I Possessed The Immoral Empress

Leaving the palace, Felio mulled over Arvian’s words on his way back to Roberto’s house.

“Because it was me? She couldn’t tell me because it was me? Why? Because I’m not trustworthy?”

Felio quickly shook his head. Despite not being able to bare their innermost thoughts to each other, he knew that Ermedeline trusted him.

Throb.

Suddenly, the image of Ermedeline’s smile, the smile that had torn his heart apart, flashed through Felio’s mind.

The trap he had set, willing to die for Ermedeline. Yet, due to his misjudgment, it was Ermedeline who became the victim of the magic.

Felio still relived that horrific moment in his dreams, watching helplessly as the woman he cherished more than his own life burned black. And each time, he remembered the smile.

The smile Ermedeline had before her face turned completely black.

Though he had yelled impulsively earlier, Felio knew. He knew there must have been a reason why Ermedeline, who had been dying with a satisfied smile upon seeing him safe, hadn’t been able to tell him that crucial fact.

Felio’s pace quickened. He crossed the square and dashed through narrow alleys until he reached Roberto’s house.

“Hey!”

Roberto frowned as Felio, despite being a guest, burst through the door shouting.

“I need to ask you something!”

Felio dragged Roberto, who was helping Alicia prepare dinner, to a chair and made him sit down.

“Someone kept a very important secret from you.”

“So?”

Roberto, sensing that this was another story about Ermedeline, sighed openly. Alicia glanced at her husband and smiled slightly as she continued preparing dinner.

“And that secret was related to an old lover.”

“So?”

‘The witch had a real lover? Not just someone she was using for money?’

Though Roberto was surprised inside, he kept a disdainful expression and listened to Felio.

“But she told this secret to someone else.”

“Oh, really?”

‘This guy must have been pretty jealous.’

“Then you’d be a bit angry, right?”

“Well, if we were close, I suppose I would be.”

“But then…”

Felio suddenly clasped his hands together and rested his refined face on them, looking meaningfully at Roberto.

“The person who heard the secret comes to you and says, ‘She couldn’t tell you because it was you.'”

“What?”

“What do you think that means?”

“Well, maybe she doesn’t trust…”

Roberto’s answer was a perfectly logical response, but Felio interrupted him sharply.

“That’s not it! The person she trusts the most in the world kept this secret only from you!”

Roberto, not given the details, couldn’t immediately grasp the answer to Felio’s riddle. However, the answer came from an unexpected source.

Clank. As Alicia placed the freshly prepared dinner on the table, she spoke lightly.

“How can you talk about an old lover to someone you like? Of course, you’d hide it.”

“!!”

Felio and Roberto were both shocked by the casual truth that slipped from Alicia’s lips.

“Think about it. Have I ever told you about my first love?”

“First love?”

Roberto’s face twisted at the sudden mention of first love from his wife.

“Hmph. Did you think you were the first person I ever liked?”

“What?”

Roberto was so stunned by his wife’s bombshell statement that he completely forgot about Felio, whose face was also reddening as if he might burst a blood vessel.

“Who is it? Who did you like before me?”

“It was just a one-sided crush. So, it’s a secret.”

“No! Tell me who it was! Was it someone I know?”

“Oh, come on. It was someone I had a crush on when I was young! Now stop asking and help me set the table!”

Alicia, finding her jealous husband’s reaction endearing, avoided answering with a mischievous smile.

While the newlyweds engaged in a playful, rosy quarrel, Felio was in no mood to pay attention to such things.

‘She likes me?’

Felio tried to recall, but his mind stopped there, unable to think or predict anything further.

‘She likes me?’

He was happy.

Even the mere possibility made Felio so happy that he felt he could die at that moment. But that happiness didn’t last long.

Thunk.

His heart, swollen with happiness, suddenly shriveled and fell to the ground. He immediately understood the meaning of the faint smile on Ermedeline’s charred face that haunted him whenever he closed his eyes.

“Ugh.”

Not happy.

Not happy at all.

It would have been better if I didn’t know.

Felio, feeling something rising from deep within, covered his mouth with both hands and began to cry.

No, no.

Absolutely not.

I can die willingly for her, but she must not hold such feelings.

Despite facing death numerous times, she remained oddly composed. Ermedeline, who had been inexplicably lenient about attempts on her life, always got genuinely angry in one specific situation: when she thought he had sacrificed something because of her.

“Ugh.”

