The Villainess Doesn't Care

chapter 2 (REVISED)

Anastasia's POV

I was unsurprisingly given a punishment by the emperor for causing a scene at lunch. He restricted me to my room for a month and forbade me from partaking in the lavish royal meals during that time.

To be honest, I didn't really care about the punishment. I thought it was a rather mild consequence considering the chaos I had caused.

As I heard a knock on my door, I glanced over to see Xaervin entering, holding a tray of food.

He had a cautious gaze as he arranged the table and set the food upon it.

I wasted no time waiting for him to assist me. I swiftly hopped off the bed, slid into my slippers, and adjusted my nightgown. With anticipation in my eyes, I took my place in front of the table, marveling at the culinary artwork before me.

I must say, the novel did not disappoint with their depiction of the food. It appeared delectable, almost as if it had been prepared in a high-end restaurant. And true to its appearance, it delivered on taste as well.

Amidst my meal, Xaervin cleared his throat to capture my attention. I looked at him, feeling slightly offended by his interruption of my indulgence.

"Why did you do that?" he murmured, his fists clenched and his body tensed.

"What?" I asked, my brow raised in confusion, unsure of his sudden change in demeanor.

"The commotion." He muttered nervously, Xaervin was always wary of Anastasia's hot-tempered attitude, to the point that he couldn't even ask Anastasia questions.

Anastasia and Xaervin had a troubled history where she would resort to physical or verbal confrontations whenever she disagreed with him. However, at this point in the novel, their relationship wasn't as extreme.

It was more of a back-and-forth exchange of words rather than intense physical altercations.

Little did others know, Xaervin's real identity is a prince from a fallen kingdom. He quietly dedicated himself to rebuilding his kingdom and supporting its citizens, all while serving as a secret spy for the royal family in his role as my knight.

He'll also be the tower mage in the future and rebuild the mage's reputation, mages are seen today as lowly slaves, and if one of them showed extraordinary power they would be killed immediately.

"It was the truth, I got fed up with them pretending to be my family when they couldn't even ask me if I'm okay." Xaervin looked at me shocked that I even responded to him.

We both sat in silence until Xaervin's stomach rumbled in hunger.

As it echoed throughout the room, he turned red from embarrassment as I tried to not laugh.

I grabbed the small plate that was previously filled with sauce and placed rice, meat, and fish and I gave him my second bowl of soup.

I placed the plate in front of him as I grabbed my second pair of spoons and fork as Anastasia had a reputation for harassing her maids with the utensils.

He looked at me confused as I tilted my head towards him.

"I'm sorry your highness but I can't accept this." He looked wary at the food.

Even though nobody knew Xaervin was a prince of a fallen kingdom, they knew he was from that fallen kingdom thinking he was just a commoner there, thus he was treated worse than trash.

I gazed at his bruised hands and wrists as he placed them resting on his chest.

Somehow I felt some kind of pity, it's only been two days since I got here and I'm already starting to sympathize with the characters. Wowww, I don't even know if I should be happy about it.

"I'll punish you if you don't eat it," I said bluntly as he looked at me surprised.

He hesitantly grabbed a bite, he placed it into his mouth as he stopped for a moment.

I thought he was repulsed by the food but he then started to devour the plate in front of him.

I tilted my head to him as he looked at me confused.

"Was it good?" I asked.

He stopped but nodded after a while in silence. He hid his blushed cheeks from embarrassment

.

"Princess, shall I help you with your bath?" I hastily looked at Xaervin,  shocked.

He looked confused as I sighed, I forgot that he wasn't used to Anastasia doing things by herself.

"Please leave the room as I need to take a bath." He nodded and left the room promptly, I sometimes don't understand how Xaervin thinks.

Even if he was one of the main villains, the book never cut deep into Anastasia and Xaervin's relationship. They also never showed many scenes of them, only mentioning them in the novel whenever they've done something heinous.

I stepped foot into the bath, I tried picking up the bucket to no avail. I looked at my arms, it was so thin and delicate that it looked like a single scratch would break it.

I sighed, thinking of ways I could pour the bucket into the bathtub.

I stood up and grabbed a smaller container and used it to scoop water into the tub, I made a smug look, is this what geniuses feel?

.

2 weeks later

"Princess Anastasia." I turned to my side as Xaervin called out to me.

This past week, I practiced dark magic as Anastasia was always boastful in the novel about how much mana she has.

I could now use simple defenses and could control small parts of shadows.

"Tomorrow is the end of the month, the emperor requests a meeting then." Xaervin looked disgruntled by saying 'emperor', it was reasonable because father was the reason his kingdom fell to rumbles.

"Do I have to..?" I grumbled and laid my head on my table.

"It is a must." Xaervin sighed as he took off his coat and covered me.

"Goodnight your highness." He said as he shut the door on his way out.

I grumbled in dismay, how the hell should I even confront the emperor?! Ugh, why do the consequences of my actions have to be so consequencesy!

....

"Miss Anastasia...?" I heard a faint and hesitant voice, causing me to slowly open my eyes. I found myself gazing at a girl who seemed to be looking at me with caution. In that moment, a scream escaped my lips, mirroring her startled reaction.

Immediately, she dropped to her knees, her head pressed against the floor in a deep bow of apology. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, Lady Anastasia. I deserve to be punished!" she kept repeating, her words echoing as my head throbbed with pain.

My door opened as knights surrounded my father the emperor witnessing the scene. He sighed and looked at me, "You barely learned your lesson have you?" He said bluntly as I furrowed my eyes at him.

"As far I'm concerned your highness I didn't muttered a single lie?" I glared at him as he was taken aback and sighed, would they not acknowledge me?

The tension rose as we both glared at each other.

"Come here my little Astheria-" As my head throbbed with pain, I heard a voice calling out to me, echoing in my mind. The ache became unbearable, causing me to collapse onto the floor, instinctively shielding my head.

Coughing violently, I felt a thick liquid running down my nose, the taste of iron lingering in my mouth. The vibrations from the floor grew stronger, I saw the emperor approached me who had a frightened face and I could tell he was yelling.

I couldn't figure out what they were saying as my eyes shut.