The Empress' Scandalous Paramour (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 13
Suddenly, a thud sounded from outside the door.
It seemed someone who had been eavesdropping had fainted from a surge of blood pressure.
Helene grew even more animated and let loose another outrageous remark.
“The prince and the princess will both yield to Her Imperial Majesty. After all, I’m the Saintess—I’m not allowed to bear children.”
Helene adopted an exceedingly condescending attitude.
She didn’t even bother hiding the fact that she was willingly giving away something she herself didn’t need—like a child.
‘She must be hoping I lose my temper and slap her.’
But you and I differ in age by well over a thousand years.
Blinded by my first experience of love, betrayed by that love, stripped entirely of my power, and reduced to this human form—I had simply struggled momentarily to control my emotions.
Talking with Helene actually helped me regain my composure.
‘I’m glad I met her.’
At last, I felt capable of viewing my hatred and resentment with reason.
After Helene left, I glanced at the items she’d left behind and tapped the table lightly.
“How dare she be so shameless and arrogant!”
Just then, Mrs. Bertolt stormed in, visibly fuming—yet even in her haste, her every step radiated such grace that I silently admired her.
“To sit beside Her Imperial Majesty without even asking permission! Who does she think she is? Even if Her Majesty had offered first, she should have respectfully declined!”
“She must have thought herself my equal.”
“What nonsense! A lowly Quide-born like her!”
So furious was Mrs. Bertolt that tears finally welled in her eyes.
I stood quietly and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Suzanne, I have a task for you now. But you must move with extreme caution—there might be the Saintess’s ears even within our palace.”
“You mean…?”
“I don’t doubt your loyalty—or Charlotte’s. But frankly, I can’t trust anyone else.”
Helene was cautious. She was also an excellent actress, well aware of exactly how far she could push her arrogance.
Moreover, she enjoyed playing moves like in a game of chess.
I knew her type all too well.
She needed everything under her control, so she surely had informants planted within the Empress’s quarters.
“It’s certain. I sensed it from our conversation just now—the Saintess has planted ears inside the Empress’s palace.”
Truthfully, Helene hadn’t dropped any explicit clues in our talk. It was simply that, having lived so long, I could see it plainly.
Mrs. Bertolt clenched her fists tightly and whispered quickly,
“I’ll find them. I’ll root them out for sure.”
“Just the opposite. I need you to identify who among them is truly trustworthy. I’ll dismiss everyone else. And there’s something even more important.”
After confirming no one was eavesdropping nearby, I leaned close to Mrs. Bertolt’s ear and lowered my voice to a whisper.
Upon hearing my words, Mrs. Bertolt’s expression grew grave, and she nodded.
“Now, please summon Duke Achilo. We must resume our interrupted conversation.”
I was growing weary, but I needed to wrap this up. There was something I had to ask Duke Achilo.
“Are you well, my daughter?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“This time, you must crush them completely. The Emperor holds the Saintess in very high regard… you won’t get a second chance.”
Though the uninvited guest’s arrival had made him wait a long while, Duke Achilo showed no anger—only clear concern for his daughter.
Though it wasn’t by my own will that I came to inhabit this body, now that I had, I wanted to show Duke Achilo that “his daughter was thriving.”
“Don’t worry. By the way, Father, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“There must be a real reason the Desert Kingdom requested talks with Nix. Please tell me what it is.”
As I spoke, I called a maid and instructed her to fetch the map I’d borrowed earlier from the librarian.
Duke Achilo gazed at me silently, his eyes slightly clouded.
The real Leonarda would never have asked such a thing. She wouldn’t even have owned a world map, let alone spread it openly on the table.
It was only natural he found it strange.
“…I’m not entirely certain, but from what I’ve gathered, the atmosphere in the Desert Kingdom is peculiar.”
“Peculiar, you say?”
Nonetheless, Duke Achilo eventually answered my question.
“Yes. Last year, their High Priest reportedly received some sort of revelation.”
“And you don’t know its contents?”
“That’s correct. But it’s certain the request for talks came after that revelation.”
A revelation.
Humans believe revelations come from gods, but in truth, such instances are exceedingly rare. Even demons—so long as they’re of Archduke rank or higher—can issue revelations.
And the Desert Kingdom has always had closer ties to demons than to gods.
‘Could my sisters have done something?’
Perhaps it was my sisters who’d orchestrated the plan to place the soul of that foolish youngest sister—who’d died after stubbornly refusing to listen—into this body.
I’d briefly entertained that suspicion.
Thinking of my sisters, who’d cherished me so dearly, I bit down gently on the soft flesh inside my cheek, overcome by a pang of longing.
“Besides that, is there anything else unusual in the Desert Kingdom? I thought it might help with preparing for the banquet.”
“Hmm. Within the imperial court… things are passable, one might say. But among commoners, unrest is brewing.”
“I see.”
Were the officials extorting the people while the Emperor squandered money recklessly?
