I Possessed The Immoral Empress

The pain was literal; it felt like her heart was being torn to shreds.

Having experienced the sensation of being stabbed by a knife before, Ermedeline knew all too well the horrifying agony it entailed.

So when Felio blocked her path, at that very moment, she fervently wished that the blade aimed at her was for her, not him.

Ermedeline felt as though she might faint the moment she saw the pierced blade retreating, but she clung to her sanity as she looked at Felio, who, with a battered body, forced a smile toward her.

Through Louise, she had heard that he was unharmed. She longed to go and see his condition with her own eyes, but the thought of Duke Batistian made it impossible.

She felt a deep desire, to the point of wanting to transcend her physical form or even just visit his room with her soul.

‘Why? Why am I like this?’

The warmth of his cheek and the chill of his tears that she could still feel on her palm were vivid and fresh.

‘Even though you know that your mother’s death is somehow entangled with me, why are you going to such lengths for my sake?’

Felio’s eyes, as he knelt on the edge of the bed and gazed at Ermedeline, were filled with desperation.

At that moment, what made Ermedeline think of his appearance as holy was the urgency in his eyes, as if he were in the presence of a deity.

In Ermedeline’s mind, his white handkerchief, which she still held in her embrace, and the brooch attached to his left shoulder briefly passed by.

It felt like some pieces of a puzzle were falling into place, but with the scars of disappointment still lingering, Ermedeline instinctively refused to draw any further conclusions.

‘Let’s not jump to conclusions. After all, he’s a noble of the Trivian Empire. It’s possible that he prioritized loyalty to the royal family over personal grievances.’

Ermedeline made an effort to clear her mind of other thoughts.

However, this time, she was reminded of the physical agony that gnawed at her entire being.

‘That perverted man, how on earth did he raise a daughter? Is there anyone who can go through that for a decade and not go insane?’

Knowing the pain doesn’t absolve her body’s former owner of their actions, but it did evoke a certain degree of pity.

‘Forget it. Continuously dwelling on that pain will only wear away at my patience.’

Ermedeline decided to shut her eyes completely this time, hoping it might bring her sleep.

But what came to mind this time were the green eyes that stared at her as his entire body decayed.

“Ah!”

Eventually, a scream of agony erupted from Ermedeline’s lips.

People who were perfectly alive just a few hours ago had met their demise due to her curse.

She couldn’t understand why she could only wield cursed magic, not something holy or sacred like divine power.

Ermedeline didn’t regret saving Felio and Bellest’s lives, but the aftermath of taking a person’s life for the first time since her birth weighed heavily on her.

A myriad of emotions tangled and swirled within Ermedeline, creating a massive whirlwind.

The relentless, powerful vortex seemed to have no end as souls shattered and clung to it repeatedly.

‘What if I had been the one stabbed by that knife instead of Felio?’

After all, isn’t it a body that has already died once?

In a place where a predetermined future as an empress awaited her, did she really need to endure such torment and live like this?

If something like this were to happen again, there was no guarantee that people around her would remain unharmed. She might even witness Felio’s death right before her eyes.

Ermedeline felt a shiver running down her spine, overcome with a sense of foreboding.

And so, she stayed awake through that night, enduring a death-like night until morning came.

“His Grace is here!! Sir Felio…”

She had dozed off for a moment.

Ermedeline, who had her eyes closed briefly, suddenly sprang up before Rooney finished speaking and rushed to the reception room.

She was wearing lightweight nightwear, but she had no mind to worry about such things.

“…”

Throughout the night, Ermedeline had been tormented, thinking of Felio, whose blood had been flowing steadily. When she saw the pristine appearance of Felio at least on the surface, she felt relieved.

‘Thank goodness. But he lost a lot of blood; is he really okay? Is he still in pain?’

She had many questions she wanted to ask, but when she actually saw Felio’s face, words didn’t come easily. Ermedeline managed to calm her racing heart for a moment and then instructed Rooney and Margo to prepare a simple breakfast.

Thanks to that, she had a moment alone with Felio.

“Your Grace, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. After all, it’s just a physical injury, right? I’ve been healed.”

“But you lost a lot of blood…”

“Losing that much blood doesn’t mean I’ll die.”

Ermedeline was struggling to hold back tears that threatened to overflow at any moment, and her facial muscles were on the verge of pain. However, Felio had been wearing a bright smile from the moment he entered.

“Why are you smiling like that? It doesn’t seem like a situation to smile.”

“Why not? Empress, you’re unharmed, which is definitely something to be happy about.”

His slender and long eye creases curved beautifully, forming a half-moon.

The smile she had longed to see so often.

But Ermedeline didn’t find that smile welcoming.

“Felio, listen to me carefully. If a situation like this ever arises again, do not try to save me under any circumstances.”

“Bellest and I were originally accompanying Empress to protect you.”

“No, no. No one needs to protect me. I can handle it on my own. Don’t ever do such a thing again.”

Ermedeline stared at Felio with a determined gaze.

“And this is not a request; it’s a command as the Empress.”

Despite her serious tone, Felio continued to smile. Now he almost seemed carefree.

“You don’t like it?”

“What?”

Ermedeline briefly thought she had misheard, looking at Felio with suspicion, but his shameless smile made it clear that she had heard correctly.

“Didn’t you protect me first, Empress?”

“Me, I…?”

“If I were to ask you not to, would you stand by obediently even if it meant facing Father’s punishment?”

“How is that related to this? You were nearly killed.”

“And didn’t Empress also return to save Bellest and me at the last moment?”

“That’s… I couldn’t leave just the two of you behind.”

“Please don’t command me to do things that even the Empress can’t do. The Empress I’ve seen in these past months is not someone who would give such orders.”

