I Possessed The Immoral Empress

No matter how much she thought about it, the man was strange.

Why did he persistently send letters that she never replied to?

The letters she never asked for were filled with stories about him that she never inquired about.

Ermedeline had no interest in the seemingly frivolous life of a prince from another country, but she did not mind reading about the outside world she had always had to imagine.

The prince had traveled everywhere.

Not just the nearby countries that Ermedeline had heard of, but even to distant lands with unfamiliar names.

It was astonishing to her that the prince, only a year older than herself, had traveled so much.

She, who would soon turn twenty, had never left this hellish castle, let alone her own domain.

As one letter after another accumulated, Ermedeline found herself unexpectedly looking forward to the white envelopes that were quietly slipped through her bedroom door at the break of dawn.

However, after a few weeks, the letters became scarce and then stopped coming altogether for over a week.

Ermedeline pretended not to care, convincing herself that the persistent prince had finally grown tired of this meaningless act, but she would automatically wake up around the time the letters used to arrive.

‘Really, what a strange person! If you start a story, you should finish it!’

‘What? That’s what happened? What happened after you were thrown into jail?’

‘Did you expect a reply when you sent them? Then you should have stopped after the first letter when I didn’t reply!’

Unfortunately, Leopold’s letters stopped just at the part where he was caught up in a dispute in a foreign land and thrown into jail.

Ermedeline spent the week without letters trying not to be curious about what happened next, but the more she tried, the more she wanted to know.

“Pr, Prince!”

And so, a week later, Ermedeline called out to Leopold in a secluded corner of the garden.

Hovering around the place where they first met had worked.

At Ermedeline’s call, Leopold at first pretended not to hear, deliberately ignoring her.

“Prince!”

As Leopold did not respond, Ermedeline’s voice grew a bit louder, now tinged with a touch of defiance.

But again, Leopold ignored her call, looking at the young, green leaves that had just started to show.

“Prince Leopold!!”

Finally, after Ermedeline called his name, Leopold turned his head towards her.

“Oh? Meeting here again.”

Leopold greeted her with a very polite yet somewhat stiff manner, as if he had never sent any letters, placing one hand on his chest and bowing to Ermedeline.

According to etiquette, Ermedeline should have lifted the hem of her skirt and responded in kind, but she had only one thought in her mind.

Ermedeline strode up to Leopold.

Her vigorous steps, unlike her usual deadened pace, brought a secretive smile to Leopold’s lips.

“So, what happened?”

“Pardon?”

“You were locked up in jail! What happened after that?”

Despite Ermedeline’s direct assault, Leopold delayed his answer, maintaining his characteristic leisurely smile.

Leopold found Ermedeline’s restless demeanor adorable and wanted to gaze at it a bit longer.

“No! You knocked down the son of the local lord! And you received no punishment?”

Mentioning such details made it clear she had indeed read his letters. Leopold, with his hands clasped behind his back, subtly stepped back, gauging Ermedeline’s reaction.

“I thought Princess Ermedeline did not read my stories.”

“Pardon?”

“I had been contemplating compiling my adventures into a travelogue. Hearing that the princess enjoys reading, I wanted to hear your thoughts on it, but I never received a reply. So, I thought either you did not read my letters or found my stories so dreadful that you chose not to respond.”

“Ah…”

Ermedeline felt awkward, puffing her cheeks and pouting, her usually pale face turning slightly red. She had thought the letters were sent out of interest in her, only to find out they were for feedback.

Of course, Leopold had sent the letters with a lot of personal interest, pretending otherwise, but Ermedeline, inexperienced in relationships, took his words at face value.

“If I send another letter, will you share your thoughts this time?”

“Well, if my thoughts… could be of any help to your writing…”

Realizing the letters were not personal but for feedback somehow felt liberating to Ermedeline. Leopold’s letters transformed from untouchable romantic gestures to travel stories open for reply.

Seeing Ermedeline’s reaction, Leopold internally cheered while maintaining a dignified exterior, saying,

“Then I shall hasten to compose the next installment and send it forthwith.”

“Yes.”

Leopold regretfully turned away from Ermedeline, who looked utterly human and charming, but he coolly walked away without looking back, resisting the urge to turn around.

‘No! If I look back now, she’ll know I’m fixated!’

Leopold’s concern was natural; from the moment he turned away, his face was betraying him, breaking into a wide grin.

“Phew.”

Successfully entering indoors without looking back, Leopold sighed in relief, his face forming a meaningful smile as if harboring a secret.

‘Princess, forgive my deceit. But your naivety is both endearing and appreciated!’

***

Ermedeline, or rather Yoon Hyeyoung, the current incarnation of Ermedeline, felt conflicted after reading the records left by the original witch.

She should be smiling fondly after reading such a sweet love story that seemed to belong in a novel, yet she couldn’t feel completely at ease.

