I Possessed the Wicked Empress (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
Pelio did help with drafting the documents needed to establish the orphanage.
Since it wasn’t to be an imperial institution, no imperial approval was required, so the paperwork finished faster than expected.
Yet even as Pelio quietly organized the documents, he kept frowning at Ermedilin and tilting his head until the very end.
‘She was better when she had no expression at all.’
Annoying, but what could he do? If he didn’t want to ask her again next time, he had no choice but to sit right beside her—no matter how much he disliked it—and focus intently on watching her fill out the forms.
Pelio held onto his suspicion of Ermedilin right up to the moment he left to submit the documents to the relevant department.
“Are you really submitting it?”
“Submit it.”
“If this gets approved after submission, money will really be withdrawn, you know?”
“I’m aware.”
Pelio, who had just taken a step forward, stopped again and asked the same question.
“Are you really going?”
“Ah! Please just go already!!”
Only after Ermedilin finally exploded and shouted did Pelio stop his barrage of questions.
Pelio, cold and taciturn as ice, was uncomfortable enough—but suddenly speaking freely and spilling words carelessly was hardly any better.
“Whew.”
As mental exhaustion washed over her and Ermedilin let out a sigh, she saw Runi and Margo quietly approaching.
“What is it?”
“Um… about that…”
Seeing Runi darting her eyes around nervously, it seemed she had something difficult to say.
“Are you curious about Helen’s matter?”
“Yes.”
Though they hadn’t spent much time together, she seemed genuinely worried.
“You’ve heard Helen was a traitor, right?”
Nod nod.
Indeed, rumors without legs travel faster than those with legs.
“She left with Duke François and then vanished somewhere.”
She decided not to mention the theft.
“Oh, surely not the Duke…”
“No, it’s not like that. I heard she disappeared on her own along the way.”
“I see?”
“We’re searching places where Helen’s family might be or where she could hide—she’ll likely be found soon.”
“What happens if she’s found?”
Runi asked cautiously, her face full of worry.
“Well… Honestly, I don’t really know. If Helen hadn’t suddenly disappeared with the Duke, I’d have kept silent about it to the end.”
“So Your Majesty the Empress already knew from the start.”
“Yes. She confessed—on her own.”
She tried her best not to dwell on it, but she couldn’t stop the bitter expression from appearing on her face.
Ermedilin recalled Helen’s slender wrists, her youthful freckled face, and the protruding bones made stark by how thin she was.
‘I hope she isn’t starving somewhere…’
Just as Ermedilin clicked her tongue silently out of pity, Runi’s innocent face suddenly popped into view.
“Oh! You startled me!”
“Your Majesty the Empress.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll never betray you, Your Majesty. At first, I was really scared, but not anymore. I like you, Your Majesty.”
Thanks to her fair skin, Ermedilin could clearly see Runi’s face turning red all the way to her ears.
The girl, embarrassed by her sudden confession, wrinkled her nose and quietly took a few steps backward.
“Ha, haha, hahahaha.”
Finding the sight unbearably cute, Ermedilin burst into laughter without even realizing it.
Ermedilin remembered a large autumn leaf she once held in her hand.
That red leaf, carefully chosen with tiny, fern-like hands for the older sister who’d nursed her through the night.
‘My sister is my favorite person in the whole world.’
Back then, too, the child’s face had been flushed just like Runi’s now.
‘Ah… If Eun-young had survived, she’d be about this age now…’
Feeling tears well up suddenly, Ermedilin lowered her head sharply.
“Yes. Thank you.”
She spoke as softly as possible to hide her trembling voice, though she wasn’t sure if she’d succeeded completely.
After lunch, on a leisurely afternoon,
three maids visited Ermedilin simultaneously for the first time. Yesterday’s trial must have been quite thrilling, it seemed.
Countess Elion, whom she’d met before, appeared first, fussing loudly.
“Your Majesty! I was truly shocked yesterday! I never dreamed the Duke was that sort of man!”
Having experienced it once before, Ermedilin wasn’t too flustered by Countess Elion’s dramatics.
“I made an ugly spectacle.”
“No! Goodness, to have protected such a father all this time! Your Majesty, you’re truly a remarkable filial daughter!”
It was hard to tell whether she was mocking or praising.
Her acting was so superb that, judging only by her expression and tone, she seemed utterly sincere.
“I appreciate your kind thoughts.”
Ermedilin replied dryly, then glanced at the two women who’d come with the countess—they merely bowed their heads respectfully without saying a word.
Ermedilin had been considering summoning Countess Elion again anyway, curious about what had become of that heavily pregnant girl from before, but the presence of the other two maids made asking awkward.
“It feels like it’s been ages since I last saw you. Did you come to congratulate me on the trial’s outcome?”
Her words came out less gently than intended.
After all, weren’t they maids who hadn’t visited the palace in a long while?
At her pointed question, the young lady standing furthest back—with striking red-gold hair and vivid green eyes—spoke up.
Judging by her age, she must be the only unmarried one among the maids: Princess Biela of House Ilenian.
“Are you truly speaking sincerely, Your Majesty?”
Her eyes, cold as ice, wore an expression of disgust, as if she’d just caught a foul smell.
“What do you mean?”
“My younger sibling died this morning from the plague. I only came to deliver the news.”
“…”
Her mind went blank.
What could she possibly say? Though she herself was innocent now, the capital’s plague was undeniably the doing of this body’s former owner.
