I Possessed The Immoral Empress

Ermedeline’s surprised reaction to Arvian’s astute answer made her eyes widen in astonishment.

“Whoa? You’re smarter than I thought?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve always been really smart. Who else but me, right?”

Seeing Arvian’s proud smile in response to the compliment, Ermedeline was somehow reminded of the young boys at the orphanage.

“Ugh. Smart, but with the emotional maturity of a child.”

“What? Do you know how many hardships I’ve faced in life?”

Arvian’s handsome face twisted into a grimace, and Ermedeline couldn’t help but smile faintly at this sight.

“I know. I understand what it’s like to survive in this harsh world all alone as a child.”

Arvian, who knew about Ermedeline being an orphan in her previous life, conceded with a gesture of defeat.

“When you say that, I have nothing to argue about.”

“Hehe. I won! Hehe.”

“Does it feel good to win something like this?”

“Yes, it does. I need these little joys. Who knows when I might die?”

Arvian yelled out in response to Ermedeline’s words.

“Why would you die! I’m here! Why would you die with the future Grand Priest beside you?”

If only Ermedeline could truly believe in his oath. But that was not possible. She had to wake up from this dream and face reality.

“Yeah. Thanks to you, I might survive a few crises. But the thing is…”

“But what?”

“What if it’s my destiny to die? Even if I don’t get burned at the stake, I could still be assassinated. What if my death is an unchangeable fate, even if the foresight of the future changes? What if the gods of your order have decided it?”

“What nonsense is that? Who’s destined to die? Everyone dies eventually. The gods wouldn’t have called you here without a plan.”

Arvian’s words, whether true or not, sounded reassuring. Ermedeline smiled faintly and nodded.

“I really wish that were true. Who would want to die? I still remember how it felt to die, and I don’t want to go through that horrible experience again.”

“Then live. Just survive. Assassination attempts? I’ll block them no matter how many times it takes. You just need to live and leave this place.”

“Yes, I really want to live too. But I don’t want to see others sacrificed for my sake either.”

Knowing how much guilt Ermedeline had been suffering since meeting Helene’s brother, Arvian bit his lip in frustration. She had even willingly walked into a trap set by her brother who was trying to kill her.

Arvian felt stifled by the thought of her being entangled in such a wretched fate. If only he could confront the gods on her behalf. But that’s not how gods work. Even as a faithless novice priest, Arvian was certain of that much.

Arvian took a deep breath and slapped Ermedeline on the back hard.

“Ouch! Are you crazy? What kind of behavior is that towards a patient?”

“A patient? Right, a patient. A patient crazed by the desire to die. Get a grip! You’re not going to die so easily. If you were truly fated to die, I wouldn’t have been in the palace today. If you were really meant to die, neither that foolish prince nor I would have been in that forest!”

“Really?”

“Yes, obviously! So live. Struggle to survive! I, that idiot, and others won’t let you die. So you need to live and protect us too. So stop talking nonsense about fate, you fool!”

Despite his holy appearance, there was no dissonance in Arvian’s harsh words. Ermedeline laughed heartily.

“Right. Fate, my foot. I need to live, I need to survive. It’s a second chance I’ve somehow got.”

Ermedeline had been somewhat despairing in the basement. Or rather, she had accepted the destiny that might have already been set for her. She called Arvian to ask him to look after her affairs should she die. But then, a realization struck her.

If not for Felio or Beleste at the Françoise estate, she would have died. If not for Felio or Arvian in the forest near the temple, she would have died. Today was the same. She survived because of Luize and Arvian.

“Yeah, if I were destined to die, I would have died long ago.”

And another realization dawned on her. At the Françoise estate, near the temple, and even today, she survived because of the cursed magic in her blood and the torturous experiments she endured.

“Yes, I can do it. I’ll survive. I’ll protect my people with this power!”

Ermedeline took a deep breath and tried to get up, but her eagerness got the better of her, and she staggered. Arvian silently supported her, helping her to the reception room.

As the bedroom door opened, everyone in the reception room turned their attention to Ermedeline and Arvian. Although everyone approached her with concern and joy, Felio remained frozen in his spot.

‘Why is she coming out with him? Why were they alone together in the bedroom?’

Although not much time had passed, Felio couldn’t suppress his rising jealousy. His gaze landed on Arvian’s arm touching Ermedeline, and it felt like his head would explode. Luckily, before that happened, Rooney and Margo took over supporting Ermedeline.

“Oh dear. Where are you going, Your Majesty?”

To Rooney’s question, Ermedeline responded in a low but firm voice.

“Let’s go to His Majesty the Emperor.”

No one could dissuade her from her firm decision, and they all followed her to the Emperor’s office.

Felio also followed them out as the last one.

After Felio left, the chair where he had been sitting was soon engulfed in blue flames.

