I Possessed the Wicked Empress (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
Finally, the day of the trial arrived.
The courtroom was packed with a huge crowd.
After all, this was the case in which the Empress herself had accused her father—Duke François, head of the empire’s most prestigious noble house.
Everyone, regardless of status, couldn’t help but fix their attention on it.
Once the spectators had taken their seats, the defendant and plaintiff—excluding the Empress—and their respective lawyers entered.
Lastly, after everyone was seated, Emperor Henri, Empress Ermedilin, and Valière entered one by one and took their places.
Valière sat right beside the Emperor. Though her dais was one step lower, in terms of distance, she was positioned at the same level as Empress Ermedilin.
For a royal consort to appear openly beside the Emperor at such a public event was highly unusual and deeply insulting to the Empress, yet Ermedilin tried her best not to pay attention to Valière.
‘Right. They’ve been lovers since childhood—the purest of first loves. Anyway, once they divorce, they’ll have nothing to do with me, so who cares.’
Meanwhile, Valière struggled to suppress the smile constantly threatening to break through.
She had heard from Duke François just a few days ago about Ermedilin’s illegitimate child.
Valière, in her own way, had no intention of letting this trial turn out favorably for the Empress.
Though it was highly unlikely, if the Empress truly cleared her debts and even made donations, that would be disastrous.
For the sake of her own miserable life—sacrificed and endured solely for the position of Empress—that witch absolutely had to fall.
‘The Duke had better do his part properly.’
Fundamentally, in Trivian, the imperial family received treatment distinct from ordinary citizens.
This was because the Emperor was regarded as the divine incarnation of one among Trivian’s many gods—a deity who especially loved humankind.
Thus, though Ermedilin was the plaintiff in this trial, she sat separately in the Empress’s seat, while only Pelio stood at the plaintiff’s bench, his face utterly devoid of expression.
Ermedilin glanced sideways at Pelio, but since his face showed no emotion at all, she couldn’t guess what he was thinking.
Though it had clearly been said this wouldn’t be a difficult trial, suddenly Ferdant had emerged as a variable.
Ermedilin grew uneasy, unsure how the Duke intended to use this variable.
She glanced around the courtroom and subtly observed her father, Duke François, seated at the defendant’s bench.
Strangely, his face—previously fierce enough to frighten her just yesterday during his threats—was now filled with anxiety.
He seemed to be trying his best to stay composed, but his unfocused eyes darting restlessly betrayed his inner turmoil.
‘Well, given everything he’s done, he’s bound to be nervous.’
After all, she was merely a transmigrator; she held no familial affection or memories toward Duke François as blood kin.
The only memories she had were of his utterly unforgivable, monstrous abuses.
Since he had dared lay hands on imperial blood, once guilt was confirmed, severe punishment was certain—but she felt not the slightest pity or guilt.
He not only abused his own daughter but dragged maids away to kill them and even used his own grandchild as leverage in threats.
From a modern perspective, he was the absolute worst of the worst—deserving nothing less than execution.
Thus, as expected, the trial proceeded overwhelmingly in one direction.
No matter how immoral people claimed she was or how hated by the populace, Ermedilin was, first and foremost, imperial family.
With testimonies against Duke François pouring in—from maids, the palace guards dismissed by Henri, and even Louise, the palace’s appointed priestess—no one stood to defend the Duke.
Convinced the trial was turning against him, Duke François suddenly leapt to his feet and, ignoring his lawyers’ attempts to stop him, shouted toward the Emperor.
“This is a frame-up, Your Majesty! That—no, Empress Ermedilin is a woman who speaks nothing but lies! The witnesses must all have been bribed! She never deserved to be Empress in the first place!”
‘Ah, so he’s finally going to reveal it.’
She had resolved to remain composed, but when the moment actually came, her heart couldn’t help but tremble.
She’d been assured that even if an illegitimate child existed, since it was born before marriage, she might face punishment—but certainly not execution.
‘I’d already prepared myself for some punishment. Given everything this woman’s done, there’s no way I can just let it slide.’
Ermedilin stole a sideways glance at Henri, whose decision would determine her life or death.
He watched Duke François with an intrigued expression—but that was all; his thoughts remained utterly inscrutable.
‘Why is everyone so impossible to read? At least Valière seems easiest to deal with.’
If everyone harbored ill will toward her, naturally the one whose intentions were transparent would be easier to handle.
Just as expected, the moment Duke François began speaking, an unmistakable triumphant smile appeared on Valière’s lips.
“No qualifications? What do you mean by that?”
At Henri’s question, the Duke inwardly cheered, then launched into his explanation about Ferdant.
“There is an illegitimate child! A son she bore before becoming Empress!”
The courtroom stirred at this shocking declaration.
Yet the spectators showed little surprise.
After all, this was Ermedilin—the immoral Empress, the empire’s worst witch. Adding the fact that she’d borne a child before marriage wouldn’t make her reputation any worse.
Thus, everyone’s reaction was simply, “Of course, just as expected.”
‘Wow, villains aren’t always bad. Sometimes they’re actually convenient.’
“An illegitimate child… Where is the child now?”
At Henri’s question, Duke François glared at Ermedilin and replied in a sharp tone.
“He is under my protection, perfectly safe and well.”
Ermedilin understood immediately that, despite his words, this was a threat.
But when she wondered why he’d brought the child all the way to the capital yet didn’t bring him into the courtroom, a sudden chill ran through her entire body.
‘Could he have put the child in a state too dire to bring before the court? Barely clinging to life…?’
