Stop Hypnotizing Me, Antagonist Princess! - Chapter 500 - 260: The First Second of Eternity (Part 3)
Chapter 500: Chapter 260: The First Second of Eternity (Part 3)
He would become her shield, her sword, until his last drop of blood was shed.
The following decade was a time of blood and fire.
Constant unrest plagued the Empire’s borders, with the resurrected Northern Barbarian Tribe rising again, restlessly stirring. The Governor of the Southern Provinces, armed with heavy troops, utterly disregarded the young Empress and only feigned obedience to her sacred edicts. Moreover, various Churches began to infiltrate and attempt to meddle in the Empire’s internal affairs.
Lynn rarely found a single day of restful sleep, leading the Imperial Army into battles both north and south. In “Black Forest Canyon,” his thirty thousand troops defeated a force of a hundred thousand Barbarians and eradicated the Barbarian Tribe, resolving a worry that had plagued the Scott Empire for centuries. Yet, this earned him the cursed title of “Butcher.”
In the Imperial Capital, he schemed and maneuvered, eliminating those Senate nobles with malicious intentions for Ailia, gradually consolidating the finances under the Throne.
Beyond that, he personally taught Ailia swordsmanship, political intrigue, and the Emperor’s Heart Skill, watching her grow from a timid young girl into a resolute and authoritative Empress.
He shielded her from three assassination attempts. During the most serious one, a poisoned dagger came within an inch of his heart.
In an unprecedented natural disaster that threatened to collapse the Empire’s finances, he sold all his fiefs and ancestral properties to replenish the treasury, stabilizing public sentiment.
Lynn did everything possible, and even more.
However, as Ailia’s wings matured, a silent rift appeared between them.
She stopped calling him “Teacher Lynn” and instead addressed him as the distant “Duke.”
She began to reject his proposals on certain state matters and increasingly relied on young nobles adept in flattery.
Rumors started circulating in the Imperial Capital that Lynn’s authority had surpassed the Empress’s — not only did he hold heavy military power, but he also cast his eyes upon the Throne, with ambitions of usurpation.
Lynn heard these whispers but merely smiled them away, not intending to defend himself.
He clearly knew it was indeed time for him to leave.
Just as he resolved to completely extricate himself, distancing from the vortex of power, an unforeseen edict was issued from the palace—
The Empress urgently summoned him.
Without hesitation, Lynn set aside his sword and, as countless times before, walked into the palace he knew so well.
The palace was eerily empty, with only the flames in the fireplace crackling.
Ailia sat regally on the dazzling golden throne, her face both beautiful and cold in the flickering light.
Standing beside her were not the old ministers of the past, but her newly appointed trusted aides.
“Lynn Miles.” Her voice was crisp yet devoid of warmth, echoing through the hall, “Do you know your crime?”
Lynn’s heart sank, but he still knelt on one knee, lowered his head, and said, “Your Majesty, I am unaware of any crime.”
Ailia did not look at him, only raised her hand slightly.
The newly appointed Chief Judge stepped forward, unrolled a scroll of parchment, and began to read in an emotionless voice, “Lynn Miles, accused of colluding with enemy nations, intent to rebel, evidence is conclusive! By this crime, you are sentenced to beheading!”
The so-called evidence was correspondence with Colin Empire’s Prime Minister Gallagher Arnold, with handwriting imitated to perfection, along with testimonies from subordinates who, under severe torture, never confessed until their families’ lives were threatened.
All of this was absurdly laughable, yet chillingly malicious.
Ailia finally cast her gaze upon him, now devoid of the dependence and warmth of the past, leaving only imperial ruthlessness and a complex emotion he couldn’t decipher. “The evidence is conclusive, Lynn, do you have anything left to explain?”
At this moment, Lynn understood completely.
To assume an undeserved crime when it lacks argument, the orchestrator of all this is precisely the person he spent his life protecting. She no longer needed him; his very existence was his greatest sin. The overwhelming sense of desolation and absurdity swamped him, even surpassing his anger.
The Imperial Palace Guard surged forward, pinning him tightly. He did not resist, only fixed his gaze on the woman upon the throne.
He stayed silent, but his gaze was intense, locking eyes with Ailia.
Ailia seemed guilt-ridden internally, choosing to avoid his gaze. After a moment’s silence, when she walked closer, she softly said, “For the Empire… you must be sacrificed. Your existence unsettles the nobles, making the populace recognize only Lynn Miles and not the Empress.”
“Sir Lynn, I think you should understand, the Scott Empire does not need a second sun.”
The next moment, she waved her hand as if brushing away a speck of dust: “Drag him down, execute him, hang his head at the city gate for three days.”
The cold sword edge cut into his neck, and the moment the intense pain surged, Lynn’s last sight was Ailia’s slightly turned face, perhaps with a tear falling, quickly wiped away by her finger.
That may have been an illusion, or perhaps the final trace of a cruel drama.
His head rolled onto the cold ground, his vision sinking into eternal darkness.
As consciousness withdrew for the final time, Lynn felt not pain, but the penetrating cold and an ironic sense of being completely toyed with by fate.
When he awoke again, warm candlelight surrounded Lynn. He found himself in a simple yet tidy wooden cabin, still a child in swaddling clothes.
In this life, he was born in a small town on the border of the Duchy of Eugene. His father was Nell Seras, the town’s only Priest, dressed in a humble linen robe, looking kind and devout.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
