Chapter 662: To fit.

‎Neesa stared at the document on the table, but she knew even if she took it away from Anastasha, it was already too late. However, she didn’t hesitate to reach for the document and pulled it toward her side of the table. Her main objective to meet Anastasha was to banish Anastasha from the Khan Empire before she could scheme anything that would cause chaos to the empire.

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‎"So this is your plan? To use the Demonic Cult as your seed of chaos?" Neesa opened the document, reading the names that were registered and recorded in the book. "You’re planning to offer them help and to broaden their ambition from taking the martial art world to the whole empire because of the upcoming war, is it?" She looked at Anastasha with a serious expression.

"You think so highly of me," Anastasha raised her brows.

"No, it’s a cheap trick. It’s not even worth praising," Neesa closed the book and slowly put it under her robe sleeve. "I will not let that happen," she pointed out.

"And you think an Asghar would use such cheap tricks?" Anastasha smirked with her brows arched.

"An Asghar would do anything as long as it was efficient. Yes, you would," Neesa answered coldly. "I have all the right to banish you from the empire. I have the seal of the emperor on me, and I can do it now," she warned.

"Then please, do it," Anastasha pointed her hand at the table. "Just because you can, it doesn’t mean anything. But let me ask you this. How many lives are you willing to waste? Obviously, the Sultans would be thrilled to see the empire waste a lot of resources for me. Oh, not to mention your father would question your decision for this. After all, his priority is an expansion because of how ambitious he is," she asked.

Neesa realized she was threatening the wrong person because Anastasha’s ambition had turned into an obsession. Nothing could work against Anastasha as long as she had Rasmus by her side. With the empire’s expansion to the land of the Sultans, she couldn’t afford to waste the empire’s forces and resources while at the same time giving an opportunity for the Sultans to strike back from this problem.

Anastasha could see the realization in Neesa’s eyes, but she didn’t expect to see Neesa suddenly stand up. She knew that Neesa knew it was useless to threaten her, and she knew Neesa’s next target was no other than the man that could make Anastasha invincible.

"Good luck," Anastasha spoke as she leaned back and crossed her legs.

Neesa stared at Anastasha with a cold stare for a moment before she walked away and left the building. The imperial guards saw her walking out of the door and immediately lowered their heads.

"Stay, don’t let her leave this place," Neesa commanded as she walked toward the courtyard.

Neesa was accompanied by her three personal bodyguards as she walked into the courtyard. Once again, her presence was announced before she entered, and everyone kowtowed. Her eyes scanned the courtyard until he saw Rasmus standing with the two women on his side. She immediately approached him, but with grace and her gaze was fixated on the man that she knew nothing about.

When Neesa stood in front of Rasmus, she had to tilt her head back to look into his eyes, something that she had never done before.

"May I request for your time, Count Blackheart?" Neesa asked in a gentle and soft voice, but her expression was firm and cold.

Rasmus lowered his head with understanding.

"Walk with me?" Neesa asked as she pointed at the path that led to the quiet area.

"After you, Your Imperial Highness," Rasmus nodded, he then looked at Aris and Rullein’s clones to stay.

Neesa walked ahead of Rasmus and she could sense Rasmus’s presence behind her, but she couldn’t hear his footsteps or even his breathing. She had to look over her shoulder and find it both disturbing and fascinating.

"Just call me Neesa. I know who you are, your status and achievements can be said to be superior to mine," Neesa pointed her left hand to the space beside her, signaling Rasmus to walk beside her instead of following her.

Rasmus slowly moved and walked beside her, matching her pace. They walked far enough until they ended up in a beautiful garden with ponds and tall banyan trees.

"I won’t ask much of your time, Count Blackheart. You must have known by now why I requested for your time," Neesa stopped and stared at the koi fish in the pond. "Would it be seen as rudeness if I requested you to leave this nation?" She asked and turned to look at Rasmus.

"Are you afraid?" Rasmus asked with his eyes fixated on the water.

The question was out of the blue that Neesa was taken aback by it. She narrowed her eyes and tried to see what was beneath the question.

"Afraid? That’s too broad to answer," Neesa responded.

"Then that means you are afraid," Rasmus pointed out. "It’s not a bad thing, Imperial Princess. It really isn’t," he added.

Neesa observed every bone, every hair, every movement of Rasmus’ face as if she tried to understand what kind of a person he was. She didn’t like him, she didn’t like a person who could stand with an expression and the eyes of someone who was detached and distant. She realized that he was worse compared to talking with Anastasha. However, she still wanted to try to bring the attention of the man in front of her.

"How can I not be afraid when someone like you exist here?" Neesa asked, her golden eyes fixated on heterochromatic eyes. "I care the live of my people, I care the future of this nation, I care for everything that’s under my power. And right now, I’m staring at the man that’s threatening my power, my ability to protect," she explained.

Rasmus finally looked at Neesa, and her head leaned back slightly from the surprise. Neesa finally achieved the first step, to make him look into her, to pay attention to her. She managed to pull the first step, and she knew she had to be careful with her next step.

"Would you die for them?" Rasmus asked.

"No, because I wouldn’t be able to prevent the future threats," Neesa answered without hesitation.

"Then would you sacrifice a handful of them so the rest of them could live?" Rasmus asked again.

"No, I wouldn’t or it would go against the thing that I wanted to protect," Neesa shook her head.

"Then what is it that you’re willing to sacrifice?" Rasmus asked with a serious expression. "Something must be taken out for something else to fit in," he added.

Neesa stood there and her mouth slowly parted, ready to give an answer that she always gave to her father, the Emperor, or the officials that devoted themselves to the empire. However, the question was slightly different, more precise, more suffocating, and it was what she chose to throw away for something else to fit in. There was no answer to that, not when she had stated she wasn’t that selfless.

"I can still fit everything in this moment. There’s nothing that I need to throw away," Neesa answered.

"But that was before me," Rasmus responded as he stared into her golden eyes. "Before this," he pointed out.

Neesa averted her gaze and slowly looked down at the koi fish. She realized the time where her hands finally felt full had come, and one must be thrown away or everything else would.