I Possessed The Immoral Empress

Felio felt a strange unease within himself. 

It was due to Ermedeline’s sudden coldness as if she were dealing with someone else.

“Have I done something wrong?”

Even to Felio’s oblivious question, Ermedeline replied in a business-like tone, “Why would there be? Your Grace’s documents are always flawless.”

Though her tone was rigid, the content didn’t warrant further questioning. 

After Ermedeline meticulously reviewed all the forced documents and left for the prayer room, Felio burst into laughter out of sheer emptiness.

“I should have known better than to come.”

“Even I would have gotten tired of being followed around so relentlessly.”

But it didn’t stop him from stepping into the magic circle.

Instead, what made him uneasy was leaving herself alone in a place where all the priests except the High Priest and Arvian were glaring at her as if they intended to kill her.

‘Even if I can’t use magic, I can’t evade physical attacks. Even a minor injury might be dangerous in these mountains if the priests don’t treat it. I should stay here a few more days to observe the situation.’

Two days later, Ermedeline, dozing off in the quiet prayer room, woke up at the slightest movement.

Initially, she thought it might be Arvian, who persistently followed her around, asking for stories from the unfamiliar world, or Felio, who kept his distance while monitoring her.

However, when she regained consciousness, she found herself alone in the prayer room.

“What’s this?”

A small note lay in front of her.

Ermedeline thought it might not contain anything significant and absentmindedly opened it. However, the content of the note was serious.

[Your maids’ families, I’ve taken them. Of course, I know you won’t move over this. You can deflect curses and you’re immune to poison, right? But others aren’t. The priest who passed you this note possesses a highly lethal poison. It’s an extremely rare poison I’ve specifically acquired from a foreign land. Moreover, it’s not purified by divine power since it wasn’t crafted through curse magic. It requires an antidote. You can endure it with your immunity until you get the antidote, but can your maids endure this poison like you can?]

Although no sender was mentioned, Ermedeline instinctively realized that it was Ermond, who had targeted her at the Francoise Castle, who sent this note.

Entangled with Ermond even in a place she came to avoid danger, it seemed that there was no respite even here.

Though briefly taken aback, Ermedeline soon regained composure.

‘Perhaps this is for the better. He had planned to kill me with his own hands someday, right?’

Even amidst dreadful agony, just thinking about Felio, who smiled at her despite his own pain, made her insides contort as if it had just happened.

At times, filled with terror, she wished she could just die, recalling the soldiers dying due to her curse magic.

Biting her lower lip hard, Ermedeline clenched her fists tightly.

By casting curses on her four soldiers, she understood.

Despite being her brother, Ermond’s magic was potent, but not enough to overpower her completely.

Without the Duke of Francoise, there was no curse mage superior to her.

No matter how much she built her reputation through kind deeds to evade execution, her desired future would remain out of reach if she couldn’t resolve her issue with Ermond.

And in the process, those around her would continue to suffer.

The image of small, skinny Helen with her freckles came to mind. 

It was too painful to recall, deliberately kept aside in her mind—an image of the trembling voice confessing her role as a spy while shedding tears over a small act of kindness, which was just a few weeks ago.

Furthermore, the last paragraph of the letter.

[The former maid failed to kill you despite holding her family hostage. It was due to insufficient life force for the curse to take effect. Of course, whether the maid’s family is alive or not doesn’t concern you, but at least they shouldn’t be having a pleasant time here.]

She thought the magic that repelled the curse remained entirely within her body because of Ermedeline’s power, but it seemed it wasn’t just that.

As she pondered, she recalled how Louise and Felio had also effortlessly repelled such potent magic at the time, leaving her puzzled.

‘Insufficient life force…’

She became curious about what Helen’s vibrant blue eyes, shining brilliantly until the end without losing their color, wanted to convey.

‘To live? To try to live? But at what cost? If I live alone, what’s the value? Helen dies, unrelated soldiers die, Felio almost dies… if I live alone, is that enough?’

Meeting with Arvian briefly helped Ermedeline find a momentary respite, but her heart began to twist again.

The realization of having to bear this life force once more, the understanding that it could harm the precious people around her, brought an overwhelming exhaustion akin to a marathon’s strain.

‘I’m not that woman. I’m not such a tainted and corrupted soul. Even if I die here, I don’t want to become that!’

Entangled with the weariness of the soul and the guilt she had to accept as her current self rather than the former Ermedeline, she eventually made a risky decision.

Quietly slipping out of the temple wasn’t too difficult. 

Taking advantage of everyone’s slumber, Ermedeline quietly approached the door, surprisingly finding it open.

‘Is this also the doing of spies?’

Stepping outside, the distinctively crisp and chilly mountain air sent shivers down her spine. She completed her last will and testament on her way out.

‘Part of the estate for Ferdant, another part for the maids, and the rest of the estate for Felio and the servants.’

‘At least the orphanage and sewer construction should be completed.’

Thanks to the brightly shining moon, she arrived at the designated location without wandering. 

