I Possessed The Immoral Empress

Felio turned pale.

He had always believed his feelings for Ermedeline were absolute, perhaps even taking pride in this unconditional love.

He might have secretly felt a thrill in knowing that within his parched and dry heart, there existed a willingness to die for someone, this genuine emotion.

But to live for her, to live on multiple times for her sake, was something he had never even considered. At that command, Felio was momentarily incapable of thought.

“Come on, answer that you will follow my command,” Ermedeline urged with a firm voice, but Felio, once again, found himself unable to respond.

Even if it meant betraying all his beliefs, he was willing to follow her command, but the thought of living in a world without her was utterly unbearable.

Almost instinctively, Felio’s head slowly shook from side to side.

He began to back away, attempting to leave Ermedeline’s drawing room.

However, Ermedeline was quicker, grabbing his wrist.

“Please, just listen. If not you, whom else could I ask for this favor?” Ermedeline preferred Felio, the only person in this strange world she unconditionally trusted, over the unpredictable Leopold.

She hoped he would survive this mire of fate, not just for her request but so that he, and those dear to him, could see the end of this now unpredictable story.

Yet, despite Ermedeline’s desperate plea, Felio remained silent, his lips tightly sealed.

For the first time since knowing her, he shook off her hand and refused to follow her command.

He backed away, leaving Ermedeline’s drawing room.

After he left, Ermedeline slumped against the wall in despair.

It was becoming harder to contain her emotions.

The more unpredictable the future became, the more exhausted she grew from maintaining her facade of a composed and elegant empress.

Felio looked as if he were dying, his face contorted in agony as if he were on fire.

Ermedeline couldn’t blame him for running away; if anything, she blamed herself.

To make such a cruel request when she wasn’t willing to accept his heart.

She wondered if burning alive might be less painful than this.

‘Impossible. Burns are said to be among the most painful experiences a person can endure. Could there be anything worse?’

As Ermedeline scorned her thoughts with a bitter laugh, Arvian quietly entered the drawing room and sat beside her.

“What? You’re not dead.”

“What?”

His sudden, nonsensical remark left Ermedeline bewildered and slightly annoyed as she turned her head away.

“I thought you were about to die because your soul seemed to be fading away into a faint purple.”

“Haha, really?”

She may feel like dying, but she hasn’t died yet.

Ermedeline already knew.

That just because her heart hurt enough to die, it didn’t mean she would actually die.

Ending a seven-year relationship, she felt heartbroken enough to die right there and then, but despite the pain, she didn’t die.

She might have wanted to die, though.

“It was needless worry, seeing you’re alive and well.”

“Exactly. Just because I’m a bit sad, does that mean I’m going to die? Not like I’m really on fire.”

But there are pains that are more tormenting precisely because they don’t end immediately.

“I need to leave.”

“Huh?”

Thinking she alone should endure this pain, Ermedeline quickly got up to look for her cloak.

“Your Majesty, are you going out now?”

“Yes. I just need to step out for a moment. There’s something I must say to Sir Felio.”

“If it’s that, I’ll go and call him for you.”

“No. I need to go myself.”

Rooney attempted to follow Ermedeline as she hurried out, but Arvian stood in her way.

“I’ll go.”

“Hmph?”

“If you can’t trust me, who will you trust?”

Rooney still harbored some resentment towards Arvian due to their first encounter at the Grand Temple, but since he had saved Ermedeline twice, Rooney reluctantly stepped back.

“If anything happens to Her Majesty, you, no, Mr. Priest, will be the first to die by my hands.”

“Huh? If you’re going to threaten to kill, just call me ‘you.’ It’s less weird that way.”

With a strange expression, Arvian teased Rooney and immediately followed after Ermedeline.

***

“Ugh!”

Felio was in agony.

Not being able to fulfill her tearful request, not being able to say that if she died, he would die immediately after, all of it tormented him.

That’s why he didn’t notice the tailing he would usually pick up on immediately.

Trying to control his emotions so as not to cry in the streets, he hadn’t noticed the shadow secretly following him.

Just as Felio was about to use magic to escape from the hands suddenly covering his mouth, he ceased his resistance.

Because a familiar face soon appeared in the dim alleyway.

“Sorry to invite you this way.”

“You could have invited me more politely, you know.”

Emerging from the shadows was Leopold, his golden eyes harboring a clear animosity towards Felio.

