I Possessed The Immoral Empress - Chapter 155

“Whoa!”

Arvian, who had been heading to Ermedeline’s tent after handling some business, furrowed his brows as he saw Felio rushing out of the tent with a ghostly expression.

“What’s up with him, this early in the morning?”

Though Felio’s face was filled with shock, his soul was a bright red, leaving Arvian puzzled.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Her Majesty?”

“N-no, it’s not that…”

“Then what?”

Felio clenched his fists tightly and shut his eyes before answering Arvian’s question.

“Her Majesty… she’s wearing… strange clothes…”

As he spoke, Felio suddenly started to get a nosebleed.

“Strange clothes?”

Arvian, looking serious, shook his head and walked into the tent to see what these “strange clothes” were.

“What’s this?”

Ermedeline was wearing a perfectly ordinary riding outfit.

Having grown up in the rougher parts of town, Arvian had seen women wearing far less. To call this strange was incomprehensible.

Then he noticed Ermedeline’s long legs, their silhouette accentuated by the snug-fitting riding pants.

‘Could it be?’

Arvian finally understood the source of Felio’s reaction and the nosebleed.

‘Oh, that sly dog.’

As he chuckled in disbelief, Ermedeline nudged his foot with hers and asked, “Did you see Lord Felio?”

“Yes, he’s outside the tent.”

“He ran out suddenly. Is something wrong?”

Arvian hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell the truth.

“Apparently, the sight of Your Majesty’s leg silhouette was too seductive for Lord Felio.”

“What?”

Both Ermedeline and Rooney frowned at Arvian’s sarcastic explanation.

“This… this is seductive?”

Ermedeline, who was completely covered from head to toe, couldn’t understand what could possibly be considered seductive about her outfit. She had often worried about revealing too much cleavage in dresses, but now she was fully covered.

“Oh, come on. That can’t be right. You must be mistaken, Arvian.”

“Hehe, mistaken? The guy’s even got a nosebleed. He may not look it, but he’s a very sly fellow. Hehe.”

Listening to Arvian, Rooney quickly moved and lifted the small flap of the tent’s entrance.

“Gasp! It’s true! Ugh, gross!”

Felio, who was outside and had just managed to stop the nosebleed, turned bright red again, his face almost bursting like a volcano about to erupt.

Rooney wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered dramatically, clearly showing how disgusted she was.

Ermedeline felt pity for Felio but still couldn’t understand how he found her outfit provocative.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a woman wearing pants before.’

In the capital, women wore deep necklines but still opted for long skirts even while riding horses or farming.

‘So, riding clothes aren’t common here.’

She had managed to get them, but even this uncomfortable outfit wasn’t a common sight yet.

‘Phew. Anyway, that blockhead. It’s a good thing he was born in a place where arranged marriages are the norm.’

Despite shaking her head at his innocence, she found his naivety endearing. Wasn’t it much cuter than a man who thought nothing of women?

Despite the intense gazes he often cast her way, he was now flustered by just seeing her legs’ silhouette.

‘Oh, should I put on hot pants for him?’

Ermedeline briefly considered the idea but quickly dismissed it.

‘Get a grip! This is a battlefield, not a place for weird thoughts!’

However, contrary to Felio’s genuine innocence, Ermedeline’s mind was already picturing herself in a mini skirt, teasing him further.

‘Argh! I’m losing it! Focus!’

To hide her blushing face, Ermedeline turned her head and pulled her hat down low.

‘Seriously, pull yourself together! This is a battlefield, and you’re a married woman!’

But now, her mind was imagining Felio getting even more flustered at the sight of her in a mini skirt.

‘Stop it! Really, stop it!’

Ermedeline took deep breaths, blaming herself for being corrupted even though she was only a year older than Felio.

‘I’m terrible. Felio is so cute and innocent.’

Rooney was still glaring daggers at Felio, shaking her head, while Arvian clicked his tongue in disdain. But to Ermedeline, Felio’s reaction was endearingly adorable.

However, this was a battlefield, and soon they would be stepping into the deadly front lines. The brief commotion had eased the tension slightly, but the fierce battle awaited.

