> "The strong do not need peace. The strong are peace.
But sometimes… even the strong envy warmth."
— Esdeath, alone among her frozen roses
---
[Location: Empire – Mid-Akame ga Kill Timeline]
The Empire still breathed beneath her boot.
Esdeath, General of the Empire, Supreme Commander, and personal nightmare to all who opposed order… stood in a palace garden of her own creation.
An ice garden, of course.
Blooms made of frost, petals sharper than daggers.
A single place in her world that did not scream of war.
Just stillness.
Perfect, unyielding stillness.
---
[Morning – Inspections and Executions]
Subordinate:
> "General Esdeath, three more rebels were captured."
Esdeath (coolly):
> "Execute two. Let the third live. He'll spread fear more effectively."
Subordinate (nervous):
> "Understood."
She returned to her office. A towering throne. Maps. Blood-stained records.
Then… she reached behind the curtain and pulled out a hidden book.
Not a strategy manual.
Not a torture journal.
A diary.
---
[Midday – Her Own Words]
Esdeath (reading to herself):
> "Day 112 – Still no man worthy of standing beside me.
I dreamed of that masked fool again.
He said I was 'unironically hot' and offered me tacos."
"Day 127 – My men call me goddess. They don't mean it. They mean monster."
"Day 142 – That shadow from another world… he didn't flinch. He saw me. Really saw me.
That should've made me angry. It didn't. It made me… curious."
She snapped the book shut.
Anger flickered.
And then faded.
---
[Afternoon – System Chat Ping]
She walked through her palace, ignoring generals, dismissing meetings, until she reached her private chambers.
The chat was open.
Esdeath (typing, slow and surgical):
> "Status: Resting.
Empire secure.
Headcount: Increasing.
Mood: Efficiently bored."
Deadpool:
> "Bored? Want a body pillow?"
Kazuma:
> "You scare me and excite me and I don't like that."
Tsunade:
> "Try gardening. Grow something not made of hate."
Artoria:
> "You have too many knives in your soul."
Esdeath:
> "And not enough blood on my hands. Vacation is suffering."
MC (calmly):
> "Suffering isn't weakness. Let the frost thaw… just a little."
She stared at that line.
For a long time.
Then typed:
Esdeath:
> "Send me a flower. A real one."
---
[Evening – A Gift]
That night, a courier from the System arrived.
Inside the package:
A single sunflower
A small note
> "Even predators admire the sun. Doesn't mean they stop being wolves."
— MC
She froze it instantly.
Then placed it on her nightstand.
And whispered:
> "Stupid shadow."
---
End of Chapter 19: Esdeath