Chapter 1: Adulterous Empress

Gasp!

Her vision went dark as she grabbed her cumbersome dress and started running with her exposed legs.

She had to get away from that man. If she stayed with him… she would die!

As the man started chasing her, calling her name from behind, she ran with all her might.

Don’t come. I need to get away from you.

She ran and ran until she couldn’t breathe, not knowing where she was going in the darkness. Her heart pounded as if it would burst, and her whole body trembled with the thought that she might die soon. Her neatly styled hair came loose and dangled precariously at the back of her head.

Damn it. Even if I possess someone, why did it have to be like this?

A moment ago, she was forced to open her eyes by a voice waking her up, and the first thing she saw was a handsome blonde man with deep green eyes.

But the distance was too close. The man, who had come so close that their faces almost touched, was trying to undo her dress.

His breath was rough and sticky. The man’s hand, reaching for the strap on her chest, was urgent, and a cool breeze brushed through her clothes.

Sitting on the man’s lap, she had no idea what was going on. She wondered why she was uncomfortably wearing a princess-like dress. She didn’t even know where she was or why she was there.

A well-stoked campfire, a strange atmosphere, a deserted forest, disheveled clothes…

Hey!

Where do you think you’re touching?!

She immediately slapped the man’s hand away as he tried to touch her chest and moved back. And while she was at it, she got off the man’s lap.

“Bellita. I’m in a hurry… let’s get started.”

As the impatient man approached, she moved further back and frowned.

Wait. Bellita?

She felt like she had heard that unusual name somewhere before.

“What’s your name?”

Her voice naturally sharpened out of frustration.

“What are you doing now… Ah! Okay. Emur. Is that enough? Let’s do it quickly. We don’t have time, darling.”

The man, who seemed highly excited and thought she was joking, gave a curt answer and grabbed her again. Breathing heavily like a rutting male, he was about to continue what he was doing.

Wait a minute.

This man is Emur, and I’m Bellita?

No way. Possession?

Thud!

She pushed him away with all her might. The man fell backward with a gasp.

She quickly stood up and moved further away. No, she ran away and looked down at the man, who was still sitting on the ground with a bewildered expression.

“The second Prince of the Loca Kingdom, that Emur?”

She needed to confirm it, absolutely. Instead of answering quickly, he twisted his lips with a somewhat displeased expression. The lips she was looking at belonged to Prince Emur, the embodiment of lust.

Answer quickly. Say no.

“Why are you asking something everyone knows?”

Gasp!!!

It’s true. This was a big problem.

She turned around at lightning speed and ran away from him as if her life depended on it. She ran without stopping, even as branches scratched her face and legs, gritting her teeth.

If I don’t get away from him, I’ll most likely die here.

Bellita.

Damn it!

Empress Bellita, the tyrant’s wife of the Cartan Empire, who briefly appears in the novel “The Flower that Bloomed in the Battlefield.” She’s fundamentally unlucky and a lustful being who can’t live a day without a man. In the original work, she is the character who dies the earliest. 

While escaping with Prince Emur, she loses control of her heated body in the mountains, and as if setting a forest fire, they are caught by the pursuing tyrant Emperor and beheaded on the spot.

An empress who specializes in adultery. Known as the “Adulterous Empress.” According to the original work, she has an angelic appearance but possesses the lust of a vulgar laborer.

That is me right now, that Bellita.

This is the mountain forest where she was supposed to consummate with that man. Moreover, she would scream at the climax, and the soldiers would surround them and decapitate her in an embarrassing pose. So if she doesn’t run away, she will die here. By the sharp sword of the tyrant emperor. 

The last thing I remember was seeing a truck coming while riding a bicycle, but why did I end up here?

Gasp… Gasp…

She ran so much that her heart felt like it would burst from the pain, making it hard to breathe. But it was better than dying. The tyrant Emperor must be nearby.

There’s no time. Quickly…

Thud!

She suddenly fell hard. Looking back at Emur, who was chasing her like a madman, she collided with something very solid.

Ugh…

She brushed her hair, which had become a mess and covered her face, and stood up, wincing from the pain. But she couldn’t even scream before collapsing again, trembling.

What she had collided with was…

A person.

A person with terrifying eyes.

Golden eyes like a tiger’s, filled with murderous intent like a dragon breathing fire.

Only one person could have such eyes.

The tyrant Emperor.

A monstrous presence towering in the darkness.

A demonic figure, black from head to toe, from hair to cloak.

Under the Emperor’s piercing gaze, she felt as if her body had already been split in two. The long sword in his hand emitted a chilling light as if it were thirsting for blood.

With that sword, he’ll…

She mustered all her strength to make her trembling lips produce a voice.

Save…

At that moment, she heard a voice calling “Bellita” before her own. That damn Prince Emur, thinking it was a game of hide and seek, was calling her name and searching for her. Despite the dark forest, his bright blonde hair shone like a lantern in the moonlight.

Go!

Go away.

