The Empror's Trap

Ch 10 - Mission Accomplished

Last one for today, please do tell your thout of the story so far :)

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At Anos duchy, Kenji sat at his desk, going through a stack of official documents.

Beside him, Siyue was busy with her own work, drawing a woman with short black hair and a poised yet spirited aura.

"You're sketching someone pretty familiar," Kenji said, snatching a glimpse of the piece. That elegant presence looked so familiar he couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen that woman many times before.

"Of course she's familiar. She's around you every day."

Siyue sounded a bit annoyed, maybe even jealous, but her brushes captured the subject's charm with remarkable skill. She had studied art systematically. Sure, she couldn't do traditional old painting, but she did know how to sketch.

Kenji blinked. "Ah, so it's her. What made you think of drawing her? Aren't you two on pretty good terms?"

Siyue shrugged. "We get along okay. We just appreciate each other, and Lina is really sexy." She didn't hide her admiration. "The way she carries herself matches exactly the kind of girl I always wanted to depict... graceful, with a bit of that violent flair."

"Right, you've always liked that type." Kenji recalled glancing at her phone in the past; she had tons of pictures of cute girls hefting swords, axes, or guns—basically ready to bash someone's head in.

"So, I just saw Lina wearing her night-ops outfit before heading out. Did you send her on some job again?"

"Nope," Kenji muttered. "She probably found something on her own."

"Aren't you gonna check on her?"

"I trust Lina," Kenji said, still jotting notes on a crucial military dispatch regarding the northern frontier. Major strategies always required his direct approval as Grand Marshal. Carefully, he wrote "Approved for immediate execution" and stamped it, sealing the document.

Siyue slumped over the table, staring at him. "That's not what I mean. Don't you think you should at least pretend to worry about her?"

"What's there to..."

She half stepped outside, tugged a heavy sack in, and dumped it on the floor. Inside lay the corpse of one assassin.

"Damn it! Why'd you bring the body in here?"

"Isn't it easier for you to check? If I just described him, you might not guess who he is."

...

Her thoroughness was impressive, if maybe a little too much.

Kenji knelt and opened the sack, taking a quick look. He cast an anxious glance back at Siyue to make sure she couldn't see the body, then nodded. "Right. I'll examine the details later. Have someone send the corpse to the black cellars."

The so-called black cellars were basically the estate's old prison. In the past, the Anos's family used it to punish servants and relatives who broke house rules, sometimes as a private torture chamber. After the new emperor took power, Kenji had it sealed.

"First, go change your clothes," he told Lina. "You're soaked through, and even though you're tougher than most, you can't let your guard down."

She nodded. "I did bring a change of clothes. If I weren't so eager to report, I'd have changed in the laundry room."

She set down an oilskin-wrapped bundle, pulled it open, and reached for the hem of her night-ops outfit as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Without a moment's hesitation, she yanked it upward and peeled it off in front of them.

It happened so quickly that Kenji couldn't react. In an instant, he got an eyeful of pale skin and a captivating figure right in front of his face.

"S-stop! What are you doing?!"

Kenji spun around, mortified. Siyue, faster on the draw, sprang forward like a wild cat, shielding Lina's body.

"Isn't it what you told me to do? Change clothes?" Lina asked in a sweet, innocent tone. But if Kenji had turned back, he would have seen a satisfied grin at the corner of her mouth.

She seemed rather pleased with his reaction.