Long Live the Emperor, Minus Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
Of course, ten years hadn’t passed in just one night—and yet, the poison I thought I’d fully spat out ended up causing trouble.
I’d been bedridden all night with a high fever, completely unable to move.
‘It’s definitely not the type that seeps through the skin. If it were, I’d have reacted much sooner.’
That meant even the tiniest amount of poison I’d accidentally swallowed while spitting it out had caused this mess. Just how fragile was this body?
Amidst my disbelief, I keenly realized the true state of this body.
Just how weak it was. Just how vulnerable Blanche truly was.
Until now, I’d boasted that nothing had really changed—only the situation had grown slightly more difficult. After all, my circumstances in my previous life hadn’t been great either.
Enemies from rival nations, people from the very country I’d subjugated, fellow servants under His Majesty, concubines, and even members of my own family at times. Perhaps I’d faced even more enemies than Blanche ever would. So I’d assumed this life wouldn’t be any different.
But I was wrong. If I were still Lee Baekryeon, I wouldn’t have been laid low by a mere drop of poison—and I certainly wouldn’t have even faced such a clumsy assassination attempt in the first place.
Thus, even if my mind remained the same as before, the fact that my body had changed meant I could no longer be the Lee Baekryeon I once was.
It was utterly absurd—but I’d only just realized that now.
“Are you alright, Your Highness? Why is this happening…?”
As I bitterly chewed over Blanche’s helplessness, Tula spoke to me, placing a hand on my forehead and gazing down with a worried expression.
Her face was filled with pure concern—not worry over disruptions caused by my illness, nor fear that her duties as my protector might be deemed inadequate. It was simply worry for me.
As if I were someone worthy of care not for my abilities, but simply for who I was.
Ah. She reminded me of Yu Xian.
Through my fever-fogged mind, I overlaid another face onto Tula’s.
My daughter.
The child I’d left behind last, the one I’d protected until the very end.
“You must eat something. Is there anything you can manage? Fruit? Soup?”
Why do those caring for the sick always say the same things? Yu Xian had said exactly those words too. Even in my feverish state, I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
Indeed, Yu Xian had done the same. At the very end, after I’d already resolved to stop eating.
Back then, nourishment hadn’t mattered to me. And Yu Xian likely knew that my living longer wouldn’t benefit her at all—meaning she didn’t need to go through the trouble of feeding me.
Yet that child had worried for me. She’d personally prepared a thin gruel and pleaded with me to take just one bite.
As if my mere existence held value. As if my life mattered more to her than her own safety.
I never fully understood why she did that. Wasn’t my worth tied solely to my abilities? If my death meant her survival, why worry over me?
Though I never understood it, she’d been utterly sincere. So sincere that, even knowing suicide was my only remaining option, I hesitated slightly out of concern for her.
And now, Tula was looking at me with those exact same eyes.
“Isn’t the cloth too cold? Please try to eat just a little. Here, open up.”
The damp cloth on my forehead, the chicken soup, those worried eyes—I asked Tula as she held the spoon toward me.
“Tula.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Do you hate it when I’m sick?”
Tula’s eyes widened slightly, then her eyelids drooped.
“You’re asking something so obvious.”
Her voice carried a strangely heart-wrenching tone. Her eyes seemed unable to bear even hearing such a question.
“I wish you weren’t in pain. So please, get well soon.”
「I wish you weren’t in pain. So please, gather your strength, Mother.」
Her eyes and voice brought Yu Xian vividly to mind.
“Then, I’ll protect you.”
Thus, I’d originally intended to keep watching over all the children attending me—even if they leaked information. Not just because staff were scarce now, but even if my situation improved and I gained more attendants later.
After all, I already knew who was leaking information, and I could easily control what details slipped through.
But after falling ill like this, fear suddenly gripped me. Memories surfaced of that time when I’d had to give up everything just to barely save my daughter.
I worried that, once again, I might end up clinging to too many things only to lose them all one by one.
