I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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#04
What?!
I stared at the Emperor with my mouth hanging open, utterly speechless.
The Emperor met my gaze with an icy expression and a faint smile playing at his lips.
“Since none of the previous Empress candidates lasted more than two days, you should prepare yourself mentally.”
The Banquet Hall erupted in murmurs.
My insides churned far more violently. I’d been wondering whether the Emperor would behead me or have me hanged, and now he was speaking of an Empress? What madness was this?
‘What kind of insane development is this…?’
Shock had rendered me deaf to his words about the previous candidates failing to last two days.
It wasn’t just I who was stunned—everyone else, their faces slack with disbelief, suddenly snapped back to awareness and gasped sharply.
“Your Majesty!”
An elderly Minister strode forward from one side of the Banquet Hall, raising his voice.
“This decision is far too hasty!”
“Indeed, Your Majesty!”
“The selection of an Empress requires careful deliberation. We must examine family background, education, political influence—all of it!”
“And above all, we must consider the dignity of the families who sent their precious daughters for this occasion…”
The Ministers, sensing an opportunity, joined the elderly nobleman’s protest, their objections echoing through the Banquet Hall. The Emperor listened to them in silence, waiting for the commotion to subside before speaking slowly.
“I rejected the Falkenstein family because they are too powerful.”
The Emperor’s already quiet voice grew colder still.
“I have chosen a humble family—one you need not concern yourselves with.”
“…”
“No matter how loudly you raise your voices, you cannot bend my will. Have you still not learned?”
“Your Majesty…”
“Rather than wasting my time with your empty protests, it would be far wiser for you to prepare the woman who will become my Empress.”
The Emperor tilted his chin toward me. In the suffocating silence that followed, every eye in the Banquet Hall fixed upon me with such overwhelming intensity that I felt physically crushed beneath their gaze.
“The banquet is concluded. Those who wish to enjoy themselves may do so, but you—my future Empress—should return and send a letter to your family head.”
The Emperor, having spoken his piece, turned away without further ceremony.
“Ah. For safety’s sake, I shall return with only a select few of my guards. Since this is an open banquet, I hope everyone will relax and enjoy themselves.”
The Captain of the Guard, who had been staring blankly at the Emperor’s cape billowing as he turned, rushed forward in alarm.
“Your Majesty! To leave like this…!”
“I came to select an Empress at this Empress selection banquet, and I have done so. Is there any further need for my presence?”
“But!”
“Preparations for the imperial wedding must begin at once. You have already lost the opportunity to counsel me ten times over by failing in today’s performance.”
“…”
The Emperor silenced the Captain of the Guard and left the Banquet Hall, abandoning me to my dazed stare.
The moment the Emperor disappeared, the atmosphere of the Banquet Hall transformed entirely.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“The Evergreen Family? I’ve never even heard of them.”
“Isn’t she the third daughter of some remote Baron’s house?”
“An Empress? Simply for helping with something like this?”
People hiding their faces behind fans began whispering without restraint. Their gazes, sweeping across me without hesitation, held no warmth whatsoever.
Curiosity, wariness, jealousy, and… hostility.
It wasn’t just the young ladies who had been candidates for Empress—the Ministers who had failed to dissuade the Emperor also cast unfriendly glances.
The Ministers exchanged even more unpleasant looks than the young ladies, whispering something amongst themselves.
I sat alone like a statue in the whirlwind of that noise, staring only at the empty seat where the Emperor had been.
That was when it happened.
“You’re quite remarkable, aren’t you?”
A cold voice came from behind me. When I turned, a beautiful blonde young lady stood there.
“Ah. From Falkenstein, you’re….”
“Yes. I’m Adelaine of Falkenstein. I came to greet you since I heard you helped me by offering up your precious dress.”
The woman smiled while delivering words completely devoid of warmth. Then she gracefully bent her knees and crouched before me. Just as I was about to ask if she was feeling better, Adelaine spread her fan wide and lowered her voice.
“You ruined my story last time, and now you’re blocking my path again.”
“Last time? I’m not sure what you mean….”
