I was no stranger to power. No stranger to the authority that came with being born into this family. But this?
This wasn't some game of thrones. It wasn't a contest of who could wield the most force. It was something more… real.
The executions kept coming, one after another. Each one sharper, more gruesome than the last. The crowd cheered, their voices rising in sync as the traitors were struck down, their blood staining the execution block like ink spilled across parchment. I tried to hold on, tried to remain stoic, but my stomach churned in a way I couldn't control.
[ You are doing well. ]
No.
No, I wasn't.
I couldn't do this.
I thought I was ready. I thought I understood this world. I had grown up with the whispers of death in the corners of every conversation, the cold reality that it was always a step away. But witnessing it, seeing it happen in front of my eyes this was something else entirely.
