I Possessed The Immoral Empress

Ermedeline did not give a lengthy speech. She simply caressed each of the children once and then passed the speaking opportunity to Henry.

Henry also did not give a long speech, merely expressing a clichéd commitment to ensure the orphanage was run safely and efficiently.

Ermedeline didn’t want to exhaust the children with long speeches, knowing from her own experience that no words could fill the void in the hearts of the children standing before her.

She wanted to prepare a future for them with actions rather than words, to ensure they wouldn’t have to endure the harsh beginnings she did.

After the brief ceremony, Ermedeline stepped forward. Though she initially declined, she ended up being the one to do the ribbon-cutting as the orphanage’s real benefactor.

Felio was tense. If someone were targeting Ermedeline, they would likely wait for this dramatic moment to strike.

And as expected, the moment Ermedeline raised her scissors, the magic circles began to flicker.

At Felio’s signal, Arvian pushed Henry aside and stood next to Ermedeline, deploying a barrier of divine power. Felio also stepped in front of Ermedeline, creating a magical shield with his own power.

“What’s happening?”

Felio was confident. He believed the ring from the Duke of Francoise in his possession could redirect Ermond’s curse towards himself.

However, the magic did not change course and continued directly towards Ermedeline. Both Felio and Arvian looked at each other, confused.

The magic had been activated, but it was not a curse.

A whirlwind, bearing blue flames, shot directly towards Ermedeline.

At that moment, it didn’t matter to Felio whether it was a curse or not. He just needed to protect Ermedeline at all costs.

He stood in front of her with a desperate resolve, but the fiery vortex shot up above Ermedeline’s head and struck her directly.

Felio, unable to respond, stared down at Ermedeline, dumbfounded by the unexpected and tragic scene.

Arvian, forgetting his surroundings, even in front of the emperor, cursed and began to activate his divine power in desperation.

Felio’s magic circle wasn’t completely ineffective, as his clothes were torn and smoldering, but he felt no physical pain.

All he felt was his heart tearing apart at the sight of Ermedeline looking up at him with a faint smile, her appearance now dreadful.

Realizing something, Felio frantically looked for his father, who stood calmly among the imperial nobles, looking down on Ermedeline’s dying figure.

The nobles around his father shared the same expression, not one of surprise but as if an expected event had finally occurred, even devoid of joy at the demise of their greatest enemy.

Feeling a chill run down his spine at their reactions, Felio clenched his fists and walked towards his father, his jaw set in anger.

The Duke of Batistian, seeing the grave look on his son’s face, immediately showed concern.

“Are you alright? You seem to have been affected by the magic too. You need treatment…”

“Don’t bullshit me.”

“Huh?”

“This magic…”

Felio, intending to confront his father with accusations, lost his words as he saw the nobles behind his father all wearing the same expression of genuine concern.

It seemed as if they had all conspired to show concern for him.

The fire and wind magic used on Ermedeline likely had nothing to do with them.

They must have arranged for a skilled magician to draw the magic circles, given the meticulous preparations.

If it were a familiar magic, Felio himself would have been the first to recognize it.

There was no evidence, no witnesses. Moreover, these people would vouch for each other’s innocence.

Felio had thought he had severed all ties with his father the moment he left home, but it wasn’t so. Despite cutting off relations, the bond between father and son couldn’t be completely severed. 

Even if his father was duplicitous, he was still his only family.

But Felio realized. At this moment, all ties with his father in this world had been completely severed.

Feeling an unbearable emptiness and anger, Felio turned his head towards Ermedeline.

Still sweating profusely while activating his divine powers, Arvian was now joined by Alicia, Roberto’s wife, and other divine power wielders, adding their strength to his efforts.

As Felio staggered towards Ermedeline, Roberto rushed to support him.

“Stay with it. She’s not gone yet.”

Felio managed to lean on Roberto as he moved. Amid the flickering sacred white light, Ermedeline’s hand, blackened and torn, was sticking out.

The pure white light contrasted starkly with her charred and wounded, pitiful hand.

Felio collapsed beside her.

No tears flowed. He just sat numbly, waiting for time to pass.

Roberto was worried about his friend, who looked as good as dead. Blood and pus continued to ooze from the torn flesh, but it wasn’t a situation where he could suggest getting treatment.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Soon, Bellest and Viella, having somehow evaded Duke Ilyenian’s surveillance to attend the completion ceremony, burst through the crowd with a harrowing scream.

Bellest, having fainted, lay beside Rooney, while Margo stood by, endlessly crying.

“Who did this? If I catch them, I’ll thrust my sword into their heart myself!”

