Empress of Self-Ruin

Chapter 1: Empress of Graniel

The imperial garden used to be full of beauty and splendor, but there was an eerie silence across its paved courtyards and gently babbling fountain that night, for it had turned into a graveyard of the unburied.

Countless corpses lay among the buttercups and forget-me-nots; their clothes torn and burnt, weapons strewn just out of reach.

As I stood motionless on one of the Imperial Palace's watchtowers, my eyes rested on the harrowing sight before me, not unblinking but slowed.

There was no such thing as a beautiful body when death has claimed its soul; no such thing as a romantic corpse.

Death was death.

The flesh would rot, bones would follow, and hair would mat into the soil.

It never discriminated.

I tilted my head skyward. The sun had already started to set, and the flames that engulfed the imperial castle front gates added color to the sunset as if God himself had splattered rainbow embers upon the evening sky. It burnt like hell, blazing red and bold.

I took a deep breath as I slowly lowered the bow in my hand.

I always kept my appearance elegant; it was how I was raised-but these past few days, I had no time to sleep let alone arrange my hair. Now it was a black, tangled mess, whipping in the wind that howled around me.

My already pale skin became even paler due to lack of sleep, and instead of the beautiful dresses I was accustomed to wearing, I was dressed in combat attire from head to toe.

My hands, which used to be white and unblemished, were now bloodied and callused after I used the bow non-stop for a few days, but I couldn't even feel the pain. It was as if I had turned numb.

As I took a step closer to the railing, a sudden pain seared through my heart, and I flung my hand against my chest with a gasp.

It's finally over...

I closed my eyes as the memories of these past few days filled my head.

It all started in the afternoon when my husband, Emperor Arsenio Arcturus, left to accompany his mistress to Duke Aragon's residence.

I had heard in passing a few days prior that Lady Phoebe had begged the emperor to go with her until he finally relented.

I had barely paid attention and just continued to drown myself in paperwork as usual. It wasn't long before I, who worked tirelessly to take care of the empire, suddenly collapsed.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the royal physician told me that I had miscarried due to stress and exhaustion.

I, who hadn't even known that I was pregnant, was in great shock.

But I didn't even have time to process all that, let alone mourn, for more bad news came. It was as if misfortune kept coming one after another and the whole world had turned its back on me.

Landon, the usually calm and polite royal advisor, had suddenly come rushing into the empress' bedroom and told me that the emperor had been captured by Duke Aragon. To make matters worse, the duke's army was now marching for the Imperial Palace.

Lady Phoebe must have betrayed the emperor, and it seemed like my hunch turned out right after all.

I had warned my husband before to not trust Lady Phoebe too much because I had a suspicious feeling about her. But it seemed like his love for her was much greater than I thought.

And now that everything had already come to this, I was the only one left behind to clean up the mess.

I couldn't stay still and just let the duke take over the Imperial Palace, so I had instructed all the guards and palace workers to close down the gate, block the entrance and prepare themselves to defend the castle.