I Possessed the Wicked Empress (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 11
In the novel’s final act, House Baptistian was one of the foremost families to join Valière in attacking the Empress.
In truth, Ermedilin had stayed up all night scouring through diaries, feeling she’d be more at ease if she knew even one weakness of Pelio’s.
Yet, disappointingly, no matter how thoroughly she combed through every mention of the name Baptistain, she found nothing of note.
Pelio, as she had experienced him so far, was not someone who would yield to threats or clumsy persuasion.
Ermedilin did not wish to respond rashly and unnecessarily expose her own vulnerabilities.
Thanks to having entered society early in her previous life, she had learned basic social tact.
When you know nothing and are in a disadvantageous position, speak as little as possible.
At Ermedilin’s vague reply, Pelio tilted his head slightly as if pondering something, but soon lifted it proudly and looked down at her with an aloof air.
“Then let us go submit the complaint now.”
‘I knew you’d come looking for me.’
Ermedilin wore a detached expression as she watched Duke François, who wanted to cause a scene but was blocked by the guards and could neither advance nor retreat.
After all, Henri had replaced all the Empress’s palace guards with new ones, and these fresh guards were diligently fulfilling their duties.
“How dare you!! Do you really think you’ll get away with such behavior? Would you truly be fine if Ferdant died?”
Previously, Duke François had always spoken the name Ferdant with caution, but now that he was cornered, he seemed to have lost all sense of propriety.
“That is correct. From now on, as Empress, I shall concern myself only with the safety of the realm.”
“You heartless creature! Fine! You’ve dug your own grave! You’ll soon be pounding the earth in regret!!”
“Before I regret anything, Your Grace should watch your words. For someone about to stand trial on charges of laying hands on royalty to speak so crudely… The guards standing outside listening to this conversation are not soldiers you’ve bribed. They are men personally selected by His Majesty the Emperor.”
Duke François felt immense hatred and fury toward his defiant daughter, who faced him with haughty composure—but for now, she was right.
There was no benefit in piling up more damaging testimony.
The duke quickly lowered his voice.
“Now that Your Imperial Majesty has come out yourself, I have nothing more to say. I, too, shall let my actions speak.”
He didn’t specify what he intended to show, but the duke simply turned and left the Empress’s quarters.
“Phew.”
Though she had stood her ground bravely, the moment the duke vanished, Ermedilin felt her legs go weak.
She barely managed to stumble backward and collapse into a chair when she saw Runi approaching with a worried look.
“Are you alright, Your Imperial Majesty?”
Ermedilin gave a small nod to signal she was fine, though her hand remained pressed to her forehead.
“Where is Helen?”
“Yes?”
“Go find Helen.”
“She was right beside you just a moment ago?”
“Still, go look for her. Quickly.”
A sense of foreboding gripped Ermedilin, and she urged Runi impatiently.
Runi, wearing a puzzled expression, went off to search for Helen and returned shortly after with a flustered look.
“She’s gone! She’s not the type to vanish suddenly, yet she’s nowhere nearby!”
Indeed, bad premonitions never failed to come true.
“Ask the soldiers guarding the magic circle whether the duke traveled alone.”
At Ermedilin’s serious tone, Runi nodded gravely and dashed off toward the magic circle located beneath the imperial palace.
“What did they say?”
“The duke did not use the magic circle.”
“Then?”
“He left by carriage… accompanied by a young maidservant with red hair…”
“What?”
Crash!
As Ermedilin listened to Runi, she suddenly shot upright, causing the heavy chair she’d been sitting in to topple backward.
“When exactly did he take her? Did he drag her away by force?”
“That doesn’t seem likely. The guards wouldn’t have stood by if that were the case.”
“Then did she follow him of her own accord?”
“I’m not sure about that part…”
‘Was she threatened? Or did she never intend to betray the duke from the start?’
It felt unsettling.
If Helen had left willingly, blinded by the reward the duke offered, then Ermedilin wouldn’t need to worry—but what if she’d been coerced?