‘Sigh. I need to hold on today.’

Even the thought of it made her heart sink.

“Lord Felio, I had to choose practical attire for freedom of movement, so please be mindful.”

Felio, who had been calming down, tensed up again at Ermedeline’s soft whisper.

“Huff.”

Hearing Felio’s quiet sigh, Ermedeline stuck out her tongue playfully as she walked ahead.

‘Well, we might die soon, so a little teasing should be okay.’

***

Every step she took felt like being sucked into a deep, dark cave with no end in sight.

A place of primordial despair with no escape, no sunlight, no breath of wind.

Ermedeline could instinctively tell that the battlefield was close by the smell of blood, rot, and the gathering of crows and wild animals.

“Ugh.”

Although the battle had not yet started, Ermedeline and the other mages with weak stomachs began to retch as soon as they reached the hill overlooking the battlefield.

The corpses of the Frianton soldiers lay scattered, unburied and rotting in the bloody mud. Wild animals feasted on the remains, making the scene even more horrific than the previous day.

Felio, noticing Ermedeline struggling to hold back her nausea, voiced his concern.

“It’s standard procedure to retrieve the bodies immediately. If disease spreads, it could be disastrous. Why were they left like that?”

But his words fell on deaf ears. Ermedeline was too busy fighting the urge to vomit, barely holding herself together.

Soon, Frianton soldiers began to appear on the battlefield. With expressionless faces, they trampled over the bodies of their fallen comrades from the previous day. Though it was too far to hear, Ermedeline could almost imagine the sound of the corpses being crushed underfoot, making her want to block her ears and sing loudly to drown it out.

‘If I’m already like this before it even starts, how will I manage? Get a grip!’

Humming cheerful songs in her mind, she managed to calm her nausea, but then, for no reason, tears started streaming down her face. The trauma of the previous day’s horrors weighed heavily on her, making her tear up despite her resolve to stay strong.

Several mages glanced at Ermedeline, shaking their heads. Some even clicked their tongues in disapproval. It was understandable; they had brought the supposed strongest witch in the empire, and on the first day, she fainted. On the second day, she was crying before the battle even began.

“Watch her closely; it could all be an act,” a middle-aged mage whispered to a teenage girl nearby.

While mocking Ermedeline’s weakness, the mages also suspected it might be a ploy to lower their guard. Despite having Arvian, the candidate for the next High Priest, by her side, they knew witches were skilled in deception. Even the steadfast Felio had seemingly fallen under her spell.

However, Felio was not suspected of treason, thanks to his history of fierce battles and the support of fellow mages. He had no intention of betraying the empire; he only planned to take advantage of the battlefield’s chaos to extract Ermedeline.

The battle soon commenced. The sound of war horns, like a death march, echoed as soldiers from both nations clashed on the plains. Modern warfare with firearms was horrific enough, but the melee combat with cold weapons was indescribably brutal.

Despite her tears, Ermedeline did not faint. She tried to focus on the magic flowing through the battlefield, ignoring her automatic tears.

“I’ll be off now.”

Felio, unable to do anything suspicious, gave a brief nod and ran into the battlefield.

Ermedeline bit her lip hard, worried about Felio charging into battle without armor.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to cleanse the area around him thoroughly,” Arvian offered his reassurance, noticing Ermedeline’s distress as she watched Felio’s retreating figure.

“Thanks.”

Ermedeline was too distracted to give a longer response.

All she could think about was saving her allies, who were falling like leaves, and giving peace to the enemies who fought mindlessly under the curse.

“Okay. I can do this.”

She focused and attempted to lift the curse magic at the most beleaguered part of the battlefield.

“Is it working?”

Although she hoped for the best, the curse was too strong to break in one attempt.

‘No, focus. You can do this! You’ve already dispelled Ermond’s magic circle once!’

Taking a deep breath, Ermedeline reversed the flow of magic and successfully lifted the curse.

“It’s working!”

The previously overwhelmed allies suddenly regained their senses and began to push back the confused Frianton soldiers.

“Oh, as expected of Her Majesty the Empress! But we’re still too few! You must do more to turn the tide!”