The Empress' Scandalous Paramour (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 6
Of course, that didn’t mean Enrique and I had been cohabiting.
I certainly wanted to, but every time I hinted at it, Enrique would give me that uniquely shy smile and say, “Please wait just a little longer.”
And foolishly—utterly foolishly—I understood and waited, thinking that as humans, premarital cohabitation must be difficult for them.
“Well… I suppose he spent his days with me and his nights with that woman.”
My lips twisted.
I let out a dry chuckle, twirling a lock of my hair as I recalled her name.
“Helene.”
I didn’t know her surname, but with such vivid pink eyes and hair, she must be famous in high society—it wasn’t a common color, after all.
“I want to track her down right now and turn everything upside down, but I don’t have the strength or the stamina for it.”
At the very least, I needed to be able to walk a short distance without fainting before I could seek revenge.
I let out a low sigh and closed the diary.
“To wash away this stifling feeling, I need to go out.”
Don’t misunderstand me. Given my current physical state, “going out” simply meant stepping outside my bedroom.
I was living day by day as if walking on thin ice.
Just yesterday, I’d been struck by yet another inexplicable fever and barely made it through.
“Charlotte, I’d like to visit the imperial archives. Will you take me?”
“Oh! If there’s a book you’d like, I can bring it to you…!”
“No, I’d like to choose it myself.”
“Then… um, we should bundle you up thoroughly before going. Please wait just a moment! The archives can’t have a fireplace lit, so it’s dreadfully cold.”
Charlotte, daughter of Viscount Everett, like Mrs. Bertolt, had followed me from Duke Achilo’s household. Her movements were brisk and she never spoke unnecessarily, so lately I’d grown close to her.
I casually asked Charlotte, who was bustling about gathering scarves, fur gloves, and other winter gear:
“Did I often go to the archives?”
“Well… honestly, no. Your Majesty never cared much for books.”
“Then what did I usually do all day?”
“Mostly you were unwell… and when you felt better, you’d take walks. On days you had even more energy, you’d dine with His Imperial Majesty!”
In short, I’d been a seriously ill patient who did absolutely nothing.
“You really had it rough, Leonarda.”
Born with everything yet denied health—unable to find happiness despite ascending to the highest position in the realm.
Since I was now living in this body, I’d reshape the environment to suit my needs—and avenge Leonarda while I was at it.
At that point, that was truly all I had in mind.
[This is the timeline separator]“Oh dear, my eyes are failing me—am I truly past my time…? Why am I seeing things that aren’t there?”
It seemed the librarian truly believed I’d never set foot in the imperial archives before, because upon seeing me, he outright denied reality.
He’d just been oiling his splendid white beard, which only made him more eager to dismiss my presence as a hallucination.
“Get back to your work. That beard looks rather impressive.”
I waved my hand dismissively to signal the old librarian that he needn’t follow me. A few seconds later, he leapt up as if horns had suddenly sprouted from his backside.
Honestly, I worried about his joint health.
“Ahem! So it really is Her Imperial Majesty! Um… is there… perhaps a book you’re looking for?”
“The Imperial Registry.”
“I’ll fetch it right away.”
The kind-faced old librarian, quite elderly for a human, seemed perceptive enough. He looked curious about why I wanted the registry, yet never dared to voice his question aloud.
“Enrique. Enrique…”
About a minute later, I clutched the book I’d wanted and stared, wide-eyed, at the names before me.
My fourth sister, once hailed as a great sorceress among humans roughly two centuries ago, had once told me about the Imperial Registry.
It was a tome recording the entire lineage from the first emperor onward—a magical artifact commissioned by the Nix Empire from the Mage Tower.
My fourth sister had said it was enchanted with a bloodline magic that automatically inscribed anyone born with even a trace of the first emperor’s blood.
Naturally, deaths were also clearly marked.
But there was one flaw: spouses married into the imperial family had to be manually entered by the registrar.
I skimmed past the name “Leonarda” and quickly searched for the one I truly sought, my eyes narrowing.
“The current emperor’s name is Yert Ru Nix… perhaps Enrique is among his brothers.”
But there were no living brothers.
I combed meticulously through the deceased as well, and soon after,
I tilted my head in confusion.
“He’s not here? Is this not the right country?”
Having confirmed the registry’s final recorded entry, I began again, slowly scanning backward from the end for the name “Enrique.”
But my eyes weren’t deceiving me.
“Then there are two possibilities.”
First, he wasn’t from the Nix Empire at all. Second, he was—but even the name he’d given me was a lie.
If the latter were true, it wouldn’t just hurt my feelings—something deep inside me might shatter entirely…
“Tell me, old man—what’s your name?”
“Heh heh, this humble servant is called Charles.”
