Grand Duke Tuchkov strode hurried toward Ivan IV's bedchamber, followed by a squad of guards, each with a stern and tense expression.
The captain of the guards protecting Ivan IV tried to stop Grand Duke Tuchkov, but was roughly shoved aside. The captain staggered back a step, nearly falling to the ground.
"Get out of the way,"
Grand Duke Tuchkov glared at him irritably, muttering curses under his breath. He had no time to explain his actions to the guards.
Seeing this, the surrounding guards instantly held their ceremonial axes in front of Grand Duke Tuchkov, assuming a fighting stance. The atmosphere instantly became tense, with everyone nervously sizing each other up. The attendant following Grand Duke Tuchkov was clearly not to be underestimated; he too drew his longsword from his waist, the blade pointed at the Tsar's attendant's throat.
The head guard said righteously, "Grand Duke Tuchkov, are you planning to break into the palace and assassinate the Tsar?"
Grand Duke Tuchkov didn't speak, and just as a conflict was about to erupt, the tightly closed bedroom door slowly opened. The young Tsar Ivan IV stood in the doorway, surveying the tense standoff before him.
"Head guard, I called Grand Duke Tuchkov here,"
Ivan IV said, gesturing for him to calm down; it was just a misunderstanding.
The imminent fight was instantly averted. The head guard glanced suspiciously at Grand Duke Tuchkov and sheathed his weapon.
Grand Duke Tuchkov strode up to Ivan IV, glancing at Natasha, who sat slumped on the floor, looking utterly dejected, and whispered, "Your Majesty...we should..."
Ivan IV remained calm, waving his hand to signal Grand Duke Tuchkov to remain silent. He stated bluntly, "Take Natasha to the Moscow prison. I want to interrogate her myself."
The young Tsar didn't hide it from the guards beside him; in fact, he repeated it. Just as he turned away, he whispered to Grand Duke Tuchkov, "After we go through the corridor, put a hood over her head. Don't let anyone else know Natasha's identity."
At this moment, the Tsar showed none of the naivety of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child; his meticulous mind seemed to be plotting a secret conspiracy.
As Ivan IV's elder, Grand Duke Tuchkov, on the contrary, appeared very humble. The fate of the entire family rested on the young Tsar's plans.
He nodded, instructing the guards to support the distraught Natasha and take her away directly.
Five days earlier, when the young Tsar Ivan came to him with his secret plan, Grand Duke Tuchkov, who had been politically unsuccessful, risked everything on his nephew.
After everything was prepared, Ivan IV, accompanied by Grand Duke Tuchkov, left the Kremlin and boarded a pre-arranged carriage, eventually arriving at the Lefortov secret prison in Moscow.
The Lefortov secret prison
had long been used to imprison and interrogate political prisoners and serious criminals. One day, a woman named Catherine would transform it into a symbol of the Tsarist Empire's dictatorship and reign of terror.
The thick walls blocked any hope of escape for the prisoners.
The gray-brown walls and bloodstained instruments of torture testified to the bloody secrets that had been revealed there.
Natasha, her hands bound, had her hood removed. As her eyes adjusted to the dim prison, she realized she wasn't dead, but imprisoned in a cramped cell.
Standing before her, besides Ivan and Grand Duke Tuchkov, was a strange iron box—
a cast iron coffin shaped like the Virgin Mary.
The face etched on the heavy iron box gave Natasha an ominous premonition.
"I need a list,"
Ivan said, looking at the panicked Natasha. He spoke slowly and deliberately, "The list of Grand Duke Shuysky's spies around me certainly includes more than just you. Tell me about your accomplices."
Natasha gritted her teeth, remaining silent.
After a moment's wait, Ivan IV finally lost his patience. He pointed to the torture device beside him and said to Natasha, "Before I shove you in, please allow me to introduce it. This is a torture device modeled after Nuremberg's, the Iron Maiden. It has a human-shaped cavity inside. It can open from the left and right, and the internal cavity can accommodate a person. There are nails protruding inwards on the door, and nails inside the main body as well."
With that, Ivan had his servant open the Iron Maiden, revealing sharp, pointed nails to Natasha.
Even Grand Duke Tuchkov felt a chill run down his spine upon seeing this torture device.
Ivan gently stroked the edge of the Iron Maiden, the cold iron conveying a deathly signal. He continued slowly, explaining to Natasha, "The earliest recorded use of this instrument of torture is from 205-194 BC, by Nabis, the tyrant who ruled Sparta. He would often say, 'If I cannot persuade you, perhaps my beautiful Apica can.' Then, this unfortunate fellow would be led to a statue modeled after the tyrant's beautiful wife, with sharp blades on its arms. The victim would be killed in this fatal embrace. Of course, this instrument wouldn't make your death easy. You would be locked inside, and then the Iron Maiden would slowly close, sharp iron nails piercing your body bit by bit, bleeding until you were utterly tortured, and then slowly dying."
After hearing Ivan IV's account, Natasha collapsed to the ground in terror, her sanity teetering on the brink of collapse.
The smiling Ivan IV, in her eyes, no longer possessed his previous cowardice and timidity, but rather resembled a terrifying demon.
As if overnight, he had shed his cocoon of cowardice and transformed into a savage monster.
Ivan's eyes sharpened, like gleaming iron nails striking her heart.
Ivan IV lost his patience and said to Natasha, whose lips were trembling, "Tell me your name now. Otherwise, I will use the Iron Maiden to pry open your mouth. And your family will be exiled and executed because of you!"
"Don't kill me, don't kill me!"
The last straw broke the camel's back, and Natasha's defenses crumbled completely. She grabbed Ivan's hand and said incoherently, "I don't know who else Grand Duke Shuysky has planted beside His Majesty. We've never even met each other. I only told the Grand Duke about His Majesty's every move. I really don't know anything else. Please, Your Majesty, don't kill me!"
The old fox.
Ivan IV cursed under his breath. He didn't know how far Grand Duke Shuysky's influence had spread. Now it seemed that all the attendants who had served the Tsar were suspects.
His cautious and suspicious nature led him to make a bold decision.
Natasha, believing she had miraculously survived, touched her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. She stared, pale-faced, at the sharp nails in the iron box, still shaken.
However, her joy at surviving was short-lived; the relieved smile froze on her face.
The young Tsar, once secretly despised and mocked by court attendants and servants, now coldly instructed the guard beside her,
"Put her in the Iron Maiden."