CHAPTER 076
Imperial Palace Guest Room
"It’s almost time for the lady-in-waiting candidates to arrive, isn't it?"
As the emperor's red eyes whispered languidly, Arabelle, her face completely flushed like a peach blossom, nodded.
"In that case, the future empress should hurry."
Though his mischievous voice echoed in her ears, Arabelle still couldn’t move, only fiddling with her hands.
"I don't mind showing this side of me to others, but not to my betrothed. Is that an unnecessary worry? If you don’t mind, I’d rather just stay like this."
“N-no, not at all!”
When the emperor spoke, lifting one corner of his mouth, Arabelle jerked her head up and shook it vigorously.
"Oh, I thought you wanted to show off your betrothed's body to other women. Time is passing by, and you’re doing nothing."
"It’s not that..."
Arabelle trailed off, her voice tinged with distress at the emperor’s words.
Her kind eyes couldn’t hide their bewilderment as they flickered toward his red ones, which only sparkled with anticipation.
If the lady-in-waiting candidates and other nobles saw the two of us on the sofa...
Just imagining it made her dizzy, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
Arabelle’s gaze fell to the emperor lying on the sofa.
Unlike the anxious Arabelle, whose mouth was parched with nervousness, his expression was nothing but leisurely and relaxed.
No, he even seemed to be in high spirits.
The emperor's long arms encircled Arabelle's waist as she sat atop his torso...
And his wrists were tightly bound.
Just a moment ago.
Arabelle, who had been catching her breath after the intense kiss that had made them forget even the place and time, realized where she was sitting.
She distinctly remembered being lifted for a kiss by His Majesty at the door...
But at some point, the emperor had sat on the sofa, holding Arabelle on his lap.
The light brown eyes that had been scanning the surroundings moved away from him, which he didn’t like, his darkening red eyes growing fierce.
When the long fingers that had been supporting her round nape gently gripped her hair, Arabelle’s eyes met the emperor’s again.
Only then did his lips curve into a satisfied smile.
As his long thumb tenderly brushed her swollen red lips, Arabelle's slender shoulders shivered.
The emperor tilted his head and once again pressed his large lips against her wet ones.
Perhaps feeling sorry for relentlessly pursuing her delicate lips earlier, this kiss was endlessly soft and tender.
His warm lips caressed both her upper and lower lips in turn, spreading warm breath.
Something moist and smooth stroked her small lips as if drawing with a brush, then slowly slipped inside, gently soothing every corner.
As if trying to imprint his scent on every single cell, this unbearable new stimulation drew a moan from between her small lips.
If the earlier kiss was a massive stimulus that crushed her body and mind without giving her time to think,
This kiss now approached as an exquisitely delicate and soft stimulus that made every shared breath acutely vivid.
The long, thick object found her small, tender self, creating a faint sound in her ears every time they passionately intertwined.
***
Clearly, His Majesty was sitting on the sofa, and I was sitting on his lap...
Arabelle thought, blinking her round eyes.
The emperor was comfortably lying on the sofa, and Arabelle was sitting atop his muscle-bound abdomen in an incredibly embarrassing scene.
The emperor’s upper body was bare, with not a single thread on it, having been discarded at some point.
Even more bewildering was the fact that the emperor’s arms encircling Arabelle's waist were tied with a strap.
To be precise, his wrists were tightly bound behind her back.
"Your Majesty... Your wrists..."
Arabelle’s large eyes trembled, not knowing who had tied the emperor’s wrists.
“Oh, the wrists. I tied them myself.”
The emperor continued speaking to the dazed Arabelle who was looking down at him in disbelief.
“My mischievous hands were about to invade not just your dress but also inside your chemise, so I punished them. We must maintain propriety towards my betrothed until the wedding, shouldn't we?”
It was Arabelle whose face turned red as if it might explode, embarrassed by the emperor's shamelessness, given that his hands had not been idle inside and outside her dress during the kiss.
Arabelle tried to move out of the emperor's embrace, but she was trapped because the emperor, whose wrists were tied behind him, was holding her waist.
As she wriggled, her small bottom accidentally touched something below his navel, startling her. She quickly scrambled back up his torso.
Trying not to think about the vividly felt menacing object, Arabelle, sweating, said, “Your Majesty, the lady-in-waiting candidates are scheduled to arrive soon. Please untie your hands.”
The emperor's red eyes shimmered with uncontrollable delight as his lips formed a playful sound.
“Ah, yes. The lady-in-waiting candidates are coming this afternoon. But what shall we do? Tying them up was easy, but untying them is difficult.”
“Shall I bring scissors... or a knife?”
Arabelle tried to rise from his body once more, but the emperor’s tightened arms didn’t let her go.
“Your Majesty…”
As Arabelle called him in a tearful voice, the emperor spoke with a more serious expression, suppressing his smile.
“Well, it's unfortunate that we can't bring scissors or a knife. If I get extremely excited, who knows? I might gain the strength to break the bindings.”
Arabelle’s eyes flickered with unease.
Having somewhat adapted to the emperor's manner of speech, Arabelle knew that whenever he spoke in such riddles, extremely bewildering events tended to follow.
The emperor’s red eyes, capturing her wide gaze, gleamed like rubies as his red lips whispered seductively.