There, she saw a smaller, thinner girl with a face strikingly similar to Helen’s, standing quietly.

Ermedeline noticed a faint sense of magic in the surroundings but paid no mind, heading straight toward the girl. 

She instinctively sensed that such a level of magic couldn’t harm her.

As she got closer, the clear, once likely serene eyes were now filled with intense hatred, with blood vessels in her eyes appearing to burst, revealing piercing blue eyes brimming with profound animosity.

The girl didn’t say anything, but she could see the resentment in her eyes.

Because of the immoral Empress, not only did her sister die, but her mother and herself were also kidnapped.

For months in captivity, Ermedeline had thought about finding them. 

She had even asked Felio to hire someone to locate them, but that was it. 

There was no frantic search for their whereabouts.

She speculated whether Ermond, who had taken Ferdant, might have kidnapped them as some sort of contingency plan, but she never delved deeper into the thought.

Ermedeline felt she deserved all the girl’s hatred and anger.

‘For such a cause. Only for such a wretched human cause.’

She snickered, a hollow laughter escaping her lips.

Remembering Arvian’s words about her soul being white made her feel momentarily relieved, like receiving redemption.

“I came alone as you wished. You want me. Release this girl and her mother!”

Ermedeline yelled loudly, directed at Ermond, whom she believed was watching somewhere nearby.

“You’ve come all the way here by yourself, but who am I to trust you and do what you say? If you really want to save this kid, why don’t you push her out yourself?”

As she took another step, she approached the cursed magic circle. 

Every nerve in her body was warning her not to get any closer.

Faint traces of remaining sanity urged her to turn back now that she had done what little she could. 

Turn back and bring reinforcements to capture Ermond.

In a moment of shock, the girl standing in the center of the magic circle couldn’t withstand the magic and began bleeding.

She knew coming here alone wasn’t just a threat from Ermond; it was more than that. 

Even if she hadn’t come here or had come with someone from the temple, the girl would already be dead due to internal spies.

‘At this point, there’s no way out.’

It was a realization that death might be inevitable.

She lived as a kind empress, wanting to avoid the flames, wanting to live, even resorting to begging from people. 

But this wasn’t the life she truly desired.

She didn’t just want to survive; she wanted an entirely new life, different from her past self.

Yet, she’s not sure if this built-up future will turn into the new life she longed for so desperately.

She’s not sure if she can smile nonchalantly in front of Ferdant, who barely escaped the clutches of those dreadful humans.

It wasn’t only Ermedeline’s past that held onto her, but also the past of Yoon Hyeyoung, which she had ignored for so long, was equally painful and burdensome.

‘Kind? Me?’

Saving Rooney from her father in the beginning, crying together with the woman on the streets after the disappointment, showing a small kindness to Helen, who was still clumsy at work, and showing mercy to the boy who hurt her, none of these were purely acts of kindness.

It’s the life of an orphan who, long after adulthood, still won’t let go.

Especially herself, when she stood alone.

She couldn’t receive protection from anyone, no matter how much pain she endured, she had to bear it alone, desperately searching for the cause of her misery from others, unable to master anything despite her efforts during that time.

And just when she had finally adapted to that sense of deprivation, abandonment came knocking.

Ermedeline realized.

It wasn’t about being kind.

Facing her own past was just too agonizing.

Her own faults, ignoring the past of her soul while being entangled with the sins of her flesh.

Thus, not properly paying attention to the people she truly should have cared for.

To rectify those mistakes, Ermedeline, with a resolute expression, stepped into the magic circle, determined to correct those wrongs.

***

Suddenly feeling hurt by Ermedeline distancing herself, Felio, who was wandering the corridor in front of her residence, witnessed Ermedeline secretly escaping the palace through the window.

‘Where are you going alone at this hour?’

Fearing he might lose sight of her, Felio hurriedly crossed the corridor.

In just a few seconds, the main gate of the palace came into view.

“Ah!”

However, Felio was abruptly pulled into a corner by a hand emerging from the darkness.

“Shh. Do you want to get caught?”

“Caught? Right now, Her Majesty the Empress…”

“Lower your voice. I know. But we can’t go out this way. There are spies. If it’s known we followed her, it could endanger Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Then what should we do? If we don’t hurry and follow her, we might lose her.”

Fearing that Ermedeline might encounter trouble in the dark forest, Felio, sweating profusely, failed to notice that he and Arvian were speaking informally.

“I can find her. Especially in such a dark and secluded place, I can find her quickly. So, quietly follow me.”

Reassuring himself that the priestess wouldn’t lie, Felio discreetly followed behind Arvian.

After exiting through a narrow passage that seemed like a secret route, the main gate of the palace appeared a little further ahead.

“How are we going to pursue? Can you really find her?”

In response to Felio’s question, Arvian unexpectedly began climbing a nearby tree.

Felio was puzzled by Arvian’s sudden behavior.

“W-what are you doing? Right now? In the forest, what could you possi—”

But soon, a bright voice came from above the tree.

“Found it!”