I Possessed The Immoral Empress

“Go back now. I only need to make sure this witch dies. Is there a need to rescue a demon carrying disease and curses? You know very well how many people have died by the cursed magic of my illustrious sister who inherited the power of Francoise Duchy’s Merciful Eyes.”

“No. There’s no need for you to know. Because that woman didn’t kill.”

Arvian rebutted Ermond firmly while wiping the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth with the sleeve of his white priestly robe.

“A priest? You dared to exorcise a witch? Get a grip.”

Responding to Ermond’s sneer, Arvian, who had been vomiting blood while on all fours, slowly rose to his feet.

“You’re the one who should leave here. As a disciple serving the first divine order, I assure you, that woman is innocent. I won’t leave her behind!”

Though trembling all over and barely standing, Arvian’s eyes were filled with a resolute, vivid red light.

Gradually, brighter radiance began to emanate from Arvian’s body than before.

Indeed, as expected of the future High Priest, the light was powerful enough to dispel all the dark energy enveloping the forest.

“Now!”

Arvian, in a mess with sweat pouring down his whole body like rain, blood streaming from his mouth and nose, contorted his face in agony and screamed.

“Aaaahhh!”

Arvian, utilizing every drop of his remaining sacred power, squeezed out a single drop of divine energy. 

Ermedeline, not missing the opportunity crafted from the very last remnants of Arvian’s power, used her entire body to manipulate the magical forces.

Arvian’s warning of potential death was no falsehood, as a horrifying pain, previously unknown to Ermedeline, surged through her, almost rendering her unconscious with its intensity. 

Yet, she couldn’t give up.

‘I cannot lose again.’

“Aaaaaaahhh!”

Ermedeline let out a tearing scream as she finally released the magic circle.

Her body, emptied like burnt-out ashes, collapsed at that spot, powerless and depleted.

At that moment, Felio, finally relieved of the pain, hurled blue flames towards Ermond.

“Kraaaah!”

Ermond, engulfed in flames in an instant, began a painful escape, emitting agonizing groans.

As Felio attempted to forcibly raise his motionless body to finish him off completely, figures suddenly appeared from somewhere and whisked Ermond away into the dark woods, vanishing without a trace.

However, the three, drained of any remaining strength to pursue, sprawled on the ground, watching Ermond disappear.

“Gah…”

Already injured, Ermedeline, in her strenuous effort to release a powerful magic circle, spurted out dark red blood.

Arvian, also exhausted from using divine power within the strong magic circle, vomited a large amount of blood.

And Felio… well, there was already a pool of blood around him.

“Wow, at this rate, are we really going to die?”

Arvian’s petulance made both Ermedeline and Felio realize their dire conditions.

The bleeding and injuries were too severe, to the point where the thought of actually dying crossed their minds.

Suddenly, a genuine concern surfaced amidst the adversity.

“Why did you avoid me?”

“Huh?”

In such a precarious moment, Ermedeline found it bewildering to face such a question.

“I’ve come this far, and you’ve avoided me?”

“Is that really important right now?”

“Yes. It is crucial. It’s more important to me than dying.”

“What in the world?”

Arvian, lying between Ermedeline and Felio, chuckled at the absurdity but couldn’t laugh heartily due to the risk of bursting into pain from even the slightest jolt in his abdomen.

“Why would I avoid Your Grace, I’m just trying not to get you involved in this shitty situation.”

Despite coming out alone, unable to ignore another’s death to save myself, she ended up pulling Felio into it again.

Ermedeline felt a pang of concern for Felio’s serious condition. 

However, whether Felio knew or not, he began to throw a tantrum like a child.

“Don’t avoid me. Please don’t avoid me, I like the shitty situation, please don’t avoid me!”

As Arvian turned towards Felio’s sobbing, unlike Ermedeline, who quietly shed tears, Felio wasn’t openly crying but sobbing uncontrollably.

“Ugh, this childish fellow.”

“Sob… Sniff… Hic… Hic…”

Felio’s sorrowful sobbing was, of course, clearly heard by Ermedeline too.

“Your Grace, stop crying. I’ll never avoid you again, so please stop crying.”

Felio, relieved by Ermedeline’s word “never,” sobbed louder than before.

‘Ugh, why lie right in the middle.’

Arvian, tired of hearing the loud crying from the grown man, considered whether to say, “Even the Empress says she’ll die when you die,” but decided to keep quiet.

‘No need for me to inform you.’

After a moment of silence and as Ermedeline, who had been troubled by her own past actions flowing from Ermond’s mouth, calmed down a bit, she spoke with a heavy voice.

“What my brother said…”

Arvian knew her innocence, but Felio didn’t possess grand abilities to see the colors of the soul. 

Yet Felio’s response was firm and unwavering.

“I may not be the disciple of gods, but I can tell when that bastard is lying.”

“Is that so?”

“No, rather than thinking his words are lies, it’s simply about knowing who the Empress really is.”

Ermedeline, certain that Felio didn’t misunderstand her, chuckled near the lips.

“I see. You know me, and that’s all that matters.”

In the midst of their lives ebbing away, it was strange how their hearts felt so at ease.

“Hey, over there!”

At that moment, the girl who had fled earlier was seen running back with priests.

Two of them, smiling through tears, and the other with an exasperated expression, were found lying side by side on the dark forest floor.

“Aaaah! Empress!”

At the moment when the dagger was about to pierce, the little girl screamed in despair as she looked at Ermedeline’s condition.

“What do I do… Uhuhuhuhuh… Please don’t die… Uhuhuhuh…”

Helen’s sister, shedding tears and mucus as she cried, made Ermedeline’s tears well up even more.

