I Possessed The Immoral Empress

Initially, Felio wasn’t a noble who paid much attention to the lives of the common people. Naturally, he fulfilled his duties as a magician and the Empire’s servant, but he was never someone who sincerely empathized with the suffering of others and acted upon it.

Therefore, he couldn’t understand Ermedeline’s actions. Among those she hadn’t gone too far to help, there was a boy who had stabbed her, and Valliere, who, unbeknownst to Ermedeline, had provided information to the Francoise Duchy to kill her.

The Felio of the past might have looked at Ermedeline’s actions as foolishness, regarding them with a cynical gaze. But now, he couldn’t do that anymore.

He couldn’t simply mock her actions that he couldn’t understand. The disparity between the life of an Empress of the Empire and that of an ordinary girl was undeniable.

Felio was just an ordinary noble who usually had these thoughts. However, the woman he loved willingly risked her life for that girl. Therefore, no matter how foolish or stupid her actions might seem, he couldn’t criticize them.

This was also because of the sight of Ermedeline, whom he had fallen in love with. She couldn’t abandon Ferdant, nor could she turn away from Helen’s mother held captive by Ermond. Perhaps the day when the two could escape together might never come. Perhaps he might have to linger by her side forever, bearing the burden of an irrepayable heart.

‘Forever, a lifetime…’

Those despairing words that felt like a sentence of death for the future somehow lingered around his lips. Felio quietly tried to articulate that word.

‘Forever. The word ‘forever.’’

A faint smile appeared on his face filled with anguish. 

***

After recovering somewhat from her injuries, Ermedeline had been staying in the prayer room, quietly organizing her thoughts. Heather received some interrogation but was released without any significant charges.

At first, she considered making her a maid, but Ermedeline changed her mind.

‘I’m thinking of sending her to an orphanage. She’s still young, isn’t she? I want her to receive an education.’

Though Felio believed that it would be better for her to live as the Empress’s maid rather than receiving an education as a girl, he accepted her plea without much objection.

Then there was Ermond.

Even though Helen didn’t know exactly where she was being held, based on what she had witnessed, it was almost certain that her blood relation was preparing a massive curse against Trivian.

‘What kind of vicious magic are they preparing to kill people like this?’

Hundreds of corpses from what Helen had witnessed.

Ermedeline was so furious when considering the shock a young girl would receive that it felt as if the lid of her mind would literally blow off.

‘To just kill so many people in order to complete a curse?'”

Though Ermedeline had heard about the disappearance of soldiers who crossed the border a few times from Henry’s office, she didn’t expect it to be so closely related and blamed her own indifference.

‘Right. It wasn’t deeply explored even in the original. Trivian finding stability in the Empire wasn’t such an old event. It had quite a long-standing dispute with some countries…’

Ermedeline felt bitter towards her past self who thought of the original as mundane and just skimmed through it.

‘I can’t just let this be. They will keep targeting me. No, would it be better if it’s only me they target? Looking at the scale of the curse, it’s clear it’s not just me they’re after.’

Having promised Heather to save her mother, she needed to find Ermond. However, his traces had long disappeared around the Grand Temple.

Moreover, Felio went as far as making such a risky statement.

‘Even though it seemed he had perfectly planned the escape, it might be better if I myself lure them near the border…’

Felio, who had been suppressing emotions that still simmered as if they might overflow at any moment for having missed Ermond, growled while looking at Ermedeline and trailed off his words.

However, Ermedeline could immediately understand what he meant.

‘Lure them? That dangerous individual? We really can’t just leave it be. I must handle it within my jurisdiction somehow.’

‘Ah! All I want is to live peacefully! I’ve finally become wealthy, I just want to live a bit! Why do problems keep piling up like this!’

Rather than praying, at that moment when she was about to pour out her resentment towards the deities that Ermedeline had incarnated into her body, Noctavinus found her.

“Your Majesty, may I have a moment of your time?”

Ermedeline, who happened to have something to inquire about, nodded in response to his request.

“Yes, of course! I actually had a question myself!”

“Heh heh. I see. Then, I will excuse myself for a moment.”

Noctavinus, entering the prayer room with a leisurely gesture, first kneeled and began to pray.

Though Ermedeline was anxious, she couldn’t disrupt the Grand Temple’s prayer. Consequently, she also kneeled and waited for his prayer to conclude, sneaking glances.

“What is it that you wish to ask me?”

At last, when he opened his mouth, Ermedeline promptly inquired without hesitation.

“You heard from Arvian, right? That I’m not this woman.”

With Ermedeline straightforwardly cutting to the chase without any beating around the bush, Noctavinus, showing no signs of surprise, wore a composed smile and nodded.

“Yes. I am aware.”

“But you’re from the Grand Temple, right? Don’t you know why I’m here, why I’ve become incarnated into this body of all things? I feel so frustrated I could die.”

“I didn’t know the reason until recently.”

“Really? There was a reason! What is it?”

Ermedeline, hopeful that she might finally hear the answer after months of pondering, waited eagerly with a bright smile for his response.

“It’s because of you.”

“Me?”

“Arvian said so. That you are the opposite of a once dark but now sorrowful soul—a white and sorrowful soul.”

“What?”

The empress’s solemnity disappeared from Ermedeline’s face, and her original puzzled expression returned.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Your Majesty. If it weren’t for Your Majesty, Trivian would have suffered from the epidemic for several more years.”

“Well, you know, we had thorough quarantine measures…”

“That’s not it. I’m talking about the weakening of the curse, which was the origin of the epidemic.”

“The curse?”

Ermedeline, despite having read the original novel, hadn’t thought that the end of the epidemic was due to the weakening of the curse, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Yes. Quite literally, a plague. The fact that the curse, the root cause, disappeared led to the rapid end of the epidemic. Of course, it’s a fact that during that period, people were saved from infection due to measures besides the infections themselves.”