Bellest’s screams, filled with rage, were calmed by Liena and Marchioness Grania, who had already been at the scene.

“She’s not gone yet. The priestesses need to concentrate, so please, be quiet. Do you think they’re staying silent for no reason?”

Liena’s words barely brought Bellest back to her senses as she bit her lower lip, trying to suppress her screams.

An eternity seemed to pass.

To the indifferent onlookers, it was barely fifteen minutes, not a particularly long time.

But for the nobles of the emperor’s faction, who earnestly wished for Ermedeline’s death, and for Felio and the maids, who desperately hoped for her revival, it felt longer than an eternity.

Cruelly, throughout all those moments, Ermedeline was conscious.

Her skin had burnt away, so she felt no pain, but her consciousness lingered faintly.

She had suspected something might happen today. After all, hadn’t there been several assassination attempts on her in the original novel?

When that terrifying magic struck her directly, Ermedeline’s only thought was of Felio, who had shared part of the magic’s impact.

Falling, she caught a glimpse of him, torn and burnt but not to death, standing on his own, looking down at her with an incredulous expression.

Relieved about Felio, Ermedeline returned that smile that once tore her heart apart.

A moment of haziness passed, and she began to feel the pain.

Barely a groan escaped her, the terrible pain eliciting a faint moan automatically.

Arvian, hearing Ermedeline’s moans, exhaled the breath he had been holding and collapsed backwards.

Lying on his back, Arvian’s face was a mess of tears and sweat.

Other divine power wielders remained beside Ermedeline, still trying to heal her wounds, but Arvian had completed his task.

Keeping Ermedeline’s breath alive was his mission, and he had no divine power left to use anyway.

‘This stubborn woman.’

Arvian had seen it clearly as Ermedeline collapsed. 

Ermedeline, with her face charred black, looking at Felio with a content smile.

‘This crazy woman.’

No one here knew Ermedeline was an orphan, but Arvian was the only one who knew her background.

Thus, when Ermedeline suddenly asked about the color of her soul, he didn’t question it and gave her the answer she desired.

He disliked anything squalid.

He hated looking at starved children or those smeared with filth, always finding excuses to escape whenever the temple organized charity drives.

Of course, Noctavinus often dragged him along, but he always returned grumbling.

Maybe that was why.

Having himself endured a harsh world alone after losing his parents, Arvian could understand the complex expression on Ermedeline’s face at that moment.

No matter how much he tried to ignore or flee, the past clung to him like a persistent ghost, refusing to let go.

Arvian, quietly reaching out, watched Ermedeline caressing her past self, feeling more complex emotions than anyone else present.

‘Damn it!’

He thought he had completely severed ties with his past self, now that he was a candidate for High Priest. But because of her, he was confronted with his precarious past once again.

‘Damn it!’

“AAAAAAAH!”

The gathered crowd looked at Arvian, who suddenly screamed, with bewildered eyes.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

But Arvian, uncaring of the surrounding gazes, started screaming again to vent his frustration.

‘Damn!’

In that moment, Arvian wished Ermedeline’s caressing hand were directed towards him, that the smile she shared with Felio was meant for him.

“Damn it!”

People assumed the priest screaming without the strength even to lift a finger was cursing the magician, not realizing that the heart of this once self-centered and irreverent priest was being flooded with a pink storm of emotions.

Soon, Priestess Louise arrived from the palace.

“Your Majesty!”

She screamed as she rushed towards Ermedeline. And seeing this, Felio began to tilt slowly to the side. 

While everyone was focused on Ermedeline’s revival, Felio’s body, weakened from blood loss, could no longer stand.

“Felio!”

Fortunately, Ermedeline’s condition seemed fairly stable, so Louise quickly turned to Felio.

“The Empress, how is the Empress?”

Henry finally broke his long silence as he saw Louise heading towards Felio.

“Huh?”

“Why are you attending to the Duke and not the Empress?”

“The Empress’s condition has stabilized significantly. But the Duke needs immediate treatment…”

As Louise hurriedly explained Felio’s condition, Henry’s gaze met Duke Batistian’s. The Duke was glaring at him, filled with clear anger.

“I see. If the Empress is stable, then please attend to the Duke.”

Duke Batistian, a key ally of the imperial faction, was someone they couldn’t afford to lose.

Henry, tormented by guilt for having turned both the pure-hearted Valliere and Ermedeline into witches with his own hands, had inadvertently prioritized saving the Empress over the Duke’s son.

Realizing his grave mistake, Henry stepped aside from Louise, forcing a look of concern as he looked down at Felio, but the silver eyes of Duke Batistian no longer held the same loyalty towards Henry as before.