I Must Kill That Villain
The villain must die.
That single truth had been drilled into my head from the moment I opened my eyes in this wretched world. Kill the villain. End his bloodline. Only then would the heroine survive, the empire would be saved, and I—merely a supporting character destined for an early grave—might earn a sliver of a happy ending.
Yet here I stand, heart hammering against my ribs like a caged beast, staring at the man I have sworn to destroy. The infamous villain of this twisted tale. The one whose very existence threatens every prophecy and every carefully scripted fate.
He is beautiful in the way a storm is beautiful: dark, devastating, and impossible to look away from. Golden eyes that seem to pierce through every lie I’ve ever told myself. A smile that promises both ruin and salvation. How many nights have I lain awake, rehearsing the moment I would drive the silver dagger into his heart?
Too many.
And now, with his gaze locked on mine across the glittering ballroom, I feel the first crack in my resolve. Because the villain is looking at me as if I am the only real thing in his world. As if he has been waiting for me through every lifetime.
This was never part of the story.
I was supposed to kill him.
So why does every beat of my treacherous heart whisper the opposite?