Chapter 3
3. Found You, My Ginseng!
'There's no reason to refuse if they're offering themselves to be used.'
I didn't feel any pangs of conscience about using people. Devils don't have things like that.
Besides, right now, for my survival, I needed to use anything and everything I could.
I'd never lived as a human before, and suddenly I had to live as one. That in itself was a challenge.
'At least my status is decent, and I have loyal subordinates who adore this body, so living won't be too bad. As long as I don't get caught being a devil… and since I don't have a Magical Core anyway, there's no chance of that happening.'
Earlier, I was so shocked about becoming human that my brain wasn't working properly, but after carefully thinking it over, this human Empress seemed to have a personality quite similar to mine.
It's like everyone is used to hearing harsh words from her.
Moreover, they don't fear me even when I get angry. On the contrary, they seem to pity me.
'Of course.'
What harm could I possibly do with this glass-like body? At best, my temper tantrums are just pathetic.
In other words, I don't need to change my personality.
It's not a bad situation since I can just live as I always have.
'But I can't live with this ragdoll body. I'll die soon unless I somehow extend my lifespan and make it usable.'
Fortunately, I had a method. Whether it would work or not…
"Hey, what's my name?"
"Leonarda Nix. You are the Empress of the Nix Empire."
"Leonarda…"
Lost in thought, I rolled the unfamiliar name around in my mouth. Then, I answered crisply.
"I have no idea. I don't remember. I must have lost all my memories from the shock."
I decided to play it brazenly.
Falling from that high spire, it was plausible that I had lost my memory from the shock.
"So, you'll have to help me."
I reached out and lifted the knight's chin.
Heat surged from the point where our skin touched, seeping into me. The heat wrapped around my heart and was soon swallowed by my soul.
Regardless of whether I had a Magical Core or not, it was the power my soul possessed.
"You will, won't you?"
I smiled more devilishly than ever.
There was no need to hear the answer.
* * *
Leonarda Nix.
The so-called Nix Empress was a marriage partner arranged for political purposes when the current Emperor ascended the throne.
Her maiden name was Ahillo.
The family of the lion, standing with the enemy's heart in its mouth and treading on a pool of blood.
The eldest daughter of Duke Ahillo's family, a political powerhouse backed by the Eastern Aristocratic Alliance, and holding sway over the veteran aristocrats who had stepped back from the political scene and moved into the business world, along with the capital's aristocratic circles.
Looking only at this, Leonarda could have lived without fear of the world. Arrogantly and confidently, reigning over all humans.
But surprisingly, Leonarda was just an Empress in name only, with no real power.
That was due to two reasons.
Firstly, the Emperor loved the Saintess, his childhood friend. There was no room for Leonarda to interfere in their destined love.
Secondly, Leonarda had been so weak since childhood that she couldn't even take a walk easily.
Leonarda, who was prickly, sensitive, and severely lonely, frequently changed lovers.
At the same time, she had a crush on the Emperor and, feeling hurt by the coldness she received in return, she crossed the line by whining and clinging to her guard knight, Derek.
However, it was difficult to blame everything on Leonarda, given the reactions of those around her.
The court physician had been saying that Leonarda had a short lifespan since she was four years old, saying that she would have difficulty living past thirty. So, those around her extremely coddled the precious young lady.
Duke and Mrs. Bertolt Ahillo never scolded their daughter, no matter how much she threw tantrums or insisted on her way.
Once, Leonarda got angry and threw a vase, and even the maid who was hit in the forehead and had it split open was more worried that the young lady would collapse from excitement than about her own situation.
A noble jewel doll who wouldn't live long.
A tyrannical and capricious tyrant who was too weak and needed care.
That was Leonarda.
Naturally, she couldn't handle state affairs as Empress.
'She gets a fever and collapses after taking a two-hour walk in the garden, so how could she command in front of so many officials?'
Of course, there were many nobles who argued that it was wrong to raise her to the position of Empress, citing Leonarda's health.
But the Emperor willingly brought the doll that would soon break into the Imperial Palace.
He didn't say a word even when Leonarda formed the Empress Palace only with people she had brought from her family.
It was the result of matching interests.
The one the Emperor loved was neither a commoner nor from a lower-class minority, so even though she could be treated as a Saintess, she could never become Empress.
Therefore, Leonarda, who had acquired the Empress Palace, granted the knight Derek the authority to freely come and go from her bedroom, just as she had done in her private residence.
