CHAPTER 009
"You can climb mountains like a squirrel, but you can't swim? That's surprising."
"After almost drowning as a child due to my own carelessness, I haven't been able to go into the water since."
Arabelle hesitated before answering the emperor's question.
Despite her fear of water, she had tried to cross the river for the sake of the baby deer. As he held Arabelle in his arms and waded through the river's current, the emperor looked down at her slender, reddened neck.
Just like when she had saved the beast, she must have been in danger because of her family or someone she considered as family.
Arabelle fell silent, but the keen emperor had already deduced much about the girl in his arms. His intuition was astonishingly close to the truth.
Arabelle's frightened eyes squeezed shut, unable to look at the water surging around the emperor's waist, threatening to swallow them.
When she crossed the river earlier, the current was much weaker, and she hadn't had time to think about her fear, with the baby deer's safety at stake. Moreover, she was not in her right mind after what happened in the carriage when the emperor carried her across the river.
When she was nine, the year her mother passed away, her father secretly brought newborn livestock and deliberately broke their necks or legs to test her and her sister's healing abilities. The injured animals ultimately couldn't recover and died.
One day, while escaping into the mountains with a stolen lamb intended for one of her father's experiments, she fought at the riverbank with her sister, Camille, who had chased after them with Roxy. They struggled to keep the lamb from being taken back, and she ended up being thrown into the deep river, swept away by the rough current, and nearly drowned.
"I was losing consciousness in the water when my master saved me," Arabelle said.
The emperor's grip tightened around her.
"So that was your first meeting with your 'world's most handsome and perfect' master?"
"Yes, if it weren't for him, I would have died. When I opened my eyes and saw him, I thought an angel had descended from heaven to take me."
Arabelle nodded, unaware of the sarcasm in his voice, responding with the brightest tone she'd had since they arrived at the riverbank.
The emperor, who had been satisfied with her wrapping her arms around his neck, felt his mood plummet.
"In the future, if you have to cross a river…"
In a dry, emotionless voice, he continued.
"Never let another man carry you across."
Arabelle looked up at him, and his neck flushed slightly before returning to its usual color.
"Men are all wolves. You must not let your guard down."
Arabelle's wide eyes grew even larger at the mention of 'wolves,' and her shoulders stiffened. If men were wolves, then the emperor, carrying her across the river, must also be a wolf.
The emperor quickly added, "No, men are all wolves, but I'm different. Because I'm the emperor, I'm not like other men. Do you understand?"
Ashamed of using such a childish reason, even invoking his title, he cleared his throat.
Noticing the clear eyes that seemed to be saying the most dangerous man was the emperor himself, he adjusted his tone.
"What happened in the carriage… was because I had only returned to being human for a day. I was hungry by lunchtime and lost my senses for a moment. You know better than anyone how carnivores behave when they're starving."
His excuse was flimsy, but the naive girl nodded as if she finally understood.
"It won't happen again. Do you believe me?"
When the emperor earnestly reassured her once more, Arabelle nodded and replied.
"Yes, I believe you."
With a slight upward tug at the corners of his mouth, the emperor lifted her a bit higher to keep her feet from getting wet.
The emperor's strength was the greatest on the continent, and the girl in his arms was very light. As he hoisted her up, her lips brushed against his neck.
Both of their breaths caught, and the emperor halted in his tracks. His long, solid neck, which wouldn't flinch even if a sword was pressed against it, tingled as if a petal had brushed against it.
Resuming his steps, he spoke in a lowered voice to Arabelle, who was now biting her lip and looking down.
"There is a famous lake in the palace grounds. I'll teach you to swim next summer when we return. It's too cold to swim now in late autumn, but you should be able to cross rivers without needing help from wolves or other men."
"I won't be at the palace next summer, will I? The competition ends in two months, and I'll be leaving then, as I mentioned in my letter to my master."
Recalling his promise, Arabelle reminded him, and the emperor, his mood soured again, replied somewhat curtly.
"Then prepare to learn to swim as soon as we return to the palace. The lake used to be fed by hot springs, so it shouldn't be too cold."
The hot springs had flowed 300 years ago, and now the lake was fed by subterranean glacial water, making it a prime summer resort.
Unaware of the emperor's fluctuating moods, a gentle smile spread across Arabelle's lips. She thought the emperor was very kind to think of her safety and offered to teach her to swim despite the cold weather.
She consoled herself that the emperor's behavior in the carriage was due to the residual instincts of a beast, hungry after only a day back as a human.
