I Possessed The Immoral Empress

The opulence of Leopold’s mansion was overflowing with nobles seeking connections to him, even as the nobles from the emperor’s faction, who initially distrusted him, began to switch sides one by one.

Leopold knew his time was limited. As a merchant who had traveled the world and interacted with leaders of various nations, he was well-versed in the dynamics of power. After all, any pretext would do—whether it was ideology or religion, as long as there was a justification that could alleviate people’s guilt, public opinion was easily swayed. And all those grand pretexts hid practical and economic reasons well known to those in power.

Leopold’s already luxurious mansion grew more extravagant by the day. He had summoned all his assets scattered across the continent to indulge in luxury, to the point where even the walls of the hall were covered in gold. Since he could easily obtain gold and jewels from his mother, Leopold decided to pour his remaining wealth into this place without reservation.

Moreover, Leopold’s grandfather, the emperor of the Ballius Empire, was paying attention to this place. Although officially unspoken due to the risk of provoking international sentiment, he hoped his only precious daughter’s son would aspire to a foreign throne.

Leopold’s ability to secretly import mercenaries into Trivian and muster armies in neighboring countries without any physical or diplomatic repercussions was thanks to his maternal grandfather’s discreet assistance.

Naturally, this atmosphere did not escape the notice of the nobles who were closely monitoring the situation in neighboring countries.

“It’s splendid. As long as the guests enjoy themselves comfortably, that’s enough for me,” Leopold said, offering a meaningful smile to a nobleman who had approached him to praise the luxurious interior decoration, aware of his identity as the successor of a noble from the emperor’s faction.

Initially, the nobles from the emperor’s faction sided with Henry, attempting to exploit Leopold’s weaknesses. However, they were gradually realizing how fragile Emperor Henry’s power was.

Despite wanting to protest Leopold’s actions to the Ballius Empire, there was no official action taken by him that threatened the throne.

Also, they wanted to lodge complaints against the Ballius Imperial Family for supporting his plans from behind, but they too had not made any clear statements.

After all, it was a fight for justification. By that logic, weren’t Henry and Leopold both illegitimate sons anyway? Perhaps the Ballius Empire was actually waiting for Henry to openly protest against them, giving them a pretext to officially intervene.

And the clever Henry was very aware of this situation. He was gathering evidence of Leopold’s rebellion while outwardly taking no action for this reason. He knew the consequences of acting rashly without solid evidence.

And, of course, the nobles from the emperor’s faction understood why Henry was acting so cautiously.

However, what they desired was not a cautious emperor but a symbol of absolute power.

Now in its fourth generation, the Trivian imperial family needed an iron emperor who could lead central governance with a strong will, not a cautious emperor who had to be mindful of foreign countries.

Although there were still many nobles of the imperial faction supporting Henry, it was only a matter of time before their hearts would lean towards the new candidate for emperor, who was backed by immense wealth and power.

Moreover, unlike Henry, who had married a witch, this candidate was still unmarried, with no rumors of a lover.

While Leopold was conversing with a few nobles, a woman of stunning beauty, dressed elegantly, led a group of young ladies to Leopold’s side.

He welcomed her with a polite response to her graceful greeting.

‘Finally, she makes her move.’

This splendid woman, with her fiery red hair and blue eyes, was the only daughter of the late emperor’s sister. Inheriting the appearance of her mother, who resembled her twin brother, the late emperor, the princess was a 29-year-old widow.

After her husband died in battle two years ago, she had returned to her father’s domain, remaining secluded, the hidden card of the Amatheus ducal family, the highest nobility of the imperial faction.

If Duke Batistian was openly supporting Henry, the Amatheus ducal family had been supporting him from behind the scenes with power solidified through marriage alliances with the imperial family over a long time.

However, the late emperor’s only sister had gradually become estranged since her brother took a mistress, and her son eliminated other illegitimate children who were also her nephews, especially when Henry married Ermedeline as the empress, whom she had strongly opposed.

Therefore, for now, although they were cooperating with Henry on the surface, the family had plenty of reasons to turn away.

This was why the Amatheus ducal family was one of the targets Leopold had been showing off his presence and spending his wealth on for days.

With Leopold’s polite response, Rubian Amatheus, the princess, without much ado, lightly lifted her hand to invite him to dance.

Leopold gently took her hand and began to dance to the music, which had seamlessly changed to a waltz.

Although marriage between cousins was not so rare in high society, Leopold felt uncomfortable holding her hand.

