Please Kill Me - Chapter 181
The problem was that Leonid couldn’t completely dismiss Dmitry’s words either.
What if Yekaterina, out of her concern for him, chose to distance herself instead?
A faint sense of unease always lingered in a corner of Leonid’s heart.
Both Leonid and Yekaterina had been carrying their own anxieties during their time apart.
“If you don’t choose me this time, I thought I’d look quite pathetic. Especially since I boasted to your brother.”
“You boasted to Dmitry?”
“Yes. You said you chose me.”
To be honest, it was more of a bravado than anything. Leonid couldn’t fully deny Dmitry’s claims.
“But… somehow, I thought there was a chance you would come. It sounds silly, but you have a knack for blending into the darkness. So I thought maybe, just maybe, you’d take pity on me and come looking for me.”
Leonid smiled, as if to say that his waiting hadn’t been in vain.
What was the reason for the lump in his throat?
Unconsciously, Yekaterina inhaled deeply and slowly reached her hand through the bars. Leonid clasped her hand on the other side.
“Yekaterina, don’t worry too much. The kind of things you’re concerned about won’t happen.”
“…I understand.”
Yekaterina wasn’t naive enough to believe that Leonid’s words were simply meant to reassure her. So she nodded in response.
However, it couldn’t be just a positive affirmation.
From the beginning, she hadn’t planned to sit back and do nothing.
* * *
Yekaterina and Vasily returned without any fuss.
Aside from the fact that Igor, who had been watching over the pot without sleep, had caught them leaving, no one else had seen them.
Once again, Vasily was reminded of how impressive Yekaterina’s stealth skills were.
‘How on earth did she discover that route?’
Vasily shook his head as he unbuttoned his sleeve.
The path they had taken with Yekaterina had been without incident, but that very smoothness complicated his feelings.
The first reason was that despite meeting Leonid, there seemed to be no way to resolve their situation.
“He kept saying everything would be fine.”
Whether it was to reassure Yekaterina and himself or if Leonid genuinely believed it, he couldn’t be sure.
In normal circumstances, Vasily wouldn’t have doubted Leonid’s words. After all, no sane person would choose to kill the Duke of Rostislav.
The issue was that the Emperor wasn’t in his right mind.
In this situation, merely repeating that things would be fine without any explanation didn’t inspire confidence.
‘If I’m feeling this way, then how must she be feeling?’
Did she truly believe those words?
At that point, Vasily became even more troubled.
Especially because of what Leonid had told Vasily before they left the prison, Vasily felt even more uneasy.
As Yekaterina stepped outside to check the surroundings of the secret passage, Vasily was about to follow her when Leonid stopped him.
— Wait, Vasily.
Leonid caught him. He quickly added as if he had something to say.
— I know this is difficult, but for the time being, keep Yekaterina from going out alone.
— Excuse me? What do you mean all of a sudden?
Vasily was confused, but he quickly fell silent at Leonid’s next words.
— Yekaterina is unpredictable. You know that well, Vasily.
— …I do.
— Even if I say this, you know Yekaterina is likely to cause some trouble. I don’t know when, but I’d rather not have to worry about where Yekaterina might go, even while I’m locked up.
Leonid chuckled at the absurdity of his own predicament.
Still, the important thing was that Leonid didn’t truly believe Vasily would heed Yekaterina’s words. Unfortunately, she had already shown far too much recklessness.
‘No one can match her when it comes to initiative…’
Everyone knew that fact.
The issue was that they didn’t know where Yekaterina would dart off to.
If they pressed her, it was clear she would only shut it down. The situation seemed to offer no solution.
‘…Maybe it’s better to just leave her be.’
Vasily found himself disliking the thoughts that were creeping into his mind.
Yet, it was true that every time Yekaterina took action, a problem got resolved. The only issue was that her methods were a bit too extreme.
And as long as Leonid could be freed safely, Vasily was more than willing to turn a blind eye to those extremes.
‘This is maddening…’
Vasily desperately longed for a warm bath with a rubber duck.
While someone was losing sleep, in another room under the same roof, the very situation that worried Vasily and Leonid was unfolding.
‘The only way to safely get Leonid out is to do this.’
Yekaterina’s quill drew a line over the written words.
The paper contained a list of plans she had devised.
The goal was to rescue Leonid safely.
Yekaterina was generally adept at solving seemingly difficult problems, and her list was accordingly long.
However, when she crossed out the items that involved murder, the list shrank to less than half.
‘If only I could just eliminate him and be done with it.’
In moments like this, the tasks given by Sergei felt significantly easier.
