I had no time to process the situation.
The man whispered to me in a threatening tone, “Shh, be quiet.”
He continued to cover my mouth and pushed my shoulder down. He was strong, and I was too weak. There was no point in fighting back.
This was a killer. He murdered the emperor. A professional assassin. There was nothing I could do to stop him from killing me too.
I wanted to live. I didn’t care about the emperor. I just wanted to live.
I nodded to show him I would obey his orders.
His green eyes narrowed. Even though he was wearing a mask, I knew he was smiling. Such confidence and calmness in this situation.
He said to me again, “I’ll trust you not to scream. If you do, I will kill you. You will end up joining your dead husband.”
I shook my head. He laughed quietly and removed his hands.
“Ahh…”
I was finally able to breathe.
The man looked down at me with a strange expression. I looked up nervously.
He was in control of this situation. I had only two options. Either do what he said or die. So in truth, I had no options at all since I wanted to live.
He took out another dagger. It was the same one he used to kill the emperor. A simple, common dagger without any decorations. It touched my neck.
“…!”
I couldn’t breathe. It felt cold and deadly against my skin. If I didn’t do something, he would murder me.
Think! I had to think of something. Somehow, I had to survive this situation.
Suddenly, an idea came to me.
I trembled as I said to him. “I, I…”
“You?”
“I can help you.”
“What?”
He looked at me as if I went crazy. It was understandable. What could a useless concubine from a weak colony do for this man?
However, I had an idea.
In this room were a body, the assassin, and I.
Just the three of us.
If I survived this situation, I would be the only witness.
“I… I can testify!”
“…”
The man’s eyes brightened. He seemed intrigued. I had to grab this chance. This could work. I had to make it work.
“Whatever reason you had for killing the emperor, I don’t care. You want to make sure no one finds out about you and whoever hired you, right? Then you need someone to testify with a lie.”
“If I kill you right now and escape, no one will find me.”
“But this is a castle. Just outside the 100-kina radius, this room is surrounded by guards. Wouldn’t it make it safer to have me as a witness? I can keep quiet until you escape, and tomorrow, I can tell everyone that the assassin had a visible scar above his right eye with black eyes and dark skin.”
Of course, this man didn’t have dark skin nor any scars. His eye color was also green. If I testified this false account, he would be safe.
There was no reason why I wouldn’t do this. This man saved me from becoming the old pervert’s sex toy.
I thought this was a perfect plan. I looked up at him expectantly.
He laughed. He laughed loudly.
“Hahaha! You are full of surprises.”
My hopes died. The knife on my neck pressed harder.
My fear escalated.
“What if I tell you I don’t need your help at all?”
“…pardon?’
“I was able to get into this room despite the countless guards, and your assumptions are wrong. I don’t need to run away that far. I don’t need a witness at all.”
There was nothing I could say.
I felt dizzy. I really thought it could work, but I was wrong. The only hope I had now was that this man would show me mercy.
Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely. This man killed the emperor without hesitation in cold blood. Killing another nameless girl would mean nothing to him.
His cold, green eyes looked down at me. It was as if he was looking at a piece of meat, not a person.
I didn’t want to look away. I couldn’t hide my fear, but I still wanted to be courageous. If I would die anyway, I wanted to save my pride.
Thankfully, the assassin killed the emperor quickly. He could probably show me the same kindness.
“Then can I… ask you for a favor?
“A favor?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“…If you’re going to kill me, then please kill me… quickly. You can do that, right? It doesn’t look like it will be that hard.” I sighed deeply.
My hands still trembled visibly. My jaw was shuttering too.
He remained silent for a few seconds before laughing.
“Hahahaha!”
“Huh?”
He laughed as if he meant it. For a second, I was worried someone might hear him and come into the room. That’s when I realized how stupid I was.
It would be better if someone came in. I might live if that happened.
Why was I even worrying about this assassin?
It was like a mouse worrying about the cat’s safety.
It seemed like he read my mind. He laughed again and removed the blade from my neck. I was able to breathe again.
“Whenever the emperor takes a naïve young girl to his bed, all kinds of scream comes out of the room. That is why he ordered the guards and the servants to stay 100 kinas away from the room. No matter what kind of noises they here, no one will come into this room.”
Just what did the emperor do to those women? I wanted to kick his dead body.
I restrained myself and said to the intruder, “…I guess I’m lucky this happened.”
The man grinned and played with the dagger. He threw it in the air and caught it midair. He kept doing this over and over again. It was like watching a circus. I just hoped he doesn’t throw it at me.
I sat in front of him obediently and waited for him to speak. It was always a smart idea to look meek when someone in front of you had a knife.
The man finally said to me, “Your logic has many holes, but it’s not completely wrong.”
“Pardon?”
“There is something you can do for me.”
I could see the light at the end of this dark tunnel.
“W, what is it?”
He grinned. “You look like you are willing to do anything. Would you lick my foot if I asked?”
“I am willing.”
I meant it. If he ordered me to, I was ready to lick his boots.
“You’ve got guts. I will give you that.”
He sounded genuinely impressed. He reached for me.
He ignored my flinch as he pulled my gown up to cover my bare shoulder. He then pulled me off the bed. He studied me carefully.
Suddenly, he ordered, “Turn around.”
“Pardon?”
When he glared at me, I did as he asked. When I faced him again, he nodded in satisfaction. Did he like what he saw…? That was ridiculous.
I was right.
“Good thing there isn’t any blood on your cloth.”
Blood?
He continued, “As I said before, no one will come in even if they hear a scream. However, it would be a different story if you ran out screaming.”
“Pardon?”
“When I leave, you need to run out of this room.”
“What?”
“Are you going to do as I say or just keep asking questions?”
“…” I nodded in silence.
He continued, “I won’t be leaving through that door. Not the windows either. There is no way I will get caught by the guards. So when I leave, you run out screaming. Tell the guards the emperor has been murdered. Cry or faint or whatever you want to do.”
“That… That will help you?”
He nodded.
I couldn’t understand. Didn’t murderers want their victims to be found as late as possible? However, he wanted the emperor’s body to be found immediately?
“That is all you need to do. Tell them you haven’t seen anyone at all. Oh actually, I will leave one window open, so tell them you saw a dark figure leaving through the window, but you didn’t see who it was.”
I nodded. If he would let me live, I was willing to do anything, and this seemed too easy. That’s all I had to do?
His green eyes laughed at me again.
He continued, “That’s right. If you do what I just said, you will live, and… I could even give you a reward.”
Reward? What reward?
He was talking nonsense. As I contemplated what he said, he turned around and walked towards one of the bedroom walls. When he pushed a few bricks, a small opening appeared.
Ignoring my gasp, he winked at me. “Good luck, my accomplice.”
…Then I suddenly realized.
I have met this man before. Those unusual green eyes. They looked kind at first, but I saw the coldness and cruelness in them.
I murmured without thinking.
“Luc…cre…”
His face turned rigid.
