Empress of Self-Ruin

Chapter 43: Queen of Disaster

"So according to you, there will be a sudden change of temperature inside the Winter Forest that will cause the scorpios numbers to increase greatly." My father frowned at me after hearing my explanation. "Where did you get the information from?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm an empress. I have my source."

He sighed. "I see why you want me to mobilize our troops to find their nest before they can hatch and prevent the possibility of monster waves. There's nothing wrong with checking, and if it turns out to be true, it'd be great if we can eradicate them before it causes more trouble in the future."

I just nodded at him, encouraging him to continue.

"However, your second request..." He massaged his forehead, suddenly looking very tired. "If this is your idea of a joke, I would say—"

"Father." I cut him off. I spoke slowly like an explorer accidentally cornering a predator in the jungle. "Is there any part of my words earlier that is not clear enough to you?"

I could see the twitch of his jaw as he restrained himself from expressing his disbelief. I only tilted my head slightly and folded my hands on my lap, and then I waited.

"You're serious," he finally said when I didn't budge.

"Very serious," I answered him, never wavering, never expressing doubt.

It wasn't hard because I had no doubt about this and it was truly the best path I could see at the spur of the moment.

"This is..."

I could see him glancing at me again, trying to gauge my reasoning and failing as he lost any grasp he had on my logic.

If he had less self-control, he would probably be wearing a hole on the ironwood floor by pacing, but all I had was his occasional frustrated glare while I said nothing else, biting back further words to let the silence add a subtle pressure for him to reply.

He was shaking his head. "Do you even understand what you ask of me?"

"I wouldn't have asked in the first place if I didn't."

"This is insane, Calypso," he said in frustration. Even his voice sounded a bit different. A little deeper and less than poised. "It's dangerous and reckless. One wrong move and countless innocent people would get hurt or even lose their life."

"I know, father. That's why even a tiny mistake won't be allowed," I answered simply.

"You know how impossible that sounds?" He remarked.

Impossible for me, but not for you. Why do you think I ask you?

"This is called abusing your power. It wouldn't be fair to anyone else."

I almost couldn't contain the urge to laugh when I heard the word fair.

Since when has this world ever been fair to anyone?

This wasn't a fair fight to begin with.

In a fight that was unfair in the first place, did it really matter if I played by the rules?

No.

After all, I wouldn't have driven to this point if this world was fair in the first place.

I was pushed into this fucking book world with all sorts of fucked up characters. They had all these amazing advantages, meanwhile, I was just a fucking doormat.

I would be an idiot not to take advantage of anything I could get my hands on. Again and again, I would do it without care or even feeling guilty.

Seeing my unchanging expression, my father opened his mouth again. "How are you so sure that nothing will go wrong if I agree to do this? Are you trying to play god here?"