Chapter 14

Pellio had assisted in preparing the documents needed to establish the orphanage.

Since it was not to be built under the royal seal, the Emperor's approval was unnecessary, so the paperwork was completed faster than expected.

However, Pellio was suspicious of Ermedillin to the end, even while obediently organizing the documents, and he kept frowning at her.

'It was better when she was expressionless.'

Annoying, but what can be done? To ensure she doesn't ask again next time, no matter how much he dislikes her, he has to sit beside her and concentrate on watching her complete the paperwork.

Pellio did not let go of his suspicion towards Ermedillin even at the moment he was leaving to submit the documents to the relevant department.

"Are you really going to submit this?"

"Submit it."

"If this is passed after submission, the money will really be taken out, right?"

"I know."

Taking a step, Pellio stopped again to ask the same question.

"Are you really going?"

"Ah! Please just go!!"

Only after a loud outburst from Ermedillin did Pellio stop his barrage of questions.

As cold and reticent as ice, Pellio was uncomfortable, but him suddenly speaking freely wasn't comfortable either.

"Huff."

Feeling mentally fatigued, Ermedillin sighed, and she saw Loony and Mago cautiously approaching.

"What's the matter?"

"Um, is it about Helen?"

Looking at Loony rolling her eyes here and there, it seemed like a difficult topic to talk about.

"Are you curious about Helen's situation?"

"Yes."

Although they hadn't spent much time together, they seemed concerned.

"You heard that Helen was an insider?"

Nods.

Indeed, a legless tale travels faster than one with legs.

"She disappeared somewhere with Count Franshuar."

The matter of theft was deliberately left out.

"Oh, did the Count…"

"No. That's not it. I heard she disappeared on her own."

"Really?"

"We are searching places where Helen's family is or where she might hide, so she will be found soon."

"What will happen when she is found?"

Loony asked with a worried face.

"Well, honestly, I don't know. If Helen hadn't suddenly followed the Count and disappeared, I would have planned to follow this matter to the end."

"You knew from the beginning, Your Majesty."

"Yes. She confessed. By herself."

Although she was trying her best not to care, she couldn't stop a bitter expression from appearing on her face.

Ermedillin recalled Helen's young face covered in freckles and her thin wrists, where the knuckles stood out from being so skinny.

'She's not starving somewhere, is she…'

In her pity, Ermedillin silently clicked her tongue, and Loony's face suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Ah, you surprised me!"

"Your Majesty."

"What?"

"I will never betray Your Majesty. I was very scared at first, but not now. I like Your Majesty."

Ermedillin could clearly see Loony's face turning red, thanks to her pale skin.

Suddenly confessing, the girl seemed embarrassed by her words, as she backed away, twitching her nose.

"Ha, haha, hahaha."

Ermedillin found her adorable and couldn't help but laugh.

Ermedillin recalled a large autumn leaf she had held in her hand one fall day.

The red leaf picked by small, fern- like hands for her sister, who had taken care of her all night.

'My sister is my favorite in the world.'

At that time, too, the child's face was as red as Loony's now.

'Ah, if Eunyoung hadn't died, she would be about this age… '

Suddenly feeling like she might cry, Ermedillin dropped her head.

"Thank you."

She spoke in as low a voice as possible to hide her trembling voice, but it was unclear whether it was completely concealed.

After lunch, a leisurely afternoon.

For the first time, three court ladies visited Ermedillin at once. Apparently, yesterday's trial had been quite thrilling.

Countess Ellion, whom she had met before, made a fuss as she appeared first.

"Your Majesty the Empress! I was really surprised yesterday! I never dreamed that the Count would be such a person!"

Yet, having experienced it once, Ermedillin wasn't greatly taken aback by Countess Ellion's fuss.

"I made an ugly spectacle of myself."

"No! My word, to have covered up for such a father until now! Your Majesty, you are truly a filial daughter!"

It was unclear whether it was sarcasm or praise.

Her acting was so extraordinary that, at a glance, her expression and voice seemed sincere.

"I'm grateful you think so."

Ermedillin, who had nervously responded, saw that the two women who had come with the Countess merely bowed their heads in agreement without saying anything specific.

Ermedillin had already been curious about what had happened to Countess Ellion's full- term child and had been thinking about calling on her again, but she became awkward to question her because of the other two court ladies.

"It feels like it's been a long time since I last saw you. Have you come to congratulate me on the trial result?"

The words didn't come out politely at first.

Were they not the ones who, although court ladies, hadn't visited the palace in a while?

In response to the pointed question, a young lady standing at the back with striking green eyes and bright golden hair opened her mouth.

Judging by her age, this lady seemed to be the only single court lady, Princess Biella of the House of Illenian.

"Are you serious, Your Majesty?"

With a look of extreme coldness, and an expression as if she had smelled something rotten, she replied.

"What do you mean?"

"My sister died of the epidemic this morning. I have just come to tell you that."

"...."

A feeling of her mind going blank washed over her.

What could she possibly say? Although innocent now, the epidemic in the capital was undoubtedly caused by her former self.

