Please Kill Me - Chapter 132
In the deep of the night.
Yekaterina slowly rose from the bed.
The barracks, with no candles lit, was shrouded in complete darkness. The sun had long set.
In the pitch-black room, the blanket slid along her body, revealing the contours of her upper torso faintly. The thin negligee she wore couldn’t completely conceal it.
Every movement brought a dull ache to her lower back.
‘Ugh…’
She had thought she wouldn’t feel pain for a while since it wasn’t a bruise or a cut. She hadn’t anticipated this kind of discomfort.
Though Yekaterina was used to many things, this was unfamiliar.
As her body began to adapt to the pain and her eyes adjusted to discern shapes in the darkness, she carefully removed the arm that had been hugging her waist.
She then got out of bed, dressed in the clothes she had set aside, and looked back at the man still asleep.
His usually neatly combed hair now covered his forehead, and he lay in a position resembling someone hugging a pillow, which was unusual for him since he typically slept in a straight and proper posture.
Even though Yekaterina had grown up, she still couldn’t shake off her childhood habits of curling up to sleep. It was not surprising that his body had become twisted after having to hug her in her sleeping posture.
That rigidity now seemed somewhat amusing.
As she looked down at him, memories of the day’s events resurfaced.
— Your Grace, are you done with pretending your hand is injured?
When she discovered that the bandage was a ruse, Yekaterina felt no real emotion.
She wasn’t angry about being deceived, nor did she feel betrayed.
Because Yekaterina could have checked his hand anytime she wanted.
There were many ways. Leonid always slept beside her, and they often held hands. Even after the fall from the cliff yesterday, she could have confirmed it if she had chosen to.
But she hadn’t.
‘I didn’t want to know.’
If Leonid’s hand had been fine, then she should have died.
She hadn’t even considered verifying his lie; she had simply believed him at face value.
While Leonid seemed to act as though he had made a grave mistake, the reality was that yesterday’s events were more about Yekaterina’s continuous refusal to face the truth. They had always been hiding something between them, so she had no intention of blaming him.
However, she realized,
‘My greed nearly caused Leonid’s death.’
She could no longer allow things to continue this way.
In that sense, the timing was right. Yekaterina was in the process of leaving, and a suitable situation was unfolding in front of her that would make her departure justifiable.
Who would have guessed among those in the barracks? That none of her words since entering were sincere? Neither Vasily nor even Leonid had noticed.
She deliberately expressed anger and harsh words. If Leonid ended up shunning her, it wouldn’t be such a bad outcome.
Above all, Yekaterina could not reveal the real reason for her departure.
When she received a promise from Dmitry for time until dawn the next day, he cast a spell on her:
— Is this about the time limit?
— No, it wouldn’t matter since he would be dead if you didn’t return. There’s no point in casting a spell for that.
Leonid’s existence was effectively the guarantee of the promise. Yekaterina raised an eyebrow.
— Then?
— It’s about confidentiality. To help Rostislav, I need to maintain a friendly relationship with Sister. If he finds out I played tricks with Sister, he won’t be pleased.
— So you want me not to reveal why I’m leaving.
— Exactly. It’s better for both you and him.
Dmitry said this as he made Yekaterina open her mouth. He then pressed and released his thumb on her tongue.
— If the promise is broken, you won’t be safe either.
He said this with a smile. His deceptive smile remained beautiful and captivating. Anyone else would have no idea what he had done to Yekaterina.
“I don’t feel that anything has really changed.”
Yekaterina had already been under Dmitry’s magic once before, so it was almost comical that she would distrust his magic now.
Wasn’t there a tale of a fish-woman who lost her voice and ventured onto land? Perhaps there’s a reason why her situation seemed to mirror her own so closely.
And so, she returned to Rostislav without a word. Hoping desperately that Leonid would let her go.
But had Yekaterina’s wishes ever truly come true?
Yekaterina had always been born unlucky.
Wherever Yekaterina went, death followed.
It had been so when she was seven. When she joined the Offenbachs.
Even now.
‘Because of me, Leonid nearly died.’