“There’s no other choice. You must thoroughly explore my body. If I become so excited that I can’t contain my strength, I might break the tight bindings.”
Biting her lower lip, Arabelle didn’t move at the emperor’s absurd reasoning. The emperor narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“Yes, biting your lip like that is also a very good way to kindle the heat within me. Already, the veins on my arms are starting to pulse.”
Her round eyes drooped, gazing at the emperor, but the merciless emperor continued, turning his gaze toward the window.
“Ah, can you hear it? The footsteps of the lady-in-waiting candidates crossing the garden are getting closer.”
Of course, it was impossible to hear footsteps in the garden from the guest room on the third floor of the imperial palace, especially through the closed windows.
Anyone would dismiss such a claim as nonsense.
However, Arabelle, believing the emperor who spoke with such a serious expression and a raised ear, grew increasingly anxious.
She felt as if she could hear a knock on the door at any moment.
“There’s no time. Quickly, leave red marks all over my neck with those lips and mercilessly explore my body with your hands. You must uphold the imperial dignity you’ve maintained all morning.”
His shameless lips relentlessly pursued Arabelle, further stealing her sanity.
‘Imperial dignity. Honor. Etiquette.’
As Lady Rosalind's words floated around in her mind, Arabelle turned her gaze towards the door.
Determined, Arabelle’s small nostrils flared with resolve as her swollen lips quivered.
Her small hands placed themselves on the emperor’s rock-hard chest muscles, and her torso slowly leaned down.
As her small head buried itself in the emperor’s neck, she began to move tirelessly, in line with her diligent nature.
“Hnn…”
The emperor’s satisfied voice filled the room with hot breath, and the veins on his arms began to throb as if they might burst.
Focused on eliciting the emperor’s latent strength, Arabelle didn’t notice the movements of his hands, working to loosen and then retie the bindings.
***
Rosaria, combing Arabelle’s tousled light brown hair, couldn’t help but smile.
“For about three days, we shouldn't tie up your hair. It might be a bit uncomfortable during tomorrow’s riding lesson…”
Dina tried to cover the red blotches on Arabelle’s neck with pearl-colored powder, but it was to no avail.
It looked as if an unusually aggressive insect had persistently bitten her.
Well, an unusually aggressive insect… there’s some similarity.
Momentarily alarmed by comparing the 'insect' to 'him,' the three maids shook their heads vigorously.
“If we add lace under your chin, it might cover it? Perhaps with thick velvet…?”
Arabelle, speaking softly with a troubled face, was so endearing that the three maids couldn’t stop smiling.
An ice pack was gently placed over Arabelle’s swollen lips as she sat in front of the mirror.
“It’s a relief the candidates’ audience with you was delayed.”
Bera consoled Arabelle, struggling not to laugh at her, especially as even her earlobes were swollen.
Arabelle nodded in agreement and smiled.
“His Majesty also left, relieved that the young ladies’ visit was unexpectedly delayed.”
It was indeed fortunate.
The emperor’s immense strength had not emerged, so Arabelle had to work hard to keep him focused.
“It’s not that. His Majesty actually ordered the delay… Ow!”
As Dina spoke up while diligently covering Arabelle’s neck, Bera and Rosaria simultaneously poked her sides.
Bera laughed heartily and said to Arabelle, who was looking at the three maids with wide eyes.
“Yes, it seemed like His Majesty was surprised, as if someone had planned it. Well, never mind. Let’s get you ready quickly. It would be wonderful if you could make a friend among the young ladies you’re meeting.”
Unaware that the emperor had already postponed the candidates’ visit by three hours before coming to see her, Arabelle smiled at Bera.
***
Count Coralde’s study.
Examining the yellowed papyri spread out on the round table, deep wrinkles formed at the corners of Count Coralde’s eyes.
He had thought they were merely poems written by an unknown minstrel, but they were prophecies.
He had grasped some of the prophetic content…
The count’s keen gaze focused on two pieces of papyrus placed in the center.
Frustratingly, he couldn’t decipher the ancient language written on the two pieces of papyrus.
One depicted a woman holding a bleeding man, with a circle surrounding them protectively.
The other showed a fire that was either burning or extinguishing in the darkness.
The only decipherable words were ‘Lumen Savior,’ ‘Helterd King,’ and ‘Light’…
“Is it saying that the Lumen Savior saved the dying king? Could it be showing that the Lumen Savior, who can heal animals, can also save humans?”
Count Coralde thought as he stared intently at the papyrus in his hand.
“When I was severely injured by a black panther, I healed perfectly without a scar by Arabelle's side.”
“When I was about to turn into a beast, miraculously, I did not transform because of Arabelle. The unbearable pain disappeared too.”
The emperor’s words from the previous night echoed in his mind.
His perceptive eyes sparkled with hope as an excited voice murmured from his lips.
“If Lady Arabelle is indeed the Lumen Savior… she might be able to lift His Majesty’s curse.”
Gazing at the small flame drawn in the center of the blackened papyrus, Count Coralde furrowed his brows.
“What does this mean…? Is it conveying the message that hope blooms in the darkness?”
The count's heart pounded inexplicably as he tried to interpret the message in a positive light.
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