The Tyrant’s Last Doll

r, the man decided to be incredibly stubborn.

“I’ll dance slowly, so you won’t feel uncomfortable,” the man insisted.

“I am really not feeling inclined, so please excuse me.” The man either didn’t understand my meaning, or he was ignoring it entirely.
I rose to my feet in order to leave the area, but the man quickly grabbed my wrist.
I tried to pull away, but he gripped even tighter.

“You are quite rude,” he spat.

“It’s only a dance, so stop acting like you are so important,” I said, yanking my arm away.

“I believe this must be your first time at a ball, so I’ll assume you don’t know the rules.
I’ll have to teach them to you, especially what goes on after the party.”

I stepped back against the wall.
I didn’t know what to do about this man.
How could he go behind the emperor’s back and act as if I was some sort of hussy? If I hadn’t been so shocked, I would have slapped the man.
I thought of hitting him right now, but I knew the consequences.
The man stood, blocking me and smiling with a sinister grin.
If I got angry, the man would lash out and it would be difficult to relieve this situation quietly.
If the emperor found out about this interaction, he would make a huge deal out of it.
Especially since he was possessive with everything that belonged to him, his temper would know no bounds towards this man.
A memory of a maid who had lost her life in a staircase accident flashed through my mind.

I didn’t want a bloody scene to occur if the emperor found out about this situation, so I decided to firmly refuse once more.
“I don’t intend to dance with someone as uncouth as you.
Please let me go.” She tried to push past the man.

“I guess I will have to do this the hard way,” the man announced, grabbing my arm once again.
It appeared that he was going to forcefully drag me to the dance floor.
Even if this man was a powerful noble, he had now crossed the line.
The only action I could think of was to start coughing as if I was choking.

The people closest to me all focused their attention on the commotion that was occurring.
The man looked furious at the attention that he was now getting and grabbed hold of my other arm.
I became blinded by a sudden flash of white light and as my sight was beginning to clear I heard the emperor’s voice.

“Who are you to dare taking hold of her?!” he threatened.