(2) Living as the Villainess Queen

Chapter 204

Adrit didn’t bother resisting as they prepared for his execution. He knew that it was futile: he’d rather die in peace than be beaten down. While some might say such pain was only secondary to survival, his family taught him how to face death the moment he turned of age.

Rather than defeated by the Desert King’s decision to execute him, Adrit wondered whether drowning was less painful than being beheaded. In truth, there was a part of Adrit that welcomed death.

Life was merely a punishment for wanderers like him. However, suicide was not a way to repent, with his family forbidding such an act. Their duty was to drift about the world endlessly until their sins washed away. However, their crimes were like water spilled on a sandy beach. How can one pick up such spilled water? In reality, they were eternal prisoners trapped in this world.

“Begin the execution.”

Hearing the command, Adrit closed his eyes as they lifted his body.

Suddenly, he heard a whisper right by his ear.

‘I’ll take you to the opposite side of the lake.’

Adrit opened his eyes in surprise, with only darkness greeting him due to the pouch over his head. Then, he felt his thrown body mid-air. He took a deep breath.

Splash! His body hit the water, and then he began to sink. He felt the weight of the stones dragging him to the bottom of the lake. The increasing pressure of the water added to the coldness that wrapped around him. Unable to breathe and the darkness surrounding him, Adrit was afraid.

Although he thought he had already given up, his body then struggled against the constraints. He felt it deep within, his desire for life. In the face of such the inevitable, he wanted to fight back. He wanted to live.

Then, he felt something shift around him. Rather than sinking to his death, he started to get dragged in a new direction. He continued to struggle, huffs of breath coming out in bubbles between his gagged mouth. Although Adrit tried to press on, he felt like his chest would burst any second now. Unable to hold on any longer, cold water flooded his nose and mouth. His consciousness began to fade, his body going slack, until… thud!

His body suddenly hit the ground, being thrown out of the water. Even with the searing pain, nothing compared to the realization that he was alive. He rolled on the ground, hurt from the crash, and turned to throw up water. Afterward, he went limp, gasping for air. Although still restrained, his eyes warmed at the thought of being alive.

However, he had no time to be emotional. Still aware of his constraints, he shook his body as hard as he could against them. Still, the knots did not budge. Adrit realized that he couldn’t do anything with his hands tied. Did he survive being thrown into a lake, only for him to die of starvation?

‘Hm, they didn’t say that I’ll be doing this much.’

Adrit heard a grumbling voice, then flinched when he felt something cold and slippery atop his hands. He felt the ropes began to tighten as if something was pulling them.

‘Are they trying to cut the ropes?’ he thought. Then, his wrists were suddenly free. Snap!

Hurriedly, Adrit untied the ropes on his upper body and removed the pouch and gag on his face. Taking a deep breath, he turned around to thank his savior. But then, his body became rigid as his eyes met a red-eyed turtle, partly submerged in water. Adrit’s expression turned hopeless, as the sin that defined him and his family was right in front of him.