The hand that had covered Felio’s mouth disappeared as soon as Leopold appeared.

“I would have preferred a more formal meeting, but too many eyes are watching the interactions between you and me.”

“With the dance of the Rubian Duchess from the Amatheus Dukedom with Princess already the talk of the town, what attention now?”

Leopold didn’t want even the slightest connection with Felio, who was close to Ermedeline and about to commit treason, but Felio was unaware of this.

“Well, I need to be cautious for now.”

“And what do you want?”

“What I want…”

Leopold sighed deeply, looking into the void before fixing a piercing gaze on Felio, as if to cut him with his eyes.

“That grand magic at the orphanage’s completion ceremony. You hid the evidence well, but it was the deed of the emperor’s faction nobles, wasn’t it?”

At Leopold’s question, Felio’s somewhat dazed face instantly turned as cold as ice.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, there’s no evidence admissible in court. So, I didn’t summon you to accuse you or your father.”

“Then why?”

Felio asked, trying his best to maintain composure.

“I’ve taken a keen interest in the affairs of the palace lately. You must be aware.”

“Of course, how interested you must be.”

At Felio’s words, Leopold stepped closer, his smile devoid of any ease, chillingly cold.

“So, was merely killing her not enough? You needed an audience, choosing that day, that place?”

“What?”

For a moment, Felio couldn’t comprehend what he had just heard.

“The Empress is a member of the royal family. She is not someone whom you or your father’s followers can disrespect.”

Leopold wanted to shout that no one in this world could harm Ermedeline, but he managed to keep his composure and spoke calmly.

“As long as I am in the capital, rash actions…”

“Are you suggesting that I am in league with those who attempted on the Empress’s life?”

Felio scoffed incredulously, shaking his head.

“Yes. When getting close didn’t yield any evidence for dethronement, you attempted murder?”

“What?”

Felio didn’t see the point in responding to Leopold’s question.

He was too furious to even wonder why Leopold would take an interest in Ermedeline’s well-being.

Blue flames leapt from his hand towards Leopold, but they were blocked by Langen’s blade.

Langen then swung a sword enchanted with anti-magic spells at Felio, who drew his own sword in response.

Langen lunged at Felio, but Felio’s target wasn’t him. Ignoring the sensation of his side being sliced by a sword, he charged directly at Leopold. At that moment, Rio, leisurely sitting by, sprang up and bit Felio’s wrist. 

Yet, even as Rio bit him, Felio managed to cast a fire spell with his other hand towards Leopold, who, despite wearing a magic-immune cloak, began to emit steam all over his body. 

Felio, disregarding Langen and Rio, prepared to launch another spell at Leopold. He wanted to burn those insolent lips that dared accuse him of attempting Ermedeline’s murder, to ensure those vile lips could never utter such baseless words again. 

Did that despicable man know the turmoil Felio had undergone as he fled the palace? Did he understand the heart that could neither live nor die for love, solely obsessed with the throne?

Enraged to the extreme, Felio’s head twisted unnaturally, and from his unbitten hand, a massive blue flame surged forth. The sudden heat made Rio and Langen step back in surprise, and at that moment, a desperate scream from Ermedeline was heard.

“Stop it!”

Having left the palace, Ermedeline was momentarily puzzled. She hadn’t expected such a time difference and couldn’t spot Felio anywhere on the streets.

***

“That’s strange. He didn’t take a carriage…”

In her urgency, Ermedeline paced around, looking everywhere until Arvian pointed in a direction with a flick of his finger.

“Over there, perhaps? I think I can see his soul between those alleys.”

“Really?”

Without even waiting for Arvian’s response, Ermedeline ran towards the direction he pointed. Arriving at the scene, she witnessed an unimaginable sight: a bloodied Felio attempting to launch a powerful blue flame at Leopold. 

Ermedeline was not only startled by the sight of the two men she wished to never meet together, but she was also irked by the mess that was Felio. And quite significantly so.

Ermedeline’s desperate scream wasn’t because Felio was threatening Leopold with menacing magic. 

She simply couldn’t overlook the sight of a large leopard, seemingly defending its master, baring its teeth and ready to pounce on Felio. 

Whether the leopard belonged to Ferdant’s father, Henry’s half-brother, or anyone else, it made no difference. No one was permitted to harm what was hers.