I Possessed The Immoral Empress

Chapter 43

I Possessed The Immoral Empress - Chapter 43

Valliere was in high spirits.

From the moment Henry left, she didn’t know when the cheerful tunes would leave her lips.

As she hummed the songs she used to enjoy in her lifetime, she could feel the maids giving her curious glances, but Valliere didn’t pay any attention to such looks.

“I believe.”

With just that one word, she couldn’t understand why she felt so uplifted.

She now had confidence in handling the meeting scheduled for the afternoon with the nobles.

‘Hmm. I thought he was just a good-for-nothing with a handsome face, but he’s not just that, it seems.’

Suddenly, the beautiful face of Henry, who had been absentmindedly touching the ends of her own hair, came to her mind.

‘Well, since we’re in this together, it’s fortunate that my partner is so handsome.’

***

Ferdant was indeed staying not far from the palace.

It was not a particularly large estate, but it was a tidy mansion suitable for raising a child.

Even from an exterior perspective, it had already won Ermedeline’s heart.

Today, she planned to watch Ferdant playing in the garden from a distance.

Just thinking of his name made one side of her heartache persistently, but after all, he was a complete stranger, wasn’t he?

For her, who had never even married, let alone given birth, accepting a suddenly appearing son as her own was undoubtedly a challenge.

“Sigh.”

Even though she had planned to quietly observe from a distance, Ermedeline was so tense that her hands were sweating.

For no reason, she straightened her clothes, cleared her throat, and checked her voice.

‘I’m just going to watch from afar today!’

No matter how much she tried to organize her thoughts in her head, there was no helping the trembling heart.

Glancing behind her, she noticed that even Rooney and Margo, who weren’t her children, were equally nervous, swallowing hard as if to suppress their anxiety.

As Ermedeline hesitated, the sun had already tilted, and time was moving toward the middle of the afternoon.

Unable to delay any longer, Ermedeline took a deep breath and finally stepped inside the mansion.

Following the guidance of one of the servants working in the mansion, she was led into a corridor on the second floor with a view of the garden.

In the garden, a young boy was wielding a sword, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead.

‘Ah, the little one. He’s six years old now, right?’

It was so adorable how he confidently held the handle with his tiny fern-like hands. Ermedeline couldn’t help but smile brightly.

As she watched the child with parted lips for a while, Rooney quietly approached her and handed something over.

“??”

What she held in her hand was a handkerchief.

“Why did you...?”

‘Oh, was I crying?’

Lowering her head, the tears that had gathered on her chin fell with a soft patter.

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Even though she was smiling with delight as she looked at the child, tears flowed from her eyes, unrelated to her own feelings.

Ermedeline knew it immediately.

These tears were not a result of her will but tears that her heart was shedding.

There was a fact that Ermedeline knew very well.

Perhaps in this empire, there was no one who knew this fact as well as she did.

She felt nauseated just looking at how meticulously it was recorded in the diary.

Ermedeline knew all too well the boundless wickedness of the previous owner of this body, to the point where her body shuddered.

Yet, the demon-like woman, who seemed devoid of both blood and tears, shed tears upon seeing her son.

Now, as an empty shell without a soul, she shed tears solely based on memories etched in her heart.

Ermedeline’s heart grew heavy as tears fell incessantly.

A very matter-of-fact tone, listing the facts.

“Oh, is that so? They said he was born from a marriage with a stableman, didn’t you? I must have forgotten.”

Ermedeline replied casually, feigning forgetfulness.

Valliere had provocatively mentioned the term “stableman” to provoke Ermedeline, but both Henry and Ermedeline remained unresponsive.

“That’s right. He was born from a union with a stableman. So don’t use the word bastard child.'”

When neither Henry nor Ermedeline showed any emotional response, Valliere soon lost interest. While the term “bastard child” did bother her, since the child wasn’t actually hers, Ermedeline decided to calmly play the role of the generous Empress.

“I heard about yesterday’s incident. Is your body alright?”

Despite being annoyed by Valliere’s behavior, Ermedeline also felt a sense of pity for the young girl. She wondered how difficult her life must have been to make such an extreme choice.

Ermedeline’s voice, mixed with conflicting emotions, came across as both dry and pitiful.

“Are you genuinely worried about me right now?”

‘Who do you think made me resort to that extent?’

Valliere’s voice turned sharp as she believed that Ermedeline was solely responsible for the novel’s divergence from the original story.

‘Did I ask for your concern? Are you going to pour out more nonsense?’

As she anticipated another senseless retort, Henry intervened, stepping between Ermedeline and Valliere, and gently placing his hand on Valliere’s back.

“No need to worry. It was just a minor injury.”

“??”

Henry’s dry response caused both Ermedeline and Valliere’s eyes to widen as if tears were about to flow simultaneously.

‘Didn’t he clearly see that there’s blood on the floor?’

Ermedeline found herself subtly observing Valliere’s reaction.

As expected, Valliere’s gaze quickly turned icy, and she began to glare at Henry.

‘Why are they doing this again? Weren’t they having a decent conversation?’

Ermedeline truly didn’t want to get involved in the discord between the two, and she found this situation extremely awkward.

“Your Majesty, what did you just say? A minor injury?”

She deliberately tightened her wrist a bit more than she had in her previous life, and yet, it was just a minor injury?

In her past life, her previous parents and two older brothers called an ambulance even if a few drops of blood were spilled.

Valliere didn’t quite understand Henry’s words.

“Don’t I know your vein injuries better than you? There was some bleeding, but it wasn’t a severe injury. I just mentioned it as it was. I didn’t want to unnecessarily worry the Empress.”

“What are you talking about now?”

Henry’s response made Valliere feel like all the blood was draining from her head.

“So, I almost died, but what bothers you the most is the concern of the Empress?”

They were enemies, and spouses, and had a worse relationship than anyone else. In the end, one of them would inevitably kill the other.

But to see the Emperor calmly conversing with the person in front of him, and even more so, to be more concerned about Ermedeline’s feelings than her own, made Valliere want to cry.

‘What is this? She’s the villainess, right? The universally hated villainess! The villainess who burns to death in a fiery pit!’

“I worried about Empress more than you, is that what you said in front of me?”

Henry’s calm and composed gaze as he looked at her without even blinking made Valliere’s eyes well up with tears.

‘You’re supposed to love me! Not that woman! You should love me! You should be on my side!’

Overwhelmed by a mix of sadness and anger, Valliere eventually shed tears.

Ermedeline, taken aback by Valliere’s tears, unconsciously searched for a handkerchief in her embrace, but Henry, who should have been the one to wipe Valliere’s tears away, remained calm.

‘This feels a bit strange, doesn’t it? It wasn’t like this before?’

Ermedeline felt puzzled by Henry’s excessively composed reaction. While she had been preoccupied with plotting her survival, she hadn’t paid much attention to their relationship. However, such a change in just a few weeks was indeed surprising.

The relationship between Henry and Valliere had changed significantly from when they first met. Henry had become suspicious of Valliere’s behavior, unable to contain his overflowing emotions, while Valliere, seemingly oblivious to Henry’s intense feelings, considered them completely natural.

‘Could it be that the changes in the novel’s plot have also altered the relationship between these two? That can’t happen! It’s not allowed! I want to leave this palace!’

Ermedeline anxiously pulled Valliere closer to her as she contemplated the possible impact of the changes in the story on their relationship.

“Any injury, no matter how small, worried me deeply.”

Valliere, offended by the sudden embrace, squirmed to push Ermediline away, and Ermedeline tightened her arms around her.

“Cry, keep crying, thank me, apologize to the king, do you want it to end like this?”