The World Is Mine For The Taking

George’s POV

After witnessing something so utterly impossible unfold right before my eyes, and seeing the Republic’s flying machine, which had been sent here to reduce this kingdom to nothing but rubble with its relentless bombardment, vanish almost completely in the blink of an eye, my head slowly fell forward. It genuinely felt as though every bit of hope I had been desperately holding onto throughout all of this had disappeared together with it, leaving behind nothing but a crushing sense of emptiness.

"W-What...?" I muttered to myself, barely able to process what had just happened before me. "Did I really do all of this... for absolutely nothing in the end?"

The words escaped my mouth almost automatically.

Even I struggled to believe them.

Everything I had sacrificed.

Everything I had thrown away.

Everything I had convinced myself was necessary.

It had all collapsed before my eyes in a single moment.

"You made a grave mistake, George," the Queen said calmly, her voice carrying throughout the execution platform without the slightest hint of hesitation. "Back then, you were an outstanding captain of the Bethlan Knights, but you betrayed my father’s trust and ultimately failed him. That alone was already unforgivable. Yet instead of correcting your mistakes and making amends, you chose to stand against him. You made your bed... now you have to lie in it."

Her words weren’t loud.

They didn’t need to be.

They struck far harder than anyone shouting at me ever could.

After saying those words, the Queen simply turned around and walked away from the execution platform without sparing me so much as another glance.

That simple action alone made me realize she had already reached her verdict long before today.

As far as she was concerned, I was already a dead man.

It seemed our time had finally come.

The moment everyone had been waiting for was now standing right in front of us whether we liked it or not.

This was the punishment that awaited every single one of us.

The people gathered throughout the plaza were preparing to stone us until we either bled to death or were left barely clinging to life with no chance of surviving afterward.

Nobody intended to show mercy.

Nobody intended to hold back.

Considering everything we had done, perhaps they had every right to feel that way.

As the Queen continued walking away, the other traitors who had been captured alongside me desperately cried out for mercy. Their hands were tied just like mine, and they shouted over one another while begging for someone, anyone, to save them from what was about to happen.

Some cried. Some screamed. Some completely broke down.

Funny enough, the people who once acted so proud and untouchable looked the most pathetic once death was finally staring them in the face.

Unfortunately for them, the young Queen never looked back.

She simply continued walking away as though their desperate cries no longer existed.

A ruler couldn’t afford to hesitate forever.

She had already made her decision.

Then, only moments later, the first stone came flying toward us.

Soon after that...

Hundreds more followed.

***

Titania’s POV

I quietly watched as George, a former captain of the Bethlan Knights, was slowly stoned by the hundreds of citizens gathered throughout Bethlan.

Stone after stone struck their bodies without pause.

The sounds echoed across the entire plaza.

One after another, the condemned began collapsing onto the wooden platforms beneath them.

The political figures who had secretly worked alongside George, those who had willingly conspired with him despite knowing exactly what they were doing, cried endlessly as they begged for mercy.

Their desperate pleas eventually reached my ears as they called out to me over and over again.

They begged me. Still, I didn’t answer any of them.

Instead, I simply stood there and watched everything unfold before my eyes.

If they wished to beg for mercy, then they should have begged the innocent people whose lives they had destroyed through their own greed, betrayal, and ambition.

Those people never received mercy. Those families never received justice.

Today was the closest they would ever get.

After what felt like quite some time, the stoning finally came to an end.

By then, almost all of them had already died where they stood.

Blood stained the execution grounds.

Broken stones were scattered everywhere.

The once noisy plaza gradually became silent.

As I carefully looked over the bodies one final time, however, I noticed that one person was still barely clinging to life.

George.

His breathing had become incredibly weak, and his body was covered in bruises, blood, and countless injuries, yet somehow he still hadn’t taken his final breath.

His will to survive was stronger than I expected.

Or perhaps fate simply hadn’t let go of him yet.

Either way, prolonging it served no purpose.

I quietly instructed one of the knights to put an end to his suffering.

Allowing him to linger any longer would only make his final moments even more painful than they already were.

In my own way, I believed I was granting him one final act of mercy.

It was the only mercy I could still offer.

The knight silently nodded before walking toward George without hesitation.

He placed the sharp tip of his sword directly over George’s heart.

Instead of ending it with one swift thrust, he slowly pushed the blade deeper into his chest.

The process wasn’t quick. It wasn’t painless either.

George’s expression twisted in agony.

Eventually, though, the movement stopped.

His body finally went still.

Although it was undoubtedly a painful way to die, I believed it was still better than forcing him to remain alive only to continue suffering.

That was the final favor I could give him after everything that had happened.

Soon afterward, the execution was officially declared over.

The bodies were then tied to the crosses before being set ablaze.

I quietly watched as the flames slowly consumed what remained of them.

The fire crackled softly.

Smoke drifted toward the gray sky above.

The heat reached all the way to where I stood.

While the flames continued burning, the first snowflake of the season gently drifted down from the heavens.

It wasn’t winter just yet.

Winter was steadily drawing closer with each passing day, and everyone could already feel the cold beginning to settle into the air.

The seasons were changing once again.

Life continued moving forward.

"It looks like everything went well on your end too."

I suddenly heard Leon’s familiar voice beside me.

I didn’t even need to turn around to confirm who it was.

His voice alone was enough.

I’d recognize it anywhere.

"How about you?" I asked while keeping my eyes on the burning crosses. "Did you finish what you set out to do?"

"Yep. It was a piece of cake," he replied with a relaxed smile that somehow made everything sound far simpler than it probably had been.

Even so, despite those casual words, his eyes still carried the same serious determination they always had whenever he accomplished something important.

That look... That confidence...

Those were just a few of the countless reasons I had fallen in love with him.

"I probably... won’t be coming back to Milham anytime soon," I admitted quietly after letting out a slow breath.

Now that I had inherited the throne, my responsibilities here had become far greater than they had ever been before.

Being Queen wasn’t simply a title.

It was an endless responsibility.

People were depending on me now.

Realistically speaking, it also meant I would most likely have to withdraw from the academy altogether.

That thought genuinely saddened me.

I hadn’t accomplished nearly as much as I wanted to as the current student council president.

Still, knowing that I had such a capable vice president standing beside the council gave me a little peace of mind.

I truly believed everything would continue running smoothly even without me being there.

"You don’t have to worry about that," Leon said reassuringly. "Just enjoy your life at the academy."

The moment those unexpected words reached my ears, my eyes widened in complete surprise, and I immediately turned toward him, wondering if I had somehow misheard what he had just said.