Catherine and the Black Emperor

030. The End of Lestoker

Soon, Gemma arrived with her father.

Dressed in black robes, they left the palace led by Lestoc, where a carriage was waiting for them in a secluded spot.

"My men will take you to a safe place, you'll get the money, and someone will take you out of Russia," Lestok instructed the two.

"Counselor, I haven't completed the task you gave me." Gemma was deeply moved, but also felt incredibly guilty.

If Shuvalov hadn't warned her that the area was teeming with secret police and that she and her father would be killed if anyone escaped, she might have already told Lestok the truth.

"Don't worry, you will receive full payment. Our relationship is first and foremost that of lovers, then everything else. I will take responsibility for you and your father." Lestoker gently stroked Gemma's cheek.

Gemma's eyes welled up with tears.

After Gemma and Felice got into the car, Lestoker handed the letter he had written to his men.

After the carriage left, Lestoc quickly returned to the palace.

Two figures stood in the darkness in front of a window, looking down at Lestok; they were Besdudev and Shuvalov.

"Now that the witnesses have been sent away, he should destroy the physical evidence next," Shuvalov said with certainty.

Besdudev gave a cold laugh: "Now is the time for us to draw our swords."

Sergei, far away in his own mansion, watched the horse-drawn carriages passing by on the street outside his window; this was the only way to the Cittadella market.

He began to play faster with both hands, and the piano music gradually became more and more intense.

Peter, the older brother, went from initial disdain to utter astonishment, muttering to himself, "Sergei's musical talent is simply extraordinary!"

The carriage arrived at Cittadella Market and stopped in front of a tavern.

Lestoker's men led Gemma and Felice inside and handed the letter to the man there. After reading the letter, the man led them to the inner room.

As soon as Gemma and Felice entered the room, the burly man closed the door, his eyes flashing with malice, and pulled out a gleaming dagger from behind him.

"What are you going to do!"

Felice was terrified and shielded his daughter behind him, grabbing a nearby candlestick for self-defense.

"The counselor ordered that you be sent out of Russia. Isn't that the fastest way?" the other party sneered.

"No! The counselor wouldn't do this to me!" Gemma exclaimed in disbelief.

"Don't be silly!" Felice scolded her daughter, her eyes fixed on the man.

Suddenly, loud gunshots rang out from outside.

"Snapped!"

The man turned to look outside, and his men rushed in. He hurriedly asked, "What's going on?"

"It's...it's the Imperial Guard!"

"Guards! What are they doing here!" The man's expression changed drastically. He ordered his men to burn all the letters while turning and lunging at the father and daughter.

"Get out of the way!"

Faced with the sharp dagger thrusting at him, Felicie pushed his daughter away, but he was stabbed in the abdomen by the dagger. Blood gushed out instantly, terrifying Gemma.

Just as the man knocked the candlestick away, preparing to kill Gemma and Felice, the Royal Guard rushed in.

"Snapped!"

A shot hit the man in the shoulder. He turned around, and the guards all raised their guns. Despite the excruciating pain, the man raised his dagger again.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

The enemy was riddled with bullets by the flintlock pistol and fell to the ground with a thud.

Felice and Gemma were rescued, and Gemma supported her father, sobbing uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, at the Saltykov residence.

Peter, the older brother, was completely engrossed in the climax of the piano piece. He was amazed by his younger brother's superb skills and surrounded by the stirring piano music, as if he were immersed in a grand torrent.

A tense atmosphere permeated a certain room in the palace.

Lestok returned to his office and took a stack of secret letters from a hidden compartment in his cabinet. But before he could throw them into the brazier, the door was pushed open, and Besdov and Shuvalov rushed in, followed by a large number of secret police.

"stop!"

Besdov tried to stop Lestok, but Lestok blocked him with one hand. The letter was thrown into the brazier, but Shuvalov was quick-witted and kicked the brazier over. The secret police arrested Lestok, and Shuvalov picked up the letter that was half burned.

"That's enough to convict you," Shuvalov said coldly. "John Herman Lesstock, I hereby declare, in my capacity as President of the Special Court, that you are under arrest for treason!"

Besdudev grabbed Lestok by the collar, yelling, "How dare you betray your country! You hold a high position in the court; you should be Russian! But you have no heart, only perfume!"

Lestoker faced death with equanimity: "I have been French all my life. Russia needed me, but now it simply doesn't need me anymore."

"Traitor! Infamy and torture await you!" Besdutev cursed.

Lestok broke free from the secret police's restraints. The secret police were about to attack him, but Shuvalov stopped them. Lestok gave the two men a cold look, and then, escorted by the secret police, walked outside.

Saltykov Residence.

As the piano piece ended, Sergei ignored his brother Peter and went to the window to watch the returning carriages. This time, however, there was an additional group of secret police officers, numbering over 30.

"Sergei, how about playing an even more beautiful piece?" his brother Peter said as he approached.

Sergei looked outside: "There won't be a second piece of music tonight."

"Why? Ha! You only know this one song, right!"

Sergei turned to look at his brother, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder: "It's getting late, go to sleep. Trust me, we'll both have sweet dreams tonight."

The Winter Palace, Elizabeth's office.

Shuvalov personally reported the situation to Elizabeth, carrying the partially burned secret letters. Elizabeth looked at these letters from Lestoker and King Louis of France, and an unprecedented anger surged on her face.

"What a scoundrel! This guy doesn't even consider himself Russian; he took advantage of my generosity!"

"Yes, not only him, but also the Marquis de Laschetadi, who was the bridge between Louis XV and Lestoc," Shuvalov whispered a reminder.

"Now the bridge is broken! Confiscate all of Lestoc's property, auction off his mansion and palace! Drive the Marquis of Laschetadier out of Russia, and do not allow any new French ambassador to set foot on Russian borders until Louis has shown the proper attitude!" Elizabeth's voice was icy.

"Yes, sir!" Shuvalov bowed and left.

Peter and Paul Fortress.

Bestudev accompanied Lestok here. Lestok's face was filled with despair and fear. The chief physician of the Russian Empress knew clearly that stepping into this place would truly plunge him into hell on earth.

Besdov had been humiliating Lestok the whole way, but here he was no longer so harsh.

"Let's see you off on your final journey, my old friend."

After saying this, Besdov turned and left.

"The prisoner has been numbered and has been transported to his destination."

Lestoker was bound to the execution post, a red-hot branding iron imprinted on his forehead, and the fortress echoed with the chief physician's agonizing screams.