***

***

Natasha grabbed the curtain she was holding in her arms even tighter and quickly fell down at his feet.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

She didn’t expect to bump into him like this!

She shook her shoulders and pressed her forehead to the floor.

She mumbled sorry over and over again in a very low voice so that

Gillotti couldn’t hear her voice.

It was seldom that Gillotti gave a lowly maid a glance anyway.

Only in his free time, he would punish the maid who bumped into him carelessly, but he was very busy right now, so there was a great chance that he would only spit out cursing and disappear.

‘So it’s okay. It will be fine. It’s okay.’

Natasha touched the floor with her trembling fingers and did not raise her head. Gillotti looked down at the maid with his squinting eyes, and turned away. Behind him, Perso and John followed him like tails. He was walking away.

Hearing the distant footsteps, Natasha barely sighed in relief. If she kept her head down like this until he was completely far away, she would be safe. She thought.

“But…..”

That was the moment.

Gillotti, who had walked five or six steps past Natasha, suddenly stopped on the spot.

He slowly turned around and stared at the woman with her head on the floor.

A heavy silence fell in the shadowed corridor.

Gillotti licked his lips without taking his eyes off the face-down maid.

“John.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“…Didn’t I clearly order the servants to be gathered in one place?”

Thump.

Natasha felt like she heard her heart drop to the floor.

Her heart, which was beating like it was about to explode with tension, stopped.

After hesitating, John answered heavily.

“…yes.”

“Well, what kind of maid can ignore the emperor’s orders and go around collecting torn curtains?”

The sound of distant footsteps was getting closer again.

Natasha’s hands, which were resting on the floor, were white and trembling.

A black and cold shadow fell once more in front of her.

Natasha clenched her teeth as she felt a stare deep in the back of her head.

Suddenly, cold sweat dripped down to the floor.

“For a maid, your hands are so white and clean.”

Gillotti squatted down and held Natasha’s hand up.

His two cold hands overlapped like ice cubes. The moment He grabbed her hand, Natasha was convinced that everything had already been discovered. The feeling of wrapping her fingers was too familiar…

“Raise your head.”

“….”

“Do you want me to lift it up?”

Ha.Biting her teeth, Natasha slowly raised her head.

In an instant, her pure white face, covered with tears, was placed in front of Gillotti with his eyes glistening like a monster.

Gillotti looked at Natasha and smiled like a beast.

“My flower Natasha… I didn’t know that hide and seek was this fun.”

Natasha let out her scream as the cold hand grabbed her hair.

****

Back to the banquet hall.

“Ha, Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your Majesty, please, please!”

The people who were dissolving the tension turned around, startled by the sound of a tearing scream.

“Ahahaha! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

The emperor smiled madly and dragged a woman’s hair.

The three hours given by the emperor were almost up.

As a result, most of the people who were looking for Natasha had returned, and most of them were watching the emperor’s madness.

“Look at this! I won this contest! I won!”

The cruel emperor burst out a maddening grotesque laugh, twisting Natasha’s beautiful golden hair and waving it.

Natasha, who became his catch at once, tears down her pale, weary face.

“Aaaaaaaaaah! It hurts, it hurts, Your Majesty!”

It was not a sight to behold as a mature man ruthlessly pulling the hair of a pregnant woman.

Some nobles frowned and turned their heads as if they couldn’t bear to watch it.

Gillotti burst into maddened laughter as if unable to hear the muffled voices.

“……Pathetic.”

Theoransha and Helia, and Tamon and Asha were also frowning.

Mana, who was watching the scene from a little further behind, covered her sister’s eyes and stepped back behind her.

Hannah held her sister’s hand with both hands and smiled as if it was okay.

“Hannah, it’s better not to see this.”

“No. I’ll watch it all. Every single one.”

A golden haze flashed in Mana’s eyes as she murmured with a bright smile.

“… yes, how can I stop you.”

As Mana swallowed her sigh and grabbed her sister’s shoulders and hugged her tightly, someone from behind suddenly spoke to the two of them.

“Hannah is still the same.”

It was a familiar yet nostalgic voice.

