I Possessed the Wicked Empress (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8
A deep voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
Pelio, having arrived at some unknown moment, glared at Ermedilin with his silver eyes gleaming sharply.
“Yes. The disease can spread even through saliva or blood…”
Ermedilin almost blurted out the words “virus” and “bacteria” unconsciously, so she quickly changed her phrasing.
But sensing the atmosphere suddenly grow tense, she began to wonder if she’d said something wrong and glanced around nervously.
Yet Pelio abruptly stormed out of the audience chamber without a word.
‘What… what was that?’
Her bewilderment lasted only a moment—her cheek suddenly felt hot, and when she turned, she saw Valière’s grave expression.
No, it wasn’t just grave—it was as if her face were sinking endlessly into some distant void.
The two light-brown eyes resting on her otherwise expressionless face deepened steadily, as though submerging into a dark, profound abyss.
‘What… what’s wrong with her? Did I really say something strange?’
Unlike the murmuring crowd, Valière simply stared relentlessly at Ermedilin with an utterly blank face until the end.
Somehow, the local nobles’ turn concluded, and commoners began entering the audience chamber.
Fortunately, there were no hate-filled glares or curses that Ermedilin had anticipated.
No one even looked at the Empress, nor showed any desire to speak with her.
They simply treated her as if she didn’t exist.
Yet Ermedilin could clearly feel it—
the swirling vortex of fear and hatred enveloping this vast audience chamber.
‘This is unpleasant in its own way.’
It might’ve been better if they’d just cursed and hurled insults at her outright.
Being utterly isolated within a crowd felt just as awful as being hated.
‘It’s all the same anyway.’
Listening to it all was slowly becoming boring.
Tragic tales of a familiar plague, border conflicts barely described in the novel, and even droughts—all tangled together.
Joy rarely grows tiresome, but tragedy quickly does.
Sadly, one’s emotional limits are reached far sooner when faced with tragedy.
Just as boredom began to overtake her pity, Pelio appeared—as if he’d just returned from outside.
‘Ah, should I ask why he ran off like that earlier? I’ll have to meet him again anyway because of the trial.’
But contrary to her thoughts, Ermedilin always felt a chill whenever she saw Pelio—and truthfully, she didn’t want to encounter him often.
His cold demeanor matched his icy appearance perfectly.
After all, according to the original story, wasn’t he the side character who hated her enough to kill her—and ultimately succeeded by burning her alive?
It was no wonder her spine turned cold every time she saw him.
“Aaaaaaah!!”
Amid her scattered thoughts, a sudden scream made Ermedilin turn her head.
A small infant, cradled in its parents’ arms, was vomiting dark-red blood.
“It’s… it’s the plague!! Aaaaaaah!!”
The parents holding the child were too panicked to act, while everyone else rushed out of the audience chamber in fear of infection—turning the room into chaos in no time.
“Call a priest! Call a priest!!”
Soldiers guarding Henri shouted, blocking the way as they called for a priest.
The guards instinctively surrounded only Henri and Valière, pointedly excluding Ermedilin.
‘This is just too much!’
Even if she was the story’s ultimate villain, she was still the reigning Empress—such blatant discrimination left Ermedilin utterly speechless.
Just as she turned to protest, she noticed the baby’s face turning increasingly blue.
‘Oh no—if left like that, the child will suffocate!’
The moment she realized the baby might die, Ermedilin’s body moved almost reflexively.
The parents recoiled in shock as Ermedilin approached, stumbling backward—but she was faster, scooping the infant into her arms.
The baby’s body felt incredibly small and frail in her embrace.
Ermedilin laid the child on the floor and used her fingers to scoop out the dark-red vomit filling its mouth.
‘Baby! Hang on! You can’t die! You mustn’t!!’
As she reached deep into the throat to clear the obstruction, she felt the baby’s breathing gradually stabilize.
‘Breathe! My sweet! Breathe!! Please!!’
The instant she confirmed the airway was clear, Ermedilin immediately began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation without hesitation, despite the vomit coating the baby’s lips.
She wanted to perform full CPR as she’d once learned, but feared the infant’s delicate body might break—so she hesitated, and in that moment, Priest Louise arrived.
Louise looked more startled by Ermedilin, sitting tear-streaked before the child on the floor, than by the child itself.
But quickly regaining her composure like the seasoned priest she was, Louise began examining the baby.
“The child nearly choked to death. Fortunately, Your Majesty took swift and proper action.”
“The baby… is the baby alright?”
Louise quietly nodded in response to Ermedilin’s trembling question.
“It shows early symptoms of the plague, but it’s still treatable.”
“Oh… I see.”
Relief washed over her, and all the tension drained from her body.
