I Possessed The Immoral Empress - Chapter 47

Ermedeline thought she needed to carefully observe Valliere’s actions with her own eyes.

Previously, she had only wanted to leave the palace as soon as possible, but now, she had developed a desire for the well-being of the people. Even if a new empress were to follow in her footsteps, she hoped that the people would be at peace.

‘This time, I should reconsider handing over the empress’s position if she acts selfishly and foolishly again.’

Upon arriving at Henry’s reception room, she saw Duke Ilyenian, Marquess Bianst, and their daughter Bellest and Liena sitting with dignified expressions. In front of them, Valliere was trying to force tears out, bowing her head.

“I’ve been preoccupied with many things lately. I momentarily lost my composure. I’m truly sorry.”

Ermedeline had worried that Valliere might not apologize gracefully, but Valliere was apologizing more politely than she had expected.

At that moment, Ermedeline locked eyes with Bellest.

Bellest, seemingly indifferent to Valliere’s apology, rose from her seat and greeted Ermedeline with a lowered head.

Ermedeline responded to her greeting with a cold smile. There was no need to be overly kind to the people from the Ilyenian family who had tried to use a young boy to kill her. 

‘Although I’ve decided to let bygones be bygones, not everything is forgotten.’

However, Bellest, without showing any signs of being offended by Ermedeline’s somewhat chilly response, continued to bow her head and approached Ermedeline.

“I greet Your Majesty the Empress. It has been some time since I returned to Trivian, and I haven’t had the opportunity to meet you personally until now.”

‘Oh, could she possibly know someone? If she’s from the Ilyenian Dukedom, we certainly wouldn’t be on good terms.’

No matter how enjoyable this novel might be, Ermedeline couldn’t know every detail about characters who didn’t even make a proper appearance in the story. Even the main antagonist, Ermedeline, had numerous undisclosed troublesome backgrounds.

Therefore, Ermedeline didn’t want to harbor prejudices against people she was meeting for the first time. However, the name Ilyenian had already left a less-than-favorable impression on her.

Moreover, Valliere stood right in front of her, bowing her head, and it bothered Ermedeline that Bellest was passing her by without acknowledging Valliere and greeting her first.

As a result, Ermedeline didn’t react to Bellest’s greeting at all. She simply stood there, gazing at Bellest with sharp, vivid purple eyes as if she were peering into the depths of her soul.

A brief, awkward silence descended upon Henry’s reception room for a moment. Everyone was preoccupied with their thoughts, and the tense atmosphere swept over them all as they mulled things over from their respective positions.

“Let’s not be so uptight and have a free conversation,” Ermedeline said, purposefully casting a quick glance toward Valliere.

Valliere, who had been silently enduring Ermedeline’s words, suddenly raised her head.

“I’ve apologized, so I’ll take my leave…”

“How convenient. You think you can just end it with a few words after attempting murder?”

‘Attempted murder?’

With Bellest’s single remark, the charge suddenly shifted from assault to attempted murder.

“My lawyer has mentioned that a thick book could be considered a deadly weapon, and since you aimed for my head, it could also be seen as an intention to kill.”

Though it may have sounded a bit excessive, it wasn’t entirely inaccurate. While it would be difficult to prove attempted murder beyond a reasonable doubt, if the opposing argument were vehemently presented, the trial could drag on. In that case, Valliere might not even become the marchioness she had desired, and her reputation would be tarnished.

‘What are you going to do?’ Ermedeline wondered.

Ermedeline patiently awaited Valliere’s decision with a somewhat composed demeanor.

“It was an accident, and I wasn’t even aiming for your head,” Valliere retorted, now using informal language in her frustration over being accused of attempted murder.

“Oh? Your words are getting shorter now. It seems like you’re not taking your position seriously enough,” Bellest remarked, equally annoyed and refusing to yield an inch.

Bellest, too, seemed to be in a sour mood, as she showed no inclination to back down.

“I’m just behaving humbly in accordance with my position. What’s wrong with that? Didn’t you say I was a wretch to you?” Valliere shot back.

“That’s because you threw the book at me first!”

“You started it all by calling me all sorts of names!”

“What’s wrong with calling you what you are…”

“That’s enough!”

The argument had escalated to the point where it seemed like they might come to blows. Unable to watch any longer, Ermedeline raised her voice and stopped the two of them.

Their tightly clenched fists looked like they were about to burst, and their eyes were bloodshot, but their lips remained sealed.

‘I’m going to kill them all anyway once I become the empress. Hold on. Just a little longer. The coronation ceremony is tomorrow. Just a little longer.’

Ermedeline finally addressed Bellest this time.

“While it’s true that being born into your position is a privilege that can command respect from others, it does not grant you the right to belittle the status of others.”

Honestly, Ermedeline couldn’t see the point of such a caste system, and a part of her wanted to say, “If you don’t like it, why don’t you two just settle it in a fight!”

After briefly glaring at Henry, she turned her attention to them with an indifferent expression, as if she had no particular interest.

“Is it sensible to throw dangerous objects at someone’s head just because you felt a bit insulted?”

Valliere, still upset but without any words to retort, trembled all over as she stood there.

However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so she decided to express her opinion as cautiously as possible.

“There are limits to the respect given without any cost. I believe that once you become an adult, you should be able to earn that respect for yourself. What do you think, Lady Bellest?”

Ermedeline conveyed her thoughts in a calm and deliberate tone, careful not to sound strange to the people present. To those who didn’t know the full story, her attitude might have appeared relaxed, but there was an undeniable regal presence about her, filled with confidence, especially excluding Valliere.

Bellest and Liena exchanged a brief glance before ultimately bowing their heads.

“I will accept the apology.”

“Then it seems like the matter is resolved. I shall take my leave.”