The sisters, startled, turned to look behind them, and Hartz, who still had a shaggy beard, grinned at the two of them.

“Master Hartz!”

Mana and Hannah screamed his name and hurriedly ran towards him.

“Are you okay? How did you get out?”

“That knight took me out.”

Hartz smiled and pointed to Ronasso, who had been away for a while.

As if conscious of their gaze, Ronasso gave strength to his shoulders and puffed his chest.

“Can you get out like this? If the emperor finds out, you’ll be punished.”

“It’s okay. From now on, he’ll be busy so he doesn’t have time to care about me.”

Asha and Tamon, who were standing next to Ronasso, glanced at Hartz. Hartz smiled first.

The three of them made eye contact and exchanged glances for a moment, but that was all.

Asha nodded her head, and Tamon took her hand.

“Now! Since it’s my victory, you will have nothing! But don’t be so disappointed! This generous emperor of Tanatos will show you the ceremony of victory! Hey, get Roxon out of the dungeon now!”

Gillotti’s voice, as if scratching iron, echoed in the banquet hall.Anxiety crept once again on the faces of the people who were murmuring at the unusual momentum.

However, there were hardly any people who left the banquet hall.

It was clear what was going to happen.

They felt a stinging curiosity, enough to bear the anxiety and fear.

Instead of escaping, they lowered their breath a little more and retreated back to gaze at this choking spectacle without fail.

Soon after, the soldiers who had run to the dungeon at Gillotti’s command dragged someone up.

“I think he’s here.”

“……Shh. Now it’s the start. Let’s watch the moment when Tanatos, the thousand-year-old empire, is defeated.”

Everyone held their breath.

A man who was dragged by the soldiers climbed onto the stage.

The front of the throne was completely empty by the spectators who took a deep breath and stepped back.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty. Don’t do this, please, please…!”

A woman whose hair was in Gillotti’s hand and a man who could not raise his head despite being dragged by the emperor’s soldiers.

And between them, the emperor was smiling while revealing his teeth.

“Come on, the funniest show is about to begin! Everyone keep your eyes open!”

As if showing the climax of a tragic play, everyone’s eyes were focused on it.

“This is my distant relative, and this woman I loved the most in the world.”

Gillotti grinned, pointing at Roxon and Natasha with exaggerated gestures.

“It’s not enough that they dared to cheat the emperor! They lied and hid the truth.”

“Oh, no. No, Your Majesty. It’s true. Please believe me. I am Your Majesty’s Natasha.”

“No? Then you can kill Roxon with your own hands, right?”

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty……”

Natasha covered Gillotti’s face as he approached, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Even if it was disturbed, a flower was a flower, and the crying face was just pathetic.

Natasha looked up at Gillotti, raising her eyes, desperately sobbing.

As if she couldn’t see the bloody Roxon or anything else, her eyes were all on Gillotti.

“My love is only Your Majesty.”

The sound of sobbing and whispering was very sad.

She gently kissed Gillotti’s face, holding his cheeks with her trembling fingers as if in pain.

Her tear-soaked, wet lips grazed Gillotti, begging.

For a moment, Gillotti’s eyes shook.

Ironically, Gillotti really loved Natasha.

He really loved her sweet arms like his mother’s, and the tender lips that only told him what he wanted to hear.

…That’s why he couldn’t forgive Natasha even more.

Ha!

He pushed Natasha on the shoulder violently.

“Deceive, deceive, deceive! You are full of deception, Natasha!”

With a more wretchedly distorted face because he loved her, Gillotti drew his sword.

Surprised, Natasha let out a scream and started moving back on her buttocks.

“Ha, Your Majesty! Don’t do that. Please…!”

The sharply raised sword came down towards her without hesitation.

Startled, Natasha groaned and closed her eyes tightly.

She heard screams one after another from those around her who were watching them. Some of the aristocrats were scared and quickly turned their heads as if they couldn’t handle it.

But, fortunately or unfortunately, Natasha did not experience any separation of her neck and body.

Instead, her bulging, fake belly was exposed to the public eye.

(*What a show for the July festival.)

***

Please support to save ROS. Your help is desperately needed.

https://ko-fi.com/rainofsnow/tiers