455 The Naked Emperor (4/5)

****(POV)

Still, they made the mistake of trying. 

He told me to undress and to parade on the stage showing them all how powerless I was. He told me that'd he'd kill my servant if I didn't comply. I simply started undressing, right there.

Was this supposed to be something significant?  I had undressed plenty of time in my life. Every time I took a bath, I undressed. Whenever I changed my clothes, I undressed. A few times at the brothel I had undressed too, I was no saint after all. 

So in front of all the people that had assembled to see me, I undressed. The bandits expected me to cower in shame. They expected me to beg them for mercy. They expected a lot but were bound to be disappointed. 

I undressed and simply smiled at the people there, making eye contact with many. People weren't disturbed by it either. Most simply kept the eye contact going for as long as they could. Most were smiling helplessly.