Empress of Self-Ruin

Chapter 15: That Bright, Hollow Sun

Mary cried when she saw me getting out of the library, blood dripping from my head. She rushed toward me, muttering incomprehensible words about her poor empress, who kept getting injured. It only worsened my mood—I almost snapped at the poor girl if Arsen had not steered me to the direction of his carriage and thrown a stern look at Mary to shut her up. I knew she meant well, but I was still pretty sensitive at the moment.

Yes, yes, I know I don't have the heroine's luck, but no need to rub it on my face!

Mary voicing her concern just made me even more aware of how bloody unlucky I was, and it annoyed me to death.

I was just about to get into the carriage when we heard another voice.

"Your Majesty."

Damn, what is it this time?

My day of misfortune must not have been over yet. It must be a trilogy—or was it a quadrilogy? Pentalogy? I think I lost count already.

At that somewhat familiar voice, I looked back and was met with a familiar face. Tanned skin, honey-blonde hair, and hazel eyes stared at me with obvious concern.

Endymion Villarreal.

Great, just what I needed.

"Blessing and glory upon Your Majesty, the emperor and empress," he greeted politely.

"Lord Villarreal."

"You can just call me by my first name like usual, Your Majesty." His casual statement earned him a frown from Arsen. "I'm sorry for my impudence, but may I ask what happened?"

He seemed to be sincerely worried about me, but honestly, I didn't have the patience to humor him right now.

We had met several times after our first meeting to talk about business and stuff, and from our interactions so far, I could tell that he fancied me or at least had some sort of feelings for me.

No, I was not being overconfident. It was just I wasn't some sort of stupid clueless girl who couldn't see hints even if it was standing right in front of them.

Sure, at first it was hilarious watching him send glances at me, trying to play mind games, and be subtle with his flirting, but it only took me two meetings to figure out his hidden agenda with the whole gloves thing.

Hah, he might think he is smart, but he should know who his opponent is.

I still gave him the gloves, just as I promised. Well, of course my servants were the ones who embroidered them. I did insert the first stitch though, so I wasn't completely cheating. But without his knowledge, I also gave all my close attendants gloves with the same design, so he wouldn't be able to use them for whatever game he was planning.

Besides, the more I talked to him, the more I got the yandere vibes from him.

I understood that there were people who thought that this kind of behavior was romantic, but I certainly wasn't one of them. I had read enough novels with those kinds of tropes to know where it could lead.

Yes, many readers might be enthusiastic about obsessive male leads that seemed to cross the line at any moment, but it was a delusion because it was a novel. If it were real, he would be a criminal!

So no thanks, I would rather pass. I didn't need some kind of psycho obsessed with me, no matter how attractive he looked. I already had a lot on my plate anyway.

And to be honest, he had been really getting on my nerves lately, and I would be damned if I would have to be stuck with this god-awful PG-13 flirty garbage he was trying to pull any longer.