7 seconds, 8 seconds, 9 seconds...
Time seemed to be rewinding faster and faster, and events began to flash through my mind in a rapid, backward rush.
The Battle of Enzos... Heinrich's base is breached... The Yan Kingdom lands at Foster Harbor... A grand New Year's Eve celebration, with dazzling fireworks filling the sky...
11 seconds, 12 seconds...
As the time span of regression widens, important milestones emerge one by one.
The banquet following the finalization of the overseas colony plan, filled with laughter and toasts, brimming with anticipation for the future... the annihilation of the last resistance force of the Kingdom of Mia Inter, the unification of the Salisno continent, the triumphant post-war speech... the storming of the Kosovo Empire's capital, the burning of the city in flames, the slaughter of all enemies, the exhilaration of revenge, and the subsequent anxieties...
13 seconds, 14 seconds, consciousness was on the verge of disappearing, Von Palen's eyes rolled back, and his limbs began to move erratically and instinctively.
However, at this moment his eyes gradually welled up with tears.
Because his memory and time had regressed to his hometown of Franca seventeen years ago, to the day the first shot was fired.
That evening, amidst the enchanting sunset, he returned to Franca with his triumphant men. The people waiting at the town entrance cheered for him; almost everyone had come. He spotted his wife and two daughters in the crowd at a glance.
Eleven-year-old Mia, dressed in a light blue dress, excitedly waved her slender white arms at him. Her face beamed with a smile, her lips pouting, her triumphant expression as if she were announcing to her friends:
'Look, this is my father.'
His seven-year-old daughter, Marlene, with her long blonde hair flowing freely, wearing a tan dress and a colorful flower wreath on her head, was as joyful as a lark spreading its wings and immediately rushed into his arms.
With her rosy cheeks up, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her face against his ear, and whispered in her childish voice:
'Dad, you're the real hero. You did things that no one else dared to do.'
Looking at his daughter's smile, he nudged her cheek with his stubble and said with a smile:
'Yeah? '
'Yes! '
The eldest daughter rushed over, and the daughters answered in unison, bursting into laughter.
He smiled too, and when he looked up, everyone had already gathered around. In the crowd, his wife, who was still wearing her apron, was looking at him.
His wife still had that gentle smile on her face, but this time she playfully bent down and waved her hand in a "please" gesture, saying to him with a smile:
Welcome home, my hero.
The magnificent sunset painted the sky crimson, and the evening breeze was as gentle as a stream flowing softly through his fingers. He held his youngest daughter, Marlene, in one arm and held his eldest daughter, Mia, by the other's hand, leading his wife home. The people following behind cheered and laughed.
Welcome home, our heroes.
Welcome home, our heroes.
Hot tears welled up in his eyes and slid down his purple face. Von Palen, hanging on the gallows, was already in tears.
He was still struggling instinctively, but he had lost all consciousness, leaving only this illusion.
The hands of the Westerlies Clock keep moving forward, and everything in the world moves slowly along the river of time, each one destined to greet the next second, tomorrow, the day after, and a brand new year...
And Von Palen's time has come to an end, completely over.
Or rather, his time has been forever frozen seventeen years ago in Franca, on the day he returned in triumph, surrounded by his wife and daughters.
On that day, he was still a pure hero.
——
——
——
February 17th, 13th year of the Federal Calendar.
At 12:00:17 noon, Hadra X. von Palen lost consciousness, and two and a half minutes later, his body stopped moving.
At exactly 12:10, the executioners untied the ropes and began to examine all the prisoners' bodies.
At 12:15, they reported:
“The sinner Hadra X. von Paron.”
"Death confirmed."
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