Adelaine stared directly at my bewildered face and lowered her voice further.
“You can’t even imagine how long I’ve been waiting for this opportunity.”
“Pardon?”
“I prepared for this every single day—studying, grooming myself, passing all sorts of ridiculous tests.”
Deep anger seeped through her voice.
“Have some conscience. How can you act like you’re the only one who knows the truth, like only your actions are justice? Suddenly barging in, causing this commotion, rendering everyone else’s efforts meaningless… aren’t you ashamed?”
Adelaine’s words pierced my chest.
“I can see exactly what you’re about to say. ‘That wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to help. I wanted everyone to end things on a good note.’ Isn’t that right?”
I couldn’t answer. Because that was exactly what I had been about to say.
“Remember this.”
Adelaine cupped my cheek and whispered like a final warning.
“You’re destroying other people’s lives just by existing. And the most cowardly thing is pretending not to know it, acting like you’re in the right.”
“….”
“I won’t sit back and take it anymore, so be prepared.”
After Adelaine left with her harsh warning, I was truly alone. The words that had just been hurled at me struck like a slap across the face.
After the shock came a painfully sharp realization. That man—whatever his title was—had sent me here for this very moment.
‘To make me understand that my best efforts are harm to others.’
How many people’s hard work had my efforts destroyed? How many dreams had I stolen? How many lives had I ruined? A crushing weight of guilt suddenly pressed down on my chest.
“I hope that arrogant hero who slit his own throat is reborn in a world where nothing goes according to his wishes. I hope he lives an endless, tedious, quietly infuriating life.”
Silverdragoon’s curse filled my mind completely.
At the same time, I finally understood why Perenustus had pushed me here without any explanation.
‘So I would realize it myself and then be devastated by it….’
The sense of injustice that had been cowering in a corner of my heart reared its head again.
‘Then what! What! Should I have let them all breathe in that toxic smoke and get poisoned? Is it because I’m an easy target that they’re picking a fight with me?’
This version made far more sense. I tried not to dwell on Adelaine’s words as I shot to my feet and brushed my skirt down forcefully. Because I had torn my dress without hesitation to save Adelaine, the already shabby gown was now in complete tatters.
‘Nobility, honestly. They blame everyone else for everything and never know how to be grateful.’
With my nose held high, I stomped back to my room, trying to drown out my swirling resentment and guilt with the loud sound of my footsteps.
The Maid who had hesitantly followed me to the door merely mumbled a hurried farewell before retreating as if in escape.
Left alone once more, I gazed out the window and released a deep sigh.
‘Just as that curse foretold. Nothing goes according to my wishes.’
Perhaps my mind and heart were too cluttered. As I stared at the leaves beyond the window, meaningless time simply drifted away.
The view outside transformed from a dim blue twilight into the pitch-black hue of deep night, yet sleep refused to come.
I thought I could simply surrender to the flow and die whenever the moment felt right, but something had gone terribly, irrevocably wrong.
‘The only certainty is that both that so-called chairman and Adelaine are utterly insufferable.’
When the mind grows turbulent, blaming others works wonders. I applied what I’d learned from Adelaine immediately, and as my head bobbed with the motion, my restless heart seemed to settle ever so slightly.
From a certain perspective, this was an extraordinarily advantageous situation for me.
‘That’s right! If a young lady from such an obscure family that her own attendant doesn’t even know her name suddenly becomes the Emperor’s intended bride, that would be absolutely….’
In that instant, my mind went blank.
‘The Emperor’s intended bride.’
Those few short words clamped down on my throat and stole my breath.
Compared to the log cabin in the Mountain Village where I originally lived, this luxuriously ornate bedroom’s ceiling seemed almost embarrassingly opulent, its patterns cascading down upon me.
No—it wasn’t mere perception. The ceiling’s patterns were genuinely moving of their own accord, forming a long silver inscription.

Then the lengthy text coalesced into a single word that gleamed with silver brilliance.
【Female Lead】
Female Lead? Me?
“No, no! This can’t be right!”
I bolted upright from the bed, my hair disheveled.
Tap. Tap.
A faint sound came from the window.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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