Please Kill Me - Chapter 16
Yekaterina meticulously bathed in the water prepared by the servants and dressed in fine clothes they provided.
It occurred to her that it might be wise to write a will, explaining the circumstances of her death to avoid burdening Leonid.
As she pondered over her impending death, the head maid Sonya continued explaining about the manor.
“Dinner is prepared in the dining room on the first floor. Two maids will always be on standby if you need anything.”
‘Maybe I should contact Offenbach in advance for post-mortem arrangements.’
“We turn off the lights in the manor after 10 PM. Matches and candles are always available in the first drawer beside the bed.”
‘Maybe just informing Leonid Rostislav in advance would suffice?’
“Miss, are you listening?”
Realizing that Yekaterina wasn’t paying attention to her words, Sonya abruptly stopped her ongoing explanation. Yekaterina, who had been half-listening, answered a beat late.
“…No?”
Sonya’s eyebrows arched slightly at the frank response.
Yekaterina regretted not responding with a bit of tact, but unfortunately, she wasn’t good at lying.
To be more honest, she wanted to say she didn’t need explanations since she was about to die.
Fortunately, she had enough patience to hold back such thoughts.
Perhaps sensing Yekaterina’s disinterest, Sonya didn’t bother repeating the explanation but sighed softly and relaxed her expression.
“As long as Miss knows this is your room, that’s enough. Ring the bell beside you if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
“You flatter me. It’s almost dinner time, so I’ll come back later to take you down.”
Dinner time. Yekaterina didn’t intend to be such a bother.
She shook her head and asked,”Where is your master? I need to see him.”
“If you have a message, I can convey it to him.”
“No need to convey.”
Yekaterina’s eyes opened slightly wider. A familiar voice, despite only hearing a couple of times, had caught her attention.
Leonid Rostislav.
Unlike her, he hadn’t changed much from earlier and stood at the door.
He knocked on the open door, perhaps out of habit or for show. The courtesy shown to prisoner Yekaterina and now guest Yekaterina seemed no different.
As is common among family heads, he exuded a certain heavy authority with each step.
“You’ve done well, Sonya. Leave us. I’ll take care of the guest.”
“Yes, Master.”
Sonya bowed and left the room.
Of course, Sonya didn’t forget to close the door respectfully to avoid interrupting her master’s conversation.
Thud. With the door closed, only Yekaterina and Leonid were left in the room.
Leonid, removing his gloves and placing them on the table, started the conversation.
“Yekaterina Offenbach. I hope the treatment wasn’t too negligent?”
“I don’t know the standard for negligence, so I can’t answer that.”
“I’m asking if they were rude to you.”
Rude? Yekaterina rolled her dark eyes from left to right and then neatly commented.
“Compared to Offenbach, they seemed undisciplined.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Leonid waved his hand as if he was fed up with the mention of Offenbach.
The movement was so obvious that even the usually indifferent Yekaterina couldn’t help but notice.
She saw that Leonid’s hand was wrapped in bandages.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Did you hurt your hand?”
“Yes, a few days ago. I can’t use my fingers.”
“Are you right-handed?”
“I am. So it’s been quite inconvenient. It’s been about a week.”
Leonid tilted his bandaged right hand as he spoke.
His gesture was casual, but Yekaterina’s gaze was sharp.
‘Would a skilled swordsman like him injure his right hand?’
Not on a battlefield, but in a manor in the capital.
Yekaterina tried to recall if Leonid had bandages earlier.
However, the room had been dimly lit by a single candle, and Leonid had been wearing gloves, making it hard to see clearly.
It would be rude to ask if the bandages were a ruse.
To Yekaterina, whether his injury was real or fake wasn’t a major concern.
What mattered more was,
“Can you wield a sword with that hand?”
Whether Leonid could kill her.
“I can with my left. Is that not enough?”
“It’s not enough. You’ll need to use full force.”
The protective magic on Yekaterina allowed only those stronger than her to inflict wounds.
If Leonid couldn’t exert his full strength due to his injured hand, then he wouldn’t be able to kill her either.
“Then it might be difficult.”
An unexpected complication. Yekaterina’s brows furrowed.
Meanwhile, Leonid continued,
“The doctor said not to use my right hand for about a month. Said I might worsen the injury, so I should avoid strenuous activities.”
