The walls were collapsing around Shiba as he tried desperately to maintain the Empire that Itami had built. The entire infrastructure of Japan had suffered repeated bombings, and without an influx of resources from their previous colonies, the Empire of Japan was no longer capable of repairing what had been destroyed.
Shiba was currently standing in the middle of Itami's old bedroom. The Japanese Empress had left in such a hurry that most of her belongings were still around. Within Shiba's hand was a lacey nightgown, which he held to his nose and took a deep inhale of its scent. The very smell that Itami had left behind was comforting to the man.
After sniffing Itami's used nightgown for several moments, Shiba flew into a fit of rage and tore it to pieces with his bare hands before tossing the scraps aside. The woman of his affections had betrayed him. How could she not see that he was keeping her locked up for her own benefit?