Even that boy hadn’t seemed to receive proper treatment.
If the Emperor was vile enough to exile his own much younger sibling out of mere jealousy, calling him a tyrant wouldn’t be surprising.
“Do you see this large river here?”
“The Nashuteph River. The great lifeblood that cuts through the Desert Kingdom.”
“Precisely. But last summer, the Diawan River—a small tributary branching from the Nashuteph—completely dried up.”
“Dried up? Not even a single drop left?”
“Yes. Yet as the riverbed emptied, an ancient ruin buried deep beneath was unearthed. They say excavation has only progressed about three percent so far. Some even speculate it might be a relic from the Mage Empire of a thousand years past.”
“So that’s why you called it ‘peculiar.'”
While some people surely suffered hardship from the Diawan drying up, others must have rejoiced at the discovery of the ruins.
And those rejoicing were most likely members of the noble class.
‘The common folk must be furious—many likely depended on that tributary for their livelihood.’
A summit held amidst such chaos.
Tapping my fingers lightly against my lips as I studied the map, I roughly estimated a spot diagonally northeast of the Diawan River.
Beyond the border, at a certain distance, lay a region named none other than “Ancel.”
“His Imperial Majesty lived in a place called Ancel when he was young, didn’t he?”
“Pardon? Ah—yes. He holds very tender feelings for that place.”
“How fortunate. That area will soon be submerged and turned into a sea.”
“!”
“Don’t worry. Arrange for the local residents to evacuate to nearby estates and prepare relief supplies in advance.”
Duke Achilo’s mouth fell open in shock—utterly bewildered by my words.
Realizing my slip, I softened the corners of my eyes gently.
“Where do you think all the evaporated water goes?”
“If it evaporated, then it’s simply gone, isn’t it?”
“Not at all, Father. Everything in this world follows rules. If a river dries up entirely, that water must eventually pour down somewhere.”
I couldn’t explain why that place was Ancel.
Even if I did, as a human, he wouldn’t understand.
How could he grasp that the world is a tightly woven net of cause and effect?
I alone could calculate and read those causal threads.
‘If the ruins were uncovered in summer, and now it’s deep winter, time is running short.’
What would happen if a region that had never known floods was suddenly deluged with massive amounts of water?
There was only one answer.
Everyone would die.
Those who barely survived would be swept away by the epidemics left in the flood’s wake.
I intended to stop this—in the Empress’s name.
Let the Saintess and the Temple deal with the aftermath.
“But absolutely do not spread word of this widely. Handle everything quietly. The Saintess will surely remain in the capital until the summit concludes. Even if she hears something has happened, she won’t move.”
“So you’re saying the Temple won’t act until all relief efforts under Her Imperial Majesty’s name are complete?”
“Yes. But if she hears I’ve done something, she’ll surely rush there immediately. That must not happen. The people of Ancel must be saved solely by our efforts.”
Having laid it out so plainly, the Duke would handle the rest himself.
He’d manage both shaping favorable public opinion and sowing unfavorable sentiment toward the Saintess and the Temple.
Gazing down at my long-cold teacup, I slowly parted my lips.
“If we save the homeland he cherishes so deeply, the Emperor will finally bow that stiff neck of his—just once.”
“If it truly rains upon Ancel… that would be a masterstroke.”
“It will rain.”
I stated it with unwavering certainty and looked straight into Duke Achilo’s eyes.
“To crush the enemy’s heart with your fangs—that is the way of Achilo. Didn’t you teach me that yourself, Father?”
“…Yes, I certainly did.”
“Do you believe in revelations, Father?”
Doubt flickered once more in Duke Achilo’s crimson eyes.
Knowing one’s daughter is dead versus deluding oneself she still lives—
I couldn’t say which was kinder. I’d never been a parent myself.
But right now, I needed this body.
At least until I’d completed my vengeance in full.
“Isn’t ‘revelation’ a term they use in the Desert Kingdom?”
“If it discomforts you, let’s call it a ‘divine oracle.’ It amounts to the same thing.”
“Has a god come upon you?”
Duke Achilo asked in astonishment. I merely smiled wordlessly.
His notion of a god descending struck me as absurd.
But I’d deliberately used the word “revelation” to encourage that very misconception.
Elegantly clasping my hands together, I assumed a posture as though praying to a deity, then opened my mouth in the most solemn, sacred tone imaginable.
“‘If you’re going to die anyway, then die at the highest seat, wielding power no one else can touch.’ That is what I heard.”
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
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Leonarda really said “I’m done” and meant it 💀 queen finally clocked in and chose violence. Enrique only interested now?? too late bro.
Meriem down BAD already and bro hasn’t even met her again 😭 meanwhile Leonarda fighting the whole empire solo… yeah this banquet bout to be chaos fr.
She really said “fix yourselves or I will” 😭🔥 empress about to run bootcamp fr, Valkyrie redemption arc loading…