Picked Up a Beast, Turns Out He's an Emperor (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 6
“According to history books, those who defy the Emperor’s decree…”
Emperor Maxwell brushed his lips with a long finger and spoke in a dry voice.
Though his tone was clearly devoid of emotion, the air inside the dining room grew chillingly heavy.
“It is often the case that not only the offender but their entire bloodline suffers severe punishment.”
Arabella’s long eyelashes trembled as she lowered her gaze to her knees beneath the table.
“If one dares to rebel, they might be dragged mercilessly to the underground prison, never to see sunlight again—or their entire house could be ruined. Defying the Emperor’s command is virtually tantamount to treason.”
He hadn’t planned to threaten her so openly—especially not this small, defenseless woman, barely more than a child.
Until now, no one in the Empire had ever rejected the benevolent hand he’d extended. Everyone had scrambled anxiously just to grasp the hand he hadn’t even offered. He’d never felt the need to assert himself before.
Maxwell clenched his jaw in self-disgust as he watched Arabella’s reaction.
She already struggled to meet his eyes directly; now, she likely wouldn’t even dare lift her head from fear. Just as expected, Arabella remained silent, biting her lower lip without responding.
She must be quite terrified.
The Emperor opened his mouth to soften his tone and ease the tension…
“Your Imperial Majesty…”
Arabella slowly raised her head and met his gaze with red-rimmed eyes before speaking.
“I’m not afraid… because I know you wouldn’t do any of that.”
His ever-stoic, handsome face froze for an instant. Her response was utterly unexpected.
“Why do you think that? Aren’t you afraid of me, your Emperor?”
“Because… among all the people I’ve met, Your Imperial Majesty is the kindest.”
Her sincere eyes, unflinching and honest, and her earnest voice struck deep into the Emperor’s heart.
“You think I’m a good person?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you think that? I just clearly explained what an Emperor is capable of doing.”
“But still… Your Majesty remembered my help and came to find me yourself. You’re even trying to give me a grand reward for merely doing what anyone would have done—and you’re even considering placing someone as unworthy as me on the list of empress candidates.”
Arabella’s round eyes crinkled into crescent moons as she smiled gently.
“You, who care even for someone as insignificant as me, must be the kindest person in the world. Thank you. This is the first time… anyone has ever thought of me this much.”
The Emperor opened his mouth to reply, but his throat tightened, and no sound came out.
It was a smile brimming with pure happiness, showing no trace of fear. Though utterly plain and unremarkable, the quiet, gentle smile dazzled Maxwell so brightly his brows knit together.
“Oh—well, Master is here, so you’re actually the second kindest person I’ve ever met.”
True to her word, Arabella knew nothing of deceit.
The Emperor, entranced by her smile, snapped back to his senses the moment that loathsome word—“Master”—passed her lips, his eyes narrowing.
Maxwell abandoned the idea of using threats or force to bring her to the palace. If he took her against her will, he feared he’d never see that smile directed at him again.
Yet unwilling to admit this truth, the Emperor concluded it was unworthy of a strong man to abuse his power against a delicate woman.
‘She must choose to come to the palace with me of her own accord.’
Looking at Arabella—far less pliant than he’d anticipated—Maxwell pondered.
For the first time, his usually sharp mind failed him. He’d realized no amount of flattery or intimidation would change her resolve.
She thought entirely differently from anyone he’d ever dealt with. And so, Emperor Maxwell resolved to take a gamble he’d never dared before.
The same Emperor who had hidden his true self to ascend the throne, and who had never revealed his inner thoughts even after becoming Emperor—the master of blurring truth and lies for his goals—slowly opened his mouth.
“I need your help… to break my curse.”
He had never before revealed his weakness to anyone. Never once had he asked for help. To do so then would have been like inviting hyenas to tear out his throat.
Though reason screamed at him to stop, the words slipped out anyway.
“I don’t know how you did it… but after spending the night with you, my wounds healed completely. And…”
He paused, swallowing hard, then continued.
“Normally, it takes four days after transforming into a beast to revert to my human form—but after meeting you, I returned to myself in only two. Clearly, you’re connected to my curse. Will you… help me break free from this nightmare?”
When the Emperor finished speaking, he leaned his head back against the chair.
Soon, a calm but resolute voice reached his ears. Opening his eyes, he found her kind, round eyes gazing steadily at him without a hint of hesitation.
“I will help you. I’ll do my very best to assist Your Majesty.”
Arabella clenched her tiny fists as she added,
“I’ll accompany you to the capital.”
Hah… So simple. A soft sigh escaped through Maxwell’s teeth.
What convinced Arabella wasn’t riches, honors, or threats—it was simply asking for her help, honestly and directly.
Feeling his throat grow warm, the Emperor took a gulp of the cheap, tasteless wine before him.
“What about your rendezvous with your Master?”
“Master will understand. Once Your Majesty’s curse is lifted, he’ll surely allow me to go with him. Please let me leave a letter for him in the cave before we depart.”
She wasn’t refusing outright. For now, that would have to suffice.
The Emperor forced a smile as he resolved to investigate that fraudulent “Master” and expose his true nature.
“Then… is leaving tonight acceptable?”
“Well…”
Arabella wrinkled her nose and gave an awkward smile.
