The Restoration of Rome: In the Name of Augustus

Chapter 38 Midnight Shock

Alexius dreamed of Leon and his teacher Ioannis again.

In the snowy landscape of Mercia, he held his small crossbow, breathless, aiming. A white rabbit almost blended into the snow, but he still managed to hit it. Under the approving gazes of his teacher and Leon, he ran over happily, grabbed the rabbit by the ears, and turned around triumphantly to show it off.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Leon's figure vanished like snowflakes. His teacher, Joannis's face, also began to blur and distort, eventually becoming the face he now knew best and loathed most—

Andronica!

Alexius awoke with a start, his chest heaving. He opened his heavy eyelids and looked around blankly. The familiar palace lay before him, but outside the window, all was darkness.

His back was soaked with cold sweat; the damp, cold fabric clung to his skin, sending a chill through him. Completely unable to sleep, he got up, wanting to go outside for some fresh air.

He wrapped his velvet coat tighter around himself, tiptoed through the door, and stepped into the porch. But he immediately regretted it; the outside air was biting cold, and the howling wind whipped his face like a lash. He shrank his neck and suddenly remembered Agnes.

I can't stay any longer. I don't even know if Agnes is asleep yet. I should go talk to her.

Alexius, familiar with the place from his long stay, navigated the darkness with practiced ease, passing through a long corridor until Agnes's bedchamber lay ahead. He raised his hand, about to knock.

Suddenly, very low voices came from the courtyard under the eaves.

Alexius became alert, lowered his hand from the door he was about to knock on, and hunched over as he walked back, turning a corner to face the direction from which the voices were coming. He hid himself in the shadows behind a pillar, cautiously peeking out half his face.

Under the moonlight, Andronica was speaking in hushed tones with an unfamiliar officer.

"...The Hungarians are more elite than we expected, and we can't hold them off. The Venetian fleet is also patrolling the Adriatic, ready to take a bite out of the Empire at any moment." The officer's voice was filled with anxiety.

Andronica's voice was somber, a stark contrast to his demeanor at the banquet: "Why risk your life for that incompetent mother and son? These territories are just a burden. Withdraw the legions from the front lines and preserve our strength. The loss of our land will bring that mother and son fatal public opinion and controversy, while I can use that to my advantage..."

"But, Lady Andronica, many soldiers' homes are all in..."

Andronica moved abruptly, his thick right hand gripping the officer's throat. His face was almost pressed against the officer's ashen face, which was contorted with suffocation. He gritted his teeth and said, "You're talking to me about mercy, about human life? Hmm? If it weren't for you bunch of Ducas-named idiots who couldn't even handle such a simple matter, that brat would have been dead at the hands of the Muslims long ago!"

"If you had succeeded in accomplishing that task back then, I would be sitting on the throne now! Béla of Hungary would be crushed in my grasp, and the Imperial Army would not have been defeated!"

He clenched his fists, watching the officer's face turn ashen from suffocation, a flicker of pleasure in his eyes. Then, he slammed the officer to the ground like trash. The officer curled up, coughing painfully.

In the shadows, Alexius lay deathly pale and his body ice-cold. It turned out that the attack at sea was Andronica's scheme!

He covered his mouth tightly, trying not to make a sound. His right hand frantically grabbed a stone pillar, trying to support his limp body to stand up, but his arm went weak, and he slid down the pillar to the ground, making a clear sound in the silence, like a pebble thrown into a pool, instantly startling the two people in the courtyard.

"Who?!"

Andronica instantly drew her sword, shouted sharply, and kicked the officer on the ground hard. The two men cautiously looked around and slowly approached the shadows.

By the faint moonlight, Andronica could make out the figures under the eaves.

"Princess... Your Highness?"

Agnes stared blankly at Andronica, whose expression was unusual, and asked, "Uncle Andronica, it's so late, what are you doing...?"

Andronica and the officer exchanged a glance, then forced a seemingly friendly smile: "That's the question we should be asking you, Your Highness. We were discussing... military affairs. Since you're not resting in your bedchamber, perhaps our voices were too loud and disturbed you?"

Agnes shook her head: "No, Uncle Andronica. I just felt that Alexius seemed very unhappy at the dinner party. Did something happen to him? I was worried about him and couldn't sleep. When I heard noises outside the door, I..."

A sinister smile appeared on Andronica's face, her voice chilling: "So... you heard everything."

His right hand swept across Agnes's neck like a venomous snake, his ten fingers suddenly gripping her throat. Her body slowly rose with Andronica's arm, suspending her in mid-air.

Behind the stone pillar, almost a step away, Alexius watched all this in horror, especially Agnes's painful struggle. His body seemed to stop trembling and powerless, and his fear gradually gave way to hatred for Andronica and a protective instinct towards Agnes.

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the sound of his footsteps, and under the cover of darkness, he suddenly darted toward the officer behind Andronica.

"Lady Andronica, she... she's Princess Capet!"

"Princess?" Andronica stared disdainfully at Agnes's flushed face, saying, "The old king is dead, and the new king is just a teenager. What can he do?! If we don't kill her, there will be endless trouble!"

Just then, the officer suddenly realized that a pair of hands were pulling the short sword hanging at his waist from nowhere in the darkness. He quickly grabbed the hand, but missed. Andronica also realized what was happening and turned around.

Under the moonlight, Alexius gripped the officer's short sword, his hands trembling slightly as he held the hilt, but his eyes burned with overwhelming hatred.

"Let her go!" Alexius shouted, his teeth chattering.

Andronica narrowed her eyes, her voice like a devil's whisper: "Your Majesty, this...is putting me in a difficult position..."

Feeling Andronica's fingers loosen, Agnes mustered her last strength and forced a scream from her throat: "His Majesty has been attacked! Andronica..."

Her cries were quickly silenced by Andronica's increased force.

Andronica gritted her teeth, cursed, and then, to the shock of Alexius and the officer, snapped her neck.

Alexius stared blankly at Agnes's limp body, feeling as if a piece of his heart had been ripped out, and froze on the spot.

Andronica casually tossed the princess's body to the ground like the dead rabbit from the day before, deftly drew her sword, and walked step by step toward the distraught Alexius.

It seems that this inevitable coup has to be brought forward.

Andronica grinned maliciously as he raised his sword, aiming to Alexius's head. However, the sword in his hand suddenly fell to the ground after slicing through the air. Andronica stared intently at the hands frozen in mid-air; his right wrist had vanished, leaving only a bloody gash.

A throwing axe was stuck in the dim wall, its blade dripping blood.

Andronica instinctively looked at the officer beside her, only to find that he too had a throwing axe stuck in his head and was lying on the ground.

In the darkness, two figures strode forward; Rollo and Roy appeared before Andronica. They had heard the princess's call and, without even donning their armor, rushed over in their white nightgowns, axes in hand. Simultaneously, the sound of dozens of military boots pounding echoed from the palace gates—the arrival of the Varangian Guard.

Andronica silently surveyed the entire scene, then suddenly grabbed the sword from the ground with her left hand and recklessly stabbed it into Alexius's throat.

As long as I can control the emperor and escape, I will be able to make a comeback sooner or later!

Suddenly his right leg buckled, and he stumbled and fell heavily to the ground, a throwing axe stuck in his thigh.

Rollo approached silently, and before Andronica could react or protest, his giant axe had already severed his body.

He picked up Andronica's head, glanced at his brother Roy, who was kneeling silently beside Agnes's body, and then looked at Alexius, who was slumped on the ground with empty eyes, and sighed heavily.

They arrived just in time and saved the emperor's life.

They arrived too late to avert the tragedy.