I Possessed The Immoral Empress

“Ugh!”

As soon as she opened her eyes, Ermedeline forced herself to sit up.

Glancing around, she noticed that, in comparison to the room’s size, the small window was still letting in a bright light.

‘It seems I wasn’t unconscious for very long.’

She wiped her forehead naturally, and the cold sweat made its dampness evident.

“Your Majesty, have you awoken?”

Bellest, who had turned even paler than herself during her unconsciousness, had tears streaming down her face.

“How long was I unconscious?”

“Just a moment, about 5 minutes?”

“I see. Where is Sir Felio?”

Ermedeline looked around the room, but she couldn’t see him.

“He rushed out to call a doctor.”

“No need for that.”

Before she could finish speaking, Felio appeared.

“There’s no suitable physician nearby…”

Felio, who was about to shout in desperation, stopped talking when he saw Ermedeline sitting on the bed.

“I’m fine, Felio. Just give me a moment…”

It wasn’t easy to explain her condition as her previous scream couldn’t justify it.

While Ermedeline hesitated to describe her state, Felio, looking as if he’d seen a ghost, walked across the bed.

Then, he suddenly knelt down and buried his face in the bed, as if lifeless.

The force with which he knelt down made a thud sound, and Ermedeline’s knees, which had merely heard the sound, were hurting badly.

“Felio, I’m really okay.”

To calm down the trembling Felio, Ermedeline reached out her hand to his shoulder.

At that, Felio, unconsciously, grabbed Ermedeline’s hand and pressed it against his cheek.

“Ugh… sniff…”

Seeing Felio’s sudden behavior, Ermedeline gave Bellest a perplexed look, and Bellest seemed equally bewildered.

‘I should try to comfort him for now.’

“Felio, you seem really startled. I’m truly okay, so please stop crying. I’m actually more worried about your knees.”

Ermedeline’s affectionate voice made Felio raise his head as if he were enchanted.

His face, as perfect as a piece of art when they first met, now glistened with tears that were worth the nickname “Ice Prince.”

His enigmatic silver eyes sparkled with moistness, emitting an enchanting light. The dim light entering the room seemed to respond to his mystery, clinging to the droplets on the edges of his eyes before sliding down and vanishing at his chiseled chin.

Ermedeline found herself momentarily entranced by the sight. She had initially tried to console him, but now it seemed like she might start shedding tears herself.

At that moment, she understood why people turned to religion. Faced with a sublime spectacle that defied description, there was nothing to be done but shed tears.

However, Bellest was still wearing a puzzled expression beside them. Ermedeline grasped the thin thread of reason and pulled her hand from Felio’s, wiping his face with a gentle touch.

Then, she searched her robe and produced her handkerchief, placing it beneath Felio’s nose.

“There! Enough crying and sniffling! Your Grace, you’ve even got a runny nose!”

With her mood abruptly shifting, Felio momentarily stared at her audacious face. Her face was filled with mischief, but he could see that her beautiful violet eyes were filled with tears.

Felio swiftly wiped his face and accepted the handkerchief without hesitation, loudly blowing his nose.

“Here, it’s yours.”

“Ugh! Suck it and give it back!”

When he handed the used handkerchief back, Ermedeline made a disgusted face. Felio casually folded it into his lap, as if it were nothing.

“Do you have any idea how startled I was? If you passed away now, there would be a huge trial over your estate, and they would halt all the sewer projects and orphanage construction!”

“What?”

Felio had gone too far. Even though it might have been an attempt to lighten the mood, bringing up money so bluntly was unexpected. But before he could react, the next attack came.

“If you plan to collapse like earlier, you should start drafting your will!”

“You! What are you talking about?”

Bellest, who had overheard their conversation, directed a strong scolding at Felio.

“Well done, Lady. It’s not every day someone tells me they like money. I’ll sue you. I’ll sue you. Hehehe.”

Ermedeline exchanged mischievous glances with Bellest and let out a small laugh.

And with her laughter, Felio’s heart, which had dropped to the ground, started to beat again in its rightful place.

Ermedeline still felt a shiver throughout her body, but she wasn’t on the brink of losing consciousness as she had been earlier. It was the adrenaline from her racing heart that was causing more of a sensation than the pain.

Thanks to this, Ermedeline could carefully examine the room, which, although unfamiliar, was no longer entirely strange.

‘Here.’

A straightforward room that appeared to have no hidden spaces.

Except for the basic furnishings, everything decorative had been removed, making it easy to grasp the room’s layout.

Ermedeline had an instinctual sense that there was a hidden space beneath that old wardrobe.

‘My blood is reacting. I’ve never seen this in the palace, is it because it’s my house?’

She wanted to drop a single drop of blood right away to see if it had any reaction but now wasn’t the time. She had confirmed there was something here, so she would need to assess the situation and try it when she was alone.

“I’ve seen enough of this room. I only planned to take a quick look today, so let’s head back to the palace.”

Returning down the narrow stone stairs and standing in front of the magic circle, the palace guards respectfully greeted her.

“I suppose it’s time to head back for today.”

However, the soldiers showed no response to Ermedeline’s words. The four of them remained motionless, heads bowed.

“Your Majesty, behind me…”

Before Felio, who sensed something amiss, could finish his sentence, one of the soldiers raised a sword and charged at Ermedeline. Seeing that the whites of his eyes had turned completely black, it was evident that he had fallen victim to the curse.

“N-Noooooo!”

The soldier’s blade was aimed directly at Ermedeline, and Felio instinctively threw himself in front of her.

Thud.

Despite the knife piercing his abdomen, Felio valiantly drew his sword. As he muttered something, a sapphire-blue flame ignited on his blade.

“Go! Protect the Empress!”

At Felio’s command, Bellest drew her sword and grabbed Ermedeline’s wrist.