And in an instant, it turned into white ashes and disappeared.

“Please release my ladies-in-waiting,” Ermedeline, still hindered in her movements, barely managed to say, leaning against the wall of Henry’s office.

Henry, genuinely concerned about her, got up with a worried look and personally helped Ermedeline to a chair.

“Thank you,” said Ermedeline, sitting down reluctantly with an awkward smile, clearly uncomfortable with Henry’s gentle gestures and expression.

Felio had nearly set Henry’s office ablaze in a moment of anger, but he managed to avoid disaster, noticing the slight frown on Ermedeline’s face.

“The Empress’s ladies-in-waiting are still under interrogation. It’s not something we can just overlook, given it’s a case of an assassination attempt on the Empress in the Imperial Palace,” Henry said.

“Yes, I understand. It’s only natural to catch the culprit, but my ladies-in-waiting have nothing to do with it. If they really wanted me dead, there would have been far better opportunities.”

Despite her deathly pale face, there was no tremor in Ermedeline’s eyes.

Henry looked at her and smiled leisurely, still having the card of Ferdant up his sleeve.

“That’s not possible,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“Drawing a sword against royalty in the Imperial Palace is equivalent to insulting me, the Emperor. The Empress’s ladies-in-waiting will be detained until their complete innocence is proven.”

“Do you really have to go that far?”

Tired of repeating himself, Henry briefly nodded and gestured for her to leave.

At Henry’s signal, the guards approached and surrounded Ermedeline.

Unlike her forceful arrival, Ermedeline had no choice but to retreat.

‘It seems the gods haven’t completely abandoned me yet,’ Henry thought, twirling a quill in one hand and smiling meaningfully.

At a time when the support of the nobles, whether from the Emperor’s faction or the noble faction, was wavering, a powerful hostage had fallen into his hands.

To Henry, it didn’t matter whether Bellest and Liena were innocent or not.

Liena’s family, the Biansts, might not have much influence in the capital’s politics but were a powerful family with a private army, and Bellest’s family, the Ilyenians, were virtually the leaders of the noble faction.

Henry had no intention of releasing the two ladies-in-waiting easily.

He planned to drag out the trial as long as possible to gain everything he needed.

‘Having overlooked the younger daughter’s incident before, this time, I must demand something greater.’

At the funeral, after Viella’s assassination attempt, the Ilyenian Duke had to pay off all of Henry’s personal debts within the country to save his younger daughter.

But this time, an assassination attempt had occurred within the Imperial Palace.

A perfect place for Henry to fabricate evidence and witnesses to his liking.

* * *

“I promised to protect everyone, but there was nothing I could do.”

The body of the dead perpetrator, the coachman who had brought him, the ladies who had introduced him, weren’t they all in Henry’s hands?

Ermedeline sat dejectedly in the drawing-room chair, realizing that nothing would change no matter what she resolved to do.

Though Louise and the maids pleaded with her to rest in bed, Ermedeline felt uneasy about lying comfortably in bed while not knowing how her maids were being treated.

“Empress, please focus on recovering your health for now. Please, retire to your bedroom,” urged Louise, seeing the maids’ anxiousness, but Ermedeline remained unmoved.

Just as Arvian was about to interject, having seen enough, Felio, who had been standing quietly at the back, approached Ermedeline and knelt before her.

“Why, why are you doing this, Prince?” Ermedeline, unaccustomed to someone kneeling before her, tried to get up from her chair, but Felio firmly held her wrist and made her sit again.

“Empress, who am I?”

“Who else but Prince Felio?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Why worry so much when I am here?”

“Huh?”

Ermedeline had often seen his shameless expression when they had first become close, but it had been rare lately. She quickly understood what he was trying to say.

“Are you saying there’s nothing to worry about because the best lawyer in the empire is here?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

Ermedeline tilted her head slightly to the side, expecting Felio to agree with her assumption.

“It’s because the most capable lawyer in the entire world is here, that’s why there’s nothing to worry about.”

“What?”

Gradually, a faint smile, like sunlight breaking through dark clouds, appeared on Ermedeline’s face as the shadow lifted.

“Didn’t I defend the boy who dared to stab the Empress? Besides, Bellest and Liena are innocent, so it’s not a difficult task for me,” Felio said with a light but confident voice.

“That’s right. I have the world’s most capable lawyer.”

Hearing Felio’s words didn’t change the situation. In this unpredictable situation, where even acts of goodwill returned as attempts on her life, Ermedeline began to doubt all her past choices. Yet, strangely, his light-hearted words gave her confidence.

There was no way to know right now if all her choices had been right, but there was one thing she was certain of.

‘I did well to trust you.’

Felio, looking down at Ermedeline, found her so beautiful that he wanted to lie prostrate before her and kiss her feet. But he satisfied himself with a gentle kiss on the back of her delicate hand.