The Empror's Trap

He'd been drawn into their scheme.

Kenji fully understood it now—he'd walked right into their trap. He'd been cautious at first, but who would have guessed he would let his guard down and actually fall asleep? After living in relative peace for too long, his fighting spirit hadn't faded, but he'd clearly lost some of his old vigilance. In the past, no matter how tired he was, he would have forced himself to stay up all night in this kind of situation.

Huge miscalculation.

There was no point trying to explain things now. Surrounded by Royal Guards and maids, there was no way to sneak out unnoticed. The moment he got up, Sonya would undoubtedly go all in on some loyal guard strikes down traitorous official who defiled the Empress melodrama.

Just then, he heard Sonya's voice from outside:

"By the way, Your Majesty, I saw that bodyguard on my way out."

"Which bodyguard?" asked Pluvia.

"The one who's always with the Grand Marshal."

Pluvia tensed. "What was she doing when you saw her?"

"She greeted me, then left… It didn't seem like she'd noticed Grand Marshal was missing…"

As she spoke, even Sonya seemed to realize something wasn't right—her voice grew faint.

How could Lina not notice Kenji's absence? Anyone who knew her would never believe that. She might be the head of the Grey Scale Office now, but it hadn't even fully spun off yet, and she was still Kenji's bodyguard. If her master didn't come back all night, no one in their right mind would just ignore that…

"Damn—" Pluvia grew alarmed.

Lina. How could everyone—herself, Empress Dowager—have overlooked her?

Pluvia immediately turned to the nearest Royal Guard. "Send word, find Lina of the Grey Scale Office. Move quickly."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

"Have the Royal Guards look in secret—don't let word get out."

If Lina really was distracted with official business, making a big scene would make even Lina herself suspicious.

The Royal Guards hurried off.

For Kenji, it was getting impossible to keep pretending. Where was Lina, anyway? She would never just quietly go to sleep and wait for me to come home if I didn't show up all night.

Please, Lina—don't do anything crazy!

Fortunately, the wait wasn't long. Soon, a Royal Guard burst into the courtyard, a bit panicked.

"Your Majesty—we found her!"

"Where?"

"In… in the Palace of Compassion!"

"What!?"

…

Palace of Compassion.

Empress Dowager's residence—a place of peace and quiet in the inner palace, directly behind the emperor's bedchamber.

Right now, though, the tranquility had been shattered. The floor was strewn with bodies—maids and guards alike.

Lina shook the blood from her blade, severing the arm of a guard who had tried to secretly reach for a weapon, and growled:

"Where is Empress Dowager?"

"I—I really don't know! I'm just doing rounds! If you want to know, ask the maids!"

The guards there were miserable. Sure, the Imperial Guards were responsible for security, but with shift changes, unless they specifically accompanied Empress Dowager, they wouldn't know her whereabouts. And now, just as they started a new shift, this ferocious girl burst in and wiped them out in minutes.

Lina turned to the maids, who hadn't dared fight back. She'd gone easy on them, unlike with the guards, but the maids were terrified.

"We're not sure, but I heard someone give an order—Her Majesty wants to see Empress Dowager…"

"Thank you."

Lina sheathed her blade and dashed off.

If Empress Dowager was meeting the Emperor, there was only one place to go: the imperial bedchamber.

Lina was frantic.

She'd felt uneasy all night when Kenji hadn't returned, but she hadn't made a fuss. He was in the palace; it wouldn't look good to go asking about her own master. At first, she'd assumed he had business to deal with. By morning, though, that unsettled feeling only grew. She wandered the palace, making inquiries—and the moment she dug deeper, she found Kenji's trail vanished right after he went to see Empress Dowager.

That was a red flag. Empress Dowager rarely met with any officials, and it was almost unheard of for her to meet with anyone privately at Palace of Compassion. Something was wrong.

So, she'd grabbed her blade and stormed into Palace of Compassion… but Empress Dowager was already gone. That led to the carnage now littering the palace.

She had to find Empress Dowager—only then could she uncover what happened to Kenji.

At least, as far as she could tell, Kenji wasn't dead yet. Hopefully, he could hold on until she arrived…

...

Kenji couldn't stay down anymore.

He couldn't keep pretending to sleep—now that Lina had reached the Palace of Compassion, he knew exactly what she was about to do!

If he waited any longer, she really might slice her way all the way into the imperial bedchamber. If outsiders saw that, this whole mess would be impossible to clean up.

Kenji slowly sat up, putting on a look of utter confusion as he surveyed the room.

Pluvia and the others turned at once.

"Your—Your Majesty?!"

Kenji stared around him, playing the clueless act to perfection.

That was his cue. Sonya, sword drawn, charged straight at him with murder in her eyes!

Here it came—the script, exactly as predicted.

Too bad Kenji wasn't going to follow anyone's script. At the last instant, he dodged her slash and stepped in close. With a single finger jab to her throat, he stopped her cold—she doubled over from the sharp pain and couldn't utter a word.

To be fair, in pure technique, Sonya wasn't weaker than Kenji, but she'd been holding back—after all, she was only acting. She assumed Kenji was still sluggish, so she didn't go all out.

But Kenji wasn't playing along. If she was coming at him sword in hand—as revenge for putting him in the lake, among other things—he figured it was time to settle old and new scores together.

"Miss Sonya? What's the meaning of this…?"

"You dared lay hands on Her Majesty—I'll kill you myself!"

Sonya was in agony but played her role to the end.

But fate has a sense of timing—just as she prepared to keep up the show, a flash of cold light blazed past. Sparks leaped from her blade, nearly knocking it from her hand!

Kenji looked up—and a familiar figure stepped in front of him.

"Young Master, forgive me for arriving late. Awaiting your orders."

Her voice was icy with fury.