The memory filled Iria's mind as she recalled the day Zaro told her that. They were only small children back then and... despite the tough training that they both went through each day, their days were always happy.
Was it because they were always together? They never need anyone else.
"Do you think it's funny?" Iria said with the shadow of a smirk on her lips. "Everything I said to you that day has come true. You are the one who destroyed your life."
She was referring to the day she begged him to stop and Zaro knew that right away. After all, he never spent a single day without recalling those words.
"Kill me," he said, breaking the silence that goes on for a few seconds. "You already made the promise. Don't waste your time."
"There is still a lot of time left before sunset, let alone sunrise," the Masked Commander simply said. "Besides, you will go down without a fight? I was hoping for the last duel with you."
Zaro Aventine recalled how they often had a friendly match in the past. In those countless friendly matches, he was only lucky enough to win twice. Not to mention that she never called it a duel.
There was a huge difference between a duel and a friendly match.
"Will you force me to fight you?" he said to her. "Because I refuse to fight. Just kill me."
Iria briefly glanced at Orius and Zire before she turned back to Zaro Aventine. "Then I will consider that as your last wish. You will get what you want."
Zaro Aventine narrowed his eyes when he heard her. "That day... if I don't come after you and do all those things, what will our relationship be like now?" he muttered.
He will die anyway and before that, he wished to know the answer to the question that he asked himself for more than a year now.
"It's useless to think of that now," Iria responded. "You missed the last chance I gave you. It's too late."
If he didn't come after her that day, she was willing to let go of everything. The fact that he was the son of the man who caused her father's death, the fact that he accused Orius of the crime he never committed and... the fact that she locked her up in the prison cell just because she want to stop him from turning worse.
For the sake of their 20 years of friendship, she was willing to let go of all those things but... not how he killed many of her soldiers, including Rion.
"I always thought of how our story would end, Iria," Zaro Aventine said. "Since the day you left my life, I've committed many sins just like you predicted. However, I never thought that one day, I will die in your hands." He met Iria's gaze and said, "But I still know one thing. If I indeed die in your hands, it will haunt you because you're that kind of person."
"You may be right," Iria Helev simply said. "However, that won't stop me."
Zaro Aventine narrowed his eyes once again before he muttered, "But I will stop you."
All at once, he lifted his sword and stabbed himself deep with it, making the eyes of everyone grow wide in shock! The sword penetrated his heart and to make it worse, he pulled it out again with much difficulty!
Now, he was standing in front of Iria with his own blood dripping from his sword. Iria stood frozen as she squeezed her clothes.
What happened?!
It wasn't long before Zaro Aventine dropped to his knees and then collapsed to the ground!
Iria glanced down at her former best friend who was now lying on the ground, breathing his last breath. As she knew that he was still looking up at her, she tried to get a hold of herself and clenched her fist as tight as she could to the point where her nails pierced the flesh of her palms!
However...
She dropped her sword and crouched down beside him. She met his gaze but she didn't say anything, much more like she couldn't.
Orius and Zire glanced at her but there was nothing they could do. Commander Julio Aliron was pretty much the same too.
"Why did you do that?" Iria finally asked Zaro Aventine.
Why did he keep on surprising her today?!
"I -I don't want to c -commit more crime a -against you," Zaro Aventine stuttered.
He was saying that he didn't want to let her bear the pain of killing him and Iria knew that.
It seemed like they still knew each other well even after more than a year!
"Do you think I will forgive you because of this?"
He shook his head though it wasn't easy with his current condition. "P -Please avenge I -Iria in my p -place and... tell A -Athena that I'm s -sorry for ev -everything."
"Zaro... "
Iria shut her mouth when Zaro Aventine's hand fell to the ground! Slowly, she reached out her hand and brushed his eyes to make him shut them.
The corpse of her once best friend was lying right before her and she felt lost. However... she braced herself, refusing to shed a tear.
Her plan succeeded and she indeed wiped out the Royal Army and... Zaro Aventine was now dead too. Nevertheless, none of it made her happy and instead, she only felt emptiness.
The Qalagon Queen remained in the same position for a while, staring at the lifeless body of the former friend whom she used to value more than anyone else in this world.
When she was young, she never once imagined that this would be the end of them. They always spent their time protecting each other but now... this was how their story end.
She promised that he won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise and he said that he will look forward to seeing how she will execute the promise but... in the end, he was the one executing the promise.
By taking hos own life.
Just like before, even Orius and Zire didn't know what to do and they can only watch her along with the soldiers.
After what felt like hours, Iria stood up with her gaze still fixated on the corpse of Zaro Aventine. "No one should lay a hand on the corpse," she muttered. "I will send it back to Jerivia.. He is a royal and he should be given a proper burial."
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