If you come here, we’ll both die.

“Kneel.”

At the Emperor’s stern command, Bellita immediately knelt. But when she saw the soldiers heading towards Prince Emur, she realized the command wasn’t for her. Just as she felt a momentary relief, she saw the prince being dragged by the soldiers and stopped breathing again.

The prince, being dragged, saw the tyrant Emperor and hesitated for a moment, then suddenly put on a nonchalant expression.

“Hey, Emperor~.”

Unbelievable. Acting like that in front of the war-maniac tyrant.

If you want to die, die alone.

“Why are you here…?”

Shut up.

Before she could shout, the prince was hit on the back of the neck by a soldier and fell forward, automatically kneeling. 

The tyrant Emperor’s fierce gaze lingered on the prince for a while before slowly moving to her. As the Emperor’s golden eyes turned a darker red, the sword he held began to hum and shimmer with a cold blue light. The Emperor’s power was gathering in his sword, which was like an extension of himself.

“Don’t kill them yet.”

Thud. Thud.

She curled up, screaming in fear, trying to avoid the kicks aimed at her. But the dull thuds and the sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing were not from her but from right beside her. The prince’s screams quickly died down, as if he had fainted, but the soldiers’ kicks didn’t stop. Trembling, she was sure she was next.

“Y-Your Majesty…”

She couldn’t die so soon again. She was terrified of dying.

“It seems you’ve forgotten my name already.”

Even the Emperor’s voice was like a sharp ice pick piercing her body.

Oh. Should I call him by his name? 

The original work didn’t have that information because the Empress died so quickly.

Remember the tyrant Emperor’s name quickly. Quickly.

“Ah! Kal, Kalik. Th-Thank you for saving me…”

Her voice trembled and cracked as if the Emperor’s sword would strike her any moment, but she held on to survive.

“Save you?”

The Emperor’s low voice was filled with incredulity.

“Yes. I was running away… to save my life…”

Swish.

Finally, his fearsome long sword, glowing with a cold blue light, descended onto her shoulder. She swallowed a scream, her face turning pale. The sword was positioned to slice her neck with just a flick of his wrist.

“From whom were you running away?”

“F-From t-that prince.”

Ugh!

The sharp tip of the sword pressed against her exposed white neck, drawing blood just from its sharpness.

The tyrant Emperor, the mad Emperor. The bloodthirsty lunatic Emperor.

“Not running away from me?”

Unable to shake her head because of the terrifying sword tip, she could only look up at the Emperor with desperate eyes. The desire to live was genuine. Fortunately, the Emperor, who was staring into her dark topaz eyes, slowly withdrew his sword.

“R-really… I was running away from that prince.”

His gaze, filled with ridicule and amusement, pierced through her. It was an incredibly unfair situation. She had never committed adultery or even had a proper relationship, yet she was about to die as the infamous adulterous Empress.

I didn’t run away with that Emur Prince. I don’t even know what’s going on.

It was too unfair and terrifying to die here.

“If you see my current state…”

Thinking the Emperor might not have seen her disheveled state, she desperately moved to show him her torn clothes and blood-stained face, trying to prove her innocence.

“Light.”

At his command, a lit torch appeared, illuminating her surroundings. The Emperor’s fierce gaze swept over her frightened blue eyes and her blood-stained white legs.

She saw the Emperor’s gaze waver slightly as he closely examined her disheveled appearance. She had to survive.

This body she possessed committed the crime, not her. She had no reason to die here. She couldn’t tell him she possessed this body, but she could tell the truth.

Of course, to her, it’s the truth, but to Prince Emur, it would sound like a lie. Fortunately, the prince, who could refute her, was lying unconscious and bloody.

“Kalik. Please believe me.”

The soldiers, who seemed to be mocking her, appeared to be saying, “Believe you? Believe the infamous adulterous Empress?” even with their expressions.

“Then how did you get here? Are you saying that scoundrel kidnapped you?”

Kidnap? That’s not it… 

Her mind was in chaos, unsure of how to answer.

“I was… just running away…”

This part was true.

The Emperor’s darkened eyes lightened with interest for the first time.

“Where were you trying to run to?”

“Of course… the palace. I was trying to return…”

Is this the right answer? 

Tears welled up suddenly. There was no way to prove that the original Bellita and the current Bellita were different people, and she felt she would die here as in the original story. Her blue topaz eyes sparkled with tears, but the Emperor didn’t blink.

“Why return? What’s in the palace?”

The question was strange, but she answered truthfully, trembling with fear.

“That’s my home, and…….”

The Emperor’s cold gaze, as if to keep talking, bore down on her. She was too scared to think straight.

“The Emperor… no, Kalik too…”

“Me?”

The Emperor’s face twisted in disbelief, and his expression grew fiercer.

“You, my husband is there…”

After all, they were married, so it wasn’t wrong…

Swish!

With a terrifying sound, the Emperor’s cold blue sword slashed past her face and embedded itself behind her.