I Possessed The Immoral Empress - Chapter 157

Even though Ermedeline learned about the circumstances surrounding Felio’s mother’s death from the diary, she did not add a single line about it in the will.

To explain the situation, she would have had to dig into the past of Duke and Duchess Batistian, but she did not want to leave a scar on Felio’s soul just for the sake of an excuse.

If she were truly at the brink of death, with no hope of survival, Ermedeline simply wanted to leave him with a sincere apology.

She hoped that his heart would find some measure of peace.

“I know this isn’t something that can be resolved with an apology, but still, I wanted to apologize to you. I’m sorry for doing such a terrible thing to you…”

“Enough.”

Felio cut off Ermedeline’s words with a firm voice.

“There is no need to apologize.”

“?”

Startled by his resolute tone, Ermedeline struggled to sit up from the bed.

“I already knew.”

“What?”

How many sleepless nights had she spent in agony, deceiving him?

Yet, he already knew? A hollow, sorrowful question escaped Ermedeline’s lips.

Although Felio had only recently learned the exact details of the past, the situation would not have changed even if he had known earlier.

Hadn’t he already resolved to walk the path of a beast?

“I know all about the relationship between Count La Vienta and my mother, and what my father did.”

“……”

Ermedeline was left speechless, looking at Felio who spoke so nonchalantly.

“I also know that my mother commissioned a curse to kill my father, and that she took her own life because of that curse.”

Just hearing about such a terrible past was horrifying.

Watching Felio speak so calmly about it broke Ermedeline’s heart.

How could he speak of such a sad and tragic past so indifferently?

“So, you knew.”

Thick tears fell from Ermedeline’s eyes, wetting the back of her hand.

Felio gently covered Ermedeline’s wet hand with his own.

He did not want even a drop of her sadness to touch her, especially if it was because of him.

“Do you not think I am like a beast?”

“What?”

“Even knowing everything, I dared to stay by Your Majesty’s side.”

“What are you…”

Ermedeline shook her head vigorously, got off the bed, and knelt before Felio.

“Wasn’t it I who dared to keep you by my side? You were only fulfilling your duty, so why say such things!”

Even if it was Felio himself saying it, Ermedeline hated hearing him call himself a beast.

“I, I used you…”

“You know that’s not the case, don’t you?”

Felio interrupted Ermedeline’s words again and looked at her with a serene gaze as if he had reached enlightenment.

“I am a beast. Knowing that Her Majesty the Empress created such a cursed spell for my mother, I still dared to harbor feelings for Her Majesty.”

“……”

A complex silence descended inside the tent.

Due to her heightened nerves, Ermedeline could sense the dust floating in the tent and even hear the distant screams of the battlefield.

The thought crossed her mind hundreds of times, “What if?” and thousands of times, “No, it can’t be.”

Though she already knew the answer, she had always turned a blind eye to it. Now, she finally heard the clear answer to the question she had been avoiding.

“It’s fine if you think I’m like a beast. Actually, even I…”

“Your Grace!”

Ermedeline couldn’t think of anything to say, but she didn’t want to hear Felio call himself a beast again. She grabbed his hand, cutting off his words.

“Lord, Lord Felio.”

Ermedeline called his name, trying to find something to say.

“Felio.”

“Yes.”

Felio responded in his usual dry, monotonous voice to Ermedeline’s tearful call.

Although Felio wore a firm but gentle smile, he was not crying. Yet, Ermedeline’s tears flowed so much that she could barely see his face, which was right in front of her.

All she could see were two shining silver stars under the deep navy night sky.

She had walked a long, dark path alone. In this foreign world, where everyone was an enemy, she wandered under the dark night sky, avoiding the wolves that preyed on her like a lost lamb.

But at some point, a shining star rose to light her path.

Whether it was bright or cloudy, that star always shone steadily, guiding her way.

Suddenly, her tears stopped, and her vision cleared.

Ermedeline saw her reflection in Felio’s clear silver eyes.

Now, everything was clear.

All the questions swirling in her mind vanished, and Ermedeline could look straight at herself.

The woman reflected in his eyes was now in love.

She had always denied her feelings, believing it was impossible, but she had completely fallen for the man before her, driven by irresistible emotions.

In this moment, Ermedeline did not want to lie to him or herself.

It was finally a moment of truth.

Her voice was completely hoarse from crying so much, producing a raspy sound, but it was calm.

“So am I.”

“!”

“If you are a beast, then I am also a beast.”

“Your… Majesty…”

“Am I not more like a beast? I made your mother die and shamelessly wanted to stay by your side.”

Felio’s mind momentarily went blank at Ermedeline’s calm and serene confession.

