bookrandom Chapter 1397 Interrogation
Chapter 1397 Interrogation
"The road to reconstruction is fraught with difficulties."
"The undercurrents of the old aristocracy, the resettlement of displaced people, the struggle for resource allocation, the growing pains of localizing federal policies... each of these could become a new storm."
"What I want to see is not you suppressing everything with an iron fist, but that you can truly listen to the voices of the people, resolve their grievances, and let this ravaged land feel new life and hope."
"Well done! You will be the founder of the new Slavic nation. The Faraway Kingdom will be proud of you, and the Federation will remember your achievements!"
Upon hearing this, Eva's face became incredibly agitated...
She even had fantasies in her mind.
However, Xiao Ce's next words made her instantly realize the reality...
"If anything goes wrong again, or if I discover that you still can't shake off that illusory dream of being an empress deep down..."
Xiao Ce's gaze swept over the mecha soldiers patrolling the ruins outside the palace, a cold killing intent flashing across his face!
"You know the consequences very well. At that time, even Yuanwang won't be able to protect you."
"thump!"
Eva knelt down heavily again, her forehead pressed against the cold, rough ground, her voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity and a barely perceptible tremor:
“Your Highness’s teachings are etched in my heart! I swear on my life and the future I long for, I will devote myself wholeheartedly to this cause, working tirelessly day and night!”
"Practice benevolent governance, care for the people, sever all ties with the past, and forever secure the future of Slavs within the borders of the Federation! May Heaven and Earth condemn us to break this oath!"
Xiao Ce watched her prostrate figure without saying anything more. He waved his hand, indicating that she could leave.
At this moment, Eva looked at the familiar man before her, the man who had once been her lover, her partner...
Seeing his actions now, she felt utterly devastated...
But there's no going back in this world.
Eva slowly straightened up, the cold, stinging pain in her knees causing her to stagger slightly, but she took a deep breath of the chilling air mixed with the smell of gunpowder and scorched earth, trying her best to maintain her composure.
Instead of turning away immediately, she stood there, her gaze fixed on Xiao Ce's weary yet still upright figure, like a solitary peak.
The dilapidated shadows inside the hall fell upon him, as if he were wearing an invisible layer of heavy armor.
"Your Majesty..."
Eva's voice sounded somewhat abruptly soft in the empty, ruined hall, carrying a hint of barely perceptible hesitation.
Xiao Ce did not turn around, but turned his face slightly to the side. His profile appeared somewhat indifferent in the dim light. He asked, "Is there anything else?" His voice was flat and emotionless.
Eva pursed her lips, as if she had carefully considered all the words she wanted to say...
The final question was the simplest one: "When...are you leaving?"
Xiao Ce cast his gaze out the window at the capital city stained with blood and fire, and said calmly, "Wait until the matter of Shahar and Ries is settled."
He paused, as if savoring the bloody taste of those two names, and said bitterly, "To watch them be executed with my own eyes, or... to hear them say what they should say."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "And let's see if things stabilize here for the time being."
"I understand." Eva nodded gently; this answer was expected.
However, she was somewhat hopeful that Xiao Ce's words might also imply that he was worried about her.
Of course, Eva dared not have any more hopes...
She paused for a moment, then finally asked the question that had been lingering in her heart, her voice hesitant and tentative: "Then... what about Yuanwang? Can I... go see him?"
She didn't even dare to use the phrase "meet my son".
Xiao Ce finally turned around, his deep gaze falling on Eva's face, on those eyes that had once captivated her!
At this moment, there is only scrutiny and unquestionable authority.
"Of course! He is my son, and he is your son too!"
He said calmly, "As long as you are still in the city, you can go anytime. He is in the barracks behind the side hall."
He paused for a moment, then added, "However, once this matter is settled, I will take him back to Xiao Kingdom."
"Take him away?!"
Eva's heart sank suddenly, as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand. She blurted out, her voice filled with undisguised panic and a hint of sharpness.
She immediately realized her lapse in composure, hurriedly lowered her eyes, dug her nails deep into her palms, and forcefully suppressed her turbulent emotions.