***
—Helterde Empire’s Imperial Palace—
In the reception room of the peony palace, where the Empress Dowager resided, a silver snake and a yellow fox were locked in a tense standoff.
Empress Dowager Natalie and Grand Duchess Caroline Le Sang.
Though they were smiling and maintaining the appearance of a perfect mother and daughter, inwardly, they were ready to tear each other apart. They weren't related by blood, and the age difference between them was only four years.
The Grand Duchess had brought specialty products from her eastern estates to present to the Empress Dowager, who in turn was serving her rare tea from her homeland. Both were busy evaluating each other.
Because of the Emperor's notification received yesterday, it was reported that he would be personally bringing the final candidate for the Empress selection contest back to the capital.
Now, instead of ten candidates, there would be eleven. Moreover, a strong rival was entering the fray, turning the duel between the two most promising candidates, Princess Lilibet and Lady Grace, into a three-way competition.
The rumor that the Emperor was personally bringing back an Empress candidate spread rapidly, causing a stir not only among the high nobility of the capital but also in other countries. Until now, the Emperor was famous for not paying any attention to women.
So much so that a king of a vassal state, suspecting that the Emperor might prefer men, once sent a handsome man to the Emperor’s bedroom to win his favor. Of course, that incident led to the vassal king abdicating his throne to his younger brother.
“Did Her Majesty the Empress Dowager also not know about this? Isn't she aware of everything happening within the palace?”
“How could an old woman like me know everything His Majesty does? I thought the Duchess, as his only blood relative, would be informed. How unexpected.”
A brief silence passed between the two women, who sat with tea and sweets before them.
“How exceptional must this young lady be for His Majesty to personally bring her?”
“All that's known is that she’s a direct descendant of the DeLacour Marquisate, who had the trust of Emperors from the 19th to the 23rd generations.”
“I’ve heard that the DeLacour family moved abroad and no longer resides in the Empire.”
“How did he meet a daughter from such an obscure family...?”
The tea they sipped was famous for its sweetness, but it still tasted bitter to them.
Once valuable to the royal family for their healing abilities, the DeLacour family had become obscure and their existence nearly forgotten.
Though from a minor family, the lack of information made it difficult to find weaknesses, or even to contact her family for leverage or to sway them to their side.
Most of the capital's high nobility weren't even aware of the DeLacour family's existence, and the family members were scattered abroad.
“Even so, it’s extremely unfair for a woman who hasn't participated in the previous rounds to enter the final contest.”
“But what can we do? The rules of the Empress selection contest allow His Majesty to choose one candidate himself.”
“The atmosphere now is as if the DeLacour girl has already become the Empress, with His Majesty showing a sudden interest in her. He hasn't shown any interest in any of the candidates so far, yet now he brings her back personally.”
It was true.
Some quick-witted nobles were already trying to align themselves with the unseen DeLacour girl by reaching out to the palace's head maid and steward.
“No matter how much she has caught His Majesty’s eye, she must win the contest to become Empress. This is an unbreakable rule of the Imperial family. Many Emperors before have favored candidates, but less than half became Empress.”
The Empress Dowager spoke with a deliberately relaxed smile, and the Grand Duchess mirrored it, hiding her own anxiety.
But there was a terrifying feeling that this time might be different. The Emperor was none other than Maxwell. If he had chosen someone as his consort, it was certainly not out of love.
God had given him everything but the ability to love. That was the greatest gift, ensuring his judgment wouldn't be clouded by emotions, enabling him to not only rule the Empire but also begin to dominate the entire continent.
Thus, everyone believed the candidate he brought with him would be a formidable competitor, chosen not for personal feelings but for calculated political reasons. She would undoubtedly...
“Grace, you need to stay sharp. Your opponent is not the reckless Lilibet who relies only on her beauty. The woman accompanying the Emperor must be a skilled strategist and schemer. If we’re not careful, we’ll be outmatched.”
“Princess Lilibet, this is no time to be having picnics with the other candidates. The daughter of the DeLacour family, now in the running, is likely to be as intelligent as the Emperor. She will be deceitful and cunning, and we must prepare thoroughly to avoid being outmaneuvered.”
After their tea time, the Empress Dowager and the Grand Duchess went to find Grace and Lilibet, urging them to stop relaxing and start preparing.
They were convinced that the woman accompanying the Emperor was as cold-blooded and ambitious as he was, willing to abandon her conscience for her goals.
***
The cold-blooded and ambitious woman they were discussing was currently by the Emperor’s side, happily smiling with her mouth full of a chocolate-covered marshmallow she was tasting for the first time.
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