Page 106 of Empire's Curse

He chose Yanlin.

She felt downright sick to her stomach. Her legs were jelly, her mouth too dry to even swallow.

He chose Yanlin.

Everyone continued to cheer and the more she looked around herself, the more she didn’t recognize any of the people. They seemed to be staring at her, laughing at her, and yet she couldn’t decipher who any of these people were. All she knew was that she was the outcast. The laughingstock of the party.

The naïve, naïve farm girl who had thought the wicked emperor loved her.

“Lady Daiyu?” Atreus touched her arm. He had probably been calling out to her, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. His mouth was moving, but she couldn’t figure out the words. It was like a filter had been placed around her ears, making her deaf to everything but the laughter.

At the center of the rooftop, Muyang watched the lantern with a satisfied look, and Yanlin appeared even happier, her beautiful face alight with emotions. They looked … good together, Daiyu realized, her queasiness growing. Like they belonged to one another. Like they were meant to be standing there, both of them uncaring about the sea of people who watched them. So unlike her, who was unused to this all.

Muyang’s sweeping glance halted on her and the small smile on his soft mouth faded at the sight of her.

“I-I need to go,” she whispered, unable to control the writhing betrayal wrangling her heart.

She spun around and headed toward the exit, not caring that she pushed past a few drunk nobles in the process. Her head was spinning and pounding, her hands quivering and her face feeling too hot.

This can’t be happening.

She shoved her way out of the rooftop and into the stairwell. The palace guards were saying something to her, but she didn’t hear them. She kept pushing her way down the stairs. Shestumbled a few times, her clammy hands grasping onto the handrail.

Why had he chosen Yanlin? Was it because she was a noble? Did he think Daiyu couldn’t have done the same? Or was he secretly like the rest of the nobles, all of whom were waiting for Daiyu to fail? Or …

She inhaled sharply when she emerged into one of the hallways. The servants moved away from her, their own expressions stricken when they met her gaze. She probably looked just as crazy and frazzled as she felt.

Did Muyang marry her only to satiate his lust for her? His desire to have a poor, naïve woman by his side? Was Yanlin the one he was actually planning on making his empress? She was better than Daiyu in every way—she was exquisitely beautiful, she came from a wealthy, influential family, she had years of education, and she had been bred for this position. She was the perfect woman for the emperor.

Muyang had said he wanted to make Daiyu the empress, but she could see now that he waslying.

He had said all those pretty nothings to her so that she could love him.

So that she could happily spend the night with him.

So that … she could fall in love easily.

“Daiyu!”

A million razored edges tore through her flesh at the sound of his frantic voice. She didn’t turn around, only hurried her own steps. Tears—of betrayal, of rage, of heartbreak—burned the backs of her eyes.

“Liar,” she whispered, her voice coming out strangled.

“Daiyu!”

She hated him in that very moment. Hated that she was so, so stupid to fall for his tricks. That she had let him make a fool of herself up there. They were all laughing at her, laughing at how stupid the farm girl was to think that she had the evil emperor wrapped around her finger. She should have known her placein this palace. She shouldn’t have expected to be more than a bed warmer.

Daiyu had known this was a possibility—that she would be tossed aside for someone better. But she hadn’t realized how much it would sting. How painful it would be. How much she wanted to throw herself to the floor and scream at the heavens for how horrible she felt. She hadn’t expected her heart to break into thousands of shards that continued to stab at her chest with every breath.

“Daiyu!” Muyang grabbed her by the arm. “What?—”

She ripped her arm away from his grasp and spun around to face him. If she weren’t shaking so much from rage, she would have even laughed at the shocked expression on his wickedly beautiful face. “Don’t touch me!” she nearly shouted, the hallways appearing to shrink. “Don’t youdaretouch me.”

He blinked. “Daiyu, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” This time, she did laugh, low and sharp. “You don’t know? Youreallydon’t know?”

“Daiyu—”

---