In fact, it was absurd according to palace etiquette, but everyone was hush-hush about it because no one but Derek could soothe the Empress once she had a fit of hysterics…
'…That's the result of combining the information I've gathered over the past few days.'
I glanced at the guard knight standing beside me, fidgeting, and sighed.
"Sir Noert, I told you, you don't have to treat me like I'm about to die."
"Your Majesty, how can you say such a thing?"
"I won't do such a foolish thing as jumping off a tower again."
Derek's face turned white as I mentioned 'tower'.
Leaving him to think whatever he wanted, I stared intently at the hand mirror in front of me.
I knew the other parts of my face were pretty, so there was no need to look at them, and the important thing was my left eye.
There, the number 20 was clearly engraved.
'I'm glad I can read this.'
Over the past few days, I checked one by one what I 'could do' and what I 'used to be able to do, but now can't'.
As a result, I fortunately concluded that I could use two of my soul's abilities even without Magical Power.
The first of these was the ability to read lifespans.
'It was definitely only 15 days when I first saw it.'
That meant she would have suffered for another half a month in a body without a soul before the body itself died.
'Fortunately, I absorbed yang energy from that knight and converted it into lifespan.'
Even so, it was only about 20 days.
'I need to go find some healthy men.'
I need to extend my small and precious lifespan to do anything, whether it's revenge or whatever.
My soul's second ability was to convert the yang energy of others into my lifespan.
My other older sisters also maintained their eternal life in similar ways, but in my case, it was enough to just touch skin.
The more intimate and deeper the touch, the better.
'But if I suck it up too often and too much, they'll turn into skeletons and die.'
Derek Noert was a pretty useful knight, and I didn't want to lose a valuable piece in the current situation. At least, there was no one else in this Empress Palace with as much yang energy as Derek.
'But if I take others instead of Derek… they're all too weak. They'll be bedridden and die if I just take a bite.'
This is a headache. If men keep dying next to the Empress, I definitely won't be able to avoid rumors of being possessed by a devil.
'In this unstable situation, there's no need to create a situation where I encounter a priest or a member of the Crusade.'
So, the best thing to do is to keep several young men full of energy by my side and slowly suck their yang energy.
'Fortunately, I'm the Empress, so I can somehow do that. And it seems like the relationship between this body and the Emperor is bad anyway.'
Therefore, the order of things I need to do now was as follows.
Find several men with strong yang energy and keep them by my side.
Absorb their yang energy and convert it into lifespan to extend my life, which is worse than a rolling leaf.
In the meantime, find out about Enrique and take revenge!
The only good thing about becoming human was this.
Revenge.
I tapped the date on the newsletter that came in this morning.
'February 28, 666.'
Five years had passed since the day I died at the hands of my husband.
Enrique must still be alive, so that's good.
Living as the Empress, I'll run into him someday.
'If I only knew where he was, I would take revenge on him in a miserable and cruel way.'
I gnashed my teeth.
'But I can't even get close to Enrique unless number 1 is done first. My weakened soul might burn to death from holy power.'
No matter how careless I was, Enrique had strong enough holy power to kill me. And he was also excellent at using holy power enough to hide it without a trace.
A human who receives God's compassionate love without reservation.
I shuddered, goosebumps rising as I recalled the pure, eerie holy power that Enrique wielded.
Frankly, I couldn't even guess how much magical power I would need to kill him.
'I have to be careful. If I get caught possessing the body of the Nix Empress, he'll try to completely obliterate me this time.'
But then.
"Your Majesty, the cunning Saintess! She sent another man!"
Mrs. Bertolt, the Head Maid of the Empress Palace, came in with a very angry air.
Mrs. Bertolt was Leonarda's nanny from her private residence, and in terms of loyalty, she was no less than Derek.
If Mrs. Bertolt was so angry, it was never a good thing for the Empress. But for me, it was welcome news.
"A man?"
"Yes! This time, she sent him as a doctor. I'm so dumbfounded…! It's outrageous that she's trying to tarnish Your Majesty's reputation. I wouldn't feel relieved even if I strangled the Saintess!"
Ah, I see.
So, she sent a doctor for the Empress, who was rumored to be suffering from a fever…
'And that just happens to be young and sturdy men?'
I had to try hard to hide the corners of my mouth that were rising.
Found you, my ginseng!