But she couldn’t just stand there meekly and reveal herself as the culprit.
“I… don’t know what to say… I offer my deepest condolences. I’ll do my utmost to assist with the funeral arrangements…”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“?”
“That secondary infection spreads through bodily fluids—you could’ve warned us a bit earlier. Then I could’ve kept my sibling under stricter watch.”
“I’m sorry for your sibling’s fate, but I only learned of it then myself. Had I known earlier how to prevent secondary infection, I would’ve announced it immediately.”
Ermedilin didn’t need to feign sorrow.
She genuinely felt immense hatred toward this body’s former owner—and deep pity for the dead child.
“The funeral will be held the day after tomorrow. I request your attendance.”
Princess Biela gave a brief bow and left without another word.
Marchioness Grania also glared at Ermedilin with eyes full of resentment for a moment before following Princess Biela out.
“The princess is clearly heartbroken. With so many children dying from the plague, how dare she vent her anger at Your Majesty? After all, you risked infection yourself to save a child.”
Though Countess Elion defended Ermedilin with a sly tone, Ermedilin couldn’t bring herself to agree.
“By the way, what became of that viscount’s daughter?”
“Oh, her? I introduced her to another mage. But because she’d been cursed right before childbirth, she gave birth anyway—though the baby died during delivery, the mother is perfectly fine. Apparently, thanks to the hefty sum the viscount paid, she immediately bought a seaside mansion.”
“…”
It felt as if her blood ran backward.
She’d found it suspicious from the moment the woman came asking to kill her full-term child, but she never imagined they’d actually go through with it just days before delivery.
She despised them both.
No matter how long ago their relationship had soured, a father who takes a young mistress without a thought for his heir, and a mother who throws herself at an old man for a title and fortune—neither deserved to be parents.
To demand the death of a child on the verge of birth just because their own plans fell through…
Ermedilin wished she could wash out her ears for having heard such a tale. Why must she endure this in a novel supposedly overflowing with romance?
In truth, the original story, centered on Valière, had been happy and gentle—except whenever Ermedilin appeared.
Though they existed in the same novel, the worlds of the heroine and the villainess were so drastically different.
“What a pity, isn’t it? They say the mage who cast that curse received an enormous fee. Given that the viscount owns several mines, he must be quite generous…”
“Enough! That’s enough!”
“Yes?”
“At a time like this, when the plague rages and people die constantly, I don’t wish to hear any more of such stories.”
At Ermedilin’s firm words, Countess Elion gave her a subtle look, scanning the Empress carefully.
‘You caused the plague yourself—why act like this?’
The unspoken words flowed straight into Ermedilin’s mind.
“I know what you—and others—think of me. But no. It wasn’t me.”
The former owner of this body might have been that kind of person, but she was not.
Admittedly, in her past life, she hadn’t been particularly noble either. She’d cared about appearances and money, and sometimes judged others by their looks alone.
But that was just ordinary pettiness—utterly commonplace.
At truly critical moments, she’d never been able to act selfishly; she possessed a basic, universal kindness.
“I am not that person.”
Yes, the owner of this body had changed.
There was no need to follow in the former owner’s footsteps.
She had to clearly show everyone that she was a different person now—completely different.
Ermedilin’s mysterious violet eyes gazed steadily and unwaveringly at Countess Elion.
“Of course. Your Majesty is nothing like those people.”
The ever-diplomatic countess smiled warmly, crinkling the corners of her eyes as she bowed to the Empress.
“I plan to use the estate I’ve inherited from the ducal house to establish an orphanage.”
“An orphanage?”
“Yes. A facility to care for orphans who’ve lost their parents to the plague.”
“What a splendid idea! Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Why not? I intend to fund it myself, but contributions from other nobles would be even better. I’d be grateful if Countess Elion could look into it.”
“Certainly. Such a worthy cause deserves to be widely known.”
“Thank you.”
Indeed, clever people were easy to deal with. Of course, she mustn’t reveal any weaknesses—but in any case, she and the countess had nothing beneficial to gain from speaking openly with each other.
“However, Your Majesty…”
Ermedilin wished she’d just leave already, but Countess Elion lowered her voice, signaling she still had more to say.
“What is it?”
“The verdict was disappointing. To dare lay hands on the body of a god on earth—and not only escape execution but retain his title as well?”
“What can I do? The judgment wasn’t mine to make.”
Her original goal had only been to recover the borrowed money. Ermedilin had tried not to dwell on the trial’s outcome, but this persistent maid clearly thought differently.
“Well, His Majesty must feel burdened too. After all, it’s common knowledge that he used the ducal curse to kill his half-brothers, isn’t it?”
What was this now?
The Emperor killing his half-brothers with a curse? This was entirely new—nowhere in the original story.
It seemed the novel had omitted many incidents unrelated to the heroine’s narrative.
Even if it were common knowledge, she couldn’t trust everything this woman said.
Ermedilin frowned deliberately, pretending ignorance as she glared at the countess.
“Healthy brothers suddenly dying one after another in bizarre ways—who but House François could command a mage capable of wielding such curses so freely? I’m not trying to accuse anyone. Thanks to it, didn’t the true sovereign ascend the throne, clearing away all those riffraff?”
“You speak recklessly, Countess.”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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Wait what the hell. I lowkey hate henri but i feel bad for her to have to suffer with a loser like him omgn