“Speak.”
“Could we leave at dawn tomorrow instead? Lily—that is, my cousin’s racehorse—is due to give birth to twins tonight. She gets very nervous without me and suffers greatly. Last night, they said she just cried the whole time because I wasn’t there…”
To Arabella, aiding the Emperor seemed just as important as aiding a racehorse.
Feeling oddly conflicted, Maxwell nodded with an exaggeratedly cheerful expression.
[This is the timeline separator]Lotus Pavilion, Imperial Palace of the Heltherd Empire
Empress Dowager Natali was strolling through the lotus garden with the Second Princess of Seville and the Noblewoman of the Earl’s House, both from her homeland.
“Are you settling in comfortably?”
“Thanks to your kindness, I’m doing very well.”
“I, too, am enjoying myself immensely. Thank you.”
As she tossed feed to the golden koi in the pond, Empress Dowager Natali spoke.
“Soon, the final contest will begin, and we won’t have private chances to meet. If there’s anything you need, tell me now—I’ll see it’s prepared.”
“I don’t know how I can ever repay Your Majesty’s grace. Thanks to you, I’ve made it to the final round.”
When the Earl’s only daughter from the Empress Dowager’s homeland clasped her hands together in gratitude, Natali’s expression turned icy.
“You seem to be gravely mistaken about something.”
“Yes?”
“Your role is to do everything in your power to help Princess Lilibet become the Emperor’s consort. That’s precisely why you’ve advanced this far. Remember that clearly. Otherwise, your father and your house will face dire consequences.”
The Earl’s daughter turned crimson to the neck and nodded meekly at the Empress Dowager’s cold warning.
Turning to her own blood relative, Princess Lilibet, Natali softened her tone.
“I place great hopes in you. You must absolutely be chosen as Empress this time and uphold our kingdom’s tradition. Besides you, we’ve also placed the Daughter of Earl McGuire on the candidate list to support you.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Please don’t worry. I will surely become Empress Maxwell’s consort.”
Princess Lilibet replied sweetly, her eyes sparkling brighter than autumn skies.
The Empress Dowager smiled, satisfied.
Her niece Lilibet—the leading candidate in this selection contest—was undeniably radiant, her beauty arresting even from afar.
Her ambitions matched her beauty, and she never hesitated to remove any obstacle in her path by any means necessary.
This niece, so much like herself in every way, pleased the Empress Dowager greatly.
For the resource-poor Kingdom of Seville, its greatest asset was its royal bloodline’s exceptional beauty. Just as Natali herself had once done, Lilibet would become Empress Maxwell’s consort and bring tremendous benefit to Seville.
If Lilibet became Empress, Natali’s brother—the King—had promised to name her only son, Eric, Crown Prince of Seville. Within two months, she would ensure her niece stood proudly beside Maxwell.
Natali’s eyes gleamed as she handed Lilibet the expected examination questions.
[This is the timeline separator]“How is the Empress Dowager proceeding?”
Caroline, the Emperor’s aunt and wife of Grand Duke Lecain, asked her husband while putting on a gown for the banquet.
“She’s mobilizing all her resources to make her niece Empress.”
“How dare she, with no sense of her place! Had our mother not passed away early, she never would have dared dream of marrying Father.”
“Still… are you so confident? Even if Seville is a small kingdom, its princesses and noblewomen have frequently been chosen as queens in various realms. Princess Lilibet’s beauty is already famous beyond the palace walls.”
“What good is beauty? She’s just like her aunt—full of ambition but dull-witted. Without the Empress Dowager’s help, she’d have been eliminated in the preliminaries.”
Caroline fastened a diamond necklace around her neck and confidently lifted her chin.
“No matter how stunning Lilibet may be, she can’t outshine your niece Grace. Just wait and see—in two months, it’ll be Grace walking down the aisle beside Maxwell.”
Among the selection candidates, the much-praised Daughter of Baron Vernando had been expelled before even finishing the contest, embroiled in a scandal with her escort knight.
Grace had orchestrated it all—slipping the Baron’s daughter’s handkerchief under the knight’s bedsheet and hiding the knight’s undergarments in the Rose Pavilion where the Baron’s daughter was staying.
Though perhaps slightly less beautiful than Lilibet, Grace was quicker-witted than anyone else. Having raised Grace like her own daughter since infancy, Caroline knew that if Grace became Empress, House Lecain’s power would soar beyond measure.
Imagining herself surpassing her thorn-in-the-side stepmother, Empress Dowager Natalia, in social rank, Caroline’s lips curled upward.
Just then, her butler entered with a report.
“A message has arrived from His Imperial Majesty, who is currently inspecting the provinces.”
At the messenger’s report, Caroline turned and extended her hand.
At that very moment, the Empress Dowager leisurely opened the sealed letter from the Emperor, delivered to her in her reception room.
When yandere male lead believes she loves him — but she never did
“How dare you!”
“How dare you make me love you, only to cast me aside as nothing more than a friend?!?
“I will never accept that.”
“I will never let you return to him.”
“Even if I have to burn myself to ashes.”
“Even if I must shatter my purity, my dignity, my very soul.”
“I will never let you escape me!”
This was the first novel that introduced me to the matriarchal genre. I’ve read it three times already!
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
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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).