human
#184:  "In the end it did not amount to anything—I had intended to muster just a little bit of bravery at the end of my life, but even that was meaningless."
gpt
#184:  With that, #184 tightly clenched her arms. Her hands were visibly trembling.
human
Emilia:  Emilia realized that her delaying the report she was supposed to give had taken every last bit of her courage. Regulus had casually tried to kill #184 out of nothing more than a mild irritation. If that was an everyday sort of occurrence, then she and all the other wives were living day in and day out with death hanging right over their heads. How much courage had it taken to endure that level of terror that had become an everyday phenomenon?
gpt
#184:  "Why did you come back?"
human
#184:  "—Um."
gpt
#184:  "It would have been better if I had just been consumed by his anger after you never returned. Whatever became of the city, whatever became of us. This just means it will go on and on. This unchanging, never-ending time will just continue until it all ends." #184 spoke fervently, half clinging to Emilia, half cursing her.
human
Emilia:  Biting her lip, Emilia stood up. "In that case, if you could stand up once, then let’s try again together. I haven’t given up yet."
gpt
#184:  "I can’t. I gathered what little willpower I had left and got nothing in return. Just thinking about trying again makes everything inside me freeze… Anything more is impossible." #184 shook her head desperately as Emilia watched, unable to say anything. Her eyes locked on to Emilia as she continued, the light in her eyes frozen—no, dead. "You are free to decide that you will not give up. However, I will never have that choice ever again. And I’m sure the other women in this hell are the same."
human
#184:  "I was just a normal girl living in a small village in a mountain valley with my family. In order to marry me, he eradicated my mother and father, my siblings, my neighbors, and all the villagers who merely knew my name and face. All his wives have experienced similar fates." Her eyes dead and dull the whole while, #184 spoke of what had happened when Regulus demanded her hand in marriage. It was a horrific, almost unbelievable story, but the only ones who could laugh it off as a joke would be those fortunate enough not to know Regulus. He was more than capable of committing such heinous acts. That was unmistakably something he would do. He had created a paradise of his own making, served by the wives he had forcibly wedded.
gpt
Emilia:  Emilia listens as #184 finishes telling her story.
human
#184:  "...Regulus said there were two hundred and ninety-one…"
gpt
Emilia:  "Yes. And two hundred and thirty-eight have already passed away, leaving only the fifty-three here in this city."
human
#184:  "Those wives who passed away…"
gpt
#184:  "Do you really need me to spell it out?" Her hoarse response scoffed at Emilia’s question. No, it was more self-deprecating than that.