Chapter 9

Hyeyoung instinctively threw herself towards the child.

But the car coming towards Hyeyoung was a step faster.

Without slowing down, the car hit both Hyeyoung and the child, and then disappeared into the darkness.

A common possession story, a tragedy that was nothing special.

'I saved it this time!! I saved it, I did!'

Ermedillin recalled the moment of death, but the joy of having saved the baby in front of her eyes felt much greater.

Even after returning to her bedroom, she sat in a corner with a bright smile, shedding tears of joy.

But to the maids who did not know the situation, her appearance seemed quite strange, as all three of them stood in a corner, just watching.

Finally, the eldest maid, Loony, approached Ermedillin and knelt beside her.

"Your Majesty, the Empress. Is anything uncomfortable? Perhaps the purification is not completely…."

"No, that's not it."

Though she was shedding tears, she was not particularly sobbing, so the answer came right away.

"Pardon?"

"I'm not in pain. I'm just relieved that the baby is alive... that's why I'm relieved."

"Oh, I heard about that too. You breathed into the baby's mouth, even though you might have caught the contagious disease. The whole palace is noisy about that story."

"Really? Rumors spread fast."

"Of course! It's not an ordinary thing! You, Her Majesty, the Empress, risked your life to save a commoner's baby!!"

"Babies are all the same, so what...."

Thinking that she needed to regain her composure, she brushed her hands and tried to stand up, but her legs were numb from sitting crouched for so long.

"Ouch!"

Loony and Helen, who had run over immediately, caught her swaying body.

The youngest and thinnest, with little presence, the child.

But strangely enough, while supporting Ermedillin, Helen was restlessly rolling her eyes.

"It's okay. I'm fine. I'm really okay, so everyone go do what you have to do. I want to be alone for a while."

Ermedillin sent everyone away and sat down by the bed again.

As the whirlpool of emotions subsided and her mind cleared, memories of the time of death surfaced again.

In fact, dying in vain was not so regrettable or disappointing.

After all, she had been living only because she did not have the courage to die every day.

Therefore, when she realized that she had possessed the novel, she did not feel much longing for her previous life.

But that child.

The child she wanted to save but couldn't.

She saw the body of the child, which her hand could not reach, flying far away from the impact as she faced the dazzling headlights.

Hyeyoung had to stare at the child's lifeless body, stretched out without a twitch, bleeding from the head, for a few seconds before life left her body.

"Haah...."

It was tormenting that the image of the child facing death in front of her eyes kept coming back, more than the fact that she had died from a hit- and- run.

'Did someone recover the body? It wouldn't have been lying on the cold road for too long, would it?'

'Did that child get a second chance like me?'

'If it had possessed, it would be nice if it was in a happy novel, not in such a messed- up one.'

In the continuous thoughts, the lawsuit and everything became secondary.

Ermedillin, wrapped in sorrowful thoughts and suffering, was informed by Loony of someone's visit.

"Who?"

"Countess Ellyon urgently requests to see you."

"The Countess? Me?"

"Yes. What shall we do?"

The visit of a noble at this timing was a bit strange, but she decided to meet her anyway.

"Tell her to come in."

The Countess of Elion, a plump woman with chestnut- colored hair and dark brown eyes, was the woman.

But despite her slightly warm appearance, her expression was so vividly fierce that Ermedillin was momentarily at a loss on how to respond to her.

Therefore, Ermedillin deliberately made no expression and merely stared at the Countess.

The Countess of Elion spoke of her purpose without changing her face, as if accustomed to such a reaction.

"It's a big deal."

'A big deal?'

"She's a local Baron's daughter, and she's soon to give birth."

"Give birth?"

"Yes. But it seems she doesn't want to give birth anymore. Her engagement with the Viscount has gone awry."

"The engagement has gone awry?"

"Well, it's nothing special. A rotten, wicked Viscount got bored after meeting the young Baron's daughter under the pretext of marriage and dumped her. Well, it seems there's also some complicated issue of succession."

"What?"

"Isn't it common? If they can't marry, the child in the womb will become a bastard, so it's better to grab a share and erase the child. The Viscount will pay all the costs."

'Ah… this can't be.'

A memory came from a ragged magic book that she had read and thrown away.

The curse of death to the child in the womb.

Under the curse, there were many names of noblewomen and young ladies listed.

'This woman really did all the disgusting things.'

The Countess of Elion, misinterpreting Ermedillin's uncomfortable expression, sneered.

"The Viscount owns a mine. The reward won't be disappointing...."

"No. For now, I can't do it."

"What do you mean?"

"I just arrived and it seems you haven't heard yet, but I received purification from the priest a little while ago. So now I can't use a curse."

"Purification? Was there something wrong in the palace?"

All along, the Countess of Elion maintained her composure, but her dark brown eyes sparkled sharply like a predator eyeing delicious prey.

"If you're curious, ask anyone on your way out. I need to rest now because I'm tired."

When Ermedillin turned away coldly, the Countess left the bedroom without probing further.

