CHAPTER 079
“It is a relief to see you return safely.”
Arabelle's clear, tear-filled eyes gazed into the emperor's red ones, her voice trembling slightly as she struggled to maintain her composure. She gracefully lifted her dress and lowered both her knees and head to greet the emperor, embodying the calm and polite demeanor befitting a future empress.
Baroness Rosalind might not have approved, seeing the tears in Arabelle’s eyes as a failure to conceal her emotions, but the emperor kept his gaze fixed on Arabelle. He removed the gauntlet from his right hand, now holding it along with his helmet in his left.
His right hand, rough and scarred, moved slowly toward Arabelle's face, then hesitated. He rotated his wrist and respectfully presented his calloused palm. Arabelle's delicate hand, gloved in fine silk, settled onto the large palm, and the emperor skillfully escorted her into the palace.
As they entered the grand hall, palace staff and guards lined up, bowing deeply to welcome the emperor and his future empress. Matching Arabelle’s pace, the emperor adjusted his long strides to their slowest, guiding her through the hall, up the stairs, and into the eastern wing where his quarters were located.
Arabelle glanced up at his profile, captivated, then quickly refocused ahead. The sight of the emperor in armor was awe-inspiring, almost terrifying. Now she understood why villagers who had fought alongside him described him with a mixture of fear and reverence as the “merciless god of war.”
However, when he removed his helmet and revealed his face to Arabelle, she had to close her eyes briefly against the dazzling beauty, more radiant than the sun at his back. Unbeknownst to Arabelle, the emperor's sharp, cold red eyes softened and warmed only when they looked at her.
As they walked toward the eastern wing, Arabelle stole glances at the emperor, while his gaze remained firmly ahead. In her excitement, she didn't notice the taut muscles of his jawline or the veins pulsating on his downturned hand.
The emperor maintained his stoic composure and precise steps until they reached the door to his chambers. The guards opened and closed the doors behind them as they entered.
Thud.
The emperor let his helmet and gauntlets drop to the floor with a dull thud.
“Ah…!”
In an instant, Arabelle was swept off her feet into the emperor's arms, barely having time to exhale before he strode across the room toward the glass doors of the balcony.
Setting her down gently in front of the glass doors, the emperor turned back, striding toward her with large steps. Arabelle’s large eyes blinked in confusion.
Without a word, he began to remove his chainmail and plate armor, tossing them to the floor. He looked up from his task, his kind ruby eyes meeting Arabelle’s uneasy gaze. A soft smile curved his red lips.
“I restrained myself from carrying you into the room, considering the dignity of a future empress.”
He spread his arms wide.
“When we are alone, can you greet me not as a future empress welcoming an emperor but as a woman welcoming her fiancé home?”
In her mind, Arabelle heard Baroness Rosalind’s voice sternly protesting, “Absolutely not! Maintain the dignity of a future empress! Behaving like a village girl is unseemly!”
However, Arabelle’s round eyes turned into crescents, her blushing cheeks lifting as her pink lips bloomed into a bright smile, revealing her white teeth. She ran across the room and leaped into the emperor's arms.
Feeling anew how much she had missed him, Arabelle buried her head into his solid chest, breathing in his deep and heady scent that left her dizzy. His muscular torso, broad and slim, rose and fell as he began to tremble.
The emperor’s head lowered to her slender neck, inhaling deeply. Her clean, pure scent dispelled all the foul odors he had endured to survive, to keep his throne, and to wield absolute power, simultaneously cleansing and igniting an overwhelming desire within him.
He tightened his embrace, pulling her body tightly against his as if it still wasn't enough. His red lips parted, teeth sinking into the tender flesh.
A hot moan escaped Arabelle's lips as her eyebrows trembled from the intensity. Her slender fingers dug into his black hair, clinging to him desperately.
Did this further provoke the emperor? Something more persistent and forceful than his large lips came out and pressed against her.
As the emperor marked her slender neck with traces that would not fade for days, he lifted his head to meet Arabelle's gaze. Seeing her pretty eyes filled only with him, an indescribable joy took over his entire being. He effortlessly lifted Arabelle, who had been standing vertically, into his arms as if she were a princess.
