The Empress' Scandalous Paramour (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 16
“That can’t be… right.”
For someone denying it, his hand was gripping rather tightly.
‘How adorable.’
Derek was none other than the reason—or rather, the culprit—behind the original Leonarda gradually locking herself away in her chambers.
He must have wanted to possess her, out of love.
He wished for her to remain delicate, fragile—a porcelain doll, easily shattered.
A man more loyal than anyone yet simultaneously the one least desiring change; someone who aided Leonarda yet paradoxically stood as a towering barrier preventing her transformation.
I gently stroked his firm jaw, as if soothing a cat. Immediately, his neck flushed crimson, and his ashen pupils wavered.
He looked just like sleet fluttering helplessly at the slightest brush of the wind.
“You’re quite playful.”
Just then—
A low, chilling voice brushed against my ear, its tone so icy it raised goosebumps as though frost itself had settled upon us.
Derek flinched, but I calmly straightened my posture and adjusted my clothes.
My leisurely demeanor—utterly indifferent whether the figure before me was the Emperor or his own grandfather—made Enrique’s eyebrows twitch faintly.
“To what do I owe this sudden, unannounced visit to my quarters?”
So you think only you can speak coldly, do you?
With arms crossed, I openly conveyed to Enrique the unspoken meaning: “You are an uninvited guest.”
“I wasn’t aware I needed to schedule an appointment simply to see the Empress.”
“Then I hope you’ll know better in the future. Don’t I also need to reserve time with Your Majesty?”
My sarcastic retort made Derek tense visibly. The royal guards standing behind the Emperor wore awkward expressions.
Honestly, anyone who’d just walked in on their husband rolling around in a meeting room with his mistress would react exactly like this.
“I never knew the Empress was so eloquent.”
“Understanding people isn’t easy. You might gauge ten streams of water, yet never fathom a single human heart—that’s life.”
My barbed remark twisted the corners of Enrique’s lips.
Honestly, what on earth did Leonarda ever do wrong to deserve such disdain?
I snorted and stared straight into Enrique’s eyes. This time, he had no choice but to meet my gaze.
“I’m busy preparing for the banquet—may I take my leave?”
“If you had nothing to say, you wouldn’t have come all the way here, would you?”
“Then please speak quickly. I don’t have much time to spare for Your Majesty.”
My dry, humorless urging froze the entire corridor as if the temperature had plummeted below zero.
Enrique likely had never seen Leonarda behave this way before.
She’d always been flustered and helpless in his presence.
Even her journal entries made that clear.
Leonarda loved him, but Enrique held no feelings in return—giving him effortless dominance in their relationship.
And that infuriated me to no end.
“The food provided by the Empress’s quarters nearly caused great harm to the Saintess, yet your quarters offered no apology whatsoever.”
“I fail to see why I should apologize. I heard about the incident, and it was indeed unfortunate—but she recovered safely thanks to her divine power, didn’t she?”
“And if she hadn’t?”
“Such hypotheticals are pointless arguments. The Saintess is perfectly fine. She simply needs to be more careful with peaches from now on. Or are you suggesting I should’ve anticipated precisely what your mistress could or couldn’t eat and taken precautions in advance?”
Mistress.
One of the royal guards gasped sharply at that blunt word.
From that reaction alone, I knew Leonarda had never once called Helene by that title.
Ridiculous. She was a mistress—why couldn’t anyone just say it?
“I don’t know what misunderstanding you’re under. I’ve stated many times that Helene is not my mistress.”
“If that’s your claim, then so be it. Then what exactly did I hear right outside the meeting room door?”
“I was merely massaging her shoulders.”
“I hope you realize how flimsy that excuse sounds. Honestly, I’m exhausted.”
It was absurd—two people at the very apex of the Imperial Palace squabbling in a corridor like commoners.
Yet I absolutely refused to offer Enrique a seat in any receiving room.
Why should I?
Why must I?
‘My stomach churns. Damn that cursed divine power…’
I wasn’t lying about being tired.
Though wearing a human body, my soul was that of a demon.
The trembling divine power radiating from Enrique continuously afflicted me.
Only because I wore the ancient magical bracelet given by that boy back then was I managing to stay this composed—if not, I’d have already collapsed, the world spinning before my eyes.
“What more can I say to someone who’s already decided not to believe me?”
“Then why come at all? Had you remained indifferent as you always have, you wouldn’t have had to endure these irritating words.”
My relentless, unyielding retorts finally cracked Enrique’s icy composure.