Judging by everything she’d seen of him so far, that man was more than capable of doing such a thing—even to his own blood.
Overwhelmed by dreadful imaginings, Ermedilin suddenly felt as if her heart were being squeezed.
As she gasped for breath, Henri turned toward her indifferently and asked,
“What shall you do?”
His simple question carried this implication:
Will you continue the trial, staking your child’s safety?
Understanding his meaning, Ermedilin’s mind wanted to shake her head—but her heart kept sending opposing signals.
For a witch who once used other people’s children as ingredients for curses, her feelings toward her own child seemed genuinely sincere.
Now she finally understood why the original Ermedilin, despite possessing so much evidence of the Duke’s crimes and client lists, had quietly accepted her fate.
She was an undeniably evil woman—but also an ordinary mother.
She couldn’t possibly continue the trial without confirmation of her child’s safety.
‘He’s not my child, but still—an innocent child is being abused.’
At last, the painful tug-of-war between her head and heart came to an end.
The time had come to withdraw her lawsuit against the Duke and accept the fate of a villain with zero balance left.
“I… It was all… all fabricated… by me…”
A faint voice escaped Ermedilin’s lips as she clutched her heart.
At that very moment, as everyone focused intently on her words, a chilling smile spread across Valière’s face.
“…I did it.”
“We can’t hear you, Your Imperial Majesty. Please speak a bit louder!”
Just as Ermedilin rose to properly respond to the judge’s request, Henri whispered to her,
“I have him.”
“??”
Leaving a bewildered Ermedilin behind, Henri slowly rose from his seat and looked down at the crowd.
Though it was merely a simple motion, the Emperor’s aura radiating from his entire being instantly enveloped the courtroom in silence.
“I already know about that matter. The Empress confessed it to me before our marriage.”
“??”
Startled by Henri’s words, Ermedilin turned her head—and her eyes met Valière’s, who was also staring at Henri.
Valière’s hazel eyes burned with unbelievable hatred.
That vivid hatred was clearly directed not at her—but at Henri.
‘Aren’t they supposed to be inseparable? In the novel, Valière was an absolute angel. There’s no way she’d wear such an expression…’
Regardless of the two women locking eyes with him between them, Henri continued.
“Moreover, that child isn’t illegitimate. A priest has confirmed he was born from a husband with whom she formally entered matrimony before the priest himself.”
At Henri’s words, Duke François’s eyes widened as if about to pop out.
“That’s impossible!! Ferdant is clearly the Empress’s illegitimate child, born from her affair with a stable boy…”
“Whether the man was a stable boy or a farmer, weren’t they formally married before a priest? How could a child born of such a union be illegitimate?”
“No! You’re mistaken! They could never have been married! As soon as I learned of that wretch’s pregnancy, I killed…”
“Killed whom?”
“He was trampled to death by horses.”
“Couldn’t they have married before the pregnancy?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Why not?”
At Henri’s question, Duke François finally fell completely speechless, his lips merely flapping without producing any words.
How could he possibly explain that he’d brutally murdered the man as soon as he discovered their secret meetings—and that Ermedilin had been practically imprisoned within the castle walls long before, making it impossible for her to meet a priest?
“Didn’t I confirm this with the priest myself? Are you suggesting I, the Emperor, am lying?”
No matter how much he despised the Empress, a scandal about the current Empress having an illegitimate child would never benefit the Trivian Empire.
Especially now, surrounded by enemies eagerly watching for any weakness to exploit the empire’s borders.
Realizing the situation, the nobles began unanimously jeering at Duke François.
Henri, satisfied by the mockery, gave a subtle signal—and the judge declared a brief recess before delivering the verdict.
“Your family doesn’t seem particularly harmonious, does it?”
Henri asked calmly as he sat gracefully beside Ermedilin, who still clutched her heart.
“Is the child safe?”
Now, Ermedilin cared more about her child’s well-being than the trial’s outcome.
At her desperate question, Henri offered a compassionate smile befitting an Emperor hailed as a divine incarnation.
“Perfectly safe. If you wish, I can even let you see him.”
“Is that truly possible?”
“Only if you, as Empress, show the people the love you hold for your child.”
Briefly elated at the thought of seeing her child, Ermedilin soon realized the truth.
The weakness that could bind her was simply now in someone else’s hands.
The verdict was as follows.
For daring to lay hands on imperial blood, the majority of Duke François’s assets were confiscated and granted to Empress Ermedilin.
However, considering the Empress’s familial ties to him, his title was left intact—though a title without lands to govern or private soldiers was merely an empty shell.
By principle, one who dared insult imperial blood deserved execution, but Henri couldn’t completely eliminate the Duke due to the atrocities they’d mutually agreed upon during their struggle for the throne.
Thus, though the Duke had wounded the body of a divine incarnation, the sight of him walking out of the courtroom on his own two feet appeared overly lenient to those unaware of the deeper circumstances.
Yet even as he was dragged out of the courtroom, the Duke continued cursing his daughter to the very end.
The Duchess and her brother Ermonde also didn’t forget to send Henri and Ermedilin looks brimming with hatred.
From what she heard, they planned to temporarily take refuge with their daughter-in-law’s House of Eshulan.
Pelio, the Empress’s lawyer, naturally argued for stripping the Duke of his title and imposing the death penalty—but, naturally, Henri refused.
Having done his best yet frustrated that the verdict fell short of his expectations, Pelio approached Ermedilin and sneered,
“A suitable compromise, I suppose. Finally got the money you wanted—satisfied now?”
Apparently, sneering with a completely expressionless face was his specialty.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[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