Ermedilin sank heavily onto the floor with a dazed expression, gazing at the baby—who had regained steady breathing—and offered a complex smile.
‘I’m glad I could save someone this time.’
Everyone remaining in the audience chamber—especially those who personally knew Ermedilin—reacted with various expressions of astonishment at the scene before them.
Henri masked his racing heartbeat with a calm, dignified facade befitting his status, while Valière clenched her fists so tightly her nails drew blood, her whole body trembling violently.
Pelio maintained a relatively composed demeanor, though he couldn’t quite still the faint twitch at the corner of his eye.
Even Priest Louise, who had worn a gentle expression while checking the child, now fixed Ermedilin—still seated on the floor—with an unreadable, blank stare before approaching her.
“It came back… I remembered…”
“Your Majesty?”
“Yes… that’s how it happened…”
“Your Majesty!!”
Snapped back to awareness by Louise’s urgent tone, Ermedilin’s eyes regained their focus.
“You’ve had contact with a patient showing signs of plague, however mild. You must undergo purification.”
“Purification?”
“Yes.”
‘Is it like disinfection? Then just do it—why look so grim?’
“I suppose I must, if it’s necessary.”
“Are you certain?”
“Huh?”
“Purification through divine power will render your blood magic unusable for about two days.”
“Oh…”
‘So blessings and curses are opposites, then. Still, I didn’t come all the way to this world just to die of illness…’
“It doesn’t matter. The Empress cannot afford to fall ill while the realm is in such turmoil.”
“Understood. I’ll perform the purification immediately.”
A dazzlingly bright yet strangely gentle light briefly enveloped Ermedilin before vanishing.
“Is it done?”
“Yes. You’ll be safe from the plague for now.”
“Thank you.”
Glancing subtly at Louise’s reaction, Ermedilin saw the priestess still looked awkward hearing “thank you” from the Empress’s lips.
‘Sigh… I still have a long way to go. Why does my life keep turning out like this?’
The crowd’s near-horrified stares and Henri’s praise stirred no particular emotion in Ermedilin.
Because just now, hazy memories from the time of her transmigration—like mist—had surfaced.
Her lover of seven years had said this before leaving her:
“I’ve truly been grateful all this time. But I don’t want to struggle like this anymore. I’d like to enjoy the support my family can give me, just once.”
Having grown up together in an orphanage, they’d started dating right after turning adults—and he handed Hye-young an envelope.
“I put in what I could. It’s not meant to insult you—just… I’m grateful. That’s all.”
She’d wanted to throw the envelope away in anger, refusing such money—but Hye-young quietly accepted it.
After all, she’d poured so much of her own money into his university tuition and civil service exam prep—pride meant nothing against reality.
With a calm face, Hye-young opened the envelope and peeked inside.
Even at a glance, the amount far exceeded what she’d scrimped from her meager salary to support him all those years.
‘This is a lot.’
‘It’s not repayment for a debt. It’s my gratitude—just take it.’
‘Alright. Thank you.’
Though their seven-year relationship ended just like that, Hye-young calmly slipped the envelope into her pocket.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Yeah.’
His father was a judge, his mother a prosecutor, and his older brother a lawyer.
A family like that would surely offer him strong backing—something he, with no connections of his own, desperately needed.
Hye-young didn’t really resent him.
She understood better than anyone how lonely and desperate it felt to stand alone in a world with no one.
She’d helped her boyfriend by saving every penny she could, but he’d worked four tutoring shifts at once for years, sleeping only two hours a day.
She remembered his perpetually sunken eyes and pale, slender wrists, drained of color.
Even when exhausted to the point of collapse, he always greeted her with a bright smile.
When Hye-young needed emergency appendectomy surgery, he begged the family he tutored for help and managed to secure the surgery fees.
Too shy to enter a women’s ward, he’d stayed up all night studying for the civil service exam under the dim lights of the hospital lounge.
Because of him, she sometimes felt she could accomplish anything.
There were moments she truly believed she wasn’t alone—and that made her feel incredibly lucky.
But now, all those memories were fading into a meaningless past.
‘Right. He worked hard and seized his chance. Let him climb as high as he can.’
Hye-young wanted to cheer him on more than blame him.
Yet, separately from that, she no longer wanted to live. In an instant, her reason for living vanished.
So she went to the Han River.
At night, the Han River seemed less like a river and more like a dark, viscous creature.
But as she prepared to jump, feelings of discomfort and injustice surged within her.
‘Seriously—what’s a little heartbreak? Did I really live all this time just for that guy? Of course not!’
She patted her chest—and felt the thick envelope she’d just received.
‘This money’s more than enough for university tuition! Combined with what I’ve saved, I can even graduate! What’s the point of dying now? I’ll study too! I’ll succeed completely, climb higher than him, and show up out of nowhere!!’