Take him away... just as I expected.
The child she desperately wanted to keep by her side would eventually leave this cold homeland and leave her, her... incompetent mother.
She had fantasized that the war would end and her son would return to her side, even if it was just to watch him from afar.
However, Xiao Ce's decision was like an icicle, instantly piercing this faint hope.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, to plead, to question why...
But when he met Xiao Ce's unfathomable, emotionless eyes, all his words froze in his throat.
His gaze was terrifyingly calm, clearly telling her: this wasn't a discussion, it was an announcement.
The last chance she had just gambled on carried absolutely no weight in the matter of Yuanwang's future.
Resisting or pleading will only shatter that last chance and may even jeopardize Yuanwang.
The overwhelming sense of loss and helplessness almost overwhelmed her, making it difficult for her to breathe.
She bit her lower lip hard, tasting a hint of blood, barely managing to keep her swaying body afloat.
In the end, she simply lowered her head deeply and with great difficulty, suppressing all the surging emotions back into the darkest corner of her heart, her voice so low and hoarse that it was almost inaudible: "Yes... Your Highness. Eva takes her leave."
She didn't dare linger for even a second longer, afraid that she wouldn't be able to control the stinging in her eyes or the despair on her face. She turned around as if fleeing, her steps faltering as she retreated from the ruined palace that suffocated her and crushed her last remaining hope.
At that moment, feeling depressed, Eva went to another place.
She needs to bring those two people who ruined everything for her to justice...
Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor...
The biting wind howled through the dungeon passages temporarily requisitioned in the Slavic capital, carrying a bone-chilling dampness mixed with the smells of mildew and faint stench of blood, now tinged with the lingering scent of gunpowder...
This place was once used by Shahar to imprison his political enemies; now, he himself is a prisoner, imprisoned in a single cell in the deepest part, separated by thick alloy partitions...
Eva did not go directly to see her son!
The excruciating pain of parting needs an outlet, a goal that better demonstrates her current power.
She needs a thorough reckoning, to prove her worth with the blood and cries of her enemies, and to distract herself from the heart-wrenching sense of loss.
She changed out of the royal gowns and into a clean-cut, unadorned dark gray consul's uniform. Her hair was neatly tied back, and she exuded a cold, aloof, and capable aura.
Behind her followed two Ghost Squad soldiers, silent as iron towers and with eyes as sharp as eagles. These were the men Wei Wuji had assigned to her, silently demonstrating the authority she was now granted...
The heavy alloy door slowly opened with a screeching sound!
Inside the cell, Shahar huddled in a cold corner, his filthy, tattered nobleman's fur coat stained with dirt...
The Tsar, the once invincible emperor of the Slavic Empire!
At this moment, it resembles an old dog with all its teeth pulled out and its spine broken, exuding an aura of decay and fear.
Hearing the door open, he looked up in horror. When he saw that it was Eva, his cloudy eyes first flashed with disbelief, but were then replaced by overwhelming hatred and resentment.
"It's you?! You bastard! Traitor!"
Shahar struggled to lunge forward, but the heavy shackles and his weak body made him only manage a futile lunge before he coughed violently, his throat emitting hoarse, wheezing gasps like a broken bellows!
"You...you dare stand here? To laugh at me? Cough cough...did Xiao Ce send you? That vicious dog's lackey!"
Eva remained expressionless, ignoring her father's insults.
She walked slowly into the cell, her cold leather boots making a clear "tap, tap" sound on the stone floor, echoing in the cramped space. Each step felt like stepping on Shahar's taut nerves.
The soldiers behind her stood like lifeless statues on either side of the door, their eyes warily watching Shahar's every move.
"Father..."
Eva's voice was as calm as a frozen lake, without the slightest ripple, yet it contained a chilling coldness. She continued slowly, word by word, "Or should I address you as His Majesty Shahar?"
"After all, when you captured me and tricked Xiao Ce, the bond between father and daughter was already severed."
Shahar's cursing stopped abruptly, as if he had been choked, and a fleeting look of panic and shame flashed across his face.
