Ivan walked through the long, dimly lit corridors just after leaving Vladimir’s study. His footsteps echoed loudly in the empty hallway. He had a mix of different emotions swirling inside him like a violent storm.
Anger came first - hot and burning, making his hands shake uncontrollably. Then bitterness, tasting sour in his mouth. The hate followed, dark and heavy, settling in his chest like a weight. And betrayal cut deepest of all, sharper than any blade. His own father had thrown him away like discarded trash.
But underneath all that seething anger, there was something else. Sadness and pain, so deep it made his chest ache with every breath. It felt like his whole world was collapsing around him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to fall to his knees right there and let all the tears come out.
Olga stood at the end of the long corridor like a venomous snake waiting to strike. Her dress was perfect, her l styled hair was perfect, but her eyes were cold and cruel as winter ice.
Immediately everything else disappeared. The sadness, the pain - all of it vanished like smoke. Now there was only hate and fear. Pure, undiluted hate for this woman who had made his life hell from the very beginning.
Back in Vladimir’s ornate study, Lydia still stood frozen, trying to recall what just happened. She could see how much raw pain Ivan was in. She had never seen him like that before - so vulnerable, so broken. He had looked like a lost little boy who just wanted his father to love him.
She snapped back out of her racing thoughts and decided to go meet him, to talk to him. Comfort him if she could, just like he had always comforted her during her darkest moments. She immediately bowed respectfully to Vladimir and left quickly to go meet Ivan.
Boris came in after her, looking a little confused and concerned about what had happened.
Vladimir sat back heavily in his leather chair. His entire world was flashing before his eyes like fragments of a nightmare. He felt so much guilt eating him alive from the inside.
"Ivan must hate me, doesn’t he?" Vladimir said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
Boris looked at his troubled king with kind, understanding eyes. "I don’t think so, Your Majesty. Maybe he’s just hurt. He doesn’t know how much you truly care for him."
Vladimir chuckled bitterly, the sound hollow and pained. "I deserve to be hated after all I did to him." His voice started to break with emotion. "And to Marina too." It was almost as if he wanted to cry like a child.
Boris couldn’t say anything meaningful. The pain was too deep, too raw.
Back in the shadowy corridor, Ivan and Olga faced each other like sworn enemies preparing for battle.
Olga spoke with so much grudge and cruel satisfaction dripping from every word. "I see you are here, Your Highness. His Majesty must have summoned you to warn you about your behavior. You seem hurt by it. Then again, you must have felt untouchable. You’re nothing but a sin, so why are you surprised by him getting tired of you?"
Each word hit Ivan like a physical blow to his already wounded heart. She knew exactly where to strike to cause the most pain.
She turned to leave, satisfied with the damage she had inflicted.
"You must be enjoying it, aren’t you?" Ivan shot her with venomous words.
Olga didn’t hesitate to respond with malicious glee. "Yes. Watching you suffer is one of my greatest reasons for happiness."
Ivan felt his anger rising dangerously, but also something else - a cold, calculating fury that made his blood run ice-cold.
"Then the other must be Leonid," he responded with deadly calm.
Immediately Olga’s triumphant smile faded completely. Her face went deathly pale.
Ivan leaned closer to her, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I promised to spend time with him last time I was in the capital. I have so many interesting things to show him."
He then left her side, whispering loudly enough for her to hear clearly, "I wonder how long he can stay without food and water. Well, he should last up to six days, shouldn’t he? I was able to last three days at four, so since he’s eight, he should be able to do double."
The words were like ice water in Olga’s veins, freezing her to the bone. She knew Ivan was talking about his own childhood punishments, the torture she had witnessed.
Immediately Olga fell to her knees and crawled toward him desperately, holding his knees. "Don’t touch my son, you despicable demon! If you touch him, I’ll kill you with my own hands!"
Ivan bent toward her and pulled her hands harshly from his clothes, his grip like iron. "You’ve been trying for over twenty years. You have had no success whatsoever. This is my final warning. I know you had something to do with the village head’s behavior. If you try anything again, I’ll make sure Leonid is the one who suffers."
He pulled himself from her trembling grasp and turned to see Leonid standing there at the corner, watching the whole terrifying scene unfold. Tears filled his innocent eyes. Ivan obviously lied - he only said that to hurt Olga. But how could he explain that now?
He clenched his jaw tightly and walked past Leonid without saying anything.
"Brother, you don’t mean it," Leonid called for him, his small voice breaking with sobs.
But Ivan said nothing and just walked away with heavy steps. Behind him, he could hear Leonid starting to cry harder.
Tears rolled down Olga’s pale cheeks. She moved toward Leonid and hugged him tightly against her chest. "I told you he doesn’t care about you. He just wants to hurt you."
Leonid pulled back, his young face wet with tears. "Mother, I don’t think so. Brother is only angry. Maybe we did something wrong."
Olga pushed Leonid away from her roughly. "You fool! How can you be so naive?"
She hugged him back tightly, almost desperately. "I won’t say this again - stay away from the Grand Duke."
Leonid shook his head stubbornly. "No. He’s my brother. I don’t want to."
And then he ran off crying, leaving Olga alone in the cold corridor.
Olga sat on the hard floor watching Leonid run away. Tears were rolling down from her eyes continuously. She said as if she were talking directly to Leonid, "Don’t worry, he won’t ever hurt you. I’ll make sure he suffers greatly. Then we’ll get everything that was rightfully yours. Everything. Don’t worry, my precious son."