With a goal in mind, her will to live suddenly surged anew.
‘What should I major in? I’ve never even thought about it.’
‘I guess I’ll head to Noryangjin. Do you think my brain can handle it at this point?’
‘I can sleep just two hours too! If he could do it, why can’t I?’
Lost in these excited thoughts, Hye-young was walking back to her rented room when she saw something she shouldn’t have.
A small child, dressed in filthy, tattered clothes, wandered aimlessly onto the road.
And a car, failing to notice the tiny figure, accelerated forward.
‘No!!’
The orphanage had been sensible but never abundant.
Sick children received medical aid, but it wasn’t the same as having a mother by their side all day.
After growing up, Hye-young always volunteered to comfort younger siblings whenever they whined from illness.
She imagined what her own mother might have done—and used that to soothe them.
Most of the children recovered unless gravely ill, but during her time at the facility, Hye-young lost three siblings to disease and accidents.
She hated seeing children die.
She never wanted to witness again that small body—so full of life just moments before—limp and lifeless.
‘No!! I hate it!!’
Male lead Asks for a Divorce Every Day
It’s not often you come across a plot like this in the female-dominant genre — make sure to check it out!
This is a novel I’m planning to reread as well.
The male lead is strong, skilled in martial arts, and not the usual fragile type you often see in matriarchal novels.
Meanwhile, the female lead is a scientist—rational and logical. Even when she falls for the male lead, she doesn’t let her emotions cloud her decisions.
If you push through the first few chapters, you’ll gradually find the story really intriguing.
It has a mix of mystery, detective elements, and romance.
The author’s writing style is like crafting a puzzle—except they deliberately leave out a few pieces, making it hard to predict what happens next, yet keeping you hooked.
In the end, everything will come together and be explained.
One-sentence summary: Wife, stop playing with beakers and look at me!
In a laboratory accident, research scientist Zhu Wansheng accidentally travels to a matriarchal world. The original owner of the body is an eighteen-year-old only daughter of a wealthy rouge merchant, already married with a handsome young man.
Zhu Wansheng grins: Nice! She always said she was heaven’s favorite granddaughter. After a life of toil in her previous life, she can enjoy blessings in this one.
However, her joy lasts no more than three seconds as bad news arrives: the original owner’s family is about to go bankrupt, and her husband wants a divorce.
Even worse, she’s stuck with a research system full of restrictions.
Zhu Wansheng: ? Is this the destiny of a research dog?
——
Faced with this mess, Zhu Wansheng pours herself a bowl of wine to drown her sorrows. In her drunken haze, her husband arrives.
His figure is imposing, holding a long sword, with a dignified air that captivates Zhu Wansheng.
Gu Yingqing, however, looks at the alcohol-reeking Zhu Wansheng with undisguised disgust and coldly asks, “Divorce or not?” The intoxicated Zhu Wansheng mumbles vaguely, “I think… it’s not… it’s not… impossible!”
——
The next day, after sobering up, Zhu Wansheng is full of energy, rolling up her sleeves ready to make a big move. As for yesterday? She has no memory of it.
Zhu Wansheng is ambitious; a research dog fears nothing!
Upgrading rouge, extracting fragrances, producing perfumes, researching lipsticks… all shall bow to the power of modern technology!
The original owner’s dying rouge shop is revitalized. Her mother is pleased and with a wave of her hand, passes on the family business to her. As she takes control and her experimental results gain popularity, it’s the pinnacle of her life…
——
But there are always those who can’t stand to see her doing well. Jealousy, scheming, assassination attempts – they want nothing less than her life.
The person who has always kept his distance from her suddenly holds her tightly in his arms, eyes full of concern.
She is unharmed, but he falls into a pool of blood…
Zhu Wansheng feels guilty, “I can grant you one wish.”
Gu Yingqing tentatively circles his arms around her, carefully resting his head in the crook of her neck, pleading softly, “I regret it. Can we not divorce?”
Zhu Wansheng: ? When did I agree to a divorce?
[Small Theater]
The newly developed rouge is beautifully packaged, and Zhu Wansheng is eager to try it.
Gu Yingqing suddenly appears: “My lady, may I apply it for you?”
Cool fingertips lightly brush her lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he leans in for a light bite.
Zhu Wansheng: ?
Gu Yingqing: It smells so good, I wanted to taste it…
On a warm spring day, Zhu Wansheng tries a new perfume: “Spring Night.” Gu Yingqing corners her against a wall.
Warm breath lingers on her neck.
“My lady, from now on, may I test the fragrances for you?”
[Humorous female scientist vs scheming live-in son-in-law male lead]
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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