| Chapter 15: The Gladiator of Atonement

A few days later.

“Alexei Petrov, the shameless criminal who dared lay his hands on Lady Ivanov’s belongings, hear your sentence! The punishment shall be decreed by Lady Ivanov herself, and you will comply with her will.”

The clerk’s voice rang out as Alexei, kneeling before the platform where Sergei and Natasha sat, slowly raised his head. Despite days of starvation and confinement in the underground prison, his body was as imposing as ever, his muscles taut and his eyes ablaze with intensity.

From the moment Natasha entered, his fiery gaze had been fixed solely on her.

Natasha, doing her best to ignore it, could still feel his gaze piercing her heart like an arrow. She kept her chin high, as though unaffected, and rose slowly from her seat.

“Alexei Petrov.”

Her voice, speaking his name for the first time, made Alexei clench his jaw. His deepening gaze met hers, and for a moment, Natasha faltered, startled by the intensity. She quickly averted her eyes.

“Alexei Petrov…”

Her voice carried his name once more, almost like a sigh. Alexei closed his eyes briefly, suppressing a surge of emotion that caused his throat to tighten.

“I hereby order you to…”

Alexei waited, expecting a sentence far different from what came next. When Natasha’s words reached his ears, his eyes flew open in disbelief.

“You insolent slave!”

Sergei interrupted, standing abruptly and yelling.

“How dare you meet her gaze with such defiance? Lower your eyes at once! Did you not hear the Lady’s command? Return to the underground prison and prepare for the Gladiator of Atonement!”

Alexei ignored Sergei’s outburst, his eyes fixed solely on Natasha as he asked.

“Is this truly the punishment you wish for me, Lady Ivanov?”

“How dare you question me? Do you refuse to obey an order?” Sergei barked, his face red with anger, but Natasha raised her voice before he could continue.

“No, it’s not like that…”

Reluctantly, Alexei lowered his head. Natasha noticed the scars crisscrossing the back of his neck, but she forced herself to remain composed as she continued.

“This is my final decision, so listen carefully. Alexei Petrov, I order you to participate in the Gladiator of Atonement one week from now. If you emerge victorious, your crimes will be forgiven. Should you fail, you will pay with your life.”

As she relayed Sergei’s decree, Natasha felt disgusted with herself. She knew better than anyone that Alexei was innocent, yet she spoke as though granting him a favor.

* * *

When Sergei had proposed the idea of making Alexei her bedroom slave, Natasha had frozen in shock. But she quickly realized Sergei’s suggestion wasn’t sincere. It was a test, a trap to gauge her reaction.

“A bedroom slave? Such a suggestion is an insult to me! I have no need for such a thing—especially from someone who dared steal from me and humiliate me!”

She had responded with feigned outrage, knowing it was exactly what Sergei wanted to hear. He had smiled, pleased, and offered an alternative.

“Then how about sending him to the Gladiator of Atonement? If he wins, he might earn his freedom. Of course, surviving such a match is no easy task, but I imagine his death wouldn’t concern you much.”

“Of course not. It’s a fitting punishment for someone like him,” Natasha had replied coldly.

The Gladiator of Atonement was a barbaric practice, a remnant of an era when public executions had been replaced with blood sport. Unlike the formal, regulated gladiator matches of the neighboring Luman Empire, these fights were raw and brutal. The combatants were untrained prisoners, forced to fight to the death for a chance at freedom.

While trained gladiators were spared from fatal injuries in regular matches, no such mercy existed in the Gladiator of Atonement. Killing was not only permitted but necessary to survive.

Natasha had convinced herself that this could be an opportunity for Alexei. Given his unmatched skills as a gladiator, defeating untrained opponents should have been easy for him. But as she glanced at Alexei’s reaction, doubt crept into her mind.

Why does he look so betrayed?

She had expected resentment, even hatred—she deserved it for accusing him of theft. But the expression he wore wasn’t just one of anger. It was one of profound betrayal.

What was he expecting?

Natasha couldn’t understand. For a gladiator as skilled as Alexei, this punishment was practically a chance at freedom. Why, then, did he look as if she had shattered his world?

Could there be a trap I’m unaware of?

Sweat dampened Natasha’s palms. After Sergei had left her room reeking of alcohol, she had scoured the records for any hidden dangers in the Gladiator of Atonement.

The records described it as a brutal but straightforward contest. Participants, all prisoners, fought to the death. On rare occasions, trained gladiators had been forced to participate. One such gladiator had quickly dispatched his opponent, stabbing him with precision.

So why did Alexei look so defeated?

Even as Natasha tried to assure herself that this was Alexei’s best chance at freedom, his piercing gaze and unspoken anguish left her questioning everything.

Instead of reassurance, the records Natasha reviewed only offered details that made her feel more certain there was no hidden threat.

“I need to investigate further,” she resolved.

While hiring mercenaries to intervene was too risky, collecting rumors through her maid Renna was manageable. With a determined expression, Natasha gazed down at Alexei, whose fiery eyes still bore into her, as if he were looking at a lover who had betrayed him.

No, it wasn’t just ‘as if’. That’s exactly what it felt like.

What am I thinking? Natasha quickly pushed the thought from her mind and gestured to the guards.

“Take him away.”

She bowed briefly to Sergei, turned, and exited the hall without a trace of hesitation or emotion. To anyone watching, her retreat appeared cold and decisive. But no one could see how her hands trembled or how she repeatedly bit her lips to suppress any sign of emotion. No one, not even Alexei, could know how deeply his gaze—filled with resentment and disdain—carved invisible wounds into her heart.

* * *

A week later.

“Alexei Petrov, it’s time for your last meal.”

The guard Mikhail opened the small slot in the iron bars of Alexei’s cell.

“Tsk, tsk. Looks like it’s his turn,” murmured one of the other prisoners.

In the dank underground prison, a proper meal was a rare luxury, reserved only for those sentenced to execution. Even then, the “last meal” was typically a thin gruel made from discarded vegetables.

Mikhail glanced around cautiously before lowering his voice as he passed the tray through the slot.

“It’s a special meal, courtesy of Lady Ivanov herself.”

Alexei, who had been exercising to keep his body conditioned, froze mid-motion. His eyes locked onto the tray, glinting dangerously. Mikhail fully expected Alexei to fling the tray away in anger at the mention of Natasha’s name.

Instead, Alexei silently approached, staring at the tray before lifting the lid.

Inside was a steaming bowl of borscht, its rich, red broth brimming with chunks of potatoes, beets, and generous portions of beef.

“A feast fit for a condemned man.”

Alexei said dryly, his lips curling into a sardonic smile as he looked at Mikhail, whose eyes had widened at the sight of such a lavish meal.

No one’s dying here today.

As he scooped a spoonful of the crimson broth, Alexei thought grimly. He bit into the tender beef, suppressing a bitter chuckle.

I thought I’d become her bedroom slave. What a ridiculous hope.

After being coldly rejected twice and seeing nothing but contempt in her eyes, what had he been expecting? That she, with her untouchable purity, would allow herself to be sullied by someone like him, even if only for a single night?

Alexei swallowed another spoonful of the thick, blood-red soup. A fragment of the Knulu tribe’s sacred words resounded in his mind, as if delivered by the goddess Ades herself.

“Okrovavlennyy—Child of blood, let those who seek to harm you be drowned in it.”

Yes. He would do exactly that. He would survive the bloodbath, prove his innocence, and bring those who wronged him to their knees.

As Alexei ground his teeth in determination, Mikhail spoke in a hushed tone.

“Alexei, did you hear? A few days ago, a fierce Albinin lion was secretly brought to the arena. Do you know anything about it?”