Chapter 1. Kill the Empress
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Sponsored by Bri đź’– (4/10)
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“It seems that he has effortlessly erased the memory of it …. But maybe it’s because it’s still in his unconscious mind, he’s always having nightmares around that time.”
Perhaps no one will be able to stop him, so he will go back out to sleep again.
“We will aim for that moment.”
“What do you mean?”
Tamon looked at her with furrowed brows at Asha’s remark.
Asha chuckled coldly and murmured.
“I’m going to make Gillotti’s nightmare a reality.”
* * *
The imperial banquet lasted about two nights and three days.
The guests enjoyed a succession of splendid banquets as they came and went.
After the banquet was over, they would have a day of rest, and then invite guests of honor from other countries separately or together for about three days to enjoy dinner.
The language was good, but it was a political quality disguised as fellowship and socializing.
This year’s exchange was with Amor and …….
What they found special about their upcoming trade: …….
The last time they promised a bill of exchange …….
As a quid pro quo for the migrants on the Northern Front …….
The banquet was all about fun, but the talk about economics and politics was a headache.
If Roselyn had handled most things before, Gillotti had to deal with them now anyway.
Perhaps because of Gillotti’s high-pressure and arrogant attitude, of course, the dinner did not go smoothly.
More and more of the delegations jumped out of their seats, red-faced.
“…… greedy. Is it so hard to listen to the request for more offerings? It’s not as if I’m asking you to send me a Princess.”
Gillotti gritted his teeth as he scolded them.
Since he opened this festival and entertained them, wasn’t it natural that they should offer appropriately?
The numerous gold, silver, and other treasures they had brought in the name of gifts had already disappeared from Gillotti’s mind.
“A festival isn’t all about fun.”
He was especially tired after more than three hours of tongue-wrestling with Amor’s delegation, of all people.
Gillotti went to bed early, unaware that today was the 16th that the suspicious fortune teller had mentioned.
* * * *
As in all countries, there was an emergency exit route inside the Imperial Palace in case of emergency.
Especially in the separate palace where the royal family resided, there were seven secret passages, and Asha led the group through one of them.
After about 20 minutes of walking along the deep, dark, dirt-cave-like path, they came to a high staircase.
Asha chuckled when she saw the three people who had followed her.
Three insane people followed her.
Tamon wasa man who was crazy about her so it was understandable that he came, but she didn’t understand why Ronasso and Theoransha were following her.
“I followed them to see firsthand this skit that……. Ronasso, why have you come?”
“Because I must protect Your Majesty.”
If that was the case, the look in his eyes seemed very curious.
“From your history of infiltrating the Imperial Palace, it is only right that I should go. Of course, I don’t know these secret passages, but force is important anyway.”
Asha shook her head and went up the stairs.
Everyone was in a slight disguise in case of an emergency.
In fact, it was easy to pick Gillotti’s head off by using this secret passageway.
Asha might not be able to do it, but it was possible enough for Tamon.
But why send Gillotti off that easily?
Death toward the enemy was neither pain nor revenge.
When she lay in the cold snowfield after Gillotti’s severe torture, did she not rather wish for death?
Death was a rest.
What was worse than death must be the constant and recurring pain of living.
Asha took a deep breath and opened the secret passage.
****
“Ah! Ugh! …Huh!”
Gillotti, struggling with a nightmare, jumped from his seat.
Both of his eyes were so bloodshot that it was hard to believe that he was someone who had just woken up from sleep.
Cold sweat flooded his forehead and cheeks as he exhaled heavily.
“What is it?”
It was a dream of the Empress, whom he had not seen for some time.
The image of her was as vivid as reality, as she approached him, even with her very frightening bones.
Gillotti was slumped over with his forehead clenched.
Damned Roselyn V Sunset.
How strong an evil spirit that can ruin his dreams like this every time.
“….. you’re not the only one who dies. Crazy woman. We all have to die anyway….why do you bother me so much? Like poisonous weed that will only torment me whether you live or die.”
