Who Stole The Empress

“……!”

Surprised, Gillotti fell back.

The door opened, but he didn’t dare to look inside it.

Cold sweat flowed like rain over his shivering body.

‘No, it can’t be true. There can’t be any ghosts or apparitions.’

He pulled up the courage he did not have and gritted his teeth.

He didn’t know what these things were, but he was the master of this imperial palace.

He clenched his teeth and crawled forward.

Gulp.

Just before he opened the door, he swallowed his saliva down his dry throat.

Dangerous curiosity and fear were driving him into the hot and cold water bath.

Taking a deep breath, Gillotti finally grabbed the open door and peeked inside.

“…… ha, ha!”

The dead previous emperor’s bedroom was as dark and silent as a tomb.

The closed window, a single candle flickering just barely, created a faint shadow.

White dust and smoke mixed in the room.

As soon as he smelled the familiar odor, his face wrinkled up.

It was the scent that the previous emperor, just before his death, burned every day.

The scent, which had crossed over on a distant ship, was said to clear the head and improve the bronchial tubes.

Gillotti did not like this smell. It couldn’t be good to have this smell, which reminded him of his father after just a few sniffs.

Frowning, Gillotti looked at the old bed that occupied the center of the huge bedroom.

It was the bed cherished by his father, the previous Emperor.

How “he” was lying on that bed that he always liked to think was brand new even after 20-plus years of use.

Gillotti raised a whitish hand with his back against the door.

Shaking fingers rose above the bed of the previous emperor, pointing to the shadow that was strangling him.

This didn’t make any sense.

Perhaps that was why Gillotti’s head began to burn white.

Darkness swallowed him and chewed on him as if he was having a nightmare and was caught in the middle of a bigger nightmare.

‘Oh, father.’

A black shadow in the flickering candlelight strangled the old man lying in bed.

Had he been the least bit rational, he would have known that the shadows were  strange, but now Gillotti was out of his mind.

The shadow was whispering in a muttering voice, “Die, die!”

Gillotti was out of his mind.

Something popped and broke off inside him. He clutched his head in his hands and shouted loudly.

“Oh, no! No, father! No way! I didn’t mean to….!”

Gillotti, who was hugging his head and pouring out his anger like a rapid fire gun, suddenly raised his head.

Aloof and wide-eyed, he yelled through clenched teeth.

“Why did you say I was an idiot who couldn’t do anything? Father brought all this on himself! Ha ha ha ha! I’m going to be emperor anyway!”

He broke out in a cold sweat and started laughing as he grabbed his stomach.

He was just like a madman.

“You’re an old man who can’t move a finger in bed! You are a monster! I am the emperor!”

He laughed as he crawled across the floor.

“I am the emperor. I, I am ……. I am the one and only emperor! I’m not a substitute for anything, I’m not a mongrel…. …. There is a difference, ugh. It was you who made me into the monster that I am, father. Your Majesty, it was you!”

Gillotti scratched his fingers and cried and laughed.

For that moment, he seemed truly lost.

“……father, please don’t hit me. Please don’t hit me. Father, please don’t!”

Aah!

Gillotti, who screamed like he was scratching iron, stared at the bed with bloodshot eyes.

His eyes were filled with venom. Glilotti, who sprang up from his seat, bared his teeth and rushed to the bed.

The two hands that stretched out were full of strength as if they were going to kill even the shadows of his past.

Bang!

Tamon, who couldn’t watch anymore, quickly hit him on the back of his neck.

Gillotti, plagued by nightmares, collapsed on the spot.

After Gillotti was completely floored, the two shadow actors, who had been performing enthusiastically in the old bed, raised themselves up.

“……It must be Gillotti who really killed the previous Emperor.”

Theoransha, who had been pretending to strangle Ronasso on top of him, got out of bed, looking back at the unbelievable sight she saw.

“That is shocking, but I am even more shocked that Your Majesty really strangled my neck. Oh, my throat hurts.”