“Right, Charles. Would you happen to have any records listing nobles or royals from other nations?”
I asked calmly.
There was no need to jump to conclusions or wound myself prematurely.
He could very well be royalty from another country.
“My apologies, but to my knowledge, no such records exist.”
If a librarian nearing seventy didn’t know of them, they truly didn’t exist.
“Should I summon someone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask?”
After all, it would be strange to keep books listing foreign royals.
Convinced, I made my next request.
“Bring me a world map.”
“A world map… Ah! Is this for the upcoming summit between our rulers?”
“The summit… is indeed scheduled, yes.”
Though I had no prior knowledge of it, I feigned familiarity with practiced ease.
“I’ll fetch it immediately.”
But the moment the old librarian scurried off behind the bookshelves, I let out the sigh I’d been holding and pressed a hand to my forehead. It felt like a headache was coming on.
“A summit is about to be held, and no one even informed me?”
Even if I was a demon with a biology unlike humans, I was still a sovereign—the ruler of all Seven Circles of Hell.
I knew how grand court affairs were supposed to function.
“Events this significant aren’t decided in a day or two. Coordination begins at least a year in advance, with full preparations underway six months prior.”
I barely suppressed another sigh.
Just what were the staff in the Empress’s quarters thinking, keeping a memory-lost empress entirely in the dark?
This level of overprotection was pathological.
“Even if I’m merely a figurehead empress, I’m still the Empress. A summit is precisely the occasion where a concubine has no place.”
After all, it’s where an emperor and empress meet their counterparts from another nation.
“Surely… they don’t intend to sideline the Empress and seat the Saintess instead?”
That would be like publicly announcing, “Our nation is a complete mess.”
“And what about the banquet preparations? That, too, is the rightful duty of the Empress, as mistress of this realm.”
Yet the Empress’s quarters weren’t preparing so much as a teatime gathering, let alone a state banquet. Everything was calm and placid.
My neck stiffened as I frowned, lost in thought.
“This isn’t something to take lightly just because things seem peaceful.”
The Emperor would absolutely bring the Empress—it was unavoidable. Duke Achilo and the noble faction would never allow otherwise.
Which meant there was only one answer.
They planned to prepare everything themselves and treat the Empress as mere table decoration.
Perhaps that would have been acceptable for the original Leonarda—but not for me.
This was a chance to uphold the dignity of the Empress, and I couldn’t possibly pass it up.
Besides, the emperor of the visiting nation might just turn out to be Enrique.
“When I get back, I’ll have to reprimand everyone in the Empress’s quarters—and find out exactly what else they’ve kept from me.”
Since the news hadn’t yet appeared in the gazettes, I likely had about a month’s grace. Even if the Saintess had already begun planning the banquet’s theme, I still had ample time to take over.
“It’s getting cold. Where’s that map?”
The librarian wouldn’t appreciate a crowd flooding into the archives.
My already poor reputation here didn’t need further damage, so I’d stationed Derek outside the door—but that had backfired.
Shivering, I cupped my hands and blew warm breath into them.
“Maybe standing by the window will let me catch some sunlight and warm up… or maybe the cold draft will just make me colder.”
I’d never lived in such a frail body before—it suddenly made me furious.
How on earth was I supposed to restore this doomed body to full health and take control?
I leaned my forehead against the glass in frustration with this useless shell.
How long had I stood there?
My eyes slowly widened.
There was simply no other reaction possible.
“Oh, Your Majesty!”
Pink hair, soft as freshly bloomed petals, fluttered in the breeze. A woman in an adorable dress trimmed with fluffy fur laughed merrily, clearly delighted.
Just then, the clouds parted, and sunlight poured down upon her.
Because the archives—situated in the west wing to protect books from direct light—were shrouded in gentle shadows, I stood enveloped only in dimness.
But Helene walked as though she were the heroine of this world, radiant on a path lit just for her.
Confidently, brilliantly, without a single flaw.
And beside her stood—
“!”
Thud.
My heart sank heavily. My stomach twisted, and my whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Platinum hair that seemed ready to melt away. An elegant, harmless appearance like a lost fawn. And those violet eyes I’d once adored—now piercing my vision like shards of broken glass.
Ah, his name—once again cutting deep into my raw heart like the tip of a merciless blade—
Enrique. It was Enrique.
When yandere male lead believes she loves him — but she never did
“How dare you!”
“How dare you make me love you, only to cast me aside as nothing more than a friend?!?
“I will never accept that.”
“I will never let you return to him.”
“Even if I have to burn myself to ashes.”
“Even if I must shatter my purity, my dignity, my very soul.”
“I will never let you escape me!”
This was the first novel that introduced me to the matriarchal genre. I’ve read it three times already!
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
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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…