It seemed Rubian felt the same, as her elegant lips twitched slightly in an attempt to maintain composure.

Noticing Rubian’s reaction, Leopold quietly whispered to his cousin.

“I have no interest in getting involved with a cousin.”

Rubian’s lips relaxed naturally at Leopold’s light tone.

“Neither do I.”

Having acknowledged each other’s stance, the two continued to dance elegantly.

After all, this was just a show to demonstrate that the axis of power was shifting.

It was a silent proclamation to the nobles gathered here that the hidden core of the imperial faction, the Amatheus ducal family, had finally reached out to Leopold.

But even so, the two had only danced a single dance.

It wasn’t something to be criticized for.

The clever dance had the nobles around them buzzing with thoughts.

The balance of power, which had been fluctuating for a while, was now clearly tipping in Leopold’s favor.

While everyone was calculating the political implications of Leopold and Rubian’s dance, Valliere was the only one looking at them with emotional eyes, having intentionally arrived at the mansion a bit late.

Valliere, who had adorned herself with jewels given by Leopold, unfortunately entered the ballroom at the climax of their dance.

‘What? He has never danced with another woman except me and that witch. Who is she?’

Valliere clenched her fists in frustration when Countess Brienta kindly whispered the identity of the woman into her ear.

“It seems the Amatheus ducal family has finally decided to make a move.”

“Amatheus?”

The name was somewhat unfamiliar to Valliere, as it was not a family active in the central power circles and had never appeared in the original story.

“Being cousins, they do resemble each other quite a bit. Well, since the Duchess of Amatheus did resemble the late emperor as if they were twins. It’s not surprising.”

‘Ah, so that woman is the daughter of the late emperor’s sister.’

Valliere realized this as she scrutinized Rubian’s face, which closely resembled the portraits of the royal family with red hair and pale blue eyes hanging in the palace corridors.

“So, these two are not cousins!!”

“Pardon?”

Valliere’s vehement reaction took the always composed Countess Brienta by surprise for the first time.

From the perspective of the power players in the novel, it wasn’t a big deal whether relatives married or danced together. However, for Valliere, a modern person who already viewed them with disfavor, the scene was simply repulsive.

“How can cousins do such a thing? It’s disgusting.”

“Pardon?”

In reality, dancing with a relative, even without any romantic feelings, wasn’t particularly strange.

Moreover, their dance was not just a simple dance.

It was a political act, signifying that the hidden power of the imperial faction had finally extended its hand to Leopold.

But even if she had become a marquess through her relationship with the emperor, Valliere’s reaction to this significant scene was surprisingly light.

Countess Brienta was taken aback by Valliere’s frivolity, which exceeded her expectations, but she secretly smiled inside.

‘There was no need to come early to win favor. Just by throwing a small spark, this ignorant woman willingly ignites into flames.’

Grinding her teeth while watching Leopold and Rubian, Valliere approached them as soon as the music stopped, extending her hand to Leopold with a very arrogant expression and her head held high.

Of course, it wouldn’t be such a big problem for a marquess to act a bit arrogantly towards a prince and princess without titles, but the problem was that this marquess was the emperor’s mistress.

Leopold, having dealt with Valliere several times, had developed some tolerance, but Rubian, who was virtually meeting her for the first time personally, was not inclined to just let it go.

Deliberately, Rubian did not let go of Leopold’s hand.

Ignoring Valliere’s gaze, she purposely led Leopold off the stage.

Valliere was momentarily infuriated by Rubian’s attitude of ignoring her and the subtly mocking looks from the nobles.

With a stride that did not match her elegant dress, Valliere approached Leopold and Rubian.

After glaring at Rubian for a moment, she snatched Leopold’s hand from hers.

She intended to dance with him ostentatiously, but a very soft and sarcastic voice stopped her in her tracks.

“It seems that the habit of stealing other men cannot be corrected by a title after all.”

In truth, Valliere, being Henry’s first love in the original story, would rather be the victim of having her man stolen. However, the nobles wouldn’t bother with her circumstances.

In their eyes, whether she became a marquess or a duchess, a mistress was just a mistress.

After almost paying a big price for carelessly tossing a book in a bookstore, Valliere had been trying her best to restrain herself in public, but Rubian’s comment finally broke her composure.

Suddenly, the faces of everyone gathered in the ballroom filled with shock, and a heavy silence swept through the grand interior.

Valliere had grabbed the hair of Rubian, the distinguished daughter of Duke Amatheus and cousin of Henry, in front of most of the influential nobility residing in the capital.