I don’t need a guillotine for my revolution
Written by Carcassonne
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Prologue
A dungeon that doesn’t even get sunlight.
The stench from the mold-covered walls stung my nose, and the stone walls sent a cold chill straight into my body.
My shackled ankles can’t even feel properly anymore.
And more than anything else, terrible thirst and hunger tormented me.
Squeak –
At that time, I heard the sound of a door opening from across the hallway.
Forcing one’s reflexively shrunken shoulders to straighten one’s shoulders is definitely more courageous than courageous.
What the fuck are you going to do again?
The sound of footsteps approaching this way echoes through the iron bars, getting closer and closer.
I swallowed my saliva, but contrary to my expectations, the person who finally arrived in front of the room where I was imprisoned was not a guard.
The basket the man carefully placed down contained bread.
It was quicker to get my hands on it than to understand the situation.
In the past, hard bread was only eaten by commoners who would not have even looked at it.
I hurriedly put the bread I had not eaten in a while in my mouth.
“Knock knock.”
I threw away all respect and ate the bread, but when I choked and gulped, a bottle of water was handed to me through the bars.
It was only after I quickly took it and quenched my thirst that the other person’s face came into view.
This is a woman with a familiar face that I saw somewhere.
Who was it?
I thought about it for a while, but couldn’t think of it.
“Thank you. “But who are you?”
The woman hesitated for a moment and then answered.
“…I used to work as a servant at the Marquis’ residence.”
“okay. “If I ever get out of here, I’ll make sure to repay you.”
The woman’s face clouded at my words.
The expression on his face was sympathy.
If it were like before, I would have thought it was rude.
Somehow it became difficult to see her face, so I focused on eating the remaining bread and water.
At that time, I heard the door open again and the startled woman gave me a slight nod and then backed away.
“Now wait a minute-”
My words didn’t stop her.
Instead of her, a guard with an unpleasant face that she had seen countless times appeared and smiled, showing his yellow teeth.
“Did you enjoy the Last Supper sufficiently, Marquis?”
–
“Kill the dirty blue blood!”
A rotten egg flew out and burst from his chest, splashing in all directions.
More than the discomfort and stench, the glistening malice of the crowds that filled the city took my breath away.
In Lumière, a large city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Francia, only the flags of the self-proclaimed revolutionary army flutter.
Liberty Equality Fraternity.
In a city filled with the eerie sound of falling guillotine blades every day, signs with slogans that did not fit at all danced chaotically in the hands of the frenzied crowd.
“Oops!”
In an instant, my vision turned white and I was shaken.
It was only when I felt the sticky liquid flowing down my forehead and saw a large object in my field of vision that it had fallen to the floor on its own, that I realized I had been hit by a rock.
From then on, I couldn’t really remember how I was dragged there.
When I finally came to my senses, I was already standing in front of the outdoor court.
“…I, Maximilien y Giddor, the plaintiff, representing the people of the Republic, request that the defendant, the Marquis Pierre de Lafayette, be sentenced to death for the following crimes.”
No sooner had the plaintiff finished speaking than the crowd surrounding the trial court began to shout in a frenzy.
“Kill!”
“execution!”
“Death to the corrupt nobles!”
My eyes automatically went to the guillotine right next to the courtroom.
What is the meaning of this formal trial?
“Defendant Pierre de Lafayette.”
When I raised my head at the call, the judge looked down at me with an arrogant look and said,
“I will give you a chance to argue your case.”
The nuance is that no matter what I do, nothing will change, but out of courtesy, I will give you one chance.
It won’t mean anything.
It may not mean anything, but I felt angry.
The royal family fought a civil war to take the throne, shedding countless blood, and the nobles squeezed out the blood of the common people to continue the civil war for several years.
Unable to endure that, a revolution broke out and it is understandable that we have reached the current situation.
However, the trial they are conducting is by no means fair and there is no such thing as fairness.
Didn’t they kill people who were innocent of any particular crime or even people who were praised by commoners, while falsely accusing them of shame?