Gillotti mumbled incessantly in a harsh snide tone and called out to a servant outside.
 “…… water. Bring water! Water!”
At the sound of the outraged noise, someone came in with a kettle and a glass.
Gillotti, who never paid attention to mere attendants and the like, did not notice that the servant’s clothes were unusual.
Also, the maid walked in with a limp on one of her feet.
Gillotti, who drank the water, threw the cup nervously.
The maid who picked up the cup from the floor took a few steps back.
Gillotti smacked his head to come to his senses, and noticed that the maid was still hovering around the end of the room.
“What is it, why …….?”
He quickly looked up at the maid, and his mouth dropped open in surprise.
“You, you …… you……”
No sound came out as fear and shock hit Gillotti in the mouth.
He looked at the maid who was standing there staring at him as he gripped the door with his shaking hands.
“Ro, Roselyn …!”
It can’t be.
It can’t be.
He must be still trapped in his own nightmare.
But what about this excessive vividness?
How does he explain the goosebumps that appeared on his entire body?
Roselyn, who had been staring at him, opened her mouth.
“Follow me.”
The voice of the dead empress was clear.
Gillotti was startled and fell backwards on his buttocks to the bottom of the bed.
He was shivering under the bed, shaking and in denial of reality, when he raised his head, feeling that the surroundings had gone quiet.
It was empty where the ghost had stood, as if nothing had been there from the beginning.
What a load of crap!
Gillotti shivered in his seat, still not relieved.
As he did so, he noticed that the front of his pajamas were wet from the water he had just drunk.
He groped his wet clothes and quickly got up from his seat.
He couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality.
He pulled out the sword he kept permanently in his bedroom and ran excitedly out of the bedroom.
“Even if you are a ghost, I will kill you again!”
Gillotti screamed as he swung his sword crazily at his surroundings.
As he huffed around the living room, he saw an open door gap.
Uck.
Swallowing dry spit, Gillotti approached the open door.
Slowly, step by step, he carefully stepped outside.
Naturally, there was no one outside.
Only then did Gillotti sweep his chest with relief.
At that moment, a light flickered in one corner of the hallway.
“Who is it?!”
Startled, Gillotti shouted.
His voice was the only thing that echoed insidiously in the deserted hallway.
Finally, Gillotti realized later that today was the 16th.
The 16th.
It was the day his nightmare would begin.
Even he himself did not know what kind of nightmares and what kind of pathologies, but generally, from the 16th to the 18th, he left everything around his bedroom empty.
Even when sleeping, he had to double and triple lock the door of the bedroom.
Of course, the security of the annex itself was more thoroughly careful.
However, the third floor, where the previous emperor’s bedroom was located, was left empty.
This had been the practice since five years before the death of the previous Emperor.
“D*mn it.”
Gillotti recalled the words of that ugly fortune teller from Amor a few days earlier.
“……Winter in Tanatos, do not let the night breeze come back on July 16th.”
“You’re going to have the worst nightmare.”
When she said something so unpleasant, he thought she was bluffing, but they said she was a very famous fortune teller in Amor.
The reason she was able to join this itinerary was also proof that the King of Amor and the General trusted that woman very much.
And the fortune teller was right: Gillotti was currently having his worst nightmare.
He was having a nightmare.
“…… Well, let’s see if you win or I win. This is the Imperial Palace of Tanatos. It’s not a place where ghosts run rampant!”
Gillotti gritted his teeth and ran toward where the lights flickered.
The light repeatedly moved away as he approached, leading him to a terrible place.
It was the bedroom of the previous emperor, which Gillotti had kept closed.
He looked at the closed door, dotted with fear and bewilderment.
Nothing was happening, no one was attacking him, but his whole body began to shudder.
He trembled without even knowing what he was afraid of.
Gillotti really did not remember what had happened in there.
He could not recall a single thing that happened inside, only that he had been in and out of this room for a while before the previous Emperor died.
Creak!
The door that had been locked for several years suddenly opened by itself in front of his helplessly trembling eyes.
“……!”