Chương 11: Fear

Outside the extravagantly furnished room were ten unarmed guards dressed in the same grey-colored kimono.

They aligned themselves in a single file and surrounded the sliding door to prevent the woman inside from plunging it open.

They didn't dare to turn their faces toward the screen, hence, they stood on their sides vigilant. Ready to make a move any minute they receive a signal.

Some distance away from them stood another set of maidservants. Their heads were lowered and their hands crossed and pressed tightly in front of their lower belly.

A closer look at them would show the slight trembling of their shoulders and the fidgeting of their clamped fingers. Regardless, none of them dared to make a sound.

They were well aware that their heads would roll once the woman inside the room stepped out in her current state.

They couldn't do anything else but pray in their hearts for the other servants to return soon for their lives to be spared.

Without warning, the woman inside stopped pacing and walked straight to the translucent sliding door, and pounded on it with her palms lying flat on the screen.

Her actions were a large contrast to her demeanor.

"How much longer do I have to wait?!" She screamed, her voice came out in a gruff manner. Her neck had traces of green veins bulging out from it.

There was a slight trace of pain beneath her voice as she spoke. It showed her desperate need to get relieved. And as the seconds passed, her skin turned paler, making it possible for her green veins to be visible.

Soon, a pleading masculine voice came from the captain of the guards, "Your majesty, we beg you to wait a moment longer. We have word that the package has arrived in the palace."

His tone sounded nervous. He was afraid to provoke the Empress as it could cost him his head.

Already, they had committed a grave mistake by letting her rapacious hunger get out of hand before tending to it.

The more he thought about it, the more he could feel his heart thundering against his chest.

He hoped their negligence would be pardoned by her and also by the Shogun who had ears everywhere in the palace.

Empress Himiko on hearing that she had to wait for a while more, groaned in dissatisfaction as her teeth gritted in rage. She took a few painful steps away from the sliding door.

The fact that the item she had been waiting for took hours but had finally arrived, did not do any better. Instead, her rage grew tremendously.

"I will kill all of you," Her cold voice let out a strong ire.

The guards and servants outside shuddered. They could feel a ghostly cord growing from their bent spine and dangling over their heads like a decomposed human skull.

This was what their Mistress's angry aura brought to them in her current state.

Empress Himiko turned her back towards the sliding door. Squeezing her eyes shut, she gripped her kimono.

When everyone outside thought she was finally calm, her eyes suddenly flew open, bringing with them a blazing furry.

Her eyes changed to that of an awakened ghost and anyone that caught sight of it would surely be frightened to death.

Without warning, she approached the door in heavy steps, bringing with her an eerie feeling that caused goosebumps to splatter on their skins.

Empress Himiko pushed the door open, shocking every one of her guards and maidservants as they raised their heads to glance at her.

'Oh no…'

On seeing her eyes, gasps of shocks escaped the trembling lips of the female servants. Right where they were standing, they could feel their knees growing weak.

The woman standing in front of that door looked like a ghost with her pale face and ghost eyes. She looked nothing like their Empress.

Instinctively, the guards took a step back in fright before standing in a defensive mode after their role just registered in their heads.

The captain of the guard let out a deep breath before summoning the courage to step forward.

He had to at least do something in this direst situation instead of standing idly and watching the Empress wreak havoc in her palace.

One thing he was forced to accept in his mind was that heads would definitely roll that night, including his.

"Y-Your M-Ma…" Just as he stepped forward to plead with the Empress, he felt the rest of his words were swallowed as his throat clenched.

Quickly, he could feel his breath snatched from him as he struggled to breathe.

Before he could think of what was happening to him, he lost the feeling of his feet against the floor, and it was then his muddled head was forced to think.

He just realized he was being strangled as the icy slender fingers that tightened their hold on his neck caused a cold shiver to run down his spine.

Next, he heard the cries of the maidservants from his left side and the pleadings coming from the guards that had dropped to their knees on his right side.

"Your Majesty, please calm down."

"Hahaha…" Empress Himiko's frightening voice resounded in the quiet hallway. Her fingers continued to constrict the airflow of the man she was strangling.

The captain's hands instantly flew to the hand on his neck in a bid to try to pry it open as the instinct to survive kicked in.

He could feel blood rush to his head and his brain clouded at the same time.

As he tried to release the hold of one finger while kicking his legs about, he heard a 'snap sound', and immediately, his eyes popped in shock as the hands clutching the wrinkled firm grip, fell to the sides.

Seeing that she had succeeded in taking his life, Empress Himiko finally released the hold on his neck as his lifeless body dropped to the nightingale floor with a 'thud' sound.

Colour drained from the faces of the maidservants and the remaining guards as their hearts froze in their chests at the gruesome scene before them.

Somehow, when they tried to make a move, they felt a restriction as fear pinned their knees to the floor.

As the scrutinizing gaze of their Mistress swept over them, they exclaimed, 'It's over!' as warning signs went off in their heads.

Eventually, Empress Himiko's gaze landed on her next target, but just as she reached out to grab the guard by his collar, the menacing tone of a masculine voice called out to her.

"Himiko!"

Instantly, all eyes turned to the direction the voice and heavy sounds of approaching footsteps came from, including Empress Himiko's.

Out of impulse, the Empress released her clutches on the guard's kimono as she turned her rigid body to face the direction the heavy rushed footsteps were coming from.

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