Please Kill Me - Chapter 15
The woman had breached – or rather, knocked out – the stringent security of the residence and made her way up to the fourth floor, seeking someone stronger than herself. Then asking him to kill her.
He had a fleeting encounter with a person like that.
With silver hair and dark eyes, a demeanor as confident as if facing a 2nd grade beast alone, someone who could infiltrate the residence’s strict security on her own.
Leonid stepped back and asked a different question.
“Who are you?”
The woman raised her eyebrows as if surprised he was only asking now.
“I am Yekaterina Offenbach.”
Ah, a rat after all.
Leonid clapped his hands together briskly, his expression turning frosty in an instant.
“Stepan!”
The pleasantries were over.
* * *
Yekaterina thought she would be thrown out now that Leonid had called for someone.
Yet, contrary to her expectations, Leonid’s disposition towards her was far from what she had anticipated.
His decision was to move Yekaterina to a guest room where she could wash and change her clothes.
“Do the clothes fit you? Are you not cold?”
“I’ll leave some refreshments here. Ring the bell if you need more.”
“We’ve placed some extra slippers here; please wear whatever you find comfortable.”
Yekaterina watched the maids, who spoke kindly as they came and went, with a bit of bewilderment.
The maids at Offenbach all wore uniforms from head to toe in navy blue. But here, the maids’ simple uniforms were accentuated with white aprons and decorations, giving a busier impression. Their uniformity was interspersed with glimpses of individuality.
It was a new sensation, being somewhere other than Offenbach.
But what felt most alien to Yekaterina was the friendly atmosphere of Rostislav.
‘They lack discipline.’
Servants treating an intruder so amiably.
In Offenbach, she would have been executed by now.
The maids’ busyness and their overt friendliness were alien compared to Offenbach. But Yekaterina chose to see it in a positive light.
‘They say even animals leave their nests when it’s time to die.’
In that sense, she had come to the right place. Yekaterina’s objective hadn’t changed from the start.
* * *
Just moments before, right after Yekaterina had revealed her name.
Leonid’s call brought in a bustle of activity as an elderly butler and a knight rushed in.
“Your Excellency, what is the matter-“
The knight stopped mid-sentence upon spotting Yekaterina.
The knight drew his sword without waiting for the butler to finish speaking.
With a familiar sound of metal, the blade was pointed at her. The knight shouted fiercely,
“Who are you?”
“Vasily. Can’t you see? An intruder.”
Leonid joined in the conversation.
“Your Excellency?”
“…An intruder has made it this far?”
To the butler’s question, Leonid simply nodded.
“I didn’t bring her here myself, so it seems that way.”
“But why didn’t you call me immediately…”
“I’ve called you now. That’s enough idle talk. Take this woman to the room at the end.”
The room at the end?
Yekaterina’s eyebrows narrowed at the mention. Considering she had maintained an expressionless face even when a sword was pointed at her, this was a significant change.
“What is this room at the end? Am I being detained?”
“You have high hopes. It’s just a regular guest room.”
“But I’m not a guest.”
“Uninvited or not, a guest is a guest. Or do you prefer to be treated harshly?”
“No, just kill me now-“
“Enough, miss.”
Leonid lightly flicked his hand, cutting her off. His pointed finger then directed towards Yekaterina.
“Do you realize what you look like right now?”
“My appearance?”
“Yes. There isn’t a spot on you from head to toe that isn’t covered in dirt. And where are your shoes? Why are you barefoot?”
“I found them cumbersome, so I took them off.”
“Remarkable. Dying in this state would certainly raise suspicions. If the imperial army came to investigate, I’d have no explanation.”
Yekaterina was at a loss for words at Leonid’s sarcasm.
She hadn’t realized her appearance was that disheveled.
‘My clothes are a bit dirty, and I am barefoot.’
Was her appearance so disheveled that dying like this would cause trouble for Leonid?
She didn’t want her insignificant death to cause a commotion. She didn’t want to inconvenience Leonid in that way.
“Go wash up, change your clothes. Put on some slippers, then we can talk again.”
“Will you kill me then?”
The response came quickly.
“Of course.”
So, Yekaterina left Leonid’s office, following the butler’s lead, to tidy up as Leonid had suggested – to not be an inconvenience after death.
In any other situation, she might have been wary, thinking he was trying to catch her off guard to do something.
‘But I came here to die anyway.’
What’s the worst that could happen? Death? Maybe a more gruesome end, but either way, it couldn’t be worse than surviving five trips into the monster cage.
There was no need for her to be cautious.