The emperor whispered something in her ear, words meant only for her. Her small head burrowed into his neck, embarrassed. His Adam’s apple bobbed in a pleasurable gulp, and he lowered his head toward her face.
Their lips met slowly, savoring the reunion and the joy of being together again.
***
Though it started softly, their intimate conversation always ended in the emperor’s fervor, raising the temperature of the room to that of midsummer. The emperor had to hastily rise from the bed, swallowing curses about the month-long wait for their wedding due to royal protocols.
He covered Arabelle with a blanket and went to the bathroom to take a long cold shower. Returning to the bed, he held Arabelle in his arms, resting his small head on her shoulder as he whispered softly.
“I should reward the three maids again.”
Arabelle, her expression dazed as if she were a bundle of cotton, looked up at the emperor. Her face showed signs of having dozed off briefly while he showered, unable to fight off exhaustion.
“I was originally going to hold them accountable for not taking proper care of you, as you seem to have lost more weight.”
“No, it's not their fault. It's my lack of maturity as a future empress that I couldn’t manage my worries.”
Startled by the emperor's mention of holding the maids accountable, Arabelle quickly sat up in his arms, shaking her head vigorously. The emperor couldn’t suppress his smile and pulled her back into his embrace, kissing her on the top of her head.
“You should let me finish. I was going to hold them accountable, but I decided to reward them instead because I really liked your dress today.”
The emperor pointed to the dress that had already fallen to the floor from his hands.
“To think of hiding buttons on the back of the dress. I want to order all dresses to have buttons from now on.”
From his relationship with Arabelle, the emperor had learned something he had never paid attention to before undoing a dress tightly laced in a zigzag pattern was very complex and required patience.
He had been about to tear her dress in his excitement after seeing her for the first time in three weeks when Arabelle had whispered softly that there were buttons hidden on the back. Undoing the six buttons hidden under the fabric had made the dress fall off easily.
As his long fingers traced the neckline of her white chemise, Arabelle murmured softly, her head buried in his arm.
“Hmm?”
“I… I asked Vera… if she could add buttons to the back…”
The emperor gently lifted her chin with his fingers, meeting her eyes. Arabelle, her face flushed red up to her forehead, moved her lips to speak.
“I asked Vera if she could add buttons to the back of the dress… because it seemed like such a waste to keep tearing expensive dresses… And today was a special day with your return…”
Before she could finish, her swollen lips were covered by his heated ones, swallowing her words.
***
Ekolpf Mountains, North of the Heltherd Empire's Capital
“Is this letter really written by Lady Arabelle herself?”
Count Korald’s voice trembled as he held Arabelle's letter, which Timothy had been keeping until now.
“Yes. She wrote it as the first and last reply to the letter I sent before I went abroad.”
Timothy nodded, answering his father’s reaction. Despite the years that had passed, he had always carried Arabelle's letter with him. Though the reply was short and contained no romantic content, it was precious to him.
After hearing from his father about the emperor's curse and Arabelle, Timothy had to accept again that his love would not come to fruition. He had felt a strange disbelief even when he learned she was a candidate for empress and then the future empress. Somehow, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Arabelle would leave the emperor’s side without marrying him.
Now he knew those thoughts were in vain. Nearly a month had passed since they set out for the north to learn more about the curse when they heard about the emperor’s great victory.
Despite being the same age, the emperor was overwhelmingly strong and magnificent. Sitting by the campfire in the deep forest, Timothy’s face darkened.
The emperor, who could have any woman… had chosen the one woman Timothy held in his heart. Would Arabelle, who was his whole universe, ever become everything to the emperor who had it all?
Determined to extinguish his unreasonable resentment toward the emperor, Timothy roughly rubbed his face with both hands and threw Arabelle's letter into the campfire, resolving to forget her.
However, Count Korald, who had happened to see the letter burning in the fire, hastily pulled it out, extinguishing the spreading flames as he exclaimed.
“This handwriting…!”
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