Please Kill Me - Chapter 196
“Didn’t I tell you that Miss can’t overdo it?”
“Overdo it? I didn’t ask her to do anything. Yekaterina did it first—”
“Stop with the nonsense! From now on, Miss has to sleep with me!”
“What? Then, what about me?”
“Master, you always sleep alone anyway.”
“I can’t sleep anymore.”
That wasn’t a lie. Leonid had suffered from severe insomnia when Yekaterina wasn’t around, and even after her return, he still couldn’t sleep properly.
While Yekaterina was unconscious, Leonid never once left her side. Olga remembered that for a while, she hardly saw him lying in bed sleeping.
— Master, if you keep this up, you’ll wear yourself out.
— What if Yekaterina dies while I’m sleeping? It’s only been a few days, so leave me be.
Of course, the occasional light sleep to guard her bedside didn’t hurt Leonid’s robust health. But it was clear evidence that he had become someone who couldn’t sleep properly without Yekaterina by his side.
“Yekaterina would probably say she’d like sleeping with me too. Right, Yekaterina?”
“I like it.”
Olga didn’t feel the same.
She couldn’t help but feel like a tiny part of Yekaterina was being drained, seeing the sly smile on her master’s face.
But what could she do? She couldn’t exactly let Leonid suffer from insomnia just for Yekaterina’s sake. Besides, the two of them were already so sweet on each other, their closeness nearly enough to give one a toothache, and Olga doubted her involvement would change anything.
Now, they were sitting side by side, chatting warmly.
“Next time, let’s go horseback riding, Yekaterina. I’ve already got a white horse that would suit you perfectly. I’ve also ordered a custom saddle. I’m sure you’ll like it. You’re good with horses, so we can go to the forest or even the wilderness.”
“Sounds good.”
“By the way, how about ice skating? The lake is still frozen, so it won’t be hard to skate. If you’ve never tried it, I can teach you.”
“Sounds good.”
“Before we go back to the Rostislav estate, we could visit a villa. There’s one near the coniferous forest in the east. It’s got a certain charm. My grandfather loved it there. I’m sure you’d like it too.”
“Sounds good.”
…Is this really a conversation?
Olga briefly doubted her judgment, but the atmosphere between them was undeniably warm. It was quite remarkable that they could keep a conversation going like this.
Especially since Leonid was the one leading about 80% of the conversation.
‘Is this the power of love?’
Olga had been serving Leonid for as long as Vasily had. She had fought at the front lines with him before she even became an adult, so it was only natural for her to understand him well.
In that sense, Olga knew that Leonid was a man of few words. He wasn’t someone who completely kept quiet, but he wasn’t the type to ramble on endlessly either.
‘And the villa.’
The last time Leonid visited the villa was years ago. The caretaker still took care of it regularly, but Leonid avoided dealing with anything related to it.
The reason was simple. The last time Leonid visited the villa, he was accompanied by Yuri and his fiance, Elena.
They had stopped there for a rest before Leonid left for the battlefield. It was the last time the three of them—especially Elena—had met in good health.
When Leonid returned from the battlefield, he never spoke of death again. Not of his grandfather, nor of Elena, nor of Yuri’s attempts at dying.
Once spoken, it would become a harsh reality. Perhaps he had been afraid. The act of speaking those words aloud, hearing them, and re-engraving them in his mind.
But Leonid no longer hesitated to speak of death.
‘It’s probably because of her.’
Since being with Yekaterina, Leonid had changed. It was hard to pinpoint exactly how, but those closest to him—Olga, Stepan, Vasily—could clearly feel the change.
It was a bit surprising that someone who had remained unyielding and firm for over a decade could change so much.
Olga, watching Leonid hold Yekaterina close to him, let out a sigh.
‘Well, if she makes him happy.’
Let it be. Miss didn’t dislike it, after all. Olga turned and left, thinking,
‘We’ll have to return to the Rostislav territory soon.’
She hoped that nothing major would happen before then. At least Yekaterina wouldn’t disappear again.
Perhaps this lingering worry became the root of the problem.
A week later, Yekaterina once again disappeared without a trace.
There were only two days left before their departure for the Rostislav territory.
* * *
When Yekaterina disappeared, those left behind were silently screaming.
‘There are only two days left before we leave for Rostislav!’
‘What? Why now, out of nowhere? It’s not like anyone was in danger!’
‘But what about the master?!’
About a week after Yekaterina had woken up, the relationship between her and Leonid had become known to everyone in the household.
