I Possessed The Immoral Empress

As Ermedeline read through the records, she momentarily closed the diary and leaned against the wall, staring blankly into space.

She recalled the gaze of Leopold looking down at her on the day of the ball that celebrated the end of the plague.

His brilliant smile, which to Ermedeline at the time was nothing but terror and threat, now held a meaning she could understand.

It was a connection severed for a full seven years.

Despite being abandoned so miserably, the moment he learned his child was alive, he rushed here.

Rebellion was a risk for him as well.

According to the records, Leopold was not of the ilk with ambitions for the throne like Henry.

He had returned to gamble with his life for the sake of the lover who had cruelly abandoned him and their child.

“Ha…”

She did not know how to express these complex emotions.

Perhaps the word ‘numb’ would be the closest description?

‘That damned person. Why make such lies and complicate matters like this?’

Ermedeline, with a pained expression, tore at her hair and buried her face between her knees.

‘I should have just not read it. What is this, really.’

The diary from around the time she learned of Leopold’s death contained no specific plans for revenge.

However, as the original Ermedeline gradually regained her composure, entries written later showed her using curses without any moral qualms, seemingly experimenting with commissions she received as means for revenge.

‘What was the plan? Did the original Ermedeline fail in her plan and die? Or did she cast a curse that would only complete with her death?’

The original work’s side story ends with Henry and Valliere welcoming their first child.

Thus, even if Ermedeline’s curse manifested later, the readers would have no knowledge of it.

All of this is mere speculation.

Now, the Ermedeline who had plotted revenge is gone.

Whatever the plan was, it would not be executed.

Even though the diary of Ermedeline’s revenge continued for a while, she decided to put it aside.

The contents were not something an ordinary person could read without being affected.

Having learned most of the important facts, it was necessary to take a break from reading this history of downfall, as it felt like it could drag the soul of the reader into a pit of evil.

Ermedeline, with a weary soul and body, made her way to the bedroom as dawn approached.

Despite the pain from her stiffened body begging her to lie down on the bed after reading in dim light all night, Ermedeline did not feel like lying down.

Just as in the basement, she sat leaning against the wall, now observing her, or rather, Ermedeline’s bedroom, which was faintly brightening.

She knew the emptiness of losing something once held.

That loneliness, far worse than when having nothing at all, was something she already knew from separations in her past life.

Thus, on one hand, she could understand the pain of the original Ermedeline, while on the other, it made her even harder to comprehend.

It is possible to despise and resent the whole world.

At that moment, Ermedeline felt so twisted inside that she could perceive malice in the eyes of everyone she encountered.

But how many would use unrelated people as experimental tools for their own vengeance?

‘Is it because of the abuse? Because she had suffered so, did she end up emulating the actions of her father, whom she hated so much?’

There could be various psychological reasons, but in her previous life, she was just an ordinary citizen, incapable of fully understanding the psychology of criminals.

Suddenly, Ermedeline’s mind was filled with images of Brunnian’s decaying lands and rivers, along with her own actions of keeping silent to Henry despite knowing that Ermond had defected to the enemy and was plotting a curse, thinking of her own future.

‘Sir Felio would make a fuss if he knew.’

Why did she think of that stoic face the moment she decided to confess a potentially fatal weakness to avoid a certain death? That face, which knew no jest other than self-aggrandizement, devoid of any fun.

‘Well, he’s the world’s most competent lawyer, so he’ll prove my innocence this time too.’

Ermedeline chuckled weakly at her nearly hopeless joke.

Then, the faces that followed.

The many happy expressions of the people who had danced with her, a witch, with open arms on the day the end of the epidemic was announced.

Their bright faces, unafraid to take her hand, would disappear the moment they learned that her brother had surrendered to the enemy.

Those close to her might not misunderstand, knowing she had nearly died twice because of Ermond, but the ordinary people wouldn’t know that.

They would simply take it as the witch performing tricks to blind the eyes and ears of the populace while her brother plotted to overthrow Trivian from a foreign land.

“I don’t want to die.”

Already having died once, now to die again, not just any death but to be burned at the stake.

Initially, when she first possessed this body, there was a slight resignation to dying again if necessary.

But as precious connections grew, and as she overcame death alongside them, a sense of attachment to this borrowed life in a stranger’s existence began to grow.

“I really don’t want to die.”

The attacks at the castle, the ambush near the Grand Temple’s forest, all kept secret.

Therefore, if Henry wished, he could easily frame the cursed siblings of the Francoise family, accused of plotting to seize Trivian, as conspiring in rebellion.

The land once hailed as Trivian’s breadbasket, despite crossing into summer, now bore the desolate landscape of a barren wilderness.

