A.N.: This chapter will all be Ivan's pov. Hope you guys like it and hopefully it won't take as long for me to add another chapter! Sorry about how short it is….. Im trying to finish the story quicker then I planned to so I can work on a new one.
I can no longer trust anyone. I have overheard my… fellowmen speaking of a mutiny! Even those who have always been my allies, or others like that, I have heard scheming. I cannot even be sure Belarus is loyal!
I haven't eaten, haven't slept. I keep everything I have in my sight. I feel like I am Nicholas II the second when his and his family had their death sentence read to them. A feeling of dread, fear, confusion, and disbelief.
This is slowly driving me deeper into madness. I feel like I am crawling deeper and deeper into the bottom of my bottle. But wait… hasn't it always been like this? Me, alone, not being to trust my own people and driving myself insane. My tsars had always been weak, greedy, or tyrannical; am I turning into one of them?
I ask myself these questions and search myself for the answers, but never find them. But now what to do about the rebellious ones. I could have them killed, to set an example, but that would not be the wisest choice. I could have them punished, but that will only make them angrier.
There is a knock at my bedroom door. I ignore it, but it grows louder. I think that someone is trying to break the door down. I reach for my pipe, wrapping my hand against the end as the door gives way.