CHAPTER 078
Two Months Later
"Miss! He's entered the capital!"
Panting heavily, Millie delivered the news as she rushed to the third-floor VIP room.
“Hurry, bring the lady’s shoes and gloves…!”
Before Vera could finish her sentence, Dina and Rosa had already brought the shoes and gloves and were helping Arabelle put them on with swift efficiency. Seeing their lady’s beauty blossoming day by day since arriving at the palace, they couldn't help but smile proudly. Today, she looked even more pure and lovely, like a delicate flower bud in full bloom, revealing its hidden beauty.
She looked like a woman in love.
Arabelle stood before the mirror, trying hard to remain composed. The ruby necklace, shaped like a flower and given to her by the Emperor, sparkled brilliantly in the afternoon sun.
‘When you are with His Majesty on official occasions, do not smile too widely showing your teeth. It may come across as frivolous. As the Empress, you must set an example in every breath you take,’ she recalled the advice of Baroness Rosalind, trying to suppress her constantly rising lips. But it was futile.
Hearing that the Emperor would arrive soon, she finally exhaled a long breath of relief.
As if they knew her thoughts, Rosa and Dina clasped hands and fussed excitedly.
“You haven’t spent a single day apart, and now it’s been three weeks since you last saw him. How happy you must be!”
“The lady has been so worried about His Majesty, not sleeping or eating well. We can finally breathe easy now. Ho, ho.”
Arabelle’s cheeks flushed red, and she waved her hands timidly.
“No, His Majesty insisted I eat well, sleep well, and take good care of myself while waiting. I’ve been doing very well, almost to the point of feeling guilty about His Majesty's suffering on the battlefield…”
A month ago, a maritime war erupted between the Helterde Empire and the Southeastern Confederation to monopolize the trade route with the Eastern Continent across the sea. It was to seize the island nation of Atiren, situated between the Continent and the Eastern Continent. Atiren’s harbor was a mandatory stop for merchant ships making the long journey between the continents.
Due to its land’s nature, Atiren couldn’t farm and relied heavily on harbor fees and importing agricultural products at almost half price from the Helterde Empire and neighboring kingdoms. The trouble began when Atiren formed a marriage alliance with Eget, the strongest country in the Southeastern Confederation.
No one anticipated this political marriage, especially not that the Eget King, blinded by power, would marry off his youngest daughter, just twenty years old, to the Atiren King, well over fifty, notorious for killing three wives due to his pathological jealousy.
Soon after the wedding, Atiren and Eget declared a trade alliance, stating that no empire or kingdom on the Continent could dock at Atiren’s harbor unless part of the Southeastern Confederation, or they would face exorbitant harbor fees and agricultural costs.
This was a clear challenge to the Helterde Empire. The Southeastern Confederation, led by Eget and comprised of six countries, allied with the infamous Venom Pirates, pressured the Helterde Navy. Despite being the strongest on land, Helterde, under Emperor Maxwell, had not shown significant maritime prowess.
Since the Empire's founding, it had suffered repeated naval defeats, leading past emperors to neglect maritime interests. Maxwell, upon ascending the throne, had to focus on reclaiming and expanding lost territories on the Continent. People whispered that even the War God Maxwell couldn’t handle this maritime war. Some Imperial nobility and elder statesmen secretly hoped for Helterde’s defeat, seeing it as an opportunity to tarnish Maxwell’s rising reputation as the Continent’s supreme ruler.
As expected, within a week of the war's start, the Southeastern Confederation gained the upper hand. When Emperor Maxwell announced his participation, even his loyalists expressed concern due to his lack of naval warfare experience. A mistake could compromise the solid foundation he had built, and any flaw in his leadership would embolden internal and external threats.
‘It’s time to turn our attention from land to sea. Let’s gain some experience,’ Maxwell had said nonchalantly, donning his plate armor covered with iron nets, as he faced his worried aides.
Three weeks after leaving the capital, the Emperor had not only decimated the Southeastern Confederation’s navy but also invaded and made the island nation of Atiren a vassal state.
‘Although I feel like turning the royal palace into a sandcastle in my current mood,’ Maxwell reportedly said, pressing his boot on the kneeling Atiren King’s shoulder, ‘I promised the Empress I would show her a palace made of sandglass during our honeymoon, so I’ll restrain myself.’
While the Emperor led the naval warfare, commanding the navy he had secretly trained, Sir Jacob and Sir Peter led the imperial army to crush the heart of the Southeastern Confederation, Eget.
When news broke that Emperor Maxwell was participating in the naval war, the Eget King, who had focused all his resources there, miscalculated, and the castle gates fell easily.
The Eget King thought Emperor Maxwell spared his life and imprisoned him in a stone tower out of mercy, knowing his great-grandmother was an Eget princess. However, when Emperor Maxwell, who had led the naval war to a decisive victory, arrived in Eget and forced him to his knees, the king realized his mistake.
Sitting leisurely on the Eget throne with his long legs crossed, Emperor Maxwell had the five kings of the allied countries, who had sworn allegiance to Eget, bowing their heads beside him. In their trembling hands were swords engraved with their royal crests.