I didn’t do anything to deserve to be treated like this and put to death!
“As the Marquis of Lafayette, I did my best to protect my people, and as a general of the kingdom, I only offered loyalty to my country. Like this-”
“Ha. “Protect the citizens.”
Plaintiff Isidor’s rude remarks, which cut my words in an unpleasant tone, made me frown.
“The Marquis personally led troops to plunder the city during the civil war, and there is evidence. “That too three times.”
…It was true.
What I did at the command of my father, the previous Marquis.
“It’s just a military action against the territory of the traitorous Second Prince faction that started the civil war-”
“Oh, so since we’re in a civil war, you’re not guilty of attacking your own people? Tell me, Marquis. “Did the residents of that territory directly support the second prince and take up arms for him?”
The taxes of those territories become military expenses, and they become the lord’s army to fight against us.
Therefore, attacking the enemy’s territory was not only a military activity against the enemies, but also a way to procure the military funds required by the previous marquis.
Although it was unwilling, it was necessary during the civil war.
At the very least, it is better than imposing additional burdens on the lives of the citizens of the marquisate devastated by civil war by collecting additional taxes.
…I thought so.
I gritted my teeth.
“…At least I refrained from levying additional taxes on the fiefs and did everything I could to protect them, even during the civil war! “Your claim that they only massacred and exploited the commoners is nothing more than a one-sided argument aimed at denying nobility.”
At least I was different from my father’s predecessor, the Marquis.
As much as he despised the nobles who were trying to win the civil war by squeezing out the common people, he tried to become a different lord.
It was my pride, and even if I died, I did not want to die with such an insulting accusation.
I couldn’t bear to have all my efforts denied and remain as one of the ‘corrupt and depraved nobles’ who were rightfully executed by the revolutionary army.
“Oh, I see. Then I will ask you, Marquis. Is there anyone among your subjects who is protected by you, who is grateful for your ‘generous’ rule, and who will defend you?”
At Isidor’s words, the crowd burst into laughter and boos.
Without even intending to conduct a proper trial in the first place!
I was about to attack in anger, but I froze when I heard Isidor’s next words.
“If you have one, please at least tell me your name. “Isn’t it possible that he might miraculously come out and defend you?”
…I do not know.
There is no way I know the names of my people.
Isidor looked at me and smiled.
“Of course not, noble Marquis. “Do you know any of the names of the people in the territory you protected and protected so proudly?”
At least now I realize that I don’t even know the name of the woman who worked at the marquis’ residence who brought me bread and water.
“Aren’t you of the noble family who memorize the lists of nobles you’ve never even met?
If you hadn’t considered them to be insignificant people who weren’t even worth knowing their names, then of course there would have been someone among the people you cherished so much who would have known their names. Marquis, so you nobles are blue blood.”
I am different from my father.
It would be different from other nobles.
I have despised them.
I have been struggling to become someone different from them!
However, my faith and all my efforts were washed away as worthless amid the crowd’s ridicule and jeers.
“Look at this hypocritical nobleman! “Isn’t it clear that even those who claim that they are not corrupt have considered us livestock rather than equal human beings?”
As the crowd booed, Isidore was seen smiling in remorse.
No no.
Even I was no different from other nobles?
I couldn’t have done that.
Isidore’s shouts to the court echoed hollowly, and the same verdict that had been handed down to the hundreds and thousands of people who died in this city was pronounced.
“…in the name of freedom, equality and fraternity. “The court of the Bonn Republic sentences defendant Pierre de Lafayette to death.”
As I was being dragged by rough hands, I realized that I was shedding tears.
There was a strong, bloody smell that would never be erased from the guillotine where my head was hung.
All I could see was the jeers, disgust, and ridicule of the crowd looking at me.
I don’t want to die.
At least I don’t want to die like this.
If I had one more chance.
The horrifying sound of the guillotine’s blade falling scratched my ears and a terrible sensation overtook me.
“Aaaahhh!”
I woke up shivering.
?