Roberto and Alicia, who had been bustling in the kitchen, finally noticed Felio’s state and approached him.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

5rt

Roberto asked worriedly, seeing his friend sobbing as if he might burst, but Felio couldn’t answer.

She asked him to live. She wanted him to take care of Ferdant. At that moment, Felio couldn’t bring himself to respond. Ermedeline’s death was a death sentence for him as well.

For the first time, he understood the depth of his feelings, willing to risk everything for her. Felio was ready to die if it meant Ermedeline would be safe. He was prepared to lose everything if it meant protecting her future.

She didn’t need to know. She didn’t need to acknowledge his feelings. She could be happy with someone else, and that would be enough for him. He intended to safeguard her future with everything he had.

Ermedeline smiled. Even in the face of her death, she smiled. She easily forgave the boy who stabbed her and accepted Viella, who conspired against her, as a maid. Knowing she would die, she stepped into Ermond’s magical circle for Heather. And she smiled, seeing Felio safe, with her charred face.

“Like me? She likes me?”

It was a precious realization, but it wasn’t what Felio wanted. Why did she have to bear everything alone? Why was she willing to take on all the responsibility and die? And why did she treat him the same as everyone else?

Although he started with the desire to live, Ermedeline had never valued another’s life above her own. Felio fell in love with her for that, but Ermedeline treated him, who was willing to give everything for her, the same as others. She never truly received his unconditional love without any cost.

Meanwhile, after parting with Liena, the brief joy Ermedeline felt was replaced by turmoil. She kept thinking of Felio’s sulking back, which she could recognize even from behind.

‘It was my fault.’

‘I should have confided in Felio when Leopold appeared…’

Though people’s feelings aren’t easily swayed, Ermedeline trembled at the thought of losing Felio because of this incident. Sitting in a corner of her bedroom, she bit her nails, wondering how to soothe Felio’s hurt feelings.

Human relationships were incredibly difficult. In her past life as Yoon Hyeyoung, an orphan, Ermedeline had heard of unconditional love but couldn’t grasp its concept. Giving such precious feelings without any conditions seemed impossible. While the orphanage had other children in the same situation, after going solo, she had no one to rely on.

Even with her long-time friend and lover Kyungsoo, she felt her existence was worthless if she didn’t save up every penny to contribute to his tuition fees.

She had always lived kindly, righteously, and honestly, constantly aware of others’ opinions, but gaining their hearts was difficult. The hard-won affections would quickly distance themselves at her slightest mistake with comments like, “What else can you expect from an orphan?” or “Well, she’s an orphan, after all.”

Hyeyoung was not particularly sociable, but having no one to confide in was truly lonely. She always wanted a friend to share her daily life or hobbies with, especially since Kyungsoo was busy studying for his civil service exams. However, her daily life was a battle for survival, and hobbies were a luxury she couldn’t afford.

Ignoring her own thoughts and desires, she lived constantly worried about others’ opinions. At 27, the only person left from the orphanage was Kyungsoo. Hyeyoung did everything she could for him, forgoing food she wanted to eat and clothes she wanted to wear, supporting his exam preparations. She believed he would never leave her.

But even that bond abandoned her.

Without time to heal her heart, she was thrust into a strange world where everyone despised and resented her. 

In this new place, it was actually easier. Everyone hated her, so she just had to keep her opinions and thoughts to herself. The connections she made out of loneliness became precious to Ermedeline. She did everything she could to keep them close, constantly aware of their feelings. Whether eating, drinking tea, discussing orphanage matters, or even during assassination attempts, she played the kind Empress, hoping they wouldn’t leave her.

The relationships she formed here, especially with Rooney and Felio, became particularly special to Ermedeline. She genuinely loved Rooney like a younger sister and was grateful to Felio, who willingly stood by her, even though she had once considered him an enemy.

At some point, Ermedeline couldn’t see Felio merely as a competent subordinate anymore, but he remained dear to her. Thus, she was angry—not at Felio, but at her own incompetence—when he dealt with the Duke of Francoise on her behalf and took a blade meant for her.

Ermedeline doesn’t understand unconditional love. She doesn’t even believe such a thing exists. She can’t precisely define it, but the thought of losing Felio’s heart terrified her. At some point, she feared it more than her own death.

Even if she couldn’t escape the tragic fate of a character burdened with everything and meeting a tragic end, she thought she could be satisfied as long as Felio’s heart stayed with her.

It was a trivial argument.

But she had never seen Felio yell and get angry like this. A normal person might laugh at his jealousy, but not Ermedeline. She felt like she had betrayed Felio by not telling him the truth and was utterly terrified.