Ermedeline had no response when Felio said this.

In everyday conversations, she could be subtly evasive, but in moments like these, she couldn’t outwit him.

“Empress. No matter how many times you command, I can’t obey. I will protect you as many times as necessary.”

***

Felio didn’t return home yesterday.

After getting treated by Louise and reporting the situation to Henry, who had come to check on him, he went to Roberto’s house.

His physical wounds had been healed, but Felio’s appearance was quite miserable due to not changing his clothes or bathing.

“What is this situation?”

Roberto rushed out, almost having a fit, and examined various parts of Felio. Meanwhile, Felio, who had been holding back laughter all day at the palace, burst into laughter.

“Haha, ahahaha!”

“??”

Seeing him laugh like a madman after enduring such a terrible situation, Roberto suddenly recalled a recent memory.

“Is it related to Empress again?”

“That’s right! This time, I protected her! Me! I saved the Empress!”

“Oh, come on. What happened this time? Did hundreds of assassins attack all at once?”

The fact that the son of the deceased Duke Francoise may have been involved in this incident was temporarily classified as confidential. It wasn’t good information to leak, especially with Leopold causing unrest in the country and the threat of the hostile nation Frianton at the border.

“I can’t go into details. You’ll have to understand.”

“It’s classified, isn’t it? Well, I roughly get it, judging by your appearance.”

The quick-witted Roberto didn’t ask further questions and went into his room, emerging with his clothes.

“At least wash up and put on this. Handle your appearance before Alicia arrives. Otherwise, I won’t say a word.”

“If I wash up, you’ll listen?”

“That’s right. I really don’t want to, but I’m willing to listen because I’m afraid your ghost will haunt me if you go gossiping and die somewhere.”

And Roberto soon regretted those words.

He wondered how many hours he had listened to Ermedeline’s stories.

“She gave artificial respiration to a child who might have been infected with a contagious disease!”

“And last time, she comforted a crying woman you found on the road while riding in a carriage!”

Because of Ermedeline, Felio had wanted to return to the palace immediately when they were almost suffocated in a carriage, but she insisted on getting out to comfort a distressed woman she saw on the road.

“Even yesterday, she could have escaped alone, but she came back and saved me again! The Empress returned to rescue a mere commoner!”

The answer to the question Roberto once asked, “Why?” has been repeated dozens of times already.

Some of the answers got jumbled due to Felio’s excessive excitement, but the stories kept coming.

“It’s different from me, entirely different! I’ve never seen someone like her in my life!”

“What kind of person?”

“Someone I can’t understand at all! I can’t understand her at all, and that’s why I’m even more curious! I can’t take my eyes off her!”

“Hmm. She certainly looks quite different from what was known so far. Especially coming back after being in such danger yesterday is surprising. Still, because she’s a cursed magician, she might have just put on a show….”

“No, it’s not like that! Can you really not see it? If the Empress’s curse magic had been a second later, not only would I have died, but the Empress would have too. The soldier I missed was about to strike a sword behind the Empress’s head. I would have found it more convenient if it had been a trick. But it’s not a trick; it’s the Empress’s sincerity, and that’s what I can’t understand.”

“Aren’t you just seeing what you want to see?”

Roberto asked Felio with a slightly more level tone to calm him down.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m seeing what I want to see.”

In response, Felio calmed down, offered an awkward smile, and bowed his head.

“I believe that even if the Empress were to say she has no connection whatsoever to my mother’s death, I would believe her without a doubt. In fact, if she told me tomorrow that two suns had risen in the sky, I would believe it without a shred of doubt!”

“Huh? You’ve become a complete fool?”

“Yes, a fool. When I’m standing in front of the Empress, I can’t make any calculations.”

Felio looked down at his own palm and tried to recall the sensation he had felt during the day. In his hand, Ermedeline’s slender hand was smaller and warmer than he had thought.

At the moment when her hand wiped away his tears, Felio thought he wanted to die like this. He sincerely wished that the moment would never end.

***

He found his own response, that he would protect her as many times as needed, quite pleasing. With a proud smile, he looked at Ermedeline. However, her face stiffened in contrast.

“What do you mean, ‘protect me as many times as needed’? Do you think I’ll get stabbed again?”

“Yes, isn’t it the third already? There’s no guarantee that there won’t be a fourth.”

In the novel, there were eight assassination attempts described. Still, five attempts remained, and given the divergences from the original story, there was no assurance that the fifth attempt would be the end.

The only reason the assassination attempts ended for the eighth time was because Ermedeline underwent a transformation. With the constant threats to her life and the possibility of losing Felio, the mere thought was enough to stop her heart.

“Felio, I’m not worth protecting.”

This last sentence lingered in the air, heavy with uncertainty.

‘Recently, we’ve become quite close, but now it’s time to put some distance between us. After all, my life has already come to an end once. In the original story, Felio is just a supporting character, and there’s no need to drag him into this unfortunate fate.’

“You know how they address me, don’t you? The immoral Empress, that’s me. You have no reason to protect me. I might have appeared different lately, but it’s because I can’t stand this tiresome life filled with evil, so I acted accordingly.”

Ermedeline gazed at Felio with a defiant look, but Felio simply smiled lightly.

“Your Grace?”

“Empress, do you know that I’m acknowledged as the greatest genius of the empire?”

“Wha-?”

To bring up his supposed genius in this situation was absurd. Ermedeline’s eyebrows furrowed in sheer bewilderment.

“You think I’d be foolish enough to be fooled when you’re lying with such a mournful face.”

“You, you really…”

Ermedeline’s purple eyes brimmed with unshed tears. Almost unconsciously, Felio raised his hand to wipe away the tears that were about to fall. That’s when a guard informed them of Bellest’s visit.