“I can’t die right now. I don’t want to show them my death.”

Ermedeline wanted to raise her hand to comfort the sobbing girl’s distraught face and wipe away her tears, but she didn’t have the strength to even move her fingers.

At that moment, fortunately, Noctavinus, who had become a wreck while chasing after the slender girl, came into view.

“I won’t die.”

Seeing the three lying in the pool of blood, Noctavinus hastily rushed over and immediately exerted divine power.

Indeed, a High Priest. 

All three felt an immediate sense of relief.

“You must rest for a few days.”

Noctavinus, after witnessing the scene but without asking any further questions, merely provided treatment to them.

However, with a compassionate expression, Noctavinus personally took Ermedeline’s hand and helped her up.

Ermedeline, barely able to catch her breath, was about to express her gratitude before Arvian, who had managed to rise on his own before she could speak, pointed at the two of them.

“You! You there! Arrest them immediately!”

The priests pointed out by Arvian attempted to flee, but other nearby priests caught off guard, restrained them.

“These guys were spies. Planted by Ermond. No wonder they seemed suspicious…”

The priests couldn’t comprehend Arvian’s latter statement, but the former was enough to shock them.

“If it’s Ermond, then he’s the witch’s brother …”

As the priest began to speak, he suddenly caught himself, looking at Ermedeline for her reaction.

“That’s right. My brother.”

“Surely you two didn’t plot to attack the Grand Temple…”

“Oh, not this again.”

As the endless cycle of misunderstandings resumed, Ermedeline found herself too weary to explain. 

At that moment, the younger sister of Helen vigorously grabbed the throat of the priest who had spoken up.

“That’s not true! She saved me! She… got stabbed with a knife to save me! Uhuhuhuh…”

Perhaps affected by the sorrowful words of the priest, the girl’s tears burst out once again, interrupting her speech.

“I’m sorry. I truly thought my sister died because of the Empress… I’m so sorry. Uhuhuhuh…”

Despite her body still lacking strength, Ermedeline forced herself to move closer to comfort the girl.

“What about your mother? Helen mentioned your mother too. She isn’t still captured, is she?”

She asked desperately, hoping for a negative answer, but the girl weakly shook her head from side to side.

“Damn it!”

Though Ermedeline had made efforts to use dignified and regal language as an Empress in front of others, she couldn’t control her lips in the face of despair.

“I will definitely rescue your mother. I promise to save her!”

“Yes, Your Majesty. And I am truly… truly sorry…”

The tear-covered gaze of the girl was directed towards the floor.

Seeing this, Ermedeline personally wiped away the tears from the girl’s face.

“No, it’s my fault. I should have saved you sooner. I’m sorry.”

In reality, even though she didn’t directly cause Helen’s death, it was true that Helen died because of her.

If only Helen had truly feared and resented her, the curse might not have rebounded so easily. 

How did Helen, so fearful and weak-hearted, approach her?

Moreover, she heard that Helen’s mother was still captured by that madman.

Ermedeline felt a surge of boiling rage as if every vein in her body was about to burst.

At that moment, Arvian witnessed it all.

The moment when Ermedeline’s soul, once pure white, turned crimson.

However, this hue was not the murky, disgusting red he had seen so often. 

Instead, it resembled the sacred crimson glow that emanated from the favor of the gods, like a divine halo ablaze at the top of the palace.

***

It was the afternoon when Ermedeline was barely recovering from her injuries.

Leopold organized an elegant ball at his mansion.

Though smaller in scale compared to the grandiose events held in the palace gardens, his ballroom, adorned with all sorts of exotic trees and animals, was dazzling enough to captivate the eyes.

On one side of the ballroom, acrobats in exotic attire were displaying breathtaking feats.

Though mindful of Henry’s watchful eyes, nobles didn’t want to miss the chance to witness such rare spectacles and attended his ball in large numbers.

It was a social period, gathering the influential families of the empire.

At one point, the music paused, and Leopold descended the staircase with slow, leisurely steps.

Beside him, a large leopard with eyes akin to his own golden gaze stood guard.

Nobles, witnessing the pacing leopard by his side, felt both fearful and reverential, as if it were a guard dog and yet something to be revered at the same time.

In the Ballius Empire, it was a long-standing tradition to showcase one’s wealth and power by raising leopards as companions to the royal family. 

While anyone with money could raise other wild animals, leopards, as symbols of the imperial family, were exclusively raised by the royalty.

Leopold was hesitant about bringing his long-time friend to such a perilous place. 

However, due to Langen’s insistence for safety reasons, Leopold reluctantly brought the leopard to the capital a while ago.

Yet, in this place, which could be considered hostile territory, Leopold had no intention of employing his long-time companion as a guard. 

Therefore, this moment was rather uncomfortable for him. 

However, the leopard, proudly paraded down the stairs with a dignified gait by his master’s side, finally meeting his owner after a long time.

As the attention of the people focused, the Leopard feeling content, rubbed his cheek against Leopold’s leg like a cat.

Observing this sight, the nobles shared their thoughts among themselves.

“Managing such a wild beast so docilely; he’s definitely not an ordinary person.”

“Born aristocrats are indeed different. Look at the relaxed attitude even with a wild animal nearby.”

“Privilege of the aristocracy. Looking at the bloodline alone, he certainly seems more fitting for an emperor.”

“If Leopold becomes the emperor, there will be a more substantial interaction between the Ballius Empire and us. The value of ports within our territories will increase.”

“If the heir of the Ballius Empire becomes the emperor, wouldn’t the incessant border disputes calm down a bit? Who would dare challenge such a powerful empire?”

At that moment, Leopold started to appear more regal in the eyes of the nobles than even Henry.