Chapter 13- Butt Slap

Five years ago, the Celestial Empire was on the brink of collapse, torn apart by the relentless rivalry within its royal bloodline.

Emperor Zaerin Klihut, a man consumed by paranoia and the weight of his crown, saw his two sons—Avendial, his legitimate heir, and Veyrin, the illegitimate one—as threats rather than family.

Both of them wielded dark magic, a power so rare and dangerous that it unsettled even the emperor himself.

Zaerin feared that their ambition would one day lead them to turn against him.

His solution?

Divide and destroy.

Avendial was sent to the frozen northern front to crush the relentless rebellions, while Veyrin was dispatched to the oppressive southern jungles to quash insurgents.

The message was clear: these campaigns were not just about loyalty to the empire—they were tests of endurance, cunning, and survival.

And if they didn't survive?

All the better for Zaerin.

Veyrin, though, was unexpected.

He thrived where others would have crumbled.

Resentment fueled his every move, and ambition became his driving force.

When he returned, it wasn't as the beaten, broken son his father had hoped for.

He came back with an army—a massive force of loyalists he had amassed in the jungles.

With them, he stormed the capital, overthrowing Zaerin in a coup drenched in blood.

If I recall correctly, it was written how the empire held its breath for two months, unsure of what was to come.

Yet, Veyrin's rule was a silent storm, hidden from the public eye by the sheer force of his dark magic.

His ability wasn't just destructive—it was insidious.

He could manipulate minds, turning even the emperor's closest advisors into unwavering allies.

Ministers, generals, and lords bent their knees to him, not out of respect, but because they had no choice.

Veyrin didn't just seize the throne; he bent the empire to his will.

But then Avendial returned.

He wasn't the same man who had marched to the north years ago.

War had hardened him, sharpening his resolve into something unbreakable.

The battle between the brothers was like nothing the empire had ever seen.

Their dark magic clashed, consuming the skies with thunderous roars and blinding light.

Of course, no one knew that Veyrin had ever come to the Empire, given that he erased everyone's memory—just the male lead for you.

But it was written in the novel that the battle went on for a whole week, with both sides clashing against each other, resulting in no clear victor.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Veyrin thought of using a forbidden spell, unaware that Avendial had immunity to such spells. As a result, Veyrin faced a backlash from the spell and suddenly vanished into thin air.

In the end, it was Avendial who emerged victorious.

Veyrin's forces scattered, his name whispered like a ghost's, and he himself disappeared into the shadows, leaving behind no trace.

Avendial took the throne, but his victory was tainted. Due to his inability to remove the mind spells on all of the ministers and royal members who were under the control of Veyrin, he finally declared execution.

Though for others, it appeared that he was just killing the people of the royal family and becoming a devil, which he was indeed, but in truth he was getting rid of them to remove all the remnants of brainwashed magic that were on them.

But if someone asked me if I felt sympathy for him, then no, he was a monster, considering how after killing all of the members of the royal family he made them undead creatures and now, if I'm thinking correctly, most probably half of the mates inside the royal family would be undead.

"Damn it, should I try to find Veyrin?" For a moment, a thought crossed my mind, what if I tried to find the male lead? But then again, I remembered that this was not a romance story where she, as a villainess, would get a happy ending by entangling with that male lead who was in himself used dark magic and knew how to control brain sufferings.

So, hell nah. Maybe she had entangled with the villain Avendial, but not in her whole life would she ever get entangled with the male.

No, impossible, not even dream of that bastard.

"Hey, take this."

'Huh?' Bringing me out of the thought was that same child who first lied to that maniac saying that he was his son and now was offering me a fish, a roasted fish which I definitely wasn't going to ignore, considering wasting food is a bad thing, and I swiftly grabbed it before chowing it down.

"Tch, I don't want a pig mother."

'Then just don't have me, you punk!' I felt frustrated given the hunger was not letting me even waste my voice on this punk as I first focused on eating while glaring towards the kiddo who just called me a pig.

'....' Finally, having eaten the fish and using its bone, I was clearing my teeth, while my eyes wandered off towards that maniac emperor seated, looking towards the fire. Then what seemed to send a chill down my body was how his eyes didn't seem to reflect anything except that crimson pupil.

There was no reflection of anything, just an opaque color to his pupil and the eyes before my eyes pondered towards the little girl beside him, noticing her black hair and the same eye-colored feature, and then towards this kid who had just offered me the fish and was looking at me with folded hands and a narrowed gaze as if waiting for something.

"What?" I was definitely not in the mood to teach a lesson to this punk right now, considering I was being kidnapped and getting thrown back to that city Royal Palace, so I merely inquired with a frown, given I wasn't liking the same features he shared with the Emperor.

Wait?

Why do he and that girl have the same features as that psycho!?

"Nothing, you are really a specimen." Saying those words with a smirk, that kid just stretched his hand before poking my forehead, as if for a moment I felt my head slightly itch before a twitch on my lips gave away the visible anger as I swiftly grabbed his hand, pulling him over my lap and gave a barrage of butt slaps.

Smack!

"You little punk!" With the fist's power rushing through my body, I stretched my hand and gave a tight slap on his butt. Attracting the gaze of the emperor and that little girl, who was beyond shocked, seeing her brother getting a slap on the butt, not that it mattered, until I heard his scream.

"Aah! W-wait! Wait! You woman! How dare you touch this royal self!"

"Huh? What?" I halted as I stretched my hand to slap again, hearing him mentioning himself as royal.

Wasn't he just a thief?

"I-I mean—just continue...."

I felt confused considering how this punk was again testing me, first wanting to say something before looking in the direction of that psycho emperor who gave a narrowed gaze as the boy gritted his jaws before looking down in surrender to his fate and, not that I had any sympathy for him.

So with cheers, I applauded.

Of course, the difference was that instead of both my hands clapping against each other, my hand was clapping against this rascal's butt cheek.

Smack smack smack!

"Kugh!" "Be gentle!" "You orc!"