“Your Majesty, you must go!”

Even though Felio was a skilled mage, he was outnumbered, and he was already injured. Moreover, two of the soldiers were closing in on Bellest and Ermedeline.

Brandishing her sword, Bellest shouted desperately, “Your Majesty! You must return to the palace!”

Ermedeline had never witnessed such a fierce battle, as it wasn’t something she had any interest in during her previous life. She had never even paid attention to fencing matches, even if they had been Olympic events.

Startled, Ermedeline’s body froze, and she couldn’t even scream. However, she was concerned for Felio’s condition, and with great effort, she turned her head slightly, revealing that he was bleeding from his mouth.

“N-no…”

“Your Majesty!! Please go!”

The cursed soldiers seemed impervious to pain, relentlessly attacking. Although Felio’s flames appeared to cause them some distress, he had already sustained critical injuries, and merely keeping their attention on him was a struggle.

Fear.

A primal fear coursing from her heart to the tiniest capillaries in her fingertips and toes.

Ermedeline found herself, almost involuntarily, taking a step in the direction of the magic circle.

Hesitation.

‘What am I doing? Just leaving these two behind? Going to survive while leaving them? I’m no different from the original Ermedeline!’

Her completely stiff body had now stopped trembling.

However, Ermedeline clenched her teeth and turned back toward Felio and Bellest.

“Even if I die here, I won’t leave you behind!”

As if her diligent practice in magic had paid off, a spell that could instantly rot flesh flowed from her lips.

‘Please! Please work! Please!’

Ermedeline chanted the incantation tearfully, but the cursed soldiers continued to swing their swords.

‘Please! Please! Please! Curse, damn it! Activate already!’

“Ugh!”

Felio, who had refrained from making any sound until now, seemed unable to hold back his screams any longer. The blood flowing from his abdomen seemed perilously close to a fatal amount.

In their dire moment, Ermedeline’s curse magic fortunately activated.

The physical forms of the four people who had been attacking Felio and Bellest rapidly decayed and rotted away, flowing like a dark sludge.

Ermedeline suddenly recalled Helen’s final moments – her eyes remained a deep shade of blue even as her body decayed due to the curse from the Francoise Duchy.

The same happened this time.

The soldiers, right before their impending death, seemed to regain their senses, their original eye color glowing as they stared at Ermedeline.

Ermedeline locked eyes with a soldier whose irises had turned green. Though he could no longer speak due to his decaying vocal cords, his eyes were filled with fear and resentment.

“S… sorry. I’m sorry.”

Stumbling backward, Ermedeline collided with the wall and slumped to the ground. The back of her throat felt scorching as if she had swallowed a burning ember.

She wanted to apologize, to say that she was truly sorry, but her voice wouldn’t come out.

Among the three, Bellest, who was the least injured, took Felio’s weight on her shoulder and pulled Ermedeline by the wrist.

“If we don’t go back right now, Felio is in danger!”

At the mention of Felio being in danger, Ermedeline’s mind snapped back into focus.

There was a faint smile on Felio’s lips, perhaps not wanting to worry Ermedeline, with blood smeared around his mouth.

That smile tore Ermedeline’s heart to shreds.

She wasn’t sure how she managed to stand up; she felt like she might vomit at any moment. Nevertheless, she held Felio’s other shoulder, resisting the urge to retch.

The three of them barely made it back to the palace just before Felio lost consciousness.

***

“How could this happen?”

Henry, infuriated to the core, hurled a pile of documents in the direction of Count Hallstein.

“I apologize. We’ve been diligently guarding the palace, but somehow this still happened…”

“Naturally, there must have been a secret passage! You’ve been investigating the palace for months, and you’re telling me you couldn’t find that?”

Ermedeline was not the only one who had been attacked. In the palace under the Emperor’s control, both the Imperial and noble factions had their son and daughter attacked side by side. Felio, in particular, had come perilously close to death.

“Have you found the mage?”

“We’ve immediately initiated a search, but…”

Henry cut them off with a sharp gesture as if he didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Find. Find them. Where is Ermont now? Weren’t you sure he wasn’t in the country?”

“Yes, we couldn’t find any trace.”

“They cast a curse on four people at once. To mimic something like this, they must have needed Francoise’s blood.”

“That’s probably true.”

“Furthermore, Empress’s visit to Brunnian today was almost impromptu.”

“Yes, she received approval this morning…”

“What about Valliere?”

Henry realized that if anything happened to Ermedeline, Valliere would now be the first person he would suspect. It was quite a change from his usual worries.

“As you instructed, we continue to monitor her, but there haven’t been any suspicious movements.”

“She hasn’t exchanged any letters or messages?”

“No, we’re even monitoring the tissue scraps coming out of Marchioness Belian’s residence.”

“Well, I doubt Ermont would send such a note and join forces with Valliere.”

“I agree.”

“So, who could it be? Is it someone among those who were in the palace yesterday and today, or is it someone connected to the two dukes who took the information?”

“Probably, but there’s one thing…”

Henry sharply looked at Count Hallstein, who hesitated to speak.

“People harboring grudges against Empress? There must be quite a few. We’ll investigate, but narrowing down the list of suspects might prove challenging.”

Though his tone sounded composed, Count Hallstein’s words held undeniable truth.

“I see. There are countless individuals with personal grudges. Could it be you, perhaps?”

Despite the somewhat casual tone, Henry’s eyes locked onto Count Hallstein with a cold, piercing gaze.

“Me? Never! I wouldn’t resort to such a covert assassination attempt. I’m diligently gathering evidence to bring Empress to trial. I aim to make her face the most dreadful and painful legal penalties possible.”

It’s easier to observe someone whose motives are clear.

“Okay, you can leave now. Let the investigation continue.”