Galina nodded, pulling up short beside Souma, dark eyes roving the grounds about them, taking in the perfectly miniature forest, the man before her, thoughtfully calculating all. It was not lost on her in the least where their promenade had finally ended, together amongst the perfectly manicured tree, far from prying eyes or too-keen ears.

"Of course," she said softly, nodding her assent once more, her gaze steady and unwavering as she met Souma's own. "My message then. Please know, this is my message for you alone, Takahiro Souma. Mine - not from my father, nor the Demidov family."

Galina knew very well that Souma would not care for her message - not in the least. But the one her father wished to send? That was a message far too brutal, much too cruel. Even now, near a year since those dark first days of her confession, she could still hear the glacial ice moving through her father's voice as he commanded her to exact the only vengeance that would right the grievous insult to his highborn honor and noble family, the affront by some up-jumped foreign peasant: Souma's family was to be put to the sword, all of them butchered like animals before his eyes. And when all was done, even those eyes were to be gouged from his head, his last sight the bleeding, broken corpses of those he loved best in this world. 

Galina would not. [i]Could[/i] not. Not from the moment she laid eyes upon the patriarch Raigo's kind face, so patient and good to a foreign teacher who took the time to learn [i]his[/i] culture as well. Not from the moment she first laughed - truly laughed - with Takahiro Ai, delighting in the woman's subtle wit. Galina defied her father's wishes from the sanctity of the Takahiro compound - and yet refusing him as she did, even with the safety of several hundred miles between them? This was no easy feat. It was only by her brother Yury's subtle machinations that Baron Vasily Demidov finally relented, conceding at last that his daughter's subtler plan had far more lucrative merit, spiced with a dash of ironic Russian "justice" that made this lesser scheme a touch more palatable.

And even if Souma never knew, never understood what she had done in his stead or the war she fought against her own in his home, Galina could still rest her head at night, and sleep deeply and well. Oh yes, the young woman had certainly been molded and shaped and trained become many things in her short lifetime, and none of them terribly good: spy, warrior, assassin, thief, liar - but the one thing Galina had [i]never[/i] been?

A [i]monster.[/i] 

"I imagine after the events aboard the [i]Empress[/i], you never thought to see me again - well, if you bothered to think of me at all, of course." Galina smiled softly, chuckling just under her breath without the least hint of mirth.

"I, unfortunately, did not have that luxury when the ship finally docked. I had to carry the humiliation home with me, and lay my shame - to the very last - before my father."

"What followed those disgraceful confessions of mine, was a bloodbath. Every last contact, [i]every[/i] last fool who took your bribes or duplicitous agent who looked the other way to ensure Baronessa Galina Demidova boarded the [i]Empress of Japan[/i]? All were torn up by the roots. The network you laid to find me, to falsely commission my services and arrange out little meet, has been obliterated."

"And all I have done during my time here, was return the favor. Even now, my brother Yury is arranging our imminent departure, with many regrets to your father and sister. But my eldest brother has fallen [i]tragically[/i] ill you see, and we are expected home right away. But the network I have laid in your family's business, in your finances and the American-earned monies that have mollified my father? I will not spoil the fun ahead of you, ferreting out every last tendril I have planted, in each and every Takahiro enterprise, legitimate and... [i]Less[/i] than so."

"To be rid of me entirely Souma, to finally uproot every last vestige of my influence in your home and hearth? You shall have to confess to your father, and likely even to Ai, the truth who I am and what you did aboard that ship. Sake with me was far more of a 'personal' conquest than recovering Mr. Selvin, now wasn't it Souma? Nothing in the least sanctioned by or for the Takahiro clan, after you failed to recover the schematics from the Winchester Mansion." Galina arched an eyebrow meaningfully, one corner of her lips curving upward slowly.

"To rid yourself of every last toehold I've made in nigh on a year now, you must also explain how it came to be that a Russian spy could come into the Takahiro home as a guest, [i]using her own Christian name,[/i] as brazen and bold as summer sunlight."