But she couldn't just stand there and look guilty.

"What should I say... I sincerely express my condolences. I'll do my best to help with the funeral procedures..."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"?"

"That the secondary infection occurs through body fluids. If you had told us a little earlier, I would have confined my sister more tightly."

"I'm sorry for your sister's fate, but I only found out about it then myself. If I had known a way to prevent secondary infection earlier, I would have announced it right away."

Ermedillin didn't have to act to look sad.

She truly felt tremendous hatred towards her former self and sorrow for the deceased child.

"The funeral is the day after tomorrow. I ask for your attendance."

Princess Biella simply bowed her head and then left.

Lady Graninia also followed Princess Biella, glaring at Ermedillin with resentful eyes for a moment.

"The princess seems to be heartbroken. How dare she vent her anger on you, Your Majesty? There are so many children dying from the epidemic, and you, who risked contagion to save a child,"

Countess Ellion took Ermedillin's side with a sly tone, but Ermedillin couldn't join in.

"By the way, what happened to the heir of that Viscount?"

"Ah, that side. I introduced another wizard. However, the birth had to happen since a curse was cast just before childbirth. Of course, the child died during childbirth, but the mother is fine. It seems that the Count paid quite a fortune for it, and he has purchased a mansion right by the beach."

"...."

The feeling of blood rushing to one's head.

It had been strange from the time when they had asked to kill a full- term child, but I didn't know that they would do such a thing just a few days before giving birth.

I hate both.

Whether it's the father who embraced a young woman without even thinking about his succession, even though he had been wounded a long time ago, or the mother who ran to an old man, attracted by the count's manipulation and wealth, neither of them are qualified to be parents.

How could they ask to kill a child right before childbirth?

Ermedillin wanted to wash out her ears that had heard this story if only she could. She didn't understand why she had to hear such words in a novel that should be filled with romance.

Actually, the original work, mainly describing Vallière, was happy and gentle except when Ermedillin appeared.

Though they were in the same novel, the world where the heroine and the villain lived was so different.

"It's a pity, isn't it? The wizard who cast the curse, he received a tremendous fee. Perhaps because the count has quite a large share in the mines...."

"Enough, stop!"

"What?"

"I do not want to hear such a story anymore when people are dying frequently due to the outbreak of an epidemic."

Upon Ermedillin's firm words, Lady Countess Elion looked at the empress with a subtle expression.

'The epidemic that you have caused, why are you like this?'

The unspoken words flowed straight to Ermedillin.

"You people, no, I know what you are thinking. But no. I say no."

Though her previous self may have been such a person, she is not.

Of course, even in her past life, she wasn't completely materialistic. She had occasionally judged others by appearances.

But to that extent, merely ordinary vanity.

At a truly critical moment, she was a person with universal goodness who could not act selfishly.

"I am not such a person."

Yes, the owner of this body has changed now.

There is no need to follow the former owner's track.

She must clearly show that she is a different person, entirely different from before.

Ermedillin's mysterious purple eyes stared unshakenly at Lady Countess Elion.

"That's right. Your Majesty the Empress is different from those people."

The countess, a hundred steps ahead in tact, made a bright wrinkle around her eyes and bowed to the empress.

"I am planning to establish an orphanage using the inheritance of the duchy I have just inherited."

"An orphanage?"

"Yes. A facility to take care of orphans who have lost their parents due to the epidemic."

"What a wonderful thought! Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Why not? I plan to set it up with my donation, but if contributions from other nobles are added, it would be better. It would be nice if Lady Countess Elion could check on it?"

"Certainly. We must spread the word about such good deeds."

"Thank you."

Certainly, smart people are easy to deal with. Of course, you shouldn't show your weaknesses, but in any case, there's nothing good to say between the countess and me.

"But Your Majesty the Empress..."

I wish she would leave now, but Lady Countess Elion lowered her voice and sent a signal that there was more to say.

"Why is that?"

"The judgment was disappointing. To dare lay hands on the body of a god on earth, yet the punishment was not only mitigated but also maintained as a plot."

"What can be done. The judgment is not my responsibility."

The original goal was to collect the borrowed money. Ermedillin tried not to dwell on the trial result, but this persistent maid seemed to have different thoughts.

"After all, the Emperor must feel burdened. Isn't it a public fact that he used the curse of the Duke's family to kill his half- brothers?"

What is this talk about?

The Emperor killed his half- brothers with a curse? A completely new fact not found in the original work.

In the novel, many incidents unrelated to the heroine's narrative were apparently omitted.

Even if it is said to be a public fact, one cannot entirely believe this woman's words.

Ermedillin furrowed her brow, pretending not to know, and glared at the Countess.

"The healthy brothers suddenly died mysterious deaths one after the other. If not the Fransuah family, what wizard could freely use such a curse? I am not particularly blaming. Thanks to that, didn't we weed out the riff- raff and a true Emperor ascend to the throne?"

"Don't speak so rashly, Countess."

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This novel has been translated up to chapter 96.

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