Outside the Empress's chambers, Perfikot looked at the grand door of the palace, her expression somewhat complicated.
If she could, she wouldn't have come here.
She knew clearly that once she stepped through this door, some things she had always strived to avoid would become reality.
But seeing the disarmed Imperial Guard Knights at the palace entrance, Perfikot knew that things could no longer operate according to her will unless she was willing to do something that neither she nor others wished to see.
"Execute these traitors." Perfikot said, then pushed open the palace door: "Everyone stay outside, I want to speak with Her Majesty the Empress alone."
Entering the palace, it was exceptionally quiet in the absence of the usual bustling maids and court attendants.
The sound of executing the mutinous Imperial Guard Knights outside made this quietness somewhat eerie.