‘If I deal with all of them at once, the administrative issues will be troublesome. I need to enjoy my honeymoon, not waste time appointing new successors for these six useless kingdoms,’ Maxwell thought, his crimson eyes filling the room with the scent of death.
Descending from the dais, he lifted the Eget King’s head with the toe of his boot and whispered, ‘So I’ve decided to leave the small fry and only deal with the biggest one. Thanks to your foolish attempt to defy me, I gain much. I hesitated to take over the rich mines of Eget because of my great-grandmother’s origins, but you gave me the perfect excuse. Well done.’
Leaving the Eget King, who had turned pale, behind, the Emperor walked across the hall with a measured stride. He signaled with a raised hand, and the five kings’ swords, which were lifted high, came down in unison.
As the Emperor handed his gauntlet to his attendant and walked away, the hall echoed with the kings’ anguished cries.
***
When the Emperor and his knights, who had turned seven kingdoms into vassal states and satellite countries, entered the capital and passed through the main gate of the imperial palace:
“Are you ready?”
Before the closed door of the VIP room, Alex, the captain of the Emperor’s 2nd Guard, asked respectfully.
Although protecting the future Empress was the duty of the imperial guards, the Emperor had assigned his elite unit to ensure her safety. When the door opened, Arabelle, followed by her three maids and Millie, walked out of the VIP room.
In the wide corridor, twelve guards stood on either side, bowing to welcome the future Empress.
“The Emperor will arrive at the palace gate shortly,” Captain Alex reported, matching Arabelle’s pace.
Arabelle’s steps, refined through two months of etiquette lessons, were composed. Her heart had already run across the palace garden and out the main gate to see the Emperor, but she calmed her racing heart and walked gracefully down the spiral marble staircase, through the vast hall, and stood before the enormous bronze door stretching from ceiling to floor.
When the two sentries opened the door wide, the late afternoon sun poured gently over Arabelle’s head. Her eyes, filled with excitement, took in the sight of a man descending twenty steps below her.
Though surrounded by hundreds of soldiers from the 1st Infantry with bows and shields, the 2nd Infantry with spears and daggers, and the 3rd Infantry with swords and shields, she spotted him immediately.
Grateful and overjoyed that the Emperor had returned unharmed, tears welled up in Arabelle’s large eyes.
***
Over the past two months, two nights had passed with the full white moon obscured by the black moon. Both nights, Arabelle stayed with the Emperor at Lake Innis, and the results were astonishingly successful.
On the first night, the Emperor, who transformed into a black panther, returned to human form in less than half a day, a process that used to take two or three days. The extreme pain that accompanied his transformation dissipated in Arabelle’s embrace, and instead of rampaging uncontrollably, he lay beside her, drowsy and seeking sleep.
On the second night, the Emperor, who began to transform into a black panther, reverted to his human form in Arabelle’s warm arms, finding his true self again. The Count of Coral and Sirs Jacob and Peter, excitedly shoulder to shoulder, witnessed this miracle, but the Emperor seemed most pleased that Arabelle was unscathed.
Though Arabelle was shocked to learn about the tragedy of the Lumen Savior tribe and that she was their descendant, as told by the Emperor and Count Coral, she had no time to dwell on it. For her, breaking the Emperor’s curse was paramount.
‘The energy of light I feel inside me is stronger than before. It’s hard to explain, but it seems to respond to my inner voice as if it’s willing to fulfill my wish to protect His Majesty,’ she explained, amazed at her own abilities.
Count Coral, filled with relief, declared, ‘I believe Lady Arabelle’s power can break the curse.’
Arabelle was the happiest to hear this, even more than the Emperor. The next manifestation of the curse was on the Emperor’s twenty-sixth birthday, a day that would determine if he had to live with the curse forever.
Count Coral had headed north to learn more about how the Lumen Savior’s power affected monsters, and soon after, the Emperor left to personally lead the naval war on the southeastern coast. Meanwhile, Arabelle diligently attended her empress training from morning until night, waiting for the Emperor’s return.
Lady Rosalind, noticing Arabelle’s rough face from sleepless nights and skipping breakfasts due to worrying about the Emperor’s safety, advised her, ‘Remember, Lady Arabelle, the role of the Empress is not just being the Emperor’s wife. It’s a crucial position that stabilizes the people’s morale in his absence. You must not show your worries or fears in your expression or actions.’
The Baroness was right. Arabelle met her gaze firmly, flaring her nostrils and clenching her fists.
***
The Emperor, wearing a silver helmet and iron mesh and plate armor, sat atop his white horse, Cassius. He dismounted slowly, each step exuding dignity and elegance as he approached Arabelle.
The setting sun behind him cast a god-like aura of overwhelming pressure and tension, commanding everything around him. His large boots stopped before her round-toed shoes peeking from beneath her dress.
A massive shadow enveloped her, hiding her from view. The Emperor’s gloved hand lifted the gleaming helmet, revealing black hair slightly damp with sweat, swept aside by the breeze to reveal his crimson eyes.
Once blood-red, his eyes now sparkled warmly like beautiful rubies as they met her soft brown gaze. It was a moment when the Emperor realized the joy of returning to a home where a loved one awaited.
Comments
Post a Comment