The moment Dimitri left, Lupien's personal eunuch entered the royal court. The alpha emperor was already seated on his grand throne, but the sight before him was both gruesome and telling.
A female maid, who had brought his meal earlier, lay sprawled across his royal table naked, lifeless, and pinned to the wooden surface by Lupien's sword, which had been embedded straight through her chest. The steel glistened with fresh blood, binding both the corpse and the table together.
There was no doubt that Lupien had just killed her. His hands were still stained with blood, which he casually wiped off with a silk handkerchief. His expression remained impassive, almost bored, as if murdering a servant was no more than an evening pastime. His trousers were still unbuckled, an obscene indication of what had transpired before her death.
