Chapter 12 (Part 2)

In the dead of night, even small noises sounded loud, but she moved silently.  

‘I never imagined I’d use what I learned from Roshan like this.’  

Back when she was training, it had been so difficult that she constantly complained to him.  

When she reached the Emperor’s bedroom, she extended her hand to touch the painting on the wall. Just like in her own room, it slid aside smoothly.  

“…”  

The Emperor’s bedroom, visited in the middle of the night, was nothing short of bizarre. The massive, unlit space contained only a bed and a large bath filled with water.  

Steam rose from the bath in the center of the room, mixing with the Emperor’s pungent tobacco smoke and the smell of dampness, creating a nauseating odor.  

Pinching her nose with one hand, Therese approached the Emperor’s bed.  

He lay there, deeply asleep, completely unaware. She had heard that he smoked a water pipe containing a sedative to combat his insomnia, and he seemed drugged.  

Ironically, even a murderer like him looked innocent when he slept with his eyes closed.  

Therese bit her lip, trying to suppress the intrusive thoughts.  

‘Focus.’  

If she failed, not only her own life but everyone else’s would be in danger.  

Sweat began to seep from her palms, making her nervous that she might drop the dagger.  

Holding her breath, Therese drew the blade, and a memory of Jeremy Richard’s words surfaced.  

‘If someone shows an opening, strike here for an instant kill.’  

She could still vividly recall the warmth of the Duke’s fingers guiding hers, as if it had happened just yesterday.  

‘He said to stab between the nose and upper lip.’  

Shaking off her thoughts, Therese lowered the dagger without hesitation.  

“…!”  

But the blade plunged not into the Emperor’s face, but into his pillow.  

Startled, Therese tried to pull the dagger free, but the Emperor, now awake, had already grabbed the blade and refused to let go.  

“This is truly amusing.”  

Looking up at the small assassin, the Emperor’s eyes glinted with mirth.  

Blood dripped from his hand as he gripped the blade, but he didn’t seem to care in the slightest.  

“It’s the first time I’ve been so delighted to see an assassin.”  

The Emperor wrenched the dagger from her grasp and flung it far away. With a splash, it disappeared into the bath, leaving Therese with no choice but to attempt an escape.  

But the Emperor spoke leisurely, halting her.  

“Do you understand that attempting to assassinate the Emperor is a crime deserving of your family’s extermination, Duchess Richard?”  

Therese froze in her tracks.  

‘He recognized me.’  

Despite her disguise as a man and the mask covering her face, the Emperor had immediately identified her.  

Now, she had no choice but to kill him.  

“Killing a tyrant is not treason; it is following the will of Diana and the people.”  

Therese tore off her mask and shouted boldly.  

Her defiance made the Emperor slowly rise from the bed.  

“Yes, it was those eyes that captivated me.”  

The striking blue eyes that had shown no fear when she recognized him at Manus Bazaar had left a deep impression on him.  

His gaze swept over her silver hair glowing in the darkness, her blue eyes darkened by anger and fear, and her crimson lips. He licked his lips.  

“But it’s unfortunate.”  

Felipe had never spared anyone who tried to kill him.  

“It’s a sorrowful thing to give to another what I cannot have.”  

Since becoming Emperor, he had killed anyone who refused to submit to him and left their remains in the room adjacent to his bedroom.  

Whenever he felt lonely, Felipe would come here to ease his emptiness.  

“I will remember you for a long time.”  

The Emperor spoke as if it were a great honor, revealing just how unhinged he truly was.  

“Spare me your nonsense.”  

Therese spat on the floor, her disgust evident.  

The Emperor shook his head as if pitying her.  

“A face so lovely, yet behaving like a common thug…”  

He then rang the bell on the bedside table.  

“Your Majesty! What has happened?”  

The chief attendant and soldiers burst into the room.  

“Take Duchess Richard and lock her up somewhere appropriate.”  

“How did she even get in here? Was her intent to harm you, Your Majesty?”  

The startled chief attendant stammered.  

The Emperor shook his head and smiled faintly.  

“An assassination attempt? That’s unthinkable.”  

“That’s a relief, Your Majesty.”  

As the chief attendant approached Therese, the Emperor added,  

“And it seems the Duchess is a witch.”  

At the word “witch,” the chief attendant immediately dropped to his knees and invoked the divine.  

“…Oh, Diana.”  

The Emperor’s word was evidence enough, and Therese was helplessly branded a witch and dragged away.  

Soon after, Therese found herself imprisoned in the underground dungeon.

“Don’t give the witch even a sip of water.”  

Leaning against the cold wall, Therese roughly wiped her eyes with her hand as she stared at the empty cell next to hers.  

It had been a reckless plan.  

But knowing her father was in danger, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.  

“Pathetic.”  

Therese, who had been adjusting the shoulders of her prison garb, slumped to the ground.  

She wasn’t afraid of dying, but an endless stream of worries consumed her.  

‘Sophia must have delivered the message properly.’  

The letter she had sent instructed her family to leave the Caspian Empire immediately.  

Since the assassination attempt on the Emperor was likely to fail, she had to prepare a contingency plan for her remaining family members.  

“…Ha.”  

Overwhelmed by despair, Therese buried her face in her hands.  

***

Riding on horseback, Duke Richard’s face was expressionless.  

‘Madam asked me to deliver this.’  

Ever since receiving the message from Therese’s nanny, Sophia, his heart had felt like it had stopped.  

‘Please, stay where you are. It’s too dangerous.’  

Countless times, he had silently pleaded with Therese, but his words could never reach her.  

The secret rescue operation for Therese was completely abandoned. He had to go immediately, stop whatever she was planning, and save her.  

“I must see His Majesty the Emperor!”  

When Jeremy Richard requested an audience with the Emperor in the middle of the night, his request was denied.  

But Jeremy had a reason why he absolutely had to get through.  

Dressed in his attire from his days as the “Night Wolf,” he attempted to infiltrate the imperial palace. Intentionally, he allowed himself to be caught by patrolling soldiers.  

This was the only way to wake the Emperor in the middle of the night; a mere intrusion wouldn’t suffice. Felipe Morciani had been obsessed with capturing the Night Wolf for years.  

The method worked.  

Jeremy was soon dragged before the Emperor and forced to kneel.  

The Emperor narrowed his eyes as he studied the Night Wolf.  

“So, you’re the so-called king of petty thieves, the Night Wolf?”  

Although his broad shoulders and the energy radiating from his entire body were impressive, the fact that he had been caught so easily suggested he wasn’t capable of any extraordinary magic.  

“Rumors truly are unreliable.”  

Felipe spoke leisurely as he observed his opponent.  

After years of effort to capture the Night Wolf, the man had walked right into his trap. It was indeed a lucky day.  

“By the way, what’s so special about tonight?”  

Two assassins in one night—no matter how accustomed Felipe was to assassination attempts, this was far from ordinary.  

“I want to see this one’s face immediately.”  

At the Emperor’s command, a soldier approached and yanked off the mask covering the Night Wolf’s face.  

The moment his face was revealed, everyone in the room gasped audibly.  

“Well, well, who do we have here?”  

The Emperor, stunned into silence for a moment, finally managed to speak.  

“Duke Richard is the Night Wolf?”  

His voice, filled with disbelief, carried a palpable undercurrent of fury.