“So, you’re saying that Ermedeline’s curse magic disappeared, leading to the end of the epidemic?”

“That’s the fundamental cause.”

“So, am I here trying to end the epidemic? Do you know how many times I’ve almost died?”

Suddenly feeling unjust, Ermedeline sighed deeply and expressed her irritation.

“Yes, I understand. I heard it from Louise.”

“I mean, I wasn’t a saint, but I wasn’t so bad that someone would want me dead. So, I’m really frustrated with this situation.”

Helen had already died, and Felio had almost died, not knowing if it might be only her next. Ermedeline bit her lip, showing a pout due to her distressing feelings.

Noctavinus quietly approached her and gently took her hand.

“Being who you are, and being in this particular body, all have reasons.”

“So, what are those reasons, then?”

“I lack the ability to know that. The deities have granted me various abilities, but the power to foresee the future is not among them.”

“Ah! Frustrating! So, you also don’t know?”

Seeing the empress’s solemnity forced upon her vanish completely, leaving only the irritation of the ordinary human Yoon Hyeyoung, Noctavinus chuckled softly.

“Then, just leave?”

“Leave?”

“You’ve become wealthy, haven’t you? Just gather your money and quietly depart to a foreign land. If you depart from here, I’ll buy you some time, at least a day.”

Despite the apparent bravado, Noctavinus’ eyes, void of any humor, were deeply serious.

“Well, if I could really do that, I would like to.”

“Then, do just that.”

“How can you say that? There’s Ferdant in the capital, and I haven’t even found Helen’s mother yet.”

“Those people don’t matter anyway, do they? They were never your connections to begin with. Just gather your wealth and leave.”

Ermedeline sighed deeply, tapped her forehead firmly, then glanced at Noctavinus.

“You knew I couldn’t leave, right?”

At Ermedeline’s words, a hint of amusement returned to Noctavinus’s face.

“I am the first servant of the gods. I do not question the decisions of the gods.”

“Then please tell the gods for me! I’m tired of being poked by fate with a sword.”

“I’ll convey your words, but I can’t guarantee there won’t be such events again.”

Frustrated, Ermedeline raised her voice while watching Noctavinus, who wore a serene smile.

“But you’re from the Grand Temple! Can’t you prevent… um, stabbings… no, what should I call it? Can’t you at least stop that kind of thing?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not possible. Every moment passed was a necessary moment for Your Majesty, without any moment or connection passing by without reason.”

“Was it necessary for me to have holes in my stomach? Are you saying that?”

“Yes, indeed. And this time, didn’t Arvian neatly patch up the hole?”

“Will it be patched up? Do you know how painful it is to have holes? Ahhh… so annoying…”

Seeing Ermedeline now lying despondently in the prayer room, Noctavinus made a suggestive proposal.

“While we cannot stop the gods’ plans, I will send Arvian as Your Majesty’s exclusive priest to the palace. If there are any more holes in your stomach, they can be patched up immediately.”

Ermedeline was somewhat taken aback by this kind of joke or suggestion, but acknowledging that having an ally who understood her situation might be somewhat comforting, she nodded reluctantly while wearing a displeased expression.

“Yes. I’d appreciate it if you do so.”

***

In a dark and large room, Ermond sat leisurely on a chair covered with thick black fur, reading a letter with a relaxed posture.

Although the room was filled with the stench of dying individuals and dreadful screams, Ermond’s composed expression seemed as though they were enjoying a tea time.

“Hmm. Truly a useless woman. Neither Henry nor Leopold showed any interest.”

Despite the fact that their father, Duke Francoise, faced such a dismal death, the woman who provided useless information survived without paying any price and became a Marchioness.

“Tsk. Even though evidence was sent, why does Henry still keep that woman alive? But still, she might not be entirely useless. It seems she might be capable of committing murder herself, which is better than being completely useless.”

After a brief contemplation, Ermond dipped the pen into ink and began writing a reply.

‘Encourage it more. The more serious the misconception, the better. Inflate her expectations as much as possible. The more despair, the more effective it will be.’

Originally, Ermond had intended to eliminate Valliere even if Henry didn’t act himself.

However, after hearing that Henry had confined her after her loss of the child, Ermond had a change of heart.

Wounded souls are easily tainted by malice, and the deeper the grudge, the more powerful the curse becomes.

“I hope you won’t disappoint this time.”

“His Majesty the King is requesting your presence.”

Handing over the letter to the page, Ermond swiftly wiped the relaxed smile off their face upon hearing the words from the royal guard.

Since the failed assassination of Ermedeline, the King of Frianton had been persistently pressuring Ermond.

“Did you summon me?”

Despite Ermond’s courteous greeting, deep furrows remained on the King of Frianton’s brow.

“The curse? When will the curse be completed? How long do I have to endure seeing that wretched lineage ruling as emperors?”

Deep vertical lines akin to distress were etched on both cheeks of the aging king, who was already past middle age and looking towards old age.

“A large-scale curse isn’t something achieved overnight. It requires a substantial amount of ingredients and, most importantly, time.”

“If it’s about ingredients, aren’t they already in abundance?”

“Of course. However, it’s still premature. We need to await Leopold’s activity to mobilize the soldiers from the borders towards the capital.”

“Is the curse guaranteed to be activated?”

“Yes, I’ve invested quite an effort. Nevertheless, I’m thoroughly prepared in case anything goes wrong.”

“Prepared?”

In response to the King of Frianton’s inquiry, a cruel and sharp smile emerged on Ermond’s face.

“Yes. When the time comes, Trivian will crumble both from within and without.”

Ermond’s ashen eyes, reminiscent of that day, emitted a chillingly cold glint as they sparkled.