Ermedeline, still wearing a face that seemed to be seething with anger, left Henry’s reception room without any hesitation.

“So, what do you think, Your Grace?”

It was around the time when Ermedeline had almost returned to her quarters that she asked Felio.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m asking about Valliere.”

Ermedeline, realizing that she might have some biases as they shared the same origin, asked to hear a third party’s opinion.

“It’s quite dangerous to resort to violence on a whim just because one is angry. Especially when that person holds power, it becomes even more perilous.”

That was a valid point. Valliere had too many unstable aspects, considering her young age.

‘She claims to be the heiress of a conglomerate, but she seems to be plagued by feelings of inferiority…’

As Ermedeline sorted through her complex thoughts and was about to enter the reception room, she heard Bellest’s voice.

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

Bellest and Liena seemed to have sprinted to catch up with Ermedeline, as their breathing was rather heavy.

“What is it?”

Ermedeline’s tone became unexpectedly stern, as she didn’t particularly want to engage with the two of them.

“We have something to tell you!”

However, regardless of Ermedeline’s tone, Bellest’s expression remained earnest as she kneeled and caught her breath.

‘What’s going on with this woman? Does she have bipolar or something?’

“For now, come in.”

Ermedeline ushered Bellest and Liena into the reception room and offered them lukewarm tea.

Seeing the two of them gasping for breath made her feel like she might run out of breath herself.

‘This isn’t someone else’s business. If I want to live comfortably for a long time, I should start exercising.’

After catching her breath, Bellest suddenly stood up and bowed deeply to Ermedeline.

“I showed an unsightly side of myself. I apologize.”

Ermedeline was puzzled by Bellest’s apology.

Perplexed by the unexpected apology, Ermedeline gave Pelleo a quizzical look, but Pelleo seemed equally clueless.

“However, there’s a misunderstanding I’d like to clarify. I didn’t call Valliere ‘wretch’  based on her status. I became angry at her for resorting to violence out of feelings of inferiority and letting her anger out on others. However, I suppose I could have chosen my words differently.”

Ermedeline observed Bellest’s face, looking for sincerity, in response to her clean and sincere apology.

‘Is she being sincere? If she is, I may have been too hasty in judging people.’

“Oh, really? But if something like that happens to me, it’s difficult to find kind words. So, don’t worry too much.”

Ermedeline’s lenient response made Bellest and Liena burst into laughter, their faces beaming with girlish smiles.

“I was there that day, in the Throne Room. I saw Your Majesty save the baby! It was truly amazing!!”

“Uh-huh?”

Bellest beamed with an even more genuine smile than before as she spoke. The gazes of the two women as they looked at Ermedeline sparkled as if they had met their favorite idol.

‘What’s this all of a sudden?’

“With the risk of infection, you didn’t hesitate to give the baby CPR… That scene stayed in my mind for days.”

“Oh… is that so?”

Ermedeline was taken aback by Bellest’s unexpected admiration for her actions during the epidemic.

It was nice to have someone who thought well of her.

“But did you see me in the courtroom? People said I was quite impressive that day.”

Of course, by “people,” she meant only Rooney and the friends mentioned in Rooney’s exaggerated stories.

After all, aside from Rooney and Pelleo, there were no others who interacted with her privately, so it was only natural.

However, Ermedeline, as if she had forgotten what her own half-sister had done, looked at Bellest with a somewhat cold and confident gaze, raising her chin slightly to observe her. She mentioned her actions in the courtroom with an air of indifference.

“Yes, of course. It was an incident that happened in our house.”

Ermedeline remained silent and used her gaze to prompt Bellest to continue.

“Bella will be marrying abroad next month. She’s entering into a strategic marriage, just like me.”

‘What’s this all of a sudden?’

“In truth, Viella had been close to her betrothed since she was young. She grew up believing she would marry him. However, her betrothed died three years ago, about a year after Your Majesty ascended to the throne, due to a curse.”

‘Oh, another one…’

Ermedeline couldn’t help but think of the various curses and incidents that seemed to follow her.

It seemed that this crazy woman’s misdeeds extended quite far, and it appeared that there were still quite a few challenges that Ermedeline had to face.

“The man she’s marrying this time is a duke who’s seventeen years older. I was lucky to find someone roughly my age. But even that doesn’t matter anymore since he died, and it has lost its significance.”

Ermedeline couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of admiration for Bellest, who was recounting her tragedies as if they were someone else’s affairs.

“With the pressure of leaving for a foreign country soon and the death of my younger brother, she wasn’t in the right state of mind. In reality, I hadn’t paid much attention to Viella shortly after my husband died.”

It felt as if her mouth were filling up with bitter water. In this damn world, it seemed that even the daughters of wealthy dukes couldn’t easily escape tragedy.

Ermedeline sensed the complexity of her emotions as she swallowed the bitterness in her mouth. The incident at the funeral parlor, where the Empress was assassinated, had officially ended with the perpetrator not being caught.

It seemed that Bellest was reluctant to continue her story any further, as she stopped speaking after this point and tightly sealed her lips.

“Thinking about hurting someone and actually throwing a book are entirely different matters,” Ermedeline remarked, using Valliere’s actions as an example without mentioning Viella directly.

“I don’t sympathize with those who put their evil thoughts into action,” Ermedeline added with a cold tone in her voice.

Disappointed, Bellest lowered her head, seemingly deflated, and let out a sigh. 

“But you are family. Please, console your sister’s heart. And I hope peace will soon find its way into your heart as well.”

There’s nothing more exhausting than getting caught up in someone else’s work and feeling emotionally drained.

Especially when you could be working on your own karma right now.

Ermedeline didn’t even wait for Bellest’s answer before heading back to her bedroom.