"… I will say this only once. I won't repeat myself, so listen carefully."
He urged her to brace herself, then whispered in her ears:
"Chamille, I love you."
-Snap! Chamille felt she heard something snapping.
"Ikuta… You…!"
"Yes"
"All this time…"
"Yes"
"How can you say that now?"
"It's because it's now"
"No! I won't accept it!"
She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him away forcefully. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"Not now, not here!"
"There's nothing that can be done"
She took a step back and inhaled.
"I won't accept this. Lucanti…"
"Yes your majesty"
"What does Solork look like to you?"
"…"
The knight was unsure how to answer.
"Lucanti… I asked a question"
"I don't know what to say your majesty"
"Yes, I suppose this is unlike me asking you to take someone's head."
"I apologise your majesty"
"It's fine," Chamille turned back to the prison cell, "Solork, you tell me that I can live, that I can be happy, what a hypocrite!"
Ikuta leaned forward towards the bars, attempting to diffuse some of the tension with his usual sarcasm.
"I've always been a…"
"No! Be quiet! I've let you talk too much!"
She turned to Lucanti: "This…! This…! This womanising, worthless, layabout is here pretending this is just about his sacrifice for me, his hatred for the empire, but really…"
Chamille stepped forward and placed her hand through the bars against Ikuta's cheek.
"All this time, you've not forgiven yourself have you? Your father and mother, your other half… I thought you were better after your long sleep but you've just been dragging yourself along, haven't you?"
As Ikuta was about to respond, Chamille put her finger against his lips to silence him.
"I know… I know if I let you speak, you'll spin your words to convince me. But Ikuta, you've shaped who I am, you and your other half, and I know you."
"…"
"Lucanti… Please ignore what I am about to say"
Lucanti could only watch on, surprised at the Empress's behaviour, never had she seen her so forward with the Field Marshall.
"Solork, do you think I want to build this world without you? Do you think the me who hates herself will want to live on with you gone? After what you just said?"
Chamille finally gave Solork a chance to respond
"You will. Because you like people. And because if you can't lean on me, you will have to walk upright"
"No. You've made a mistake Solork. That might have been true an hour ago, but what you said, what you did, I can't…"
"Chamille…"
Chamille wiped the tears from her eyes and peered up at Ikuta.
"Ikuta, will you escape with me?"
The way Chamille was looking at him, the way she used his name and the question she asked, all of this made Ikuta pause.
"Chamille, I can't"
"Why not?"
"Because all our hard work to put this empire right will be wasted."
Chamille shook her head.
"But you hate this country…"
"And because if I'm still here you will be satisfied leaving the task to me"
"But without you, I have no one to help me"
"You can lean on Haro and Matthew, Torway and Suya, on the Knights' corps"
"What's to stop me leaving it to them then?"
"…"
"Don't you want to escape with me? I thought you love me?"
"…"
Chamille was yelling now, with tears streaming down her face.
"Am I not worth it? Was I right all along to hate myself?!"
Ikuta finally raised his voice: "No! No Chamille! You are wrong!"
"Then admit it, you want to punish yourself!"
Her shout echoed out around the prison and Chamille felt she could hardly breath.
"I told you before," she whispered, "I don't want you to die"
Ikuta couldn't look at her, couldn't look up for fear of what would show on his face.
"Chamille… you are right… You do know me."
"What?"
"I want to die"
"Good"
Lucanti couldn't believe what she was hearing and couldn't stop herself from asking:
"Good?"
"Lucanti, I thought I asked you to ignore what I was saying?"
"Please excuse me your majesty"
She looked at the strangely down-trodden figure in the prison cell once more and then with a firm nod of her head she turned and started walking away.
"It's fine. We're going."
"Chamille…?"
Chamille paused, "Yes, Solork?"
He had finally looked up.
"You're going now?"
"That is what I said"
"Just like that?"
"Ha ha ha, who would've thought I could leave the great Field Marshall without any answers?"
Chamille continued walking, her knight falling in to step besides her. Ikuta took hold of the bars of his cell.
"You can't stop this now Chamille, it's too late!"
Ikuta was shouting, desperation leaking in to his voice.
"Don't do anything stupid Chamille"
Chamille continued walking without looking back.
"Please…"
She almost gave in on hearing that, almost turned back at the sob that accompanied his words, but as soon as she paused in her steps her knight took her arm and gave her a short tug to get her moving again.
"Thank you Lucanti," she whispered
"It is my honour to serve you your majesty"