Though she looked extremely curious, she had some sense.

"You always come like a ghost to the palace when something happens, being the Empress's maidservant? How did you hear the rumor so quickly this time?"

'My maidservant?'

Apparently, the visitor from a little while ago was one of the Empress's maidservants who had not shown her face for a few days.

"I don't know, really."

"Anyway, sometimes I think the Countess of Elion really wants to be the first to hear the palace gossip and that's why she's a maidservant."

Though Loony, unaware of the Countess of Elion's true purpose of visiting, guessed wrongly, she was not entirely incorrect.

It was not because of the rumors, but because she was working as a maidservant to be a broker for buying curses.

"It's better than not hearing at all, isn't it?"

"True. Countess Grania and Princess Biella don't even visit."

'Grania, Biella.'

While trying not to show that she had gained unexpected information, Ermedillin was memorizing the names she had just heard when Pellio came to visit.

When he entered the reception room, Pellio's appearance was incomparably colder, even chilling, than before.

A beautiful ice sculpture that perfectly fit the nickname of the Ice Prince.

"I came because of the lawsuit…"

"What's your scheme?"

"Eh?"

"Did you actually recruit a child who was infected with the plague in advance to appear favorable in the lawsuit?"

"What?"

Ermedillin was choked and speechless.

What kind of absurd misunderstanding is this?

She saved a child and now faced this kind of suspicion. Ermedillin suddenly felt as though she was in the body of a tremendous villain.

"Whether it was a recruitment or not, a quick investigation will reveal the truth. I had no such intention. I just reacted reflexively."

Despite Ermedillin's explanation, Pellio's frozen silver eyes showed no sign of melting.

"The preparation for the lawsuit is going well. Although I was followed, continuous meetings in the palace may attract unnecessary attention, so if there is anything to report, I will send a carriage as before."

"Followed?"

"Were you unaware? Two cars were following you."

"?"

Seeing that Ermedillin showed no sign of knowing, Pellio swept his long, graceful fingers through his dark blue hair and sighed shortly.

"Did you think you wouldn't be followed? It's the surveillance from His Majesty and Valier."

"Ah...."

She hadn't thought that far.

After all, even in the Empress's inner circle, there were spies, so surveillance wasn't unlikely.

"Although we can't avoid being followed, we must ensure that the contents of the lawsuit don't leak. You must keep your mouth shut."

"I will do so."

About to confess that she had already received a threatening letter, Ermedillin firmly closed her mouth, not wanting to appear any more incapable.

When Pellio left and she returned to the bedroom, Helen was seen holding a duster, standing on her tiptoes, and cleaning a high cupboard.

'She'll fall doing that....'

Before Ermedillin could even finish her thought, Helen's outstretched hand holding the duster touched a stone ornament.

The instant Helen lost her balance, she reached out her duster- wielding hand even further, touching the ornament harder.

Because of this, the stone ornament lost its balance, and as it was about to fall onto Helen, Ermedillin quickly ran over, catching Helen's thin waist with one hand and the fairly heavy ornament with the other.

"Are you hurt?"

In response to Ermedillin's question, Helen jumped and bent her waist.

"Sorry, s- sorry, t- thank, thank you, and sorry."

Whether she felt guilty for daring to be supported by the Empress or not, Helen's deeply bowed waist wouldn't straighten up.

"I am fine. Lift your head. As long as you're not hurt, it's fine. Next time don't overreach, put a sturdy chair under...."

"I- I'm sorry. Your Majesty the Empress!! I have committed a sin worthy of death!!"

She was just about to reprimand her softly, but suddenly Helen screamed and knelt, leaving Ermedillin utterly bewildered.

"No, why are you apologizing for this!! Get up! Oh... No, this is too much!"

In her confusion, almost a harsh word slipped out.

"I'm really sorry, Your Majesty the Empress. Please kill me."

"Hey, seriously! What's this about dying for....?"

In the midst of speaking, a piece of paper that had briefly crossed her mind flashed through.

"Could it be... you?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Empress. I was told that I just had to let you know what happened… and that if I did that, I wouldn't be taken to Count Heidern… So I did. I'm really sorry."

"Haah...."

Her throat ached.

Ermedillin sighed deeply, looking up at the ceiling.

"You left the note on the bed?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what was written inside?"

"I don't know. Count François told me to just place the note, so I left it there."

The name Ferdant, which had been on her mind, was something she inquired about as if testing the waters, but Helen seemed to truly know nothing.

The ill- tempered person wouldn't have told something important to a mere servant who was considered a tool.

Looking down at Helen, she saw that her small, skinny body was trembling uncontrollably.

She was so thin that even rainwater seemed as if it could collect in the fleeting glimpse of her collarbone beneath her shaking shoulders.

Ermedillin did not feel much like blaming the young girl.

"If it's something to be hidden, why reveal it? You know what kind of person I am, don't you?"

Ermedillin asked, deliberately using a cold tone.

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This novel has been translated up to chapter 96.

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