In any case, it was clear Helen had left with the duke.
Ermedilin’s heart grew troubled as she recalled Helen’s trembling confession of being a spy.
Though she’d started this to survive at all costs, she truly didn’t want to kill someone just to save herself.
After all, before her possession, she had been an exceedingly sensible person.
Ermedilin considered contacting Duke François immediately but changed her mind.
“Request a visit from Prince Pelio.”
But before Ermedilin could even finish speaking, Runi informed her that Pelio had already arrived.
“Oh, I was just about to contact you. What brings you here?”
“Don’t you know?”
“What are you talking about?”
Seeing Pelio suddenly appear and speak cryptically, Ermedilin frowned in confusion.
“After parting with Your Imperial Majesty this morning, I heard an interesting story.”
“What story?”
“Do you know Ferdant?”
Again. That name, popping up just when she thought she’d forgotten it.
“What about that name?”
“The duke has been keeping that child under strict surveillance.”
“Is that so?”
Since she truly knew nothing, feigning ignorance came easily.
“They say the child, who was imprisoned beneath the duke’s estate, is now heading toward the capital.”
“…”
Given how often Duke François had mentioned that name, the child must surely have meant something to the body’s former owner.
But all the current her knew of the child was the name and a face glimpsed from a tiny portrait.
They might as well have been strangers.
Seeing Ermedilin offer no reply, Pelio gave a cold smile, as if he’d expected this, and drove a dagger straight into her heart.
“Truly, the title ‘witch’ suits you well—seeing how collecting a debt matters more to you than your own child’s safety.”
“Child?”
“Don’t play innocent. Ferdant is your illegitimate son, born before you entered the palace, is he not?”
“??”
Ermedilin was genuinely shocked.
Though the novel had nicknamed her the “Immoral Empress,” and she indeed had numerous lovers, an illegitimate child?
This had never been mentioned in the original work at all.
Pelio, interpreting Ermedilin’s stunned silence as acting, grew even more merciless in his tone.
“Duke François handled that child with such unusual caution that I investigated thoroughly. So don’t bother feigning ignorance. Besides, I didn’t even need to investigate—just one look at his face confirmed he’s of your blood. Yet you pretend not to know… I truly don’t know how to react.”
As Pelio’s icy gaze and sharp voice tore deeper into Ermedilin’s heart, he turned as if his business were concluded and gathered his documents.
“Since the child was born before you became Empress, it won’t constitute treason—but His Majesty should have entered this marriage fully aware of this fact.”
It wasn’t like being struck hard on the head with a hammer—it was as if someone were raking sharp claws through her mind.
Ferdant.
She’d tried hard to ignore it, but every time she heard that unfamiliar name, her heart would race as if about to burst, defying her indifferent will.
Her normally unresponsive heart, which barely changed even when angry or surprised, would go wild at the mere mention of that name.
‘A son…’
Now she finally understood why her heart reacted so violently to that name.
Though the soul had left the body, a mother’s love for her son remained imprinted on the heart that stayed behind.
“Ugh. I’m going mad.”
The Empress had a hidden son—worse, an illegitimate one.
If only the author had described the villain’s past in more detail—but perhaps the author hadn’t wanted readers to sympathize with the antagonist, so Ermedilin’s history barely appeared in the original novel.
‘Such a crucial detail should’ve been included in the original!’
But the author couldn’t have foreseen that one of their readers would end up possessing Ermedilin herself, so there was no point in blaming them.
At least the original was set in a medieval European-inspired world, where noblewomen often entered multiple political marriages—but Ermedilin wasn’t just any noblewoman; she was the Empress.
She hadn’t borne a legitimate heir from a previous husband—having an illegitimate child would undoubtedly cause a massive scandal.
‘Does Henri know about this?’
If he did, it might not be a major issue.
But if he didn’t—or even if he did but pretended ignorance—then the Empress’s already ruined reputation would cross a point of no return.
‘Surely he wouldn’t harm the child? He must have brought him to the capital to use as leverage in negotiations.’