Heaving a quiet sigh at last, he spoke softly toward me.
“Helene has managed the palace in the Empress’s stead all this time. If you feel even a shred of gratitude for that, you mustn’t completely exclude her from this banquet.”
“Ha. Gratitude…?”
Ah, I wanted to strangle him.
My vision blurred with rage. A storm of hatred churned in my clouded mind, threatening to drown my reason.
‘No. I must hold back. I have to endure.’
So that was why he’d come all this way—just to say those words.
He’d never visited when Leonarda begged and pleaded, never showed up even as that pitiful woman stood on the tower’s edge, ready to leap.
But the moment Helene stood to lose undeserved privileges that weren’t even hers, he finally deigned to move.
“What a truly devoted love story.”
But when had I ever lived by enduring?
My mocking words spilled from my lips, landing at Enrique’s feet.
Before he could speak, I continued without even pausing for breath.
“Let’s be clear: the Saintess has never known her place. That I tolerated it was only because I loved Your Majesty.”
“…”
“But now, I must reclaim my rightful position. If you find me unbearable, the simplest solution is to depose me from this post and bring in another sacrificial lamb—or seat Helene as Empress yourself. If that’s your wish, by all means, do so.”
“…Empress.”
“For I no longer love Your Majesty.”
Ah, yes.
That was the sentence I wanted to say.
I’d longed so desperately to utter just these words.
I no longer love you.
I don’t love you—ever again!
Of course, Enrique’s expression remained utterly unchanged. He showed no regret, asked no “Why?”—not even a flicker of interest.
And yet, for me, it felt as though a suffocating weight had finally lifted from my chest.
I’d wanted to say it—looking straight into those eyes.
“So. Even after hearing it from Myself directly, you still refuse to entrust Helene with anything. Is that your meaning?”
“Yes.”
“I never imagined the Empress would… disregard the Saintess so utterly.”
“Then it’s high time you learned.”
“You won’t yield a single point.”
“Has it never occurred to Your Majesty to show magnanimity by yielding first?”
Since I’d already crossed the line, I resolved to keep taunting him to the end.
The royal guards had long turned ashen, looking like unripe tomatoes—though whether the Emperor would scold them later wasn’t my concern.
“Go tell the Saintess to simply fulfill her proper duties.”
With that sharp retort, I spun around and walked off without even a bow. I felt Enrique’s persistent gaze cling to my back, but I ignored it.
Having said my piece, even sharing the same air in the same space with him felt unbearably revolting.
Left behind in that spot—
“The Empress…”
After a long silence, Enrique slowly parted his lips.
“Was she always like this?”
It was a question, yet no one present could answer.
The royal guards were all veteran paladins who had served alongside Enrique for years.
Yet in the past five years, they’d only seen Empress Leonarda a handful of times—at the wedding, the New Year’s gala, and other major ceremonies.
And Leonarda had always appeared hazy in their memories.
Beautiful, yes—but like a flower already crushed, devoid of vitality.
“That can’t be.”
Enrique murmured quietly, brushing his lips with a stiff expression—a telltale habit whenever deeply perplexed.
Rooted to the spot, he stood motionless for a long while, lost in thought.
‘Why does the Empress now seem to… overlap with Her image?’
Had it really been five years already?
Since the day I took Her life with these very hands.
Since then, Enrique had lost all sense of joy.
He’d gained an unshakable, icy reason—but also lost the ability to feel pleasure in anything.
Yet just now, he’d felt an emotion long buried begin to stir anew.
Joy, excitement, delight—feelings awkwardly resurfacing from deep within his chest.
Thus, he even felt a pang of regret as he watched the Empress walk away.
He wished to speak more—perhaps then he’d remember what he’d forgotten.
It was strange; though the Empress had been aggressively confrontational, he felt no irritation at all.
She simply… seemed like a different person today.
“Come back.”
She’d said to schedule a visit—so he’d do just that.
Enrique tried to recall his schedule, only to realize with slight disappointment that he had no free time before the banquet.
He wanted to know why the Empress had changed.
That day marked the first time since their marriage that he’d taken any interest in Leonarda.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
MANGA DISCUSSION
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Chapter Comments (99)
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…
she really said “fine, i’ll fix everything myself” and started from ZERO 😭🔥
empress turned into a gym arc protagonist fr, and now the knights are whippedalso her using money + emotional manipulation?? yeah helene better watch out 💀
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Karamel57
Leonarda really said “I’m done” and meant it 💀 queen finally clocked in and chose violence. Enrique only interested now?? too late bro.