The day was coming to an end when the Empress finally managed to return to her chambers. She had returned much later than usual because she had been busy all day. It had been an extremely exhausting day: endless meetings, diplomatic letters, and other work that Julia was now buried under.
With the coronation ceremony of the new heir to the throne set to take place any day now, Julia simply had no time to rest, as she, along with Chancellor Ardelio, was responsible for the entire process.
In addition to official matters, the Empress was also having trouble with the future heir to the throne himself.
The boy who was to take on such an important role was behaving terribly. He had locked himself in the palace where the Empress had placed him and refused to come out. When the servants tried to forcibly drag him out, he would start screaming and crying inconsolably.
To be honest, the Empress could hardly tolerate child tantrums, as they got on her nerves. Sometimes she even felt an involuntary urge to raise her hand against the child to calm him down. But Julia tried to suppress her impulses in those moments. After all, she did not want to repeat her previous unfortunate experience...
Thus, the diplomatic work and the hustle and bustle surrounding the little prince drained all of the Empress's strength. She was so tired that she didn't even notice how her hands trembled from exhaustion.
But finally, the long-awaited rest had arrived. When Julia entered her private chambers, she dreamed of only one thing — silence, a glass of wine, and solitude. But silence, like everything else, did not come.
The room greeted her with a suffocating atmosphere. The air was... different from usual. Julia felt strange, as if she instinctively sensed a foreign presence in the room.
The Empress had barely taken a few steps when she froze.
In the dim light of the room stood a figure. The pale moonlight filtering into the room barely illuminated his face — gaunt, unshaven, and exhausted. The light faintly lit up a face that the Empress recognized immediately.
— You... — she breathed out.
It was Fred Harper.
The Empress had no idea what he was doing here, and this only heightened her tension.
— I hope you're not too tired, Your Majesty, — the man said quietly.
The Empress squinted.
— How did you get in here? Where is the guard?
The Empress could not understand how this man could have escaped from the heavily guarded prison in the imperial city and made his way into her chambers, which were guarded just as carefully. Alone, it would have been impossible. Unless... someone was indeed helping this bastard.
He smirked.
— Your Majesty, is that really all you're concerned about? If I were you, I would worry about the fact that we are alone in this room.
Julia pressed her lips together. Although she was indeed nervous at that moment, she straightened her back. Even in such a situation, she tried not to show her fear and to maintain the pride of an empress.
— And so? — she asked, — Did you come to kill me?
— What do you think?
At the moment the man stepped towards her, the Empress flinched but tried not to show it.
— What do I think? Only that you are a complete idiot, — she said disdainfully.
— ......
— You're lucky you even made it here. The guards will be here soon. Enjoy your last moments of freedom before execution.
Fred Harper stared at her, not breaking eye contact.
— You don't think I came here to beg for mercy, do you? — he rasped.
— Mercy? What mercy could there be in your case? — the woman openly mocked.
Fred fell silent for a moment.
— ...You are truly cruel and feel no remorse for what you've done, — he finally declared.
But the Empress barely paid attention to his words and continued to provoke the man's pride, confident that the guards would burst into the room at any moment to seize him. After all, he was now just a worthless prisoner who had escaped from prison. For such a trick, he could be executed immediately, without even waiting for an official sentence.
— Father and daughter, you really look alike. Useless wretches who can do nothing but poison my life with your existence.
— What did you say?
— Didn't you hear? Of course, what could I expect? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...
At that moment, after the Empress's words, the man froze. As if something inside him had broken, and he could no longer bear it.
— You... — he hissed. — How dare you speak of that child like that!?
Fred lunged at her as if he had completely lost control of himself.
The Empress tried to break free by elbowing him in the chest, but it didn't work. His hands tightened around her throat and continued to squeeze tighter and tighter. It was the desperation of a man who had lost everything.
Fred Harper trembled with rage, his lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes were filled not with hatred, but with pain.
— You took everything from me, — he rasped. — Why can't I do the same?
Julia fought back, desperately clinging to his hands. She was running out of air, and the color of her face was rapidly turning blue. The man's face distorted before her in a haze. In such a situation, there was no longer any arrogance or former grandeur in her, only fear of the impending threat.
"Now I truly regret ever falling in love with such a wicked woman as you..."
She wanted to scream, but couldn't. Finally, the Empress let out her last convulsive breaths, and absolute silence filled the room.
Her body went limp. Her head fell back.
Fred Harper stood over her, breathing heavily. His hands, which had so desperately squeezed her throat, were now trembling. He didn't immediately realize what he had done. Only then, in the deafening silence, did he understand that he could no longer hear her breathing in the room.
For a moment, the man froze in confusion, unable to move.
"Did I really want this...?" — he mumbled.
However, it was only a short time after this incident, to be precise, just a few seconds, when Fred felt as if something was stuck in his throat. He wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
In that brief moment, Asil pulled the sword from the neck of the man she had just killed. The stableman let out a gurgling sound and was violently sick with bubbles of blood. The man's lifeless body fell and now lay next to the Empress.
Meanwhile, Princess Asil carelessly wiped her hands and sword with a cloth, cleaning them of blood.
At that moment, a voice inside her said, "Did you really need to go this far? You could have just killed everyone in this palace right away, couldn't you?" — the voice sounded somewhat displeased.
"Don't rush. Can't you see that in this boring world, I'm just trying to entertain myself somehow?"
"Entertain yourself? I don't quite understand you. What could be interesting about wasting time and dealing with some insects..."
Asil scoffed. She didn't listen to the grumbling voice but suppressed its influence in her consciousness and instead focused on other things. After finishing wiping the sword, the woman carelessly turned to the other real person:
— You know what to do now.
— Yes, Your Highness.
With those words, Boris picked up the key ring from the bloody body of Fred Harper and hurried away. Meanwhile, Asil smiled strangely and leaned closer to the two bodies.
She was curious because she really wanted to know what these people were thinking in their last moments before death. And whether those thoughts were the same as last time?
— I wonder if you're satisfied with your fate this time? — the princess murmured, as if she were dealing with nothing more than test subjects.