‘But even if he’s illegitimate, isn’t he still his grandson? They looked exactly alike, and he was raised in an underground prison?’
Her brief worry for her own safety quickly gave way to concern for the child.
Especially since the duke had repeatedly made terrifying threats regarding him.
‘Could he really do something to his own grandson?’
“Contact the duke. Tell him to return to the palace.”
After turning the idea over in her mind, trying to feign ignorance, Ermedilin ultimately couldn’t ignore her heart, which had started pounding again as if about to burst, and decided to speak with the duke once more.
The duke entered the palace immediately, as if he’d been waiting.
“How dare you—”
“Where is he?”
“What?”
“Ferdant—where is he?”
“Where do you mean?”
Doubt flickered in the duke’s violet eyes.
“You brought him to the capital, didn’t you?”
“Oh… um, yes. I did bring him.”
“Has he been hurt in any way?”
At Ermedilin’s question, Duke François scrutinized his daughter up and down as if assessing something.
“Not yet. I’m still deciding whether to slit his throat before your very eyes or present him as a witness in court.”
Ermedilin felt a vein throb on her forehead.
No matter how terrible a parent he was, to say such a thing about slitting his own grandson’s throat right in front of his daughter…
Ermedilin pitied the child, who must have suffered terribly under such a man, locked away in a prison.
“If even the tip of that child’s finger is harmed, it won’t end with you merely losing your fortune.”
“Oh? And what will you do, in your position?”
“There’s plenty I can do. As head of our house, Your Grace surely knows well—there are countless curses that can inflict misery far worse than death.”
Clearly, the original Ermedilin, though a villain, was unmatched when it came to curses.
At Ermedilin’s threat, the duke—who had been so arrogant moments before—began to tremble at the corners of his eyes.
“A curse? Fine. That’s all you’re capable of. Go ahead and try it—if you truly don’t care what happens to your son.”
“Aaagh!!”
After Duke François left, Ermedilin screamed into her pillow.
Genuine frustration welled up from deep within her chest.
That man, calling himself a father, had abused not only his daughter but even his own grandson.
‘Why did I have to get stuck with a role like this?! What am I supposed to do?!’
Meanwhile, after parting with Ermedilin, Pelio didn’t leave the palace immediately but went straight to Henri.
“Did you already know?”
Frustrated by Henri’s complete lack of reaction to the report he’d submitted, Pelio couldn’t wait any longer and asked directly.
“Does it matter?”
“It does. If the duke brings up that child in court tomorrow, public opinion will—”
“Ah, I’ll handle public opinion myself. You may go now.”
“Will you just let this pass?”
At Pelio’s repeated questioning, Henri’s elegant eyebrows twitched momentarily.
“You need not concern yourself, Prince. The Empress is my wife, and I intend to handle my family’s affairs myself.”
It was common knowledge among the people that Emperor Henri despised the Empress intensely.
Of course, they didn’t know the full details—that the Emperor had been forced into this marriage with the Empress while keeping his longtime lover, in exchange for the François family keeping secret their use of curses to eliminate his rival half-brothers.
But there was one thing everyone knew for certain.
Throughout their entire marriage, Henri had never once shared a bed with the Empress.
Since Valière had subtly spread the word, this fact wasn’t treated as much of a secret.
True to the rumors, at the founding ceremony, the victory parade, and even the imperial wedding anniversary, the Emperor always kept Valière by his side.
Moreover, in public settings, he openly treated the Empress as if she didn’t exist.
And now this man suddenly called her “family”?
This was the same Emperor who hadn’t so much as blinked when informed his wife had an illegitimate child.
Pelio felt confused by this sudden, contradictory stance—calling the Empress “my wife” out of nowhere.
Though Pelio had many more questions, since the sovereign forbade further inquiry, he had no choice but to withdraw quietly.
Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she
really disliked him
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Wait what the hell. I lowkey hate henri but i feel bad for her to have to suffer with a loser like him omgn