"You...you're talking nonsense! That was to protect the overall situation! For the Slavs! Besides, why don't you..."
He roared fiercely, trying to cover up his inner depravity with his usual lies.
"To preserve the overall situation?"
Eva's lips curled into a cold smile, like a poisoned blade silencing his sophistry!
"All you've managed to preserve is your crumbling power and your old life. Look at this prison, look at the capital reduced to ashes! Is this the result of your efforts?"
"Look at those Slavic soldiers and civilians you sent to hell with your own hands! Their wronged souls are watching you."
She leaned slightly closer to Shahar's face, which was contorted with fear and anger, and spoke in an even lower voice, which pierced the heart like an ice pick!
"Xiao Dingshan has been defeated, Father. He was captured alive by the Prince like a dead dog!"
"He can't even commit suicide now. Your backer is completely finished!"
"Guess how the Prince will deal with you, the ringleader who brought the wolf into the house and betrayed the country for personal gain? Will he just crush you like a bug and throw you to those Slavs who have lost their loved ones, so they can tear you to pieces?"
"Or... shall I let you experience the Federation's latest torture methods, the kind that will make your soul tremble?"
Shahar's body trembled violently, and the fierceness in his eyes was completely swallowed up by boundless fear.
He recalled the devastating explosion at Fort Don, the battlefield where the black robots were slaughtered, and even more so, the image of Xiao Dingshan being torn apart by the mechs and dragged away...
Extreme fear instantly overwhelmed anger...
He collapsed forward, his shackles rattling, and cried out in tears, "Eva! My daughter! No... Your Highness! Your Excellency! Please! Save me!"
"Save me! I don't want to die! I don't want to be torn to pieces! I was forced into this!"
"You only know Xiao Dingshan! He forced me! He bewitched me! I...I repent! I'm willing to confess!"
"I'm willing to confess my sins before everyone! I beg you! I beg you, for...for the sake of me being your father..."
Looking at this man who was once high and mighty, but now grovels on the ground, begging for mercy, so ugly and repulsive!
Eva felt no pity whatsoever, only a cold, almost malicious pleasure.
She took a slow, deep breath, as if admiring the ugly scene.
"Father?"
She repeated the word, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "Now you remember we're father and daughter?"
"Unfortunately, it's too late. The prince wants your life, he wants to use your blood to quell the public anger."
She paused deliberately, watching as the despair in Shahar's eyes deepened, as if he were falling into an abyss.
Just as he was on the verge of completely collapsing and fainting, Eva coldly changed her tone, throwing out the straw she had carefully prepared: "However..."
Shahar suddenly raised his head, as if a drowning man had seen a piece of driftwood, his turbid eyes fixed on Eva's lips.
"Although the prince was angry, he was not entirely unreasonable. What he hated were the culprits who betrayed the Federation, colluded with foreign enemies, and brought profound disaster to the Slavs."
Eva’s voice spoke slowly and deliberately: “If you can, in a public trial, in front of all the surviving citizens and federal representatives, recount every detail of how you were coerced and lured by Xiao Dingshan, how you betrayed Slavic interests step by step, and how you colluded with him!”
"Including Rhys's role in it, everything has been clearly and plainly confessed, and you have deeply repented for your sins... perhaps..."
She paused again on purpose, making Shahar's breathing even more rapid.
Seeing this, she slowly continued, "The Prince will grant you leniency in consideration of your eventual repentance, your testification of your accomplices, and your efforts to atone for your crimes. Although you are still guilty of the death penalty, at least you will be spared the punishment of being slowly sliced to pieces and left to rot in the wilderness, and given a... relatively dignified end."
"Perhaps hanging, perhaps a clean bullet. Even... if your confession is valuable enough, clean enough, perhaps..."
"Just a life sentence, to spend the rest of his life in some remote corner."
She spoke the last sentence extremely slowly, like a poison coated in honey.
"Life imprisonment?"
An unbelievable light flashed in Shahar's eyes, a desire for survival that was deeper than despair.