Chapter 6 (1/2)
Chapter 6: <Chapter 6>
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.