He couldn’t comprehend what he had just heard because he had believed it was a one-sided love all along.

“Wh-what are you saying?” 

Felio’s utterly bewildered expression prompted a sudden burst of mischief in Ermedeline. After all, even in such serious moments, a bit of seasoning was sometimes necessary.

“Didn’t they say you’re the smartest in the empire? What part of what I said don’t you understand?”

“That, that is…”

“It was all a lie, then. I thought you were genuinely smart and got excited for nothing…”

“No! I understand everything!”

Felio once again fell easily into her trap. His usually expressionless face would transform remarkably in these moments. He was indeed someone delightful to tease.

“So what now? I’m still a married woman and the enemy who destroyed your family,” Ermedeline said, lowering her gaze with a complicated smile. Even after confessing her feelings, the reality before them hadn’t changed one bit.

“Let’s run away.”

“What?”

“I’ve secured an escape route. We can slip away during the chaos.”

“Are you serious, Your Grace?”

Felio had suggested fleeing to the provinces before, but Ermedeline had never expected him to propose deserting their comrades in the midst of a battle. A faint vertical line formed between her brows.

“I am serious. I’ve already decided to walk the path of a beast. As long as I can stay by Your Majesty’s side, I need nothing else!”

“……”

The words “I need nothing else” struck Ermedeline’s heart deeply. The more she struggled, the worse public opinion became, people continued to die, and ultimately, war had erupted.

Felio’s proposal was irresistibly appealing to Ermedeline, who had already fallen into a profound sense of futility after Helen’s family was massacred.

‘Yes. None of it matters! This all started because I wanted to survive! If I’d just run away from the beginning without caring about others, this might never have happened!’

‘I’m tired. What more can I do? Turn the tide of the war? I couldn’t even stay on the battlefield till the end today. What use is a civilian like me staying here?’

“Let’s do it.”

“What?”

Felio’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected Ermedeline to agree so readily.

“Let’s do it. Let’s leave, just the two of us. We’ll go somewhere no one recognizes us and forget all about this place.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes. I’m serious. I’ll leave with you.”

“You’ve made the right decision! Truly, you have!”

Felio excitedly began outlining his plan. During the heat of battle, Ermedeline would pretend to exhaust her magic and faint. Felio would then fake moving her to the tent and use the opportunity to escape.

Felio was prepared to knock her out if necessary to get her out of this hellish place, so he was pleased with how smoothly his plan was unfolding. With her cooperation, their chances of escape were much higher.

Outside the tent, Rooney and Arvian, along with a wizard assigned to keep watch, were waiting. Felio regretted having to end this magical moment of mutual understanding, but for the sake of their perfect plan, he had to act as if nothing had happened.

Just then, the mages and commanders who had finished today’s battle headed towards Ermedeline’s tent. Arvian, seeing them approaching, quickly entered the tent to inform them of the situation.

“Whatever you two are talking about, wrap it up. They’re coming to report.”

Ermedeline, who had by now completely wiped away her tears, nodded with a composed expression.

‘Hmph.’

Arvian noticed that Felio’s soul was glowing a deep pink.

‘This isn’t the first time this has happened.’

But what intrigued Arvian was Ermedeline. Usually, she maintained such composure that her soul did not exhibit any particular color, but today was different. Her soul was marred with a deep crimson hue. Because of this, Arvian couldn’t see the faint pink beneath the darkness.

‘Did Felio comfort her? If he did, it wasn’t very effective.’

The commanders and mages who came to report intentionally kept the fierce battle scars visible, as if to protest the Empress, who had left the battlefield yesterday after being carried off.

“Thanks to Her Majesty lifting the curse this morning, we were able to maintain our positions, but it’s getting harder to hold the line,” one commander said, causing Ermedeline to swallow nervously and wear a sheepish expression of guilt.

“Have there been no messages from the priests? I received a report that all the priests from the central temple have set out for this place.”

“?”

Ermedeline, who had been lying in the tent crying, was hearing this for the first time.

“Oh, it seems you haven’t received the report yet. Priest Arvian, do you have any news about their arrival?”

At the commander’s question, Arvian shook his head with a serious expression.

“Does that mean the capital is completely empty now?”

“Apparently so.”

“No advance team has arrived either. There should be teleportation arrays in the central temple, but…”

“No one has arrived yet.”

Arvian cursed inwardly, stomping his foot in frustration. He had known that since he and Ermedeline had come to the capital, the central temple had harbored ill feelings towards Noctavinus, but he hadn’t expected such a betrayal.

Arvian knew that the priests who supposedly left the capital wouldn’t be heading here.

“They probably won’t come. They intend to handle the capital and the border themselves without our help.”