Picked Up a Beast, Turns Out He's an Emperor (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
An hour ago.
“I have business with Lord Laurell—I’m heading down to his domain. Stay in the tent and wait for me.”
The Emperor said, handing Arabella a large bundle of chocolate boxes.
Inside the tent was even more comfortable and cozy than her attic room.
As Arabella sat on a plush cushion and carefully peeked inside the chocolate box, the faint scent of burning wood drifted into the tent. She leaned out and saw the eastern sky across the way already veiled in deep crimson smoke.
“There’s a forest fire!”
Arabella urgently told the soldiers standing guard ahead, but they responded with awkward smiles, as if already aware.
“Y-yes, it seems that way. The flames don’t appear likely to reach here, so you should be safe. Still, just in case, please stay inside the tent for your safety.”
“Some animals might get trapped and perish in the mountains. I have to go help them.”
“I’m sorry, but our duty is to keep you safe. The fire is spreading quite extensively—you must remain here.”
“Please return inside the tent at once. Otherwise, we’ll be in serious trouble.”
The soldiers avoided her gaze, their expressions uneasy.
They were perceptive enough not to mention that the fire had been ordered by His Majesty the Emperor. If the young lady discovered the fire’s true origin… The soldiers shuddered, picturing the Emperor’s face flashing through their minds.
Seeing the soldiers’ resolute expressions, Arabella gave up and walked back into the tent as if surrendering.
Soon after, hoofbeats rang out from behind the tent, where the horses were resting. The soldiers who rushed over were met with the sight of Arabella already mounted on a horse.
Gripping the reins, Arabella said,
“I’m sorry. I can’t just stand by while wild animals are in danger.”
With those words, she spurred the horse into a full gallop toward the eastern forest where the flames raged.
The soldiers chased after her, but Arabella had already vanished into the opposite woods, swallowed by fire.
While the soldiers, unfamiliar with the southern mountain terrain, floundered in confusion, the horse Arabella had ridden returned to them alone.
Before the soldiers could make it back to the tent, Sir Kael stood waiting—he had been sent with orders to escort the young lady to the lord’s manor.
[This is the timeline separator]“Let’s hold on just a little longer. Once we pass through this forest, we’ll reach the ravine….”
Arabella forced a stout tone from her cracking voice to encourage the wild animals trailing behind her.
Behind her, carrying a wriggling black bear cub overflowing in her arms as she forged ahead through the scorching mountain path, dozens of injured and weary animals followed in line—mother bears, deer, antelopes, foxes, raccoons, wild boars, and more.
The sudden wildfire had trapped the creatures, leaving them panicked and disoriented… until a girl with clear, large eyes appeared before them.
And so, the wild beasts began following the small human girl out of the forest, obeying her words as if they understood her—and as docile as domesticated pets. It was an unbelievable sight.
Smoke choked her nose and throat; her eyes burned so badly she could barely keep them open. Her face and body bore countless scratches from blindly stumbling through the obscured path.
It was a massive wildfire, reducing the animals’ home to ash in an instant. Fierce flames licked red tongues everywhere, devouring everything in their path and closing in rapidly behind the procession of fleeing creatures.
Crack! A massive willow tree right behind them burned through and collapsed in two, throwing the forest into even greater chaos with the panicked cries of animals and birds.
Arabella lifted a yellow kingfisher that had fallen from the fire-engulfed sky into her hands.
She tucked the bird into her skirt pocket and, with practiced ease, hoisted the trembling bear cub clinging to her neck. Arabella hurriedly led the wild animals following her out of the crumbling, fire-ravaged forest.
“Cough, cough…”
Her lungs felt squeezed dry from lack of air. Her legs trembled with fear and pain as the scorching flames chased her.
‘Once we reach the ravine, the animals will be safe. I just need to stay conscious until then.’
She forced a smile for the exhausted antelope leaning its weary head against her side as she thought.
How long had they walked? Amid the deafening roar of fire, the sound of rushing water from the ravine finally reached her ears. Her light brown eyes began to sparkle with hope.
“We’re almost there now. Don’t be afraid, don’t look back—just keep your eyes forward, understand?”
As if speaking to herself, Arabella tightly embraced the frightened bear cub, her soot-streaked face determined. She pressed strength into her wobbly, tangled legs.
If she weakened here, she’d surely collapse and never rise again. The wild animals, as though understanding her words, followed her more calmly than before.
Reaching the forest’s edge, Arabella pushed aside the thick branches overhead with a joyful expression—but her eyes were instantly swallowed by despair.
Where they’d arrived… was the edge of a high cliff. Far below, the ravine’s waters churned. The only way down was to cross to the forest on the opposite side of the cliff.
In Arabella’s wide eyes appeared a rickety, frayed vine bridge—patched together from worn rope, the sole passage connecting the cliff and ravine. Tatatak! Crack! The enormous firestorm advanced at terrifying speed, devouring the forest ever closer.
