Outside the extravagantly furnished room were ten unarmed guards dressed in the same grey-colored kimono.
They aligned themselves in a single file and surrounded the sliding door to prevent the woman inside from plunging it open.
They didn't dare to turn their faces toward the screen, hence, they stood on their sides vigilant. Ready to make a move any minute they receive a signal.
Some distance away from them stood another set of maidservants. Their heads were lowered and their hands crossed and pressed tightly in front of their lower belly.
A closer look at them would show the slight trembling of their shoulders and the fidgeting of their clamped fingers. Regardless, none of them dared to make a sound.
They were well aware that their heads would roll once the woman inside the room stepped out in her current state.
They couldn't do anything else but pray in their hearts for the other servants to return soon for their lives to be spared.
