XVI ※ Sunglasses, Sarcasm, and the Superiority Complex

There he was.

The literal bane of my existence. The one who had caused me more suffering than I could ever possibly express, and the very same person responsible for my death. Standing there, ever the arrogant asshole, sunglasses perched firmly on his face, probably expecting me to arrive in the same miserable state I had been in before. As if nothing had changed. As if I would let him win again. The audacity, the arrogance, to think that just because time had passed, I would have forgotten my past, forgotten him. But the worst part wasn't even him, not entirely. It was his two loyal dogs.

Adonis and Sohan.

Both of them—equally as proud and equally as distasteful. Both were the firstborn children of their respective Houses, the same rank as Elodie, which put them on the same level as us. They were the first in line to carry on their families' legacies, and to be honest, I hated them for it. Their pride was insufferable. It was too big to be contained, and it was far too fragile to withstand anything that even remotely challenged it. But then, that was the way of the world with people like them, wasn't it? They were nothing but arrogant, sheltered children, born into positions that allowed them to never have to understand the struggles that the rest of us faced. And yet, they despised me, hated me, as though I were the cause of every misfortune in their world.

They hated me.

They would happily end my life if anyone asked, and worse, they would blame me for Avy's death. Somehow, I was always to blame. In the eyes of everyone around me, I was nothing but a scapegoat for everything that went wrong in their lives, for everything they couldn't control, for every little thing that ever made their perfect world feel imperfect. So, it was no surprise that they were as hostile toward me as they always had been. They were no different from the rest of them. But I couldn't help but think that their hatred, though cruel, was nothing compared to the loathing Daisuke had for me. Daisuke, who had made it his life's mission to make mine as miserable as possible, who reveled in my suffering. He was a special case—my personal tormentor, and no one else could ever compare to the depths of cruelty he could reach.

Speaking of which, Daisuke stood there, sunglasses on, as usual. The same damn sunglasses, the same cold, unfeeling expression. But even through those dark lenses, I could feel his eyes burning into my skin. The intensity of his gaze was palpable. It was like his stare was a physical force, like it could cut right through me. He must have been plotting how to make my life even more miserable, how to tear me down in the most brutal of ways. How to break me, again, in ways I had not yet anticipated. And I couldn't even blame him.

"Why are you using your blindfold on your neck and not covering those cursed eyes of yours, little wrench? Are you going to keep doing this now?" His voice dripped with disdain. It was as though the very sound of my name left a sour taste in his mouth, like he couldn't even stand to utter it.

I couldn't help but smirk.

"Why so lovely at this hour in the morning, your royal highness?" I teased, trying to hide the unease that lurked beneath my words. The smirk I wore felt almost like a defense mechanism—a way to cover up the bubbling anger, the fear, the helplessness that had been my constant companions for so long. But I couldn't let him see that. I couldn't let him see the cracks in my armor.

He didn't appreciate the sarcasm.

"You are in my territory now, so you have to answer my questions," he spat, his tone cold and demanding, as though I were nothing but a mere pawn in his game, someone who should be grateful for his attention.

"As if that changed anything," I shot back, rolling my eyes. "But I'll tell you because I'm feeling amazing today." No, I wasn't. Far from it, actually. "My dear brother, Rai, decided to show his love for me by strangling me till I almost fainted. So, I took the useless blindfold and put it around my neck to cover the dark bruise he left on my beautiful and fair skin, so you wouldn't feel the pleasure of seeing me wounded like this."

I said it with a smirk, just to get under his skin. I knew it would annoy him. And it worked. I saw the tightening of his jaw, the flicker of anger in his eyes, but he kept his cool, as always. He wouldn't let me get under his skin. At least, that's what he thought.

"Put the damn blindfold on!" Adonis and Sohan exclaimed in unison, their voices sharp with anger, their eyes filled with that familiar disgust. It was as though my very existence offended them, as though my defiance was something they couldn't tolerate.

I chuckled, my smirk widening.

"Oh, so the dogs are barking now."

Their fists clenched at my words, and I could see the rage building in their eyes. They were ready to take a swing at me, and I didn't doubt that they would if given the chance. But I wasn't afraid. I knew them too well. They had never been a real threat to me, not in the way that Daisuke was. They were just children, acting out because they knew no other way to assert themselves, to feel important in a world where they were constantly surrounded by the shadows of their parents.

"You are stupid, you know that?" I continued, addressing them both. "All of you act as if I had been ordered to put this on. But I wasn't. I chose to use it. For myself. Because I didn't want to see people's deaths. Neither did I want to see my own."

I turned my gaze to Daisuke, my words sharp as I spoke directly to him.

"I thought you had told them, but it seems like you didn't. To sum it all up, now that I don't care about that anymore, the blindfold has no use for me. If you don't want me to see your death, then don't fucking look at me in the eye. Or when you do, use sunglasses."

I pointed at their eyes, a mockery of their own attempt to shield themselves from me. A pathetic attempt, one that had no effect on me. I had already seen everything they could hide from me. Nothing they did could change what I already knew.

"As you are doing now," I added, my tone dripping with sarcasm. I couldn't resist. It felt good to mock them, to turn their tactics back on them. They deserved it.

Behind me, I sensed my brothers had stopped, lingering at a distance but close enough to hear everything. Aeneas spoke up, his voice carrying a rare note of support.

"She's awfully right. No one ordered her to use that. She chose to use it," he said, his words cutting through the tension. It was the first time I had heard him speak up like that, and though it was a small gesture, it meant more to me than he could ever understand.

The smug grin on Daisuke's face faltered for just a moment. But then, with his usual cruelty, he turned the conversation back to me.

"It seems like you weren't satisfied with seeing my sister's death, and now you're craving to see everybody else's," he taunted, a grin spreading across his face as he knew exactly how much his words would sting. He had always been skilled at hitting where it hurt, skilled at making me doubt myself, making me feel like I was less than nothing.

I sighed deeply, trying to suppress the emotions that threatened to spill over. "If you think I did that because I..." My voice trailed off for a moment as I struggled to keep my composure. The memories of Avy, of what I had witnessed, of what I had been through—those things haunted me, and Daisuke's words were like salt in an open wound. "Whatever. Keep being as repetitive as you desire. The truth has no effect now, and neither do I care about that anymore. You are free to think whatever shit you want about me, your royal highness. That won't change the fact that I am not what any of you say I am. I know that, and that's enough for me."

I turned my back to him, my steps carrying me toward the Castle. The cold stone under my feet felt strangely comforting, grounding me. It was a reminder that I had walked this path before, that I had survived worse. And I would survive this too. Nothing could break me.

"There is nothing you can do that could break me now, Daisuke," I called back over my shoulder, my voice steady despite the storm of emotions inside me. "So you are free to try and torture me as much as you want. It won't mean anything. Your effort is worthless."

And with that, I left them standing there, seething in their rage, as I walked away without a single glance back.