Arabella stood beside the bridge, arranging the animals in order to evenly distribute weight and maintain balance as they crossed the river.
Watching the frayed knots on the bridge tied to the large tree, fearful they might snap, Arabella hurriedly searched for the mother bear.
At the end of the animal procession crossing the bridge, Arabella gently placed the bear cub she’d been cradling onto its mother’s back and whispered tenderly,
“From now on, you must go with your mother.”
She steadied her trembling voice and spoke kindly.
Placing the kingfisher from her pocket onto her open palms, the little bird, having caught its breath, fluttered upward into the sky.
Once she confirmed even the last wild boar family had safely reached the opposite forest, a sigh of relief slipped from Arabella’s lips.
Now it was Arabella’s turn. With each cautious step forward, she could feel the vine ropes beneath her small feet beginning to snap.
Gritting her eyes shut to avoid looking down, she prayed fervently as she gripped the bridge with her trembling hands,
“Just a little more… just a little more…”
The forest grew steadily closer before her eyes.
‘Just five more steps…’
Arabella smiled toward the animals waiting for her—
Tuduk… tututuk…
When suddenly, the knotted ropes behind her began snapping one after another.
“Aaah…!”
The bridge gave way, and Arabella’s body plummeted into the abyss below.
Her helpless fall through the air—
Stopped abruptly. A firm arm snatched her slender waist mid-air, pulling her tightly into a broad chest.
Her wide, round eyes flew open, trailing up her elongated throat until they met the Emperor’s crimson gaze peering down at her.
For a fleeting moment, relief washed over her—but then she felt utterly consumed by eyes far hotter than the fleeing flames, and her whole body trembled. She wanted to look away, yet strangely, her eyes remained fixed on the Emperor.
[This is the timeline separator]The Emperor had once sworn never to create a weakness in his life. The most fatal weakness for any human was someone they felt compelled to protect. Maxwell’s father’s weakness had been his wife—Maxwell’s mother.
He had accidentally overheard the truth behind his father’s death. Contrary to public knowledge… the beast Black Panther had never targeted his father from the start.
His true objective in infiltrating the imperial palace’s Crown Prince and Crown Princess quarters had been Maxwell’s mother.
It was said his father could have easily evacuated to safety. But he had charged straight at the Black Panther to protect his wife—and the result was a corpse so mutilated his form was unrecognizable.
Crown Prince Luca—the heir expected to surpass Emperor Alexander and usher in the empire’s Third Golden Age.
He was virtuous in character, the rising sun and pride of every imperial citizen. Yet, because of his one fatal weakness, he met a pitiful end.
Before he could even fulfill his ambitions, the sun fell into darkness without ever rising. Recalling his father’s hollow death, Maxwell engraved deep into his heart a vow never to allow such a weakness in his own life.
[This is the timeline separator]The sight before him rendered the Emperor speechless—and furious enough to lose all reason. Through the flames, as he spurred his horse forward at full speed, he saw Arabella standing guard over the vine bridge, evacuating the animals.
Blocked by falling trees crashing down all around, he halted briefly—but fortunately, Arabella had already begun crossing the bridge.
Seeing her nearly reach the opposite forest, he breathed a sigh of relief and tugged sharply at the reins—
Tutuk… tududuk…
In the blink of an eye, the bridge’s knotted ropes started snapping apart. The Emperor’s bloodied hands gripping the reins turned deathly white from the strain.
No one would become a weakness in his life. He would never accept a soft-hearted woman willing to sacrifice her life for insignificant beasts as his vulnerability.
In that instant, Arabella’s small body plunged vertically downward.
Maxwell spurred his white horse into a full gallop across the breaking bridge, leapt from the saddle, and launched himself into the air.
His white horse, leaping alongside him, landed lightly in the opposite forest. As the Emperor fell toward the ravine below, he stretched his arm toward a dangling bridge rope caught on a tree across the cliff.
Hanging from the rope with one hand, he reached out with the other and snatched Arabella’s waist mid-fall. Only when her slender body was secured in his arms did the thick vein pulsing wildly in the Emperor’s neck finally subside.
He clenched his jaw so hard his molars threatened to shatter—he would never admit it.
He refused to acknowledge that, in saving this woman, every shred of his cold rationality had vanished—and he had staked his very life.
The moment the Emperor, cradling Arabella in one arm, scaled the cliff using the rope and set both feet firmly on solid ground, heavy rain began pouring from the sky.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
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I’m not yet convinced this is a curse. There are a lot of questionable events. Why would a black panther kidnap a princess?
I’ve been wondering just how he intends to keep her alive and unharmed enough to even attempt lifting the curse. I don’t believe these classes will be enough if she only had four days.
Is she not concerned because the emperor told her she wasn’t going to become the empress regardless? He explicitly stated she only needed to break his curse & that she wouldn’t become the empress as she wasn’t qualified (I don’t recall his precise wording).