Chapter 1

My psychic told me I was destined by fate to be a villainess: the more wicked I acted, the more blessed I would become; the kinder I was, the shorter my life would be.

I didn't believe it until I gave a loaf of bread to an injured beggar, and he choked to death on it.

I then gave my younger sister a hairpin, and she was soon named a countess.

It dawned on me that in this world, good people get no good karma. So I had no choice but to be a downright villainous wretch.

I began strutting through the streets, striking anyone who displeased me.

One day, I tore into Crown Prince Daryl Gonzales mercilessly at the Lavendar Tavern, and even splashed water all over his face.

The whole of Thornwick City thought I would be sentenced to death.

But that very night, he showed up at my door, eyes burning with fervor, and handed me a whip.

He said, "Lady Edith, if you can hurl insults, hurl more of them. I've been lacking someone exactly like you.

"Besides, could you slap me? I want to pray for rain."

*****

I had this weird curse. Whenever I tried to be nice to someone, they were doomed. It wasn't that I wanted them dead; it was just fate. If I showed kindness, they were as good as gone.

I wasn't some twisted psycho. It was a hard truth I'd learned by risking my own life over and over.

Just an hour ago, to test this so-called "villainess fate," I poured a bowl of piping hot soup right by the feet of my fragile half-sister, Daisy Martinez.

I said, "You think you deserve soup? Trash like you should be drinking slop."

Daisy ran out of the house in tears. Before she had even gone a mile, she stumbled across a Royal Pardon from the previous dynasty by the city moat.

When the news got back to me, I was sitting in my armchair, trembling.

It wasn't fear. It was pure excitement.

It turned out that my wickedness really did manifest as lucky breaks. But those lucky breaks always ended up in the hands of whoever I bullied.

Since I can't change the rules, I might as well maximize my gains.

No way was I letting that backstabbing Daisy cash in. I needed to find a target who was actually worth it.

Daryl, the crown prince of the realm, was notorious for his brutality and cold-heartedness, and his hands were stained with the blood of far too many souls to count.

If I could rack up some "favorability points", or better yet, "bad luck points", with him, I'd be untouchable in Thornwick City.

I didn't bring any maids. Armed with a bellyful of vicious insults, I hit the streets.

Daryl's carriage was parked smack in the center of Okwine Boulevard, blocked by a crowd of townsfolk. Word was, his horses had freaked out and wrecked a few stalls.

The guards were about to draw their swords, clearly itching for a fight.

I shoved my way through the crowd, pointed at that splendid carriage, and started my rant.

I yelled, "You coward hiding in there, get out here! What else can a mighty crown prince like you do besides preying on ordinary folks?

"You're nothing but a waste of air when you're alive and a waste of space when you're dead. People like you don't just die young; they die alone, with no one left to remember them."

The crowd went dead silent.

The guard's blade hovered barely three inches from my throat.

Yeah, I was scared. My palms were sweating buckets. But I was betting that the blind psychic wasn't lying.

The curtain stayed shut, but Daryl's chilling voice came from inside: "Kill her."

Before the blade could even touch me, a sharp crack rang out from inside the carriage.

Next came the sound of someone rummaging through boxes.

The guard's sword hung in the air, unable to strike or withdraw.

A slender hand suddenly pulled back the curtain, revealing Daryl's strikingly handsome face.

He didn't even glance at me. His eyes were fixed on a yellow scroll in his hand.

It was the late King's imperial edict.

Word was it had been missing for three whole years. It almost got Daryl kicked out as the crown prince. They had searched every corner of Splendor Palace, but it was nowhere to be found.

And just as I cursed him to "die young and alone," the imperial edict dropped out of a hidden compartment in the carriage and landed right on his head.

I stared at Daryl, and he stared right back at me.

His expression shifted from shock to confusion and then to a kind of frenzied, almost perverse delight.

Uh-oh, did I just mess up his head with my insults?

I turned to run. If I didn't run now, he'd kill me to shut me up.

"Stop right there," Daryl ordered.