Please Kill Me - Chapter 186
If breaking the order meant saving Leonid, then Vasily would do so without hesitation.
However, the reason order was necessary was that once a crack formed, it would spread uncontrollably like a wildfire.
What if a situation that could be resolved peacefully with Yuri turned chaotic because of Yekaterina’s impulsive actions? What would they do then?
But was there even a guarantee that meeting with Yuri would lead to a peaceful resolution?
Even while incapacitated by his injuries, Yuri continued to cling to his father, pleading for Leonid’s life. Yet, despite his prolonged pleas, nothing had improved.
The stubbornness of the Emperor facing death was formidable.
In such an uncertain situation, it was unclear which choice would be the right one.
“…”
Vasily struggled in silence, though it wasn’t for long.
“Miss, I understand that I can’t stop you.”
After a long pause, the knight finally spoke.
“But I also sense that what you’re about to do is not quite right.”
Yekaterina nodded coolly in response. Vasily managed a wry smile.
“I suppose you won’t tell me what your plan is.”
“Then do you still intend to stop me?”
“Yes. Whatever it takes, I will desperately try to stop you. However…”
Vasily paused, glancing towards the staircase before continuing.
“Right now, after hearing about the Duke’s death sentence, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep a close eye on you.”
“…!”
“If you were to disappear, I would search for you immediately. I will also inform the Duke and Prince Yuri about your impulsive actions. But I know how difficult it would be to recapture someone who has already slipped away.”
The meaning of his words was clear.
Vasily was willing to let Yekaterina go this once. After all, if he had tried to stop her with all his might, she would have surely pushed through regardless.
So Vasily intended to maintain the order he had upheld, but would allow for some exceptions.
Yekaterina couldn’t help but smile faintly at that response.
She knew that Vasily wouldn’t readily support her decision. The claim that he would understand her was merely a means to invoke Leonid’s name.
This steadfast knight would never break the order with his own hands. So she had considered whether she would have to push through with sheer force.
“You’re just like I expected.”
“I noticed that there were no people in the study.”
Instead of responding, Yekaterina nodded and brushed past Vasily.
Soon, a shadow slipped out the back door of the Rostislav mansion.
It wasn’t until the warm breeze from the open window started swirling in the corridor that Vasily finally burst into the living room.
“Stepan! Olga! Miss Yekaterina has disappeared!”
* * *
‘The sealing stone is in the underground prison.’
The palace’s prison was divided into two sections.
The first was the western prison, which housed ordinary criminals. This was the prison where Yekaterina had been detained and where Leonid was currently held.
The second section was a hidden prison underground, designed for prisoners or monsters that could not be kept above ground for reasons such as torture.
One might ask if it was dangerous to gather such threats in one place, but conversely, it meant that they could concentrate their defenses and fortify that area.
Thus, it was difficult to infiltrate, but not impossible.
‘It’s not that hard after all.’
Yekaterina thought as she passed through the corridor of the underground prison.
It was well past midnight. Considering she had left the mansion around dusk, quite a bit of time had passed.
However, for Yekaterina, who had once waited a week at the door to breach heavy security, this was not a difficult task at all.
‘If I hadn’t gone to meet Leonid, it might have taken longer.’
If she had not identified the gaps in security and the rotation schedule while searching for the secret passage to the western prison to meet Leonid, it could have been quite cumbersome.
She had spent several days familiarizing herself with the palace’s security, so without that, she might have run out of time. Or perhaps she would have struggled to evade Vasily’s watchful eye while sneaking out at night.
‘Luck was on my side.’
Now, all that remained was to find the sealing stone.
However, it wasn’t long after entering the underground prison that Yekaterina realized a problem she hadn’t anticipated.
Moonlight filtered in through a small window, and with every step she took, the damp shadows resembling death clung to her.
‘It’s suffocating.’
This place evoked memories for Yekaterina that were far worse than she had imagined.
Specifically, it reminded her of the death she had experienced in her past life.
The memory of being trapped in a place eerily similar to this one.
* * *
The first reason Yekaterina had decided to embrace death when she returned to her past was that she was meant to die.
The second reason was that the death Sergei had offered her was excruciatingly painful.
If she was destined to die anyway, she wanted it to be as painless as possible. Having faced death once made the decision to die again seem relatively easy.