‘Why? How could such a woman become a witch? What happened? Why didn’t Leopold know about the birth of his own child?’

The more Ermedeline read the records, the more she found herself hesitating, feeling a growing sense of empathy for the original Ermedeline. However, she steeled her resolve and dove back into the diary.

‘I must know if I’m to catch up with the storyline that’s drastically changed from the original.’

Even from the mere words on the page, Leopold’s transparent schemes had easily ensnared the naive Ermedeline. They soon began exchanging letters, leading to several months of sweet romance.

Ermedeline finally learned what the pendant containing Ferdant’s picture looked like.

‘Ah, it was a gift shared between Ermedeline and Leopold on her twentieth birthday.’

Then came the description of their first night together. Reading this part made Ermedeline cringe, but the way the original Ermedeline described that night was utterly imbued with the words and tones of a woman deeply in love, leaving the reader, Ermedeline, feeling profoundly sad.

Because she, too, knew such similar feelings all too well.

‘It seems they decided to run away together? Why? What went wrong?’

The Ermedeline in the diary was eagerly awaiting the day she and Leopold would travel the world together, ready to pack her bags and join him on his journey at a moment’s notice. Why then did the original Ermedeline end up separating from Leopold? The diary’s tender contents made such a breakup seem entirely unforeseeable.

As Ermedeline continued to read, she discovered the answer: a bottomless sorrow and pain, and a hatred and desire for vengeance so intense that it consumed her whole being and soul, leaving nothing original behind. This dark, sticky history of corruption was what the diary detailed, plunging its reader into a chasm of despair.

***

‘What, he plans to kill Leopold?’

Duke Francoise, thinking poisoned Ermedeline could not hear, carelessly disclosed his plans to Ermont.

“Are you really planning to kill Leopold?”

“Yes. But we must not do it as we have done before. We’ll have to make him leave the castle first, then make it look like an accident.”

“But even if Leopold is prone to wandering, isn’t he the son of the Ballius Empire’s princess? Is this really necessary?”

To Ermond’s question, Duke Francoise looked at the suffering Ermedeline with a cruel smile.

“This poison leaves no trace. Even with suspicions, connecting it to us would be difficult.”

“Yes, but even if it leaves no evidence, such dangerous actions must have their consequences, right?”

“Yes, consequences. Our curse is not so cheap. Henry proposed the position of Empress, did he not?”

“Empress? To whom?”

“Who else but Ermedeline?”

Duke Francoise, despite his age and wrinkles, furrowed his handsome brow as he looked down at Ermedeline.

“You mean to make her Empress, an un-debuted girl?”

“Yes. That’s how desperate Henry has become. Haven’t two of his bastard brothers already died?”

“But why support Henry? Just for the Empress position?”

“Tch.”

Duke Francoise clicked his tongue in disappointment and shook his head.

“By status, Leopold was the best choice. But that withdrawn fellow lacks ambition, ambition.”

“Then does Henry have it? No matter if he’s the son of a duke’s daughter, a bastard with such a background is rare, isn’t it?”

To Ermond’s question, Duke Francoise now smiled slightly, lifting one corner of his mouth in satisfaction.

“It was Henry who killed them.”

“What?”

Ermond asked back, his face filled with disbelief.

“He’s already killed them. That’s how much he wants to become the Emperor. I’m betting on that desperation. Moreover, if Ermedeline becomes the Empress, it would be beneficial for you too, wouldn’t it? You just have to inherit my title, govern the Brunnian region, and enjoy the wealth and power that comes from Ermedeline.”

Hearing his father’s words, Ermond silently pondered for a moment, looking down at his sister.

His sister, born with the Merciful Eyes, had made him a mere stand-in.

Duke Francoise naturally planned to pass on the title to his son, but Ermond knew.

The one the Brunnian region obeys is not the son but the great magician with the mysterious Merciful Eyes.

No matter how much the father ignored and abused the sister, the sister with the Merciful Eyes was a great irritant and weakness to him.

‘Indeed, becoming the Empress and leaving Brunnian would stop the knights from talking nonsense about Ermedeline having to succeed the dukedom.’

The people’s opinions could be ignored, but among the knights who had been loyal to the Francoise family for a long time, the problem was those who considered Ermedeline, who had the Merciful Eyes, the true successor of Brunnian.

But becoming the Empress and leaving this place would mean they couldn’t say much else, Ermond finished his thoughts.

“Then let’s make her the Empress. She’ll be the first Empress from Brunnian.”

Pleased with his son’s decision, Duke Francoise soon looked down at his daughter with a cold gaze and murmured.

“You’re finally of use to me.”

Ermedeline was out of her mind.

Continuing pain from the aftermath of poison and the horrible plan she had just heard.

Having suffered abuse for a long time, she knew how cruel her father was.

A person who could kill anyone, no matter how trivial the reason, if necessary.

‘I have to send him away. I must get him out of here right now!’