So I decided I needed to sort out the children around me.
All of them—except Tula.
*
“…Your Highness?”
There was no reply. Her breathing was steady. In the quiet room, Tula lingered over the words she’d just heard.
‘Do you hate it when I’m sick?’
‘Then, I’ll protect you.’
They were utterly incomprehensible words. Protect? Tula? From whom?
She didn’t even know who the threat was supposed to be—but more bewildering still was that these words came from a princess barely three years old, spoken to a nursemaid whose duty was to lay down her life protecting the princess.
There was no one here who seemed intent on harming either the princess or herself.
Tula truly couldn’t understand. Other maids had gossiped that Her Majesty the Empress adored the princess dearly. And according to what the princess herself had quietly confided to Tula, she’d met His Grace the Grand Duke yesterday.
To Tula, it seemed only a path of roses lay before her little princess—so why did her baby look so solemn? Almost like a general preparing for battle…
“Nurse! Nurse! Come out here!”
Startled by the hushed call—meant not to wake the princess—Tula jumped, her shoulders jerking.
“A gift has arrived for Her Highness! Come out and check it, please.”
A maid peeked through the slightly opened door, whispering excitedly with flushed cheeks. A gift. Right. Since the princess was sleeping, she should verify it herself. Tula gently brushed the sleeping princess’s forehead and rose from her seat.
She must be overthinking things. The princess was precocious, yes—but she was still only three. Probably, her precocity had simply blended with a child’s uniquely self-contained logic, making things seem more complicated than they were. It was likely nothing at all.
Perhaps the princess had just been delirious from fever and spoken nonsense.
Tula tried her best to view the situation optimistically as she stepped out of the room.
“A gift? From where? Did Her Majesty the Empress send it?”
“No! It’s from His Grace the Grand Duke! I don’t know how he and the princess became acquainted, but it’s truly incredible!”
His Grace the Grand Duke? She’d mentioned meeting him yesterday—and today a gift had already arrived. Her little princess was surely beloved by the world.
And understandably so. The princess had moon-like hair, snow-white skin, and eyes as dark as midnight.
With a beauty as exquisite as a precious porcelain doll cherished by nobles, and a gentle, well-behaved nature that never fussed over food, it was no wonder every highborn who met her fell utterly charmed.
“Well then, let’s have a look.”
What would a three-year-old enjoy? A doll, perhaps? Or maybe flowers?
With such light expectations, Tula opened the door—and froze instantly in place.
Flowers. Flowers. Flowers. Fresh blooms filled every inch of her vision.
“What in the world…?”
The item itself wasn’t unexpected—flowers were among the most common gifts. The issue was the sheer quantity.
The entire reception room was overflowing with flowers.
And even that wasn’t enough—through the opposite doorway, beyond where Tula stood, flowers stretched endlessly as far as the eye could see. There were so many they couldn’t even close the doors. It looked as if someone had uprooted an entire flower garden.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
Kali’s eyes sparkled with excitement, but before Tula could feel joy, she was utterly overwhelmed. What on earth was all this?
“Is this truly His Grace the Grand Duke’s gift?”
“Yes! His people came and left it here. I suppose that’s just how grandly the Grand Duke of the Empire gives gifts!”
Was it really acceptable to call this “grand generosity” and leave it at that? Tula stepped forward to inspect the trail of flowers extending beyond the door. Though the door wasn’t closed, the overwhelming floral scent made her head spin.
Wouldn’t showing this to the princess—who was already unwell—worsen her condition due to the strong fragrance?
As Tula moved toward the door leading outside the reception room with these concerns in mind, an unfamiliar figure appeared before her.
“Oh, I apologize for visiting without prior notice. I heard Princess Blanche had fallen ill, so—”
Sun-melted golden hair, eyes of flawless emerald green clarity, a slender fairy-like figure, and impeccable posture.
Though Tula had never seen this face before, she instantly recognized who stood before her.
It was Her Majesty the Empress.
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.]
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