we get engaged again?”
The calmness usually evident in her deep black eyes was now disturbed.
“……Your joke isn’t funny, Pierre.”
Her trembling eyes, the tears ready to spill as well as her expression were all proof of the deep exhaustion she had, both physically and mentally.
Seizing this rare opening in her defenses, I also did something cowardly……Perhaps because of my own desperation.
“……I know you plan on letting Louis inherit Aquitaine.”
Christine looked caught off guard but didn’t deny it.
“So I’ll wait until Louis is of age to be able to take over your title.”
We know each other too well for me not to notice that.
“That’s why, I ask you this; When you cede Louis your title, I want you to come with me.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
Christine’s expression looked genuinely angry, or perhaps steeped in sorrow.
Her quivering black orbs gradually composed themselves in response to my declaration.
“Do you even understand what you are saying? Do you plan on dragging the prestige of Lafayette through the mud? Or are you mocking me now? I’ll have you know that I–”
“I couldn’t care less about Lafayette’s prestige or the wealth of Aquitaine. To me Christine, you are worth way more than those foolish things.”
Christine closed her mouth, with a loud click-.
After a long and tortuous silence, Christine stretched her fair hands and fiddled with the black rose brooch on my chest.
It was the artifact she had gifted to me, for my protection.
With a trembling voice, she asked me,
“Do you know the meaning of a black rose?”
When I kept silent she continued.
“It means farewell.”
As soon as those words left her lips, Christine’s eyes became utterly cold and devoid of any emotion.
It was my fault she had become like this.
Because I wanted to involve Christine in my plans, I made her seek revenge against her family.
And even when I was aware of the emptiness within her heart, I kept my distance under the pretext of respecting her wishes.
Instead of comforting her, I pursued a vain Ideal, fooling even myself with the promise of fighting for a better future for Francia.
With slow and deliberate movements, I removed the brooch from my chest.
Christine’s eyes bored into mine, still cold and unfeeling.
“Christine.”
“Speak, Marquis Lafayette.”
“Do you despise me so much?”
Christine’s mask shattered.
“If you do, then say the word, tell me to never approach you ever again, and it shall be done.”
Christine covered her eyes with her hand.
“H-how can I…T-thats……”
“If that’s not the case, then please don’t push me away.”
Before my regression, we barely exchanged a few words.
And without even getting to know her, I left her to die at the hands of her own family.
Christine’s lips trembled as she managed to voice a question with a wavering tone.
“Why? Why are you like this?! How much more selfish do you want me to be?!”
By saving her life, I began my path toward a new future.
Everything I’ve changed so far, it’s thanks to Christine’s help. She was always my utmost priority in my search for a better future.
And yet.
If I let the most precious person to me die again, what would be the use of a better future?
“……The black rose has another meaning, you know?”
Whether she didn’t know it or hoped I didn’t realize it, I couldn’t tell.
Or perhaps she didn’t think I would be curious about the meaning of a gift from my most precious person?
Her usual poise was completely forgotten, her face twisted in a myriad of emotions as I spoke with the gentlest tone I could muster.
But even if my tone was gentle, my words were stronger than steel.
Finally, her tears came undone.
“I’m already yours.”
Gently, I reached out and attached the black rose to her chest and asked.
“So, will you be mine, My Lady?”
With tears running down her cheeks, she nodded and collapsed in my embrace.
I held her body, which continued to tremble while her eyes wept her deep-rooted sorrows for the family that betrayed her. Her cries reverberated against my chest.
She was someone I couldn’t save in my past life, and one whom I made cry in this life, so because of this, I whispered my most sincere feelings.
“……I’m sorry for making you wait for so long.”
TL: Alright guys, the lines
“……The black rose has another meaning, you know?” – “You are eternally mine.”
Are so because on da Korea, a black rose can mean both a sad event like death, or the separation of a couple.
However, recently a black rose has been affilliated with obessiveness. Yes. Exaclty dat. YANDERES!
who would have though dat our boy Pierre was a Yandere…..