The land where the earth dies, the water dies, and even the people are disappearing.

Ermedeline truly wanted to ignore this fact.

After all, they were people she had never met; couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut until she safely escaped this palace?

Countless thoughts filled and emptied Ermedeline’s mind dozens, no, hundreds of times.

Finally, the sun rose.

The pristine, clear dawn light shone fully on Ermedeline’s despairing face.

In that moment, hesitation vanished from her face, replaced by determination.

‘Yes. What’s the point of becoming the same person as the original Ermedeline just to avoid the original ending?’

As soon as the day began, Ermedeline went to find Henry, determined to confess about Ermond’s defection before she could change her mind.

Henry, after listening to Ermedeline’s confession with a stoic face, showed no particular reaction. He simply nodded several times as if deep in thought, then told her to leave.

Ermedeline was afraid. Not knowing his next move was far more terrifying than if he had openly doubted or become angry with her. She sighed deeply and clutched the pendant she carried.

‘Did I do the right thing?’

If this confession only led to her own downfall, she thought she could bear it. After all, it was only her facing the consequences of her choices. But not Ferdant. From the moment of his birth, used as a tool and held hostage, he was innocent yet faced threats to his life.

Early in the morning, before Felio and the maids arrived, Ermedeline visited Ferdant, desperate to see that small face that had grown up without knowing familial love.

Ferdant’s black hair and Merciful Eyes, reminiscent of Ermedeline, combined with Leopold’s striking and sharp features, made him look like an exact mix of the original Ermedeline and Leopold.

The only proof of their love being true.

And now, the last piece capturing the appearance of the witch when she was human, completely vanished from this world.

Mesmerized, Ermedeline watched Ferdant attentively as he took his lessons from the tutor in the living room. Then, suddenly, she felt an inexplicable chill.

‘What was that?’

Despite it being fully into summer, the sudden goosebumps on her arm made Ermedeline frown and tilt her head in confusion.

‘Am I getting weaker? Well, for such a formidable villain, this body is unnecessarily frail.’

Just as Ermedeline was about to dismiss the chill she had felt as a figment of her imagination, she felt it again, stronger this time.

Because the sensation was stronger than before, Ermedeline finally realized the source of the chilling fear.

The energy was very similar to that of Duke Francoise, Ermond, and Ermedeline, but it harbored an immense potential that was unfathomable.

The goosebumps on Ermedeline’s arm were due to an instinctive recognition of a formidable presence, a fear felt by the weaker sensing the stronger.

Why such a powerful aura emanated from a child who had yet to become aware of his own magical powers was baffling.

Realizing the immense implication, Ermedeline quickly hid behind a wall and caught her breath.

‘If I, Ermedeline, feel fear from it, then surely, if he becomes aware of his magic, if anyone detects this power, they’ll surely seek to eliminate or use the child.’

At just six years old, being a direct blood relative of Ermedeline’s body allowed her to sense the child’s potential, despite her soul being that of a common citizen, not a magician.

A magician or priestess with sharp senses would soon notice Ferdant’s potential.

Ermedeline felt a headache coming on. Just after confessing about Ermond’s defection to the enemy, she discovered Ferdant’s terrifying potential.

‘Yes. There’s no choice. Neither Ferdant nor I can stay here any longer. No matter the cost, we must leave this place as soon as possible.’

While Ermedeline was covertly watching Ferdant,

Valliere sensed that the time had finally come to enact her long-awaited plan.

‘What’s the most expensive thing here that I won’t regret losing?’

Valliere pondered as she looked around a jewelry box filled with luxurious gemstones.

The jewelry box, which had been empty when she first possessed her body, despite her position as the emperor’s mistress, was now filled with expensive jewels.

‘Using cheap jewels won’t be enough for the punishment I have in mind…’

A pair of earrings caught Valliere’s eye after a long deliberation, a gift she had worn only once before storing away.

‘Yes. This will ensure the punishment is anything but light.’

The earrings in Valliere’s hand were a peace offering from Henry, though they ended up cooling his feelings further when Valliere failed to notice the inscription on the back.

Skillfully hiding the earrings within her clothes, Valliere spent the day wandering around the castle, deliberately giving the maids difficult tasks to create moments alone.

Finally, when she found herself alone, she successfully hid one earring in each of the rooms of the maids who had slandered her as a witch.

‘Right. They called me a witch? Well, if I’m a witch, I might as well act like one.’

Valliere returned to her quarters as if nothing had happened, treating the maids who had insulted her no differently than before, all the while calculating when the stolen earrings would need to be found.