Ronasso made a sick sound as he rubbed his throat, which had been pressed by Theo.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so immersed in the play, haha!”

Theo chuckled awkwardly and patted Ronasso on the shoulder.

Asha, who had been watching all this while hiding in the shadow, slowly stood in front of Gillotti.

He was still gritting his teeth and letting out a groan, as if the nightmare was tormenting him while he was passed out.

Asha looked coldly at Gillotti’s appearance and turned her head away.

Even if he was abused and mistreated by the previous Emperor, his misdeeds were never justified.

So she didn’t have to sympathize, nor was he worth it.

* * *

Anne woke up just a little earlier than usual.

She had a room right next to Natasha’s bedroom to take care of her.

Her face was always tired from cleaning up all by herself.

She hadn’t slept good in a long time after “it” happened a few days ago.

Natasha always gave ridiculous orders after she had the baby.

Whenever Anne closed her eyes, the reddish-black blood stains wetting the floor were vividly seen.

Even though it wasn’t real human blood, that awful bloody smell was one she never wanted to smell again.

‘Still, I’m glad I didn’t have to kill anyone.’

Anne pulled her heavy heart together as she rubbed her pale fingertips.

She tried to blame the dozens of times her bizarre fate that had plunged her into the abyss in an instant, but that didn’t mean she could get out of it.

Fortunately, Anne was a woman who was quick to give up.

Wasn’t her savior that day who helped her avoid becoming a murderer who said,

“Stay strong, until you’re done. Pretend you don’t see it, pretend you don’t know it. That way you will survive until the end.”

Anne wasn’t sure if it was a real “savior” or a demon that would drag her to the inferno of hell until the end….

“…… my head hurts.”

In any case, Anne hadn’t been able to sleep since Natasha gave birth secretly. Today was no different.

Fortunately, Natasha’s condition, which had been suffering from postpartum pain, has improved significantly.

Anne no longer had to make multiple trips in and out of the laundry room to replace Natasha’s bed sheets every dawn.

Still, as was her habit, Anne went outside to bring clean towels and hot water just in case.

Since they had to be handled surreptitiously and without anyone knowing, she always took advantage of the crack of dawn.

The quickest way to the laundry was to take the stairs to the emperor’s bedroom.

Usually it was outrageous, but at dawn when it was so dark, she made a bold choice.

‘But I don’t see any guards today.’

Anne was used to taking precautions to avoid the guards.

Every time there were too many, it made her nervous, but today she could hardly see any.

“That’s good.”

Anne went down the stairs, thinking it was no big deal.

It was then.

“No!”

She heard the emperor’s tearing scream.

Startled, Anne stopped in her tracks.

Nervous eyes quickly looked around. The surrounding area was still only pitch black darkness.

Wondering what was going on, Anne went back up the stairs she had come halfway down.

Then she scurried around to find the place where she had heard the scream.

Just then a faint scream was heard again.

A room at the far end of the third floor.

It was the forbidden room, the one that the emperor thought was terrible and shut down.

Gulp.

Anne was extremely nervous as she gulped down her saliva.

She just couldn’t get rid of the thought that she was about to see something she shouldn’t have seen again.

She sneaked a peek behind the folding wall that overlooked the end room.

It was then that the door, which had always closed, opened slightly.

Someone pushed open the half-closed door and looked out.

It was a stranger Anne had never seen before.

She quickly covered her mouth to calm her heart, which was running like it was going to break her ribs.

Then she closed her eyes, intensified the heat inside, and went down the stairs without looking back.

After descending for a while and reaching the laundry room, she sat down on the floor, exhaling the breath that she had stopped.

Her head spun around.

The smell of clean laundry brought her back to reality.

Hiding in a mountain of laundry, Anne recited the spell to calm herself.

Ennis, still hiding among the mountain of laundry, chanted and relearned a spell to calm himself.

“I, I don’t see anything. I don’t know anything.”

Pretend you don’t see, pretend you don’t know.

That was Anne’s job.