Arabel had no leisure to savor the taste of the ripe peach she had bitten into her mouth.

Trying not to think about this confusing situation, she diligently chewed to create fruit juice. Spotting a fork and spoon next to the fruit tray, she hastily picked up the spoon.

As she turned away from the Emperor and brought the utensil to her mouth, a large hand grasped her wrist. She looked at the Emperor with round, startled eyes, but he spoke calmly with an indifferent expression.

“You didn’t use a spoon in the cave. I think it would be best to do it as similarly as possible to that time. We don’t know what interaction the fruit juice had with your hands.”

She couldn’t answer due to the peach juice in her mouth. Arabel’s eyes began to waver, losing their focus.

At that time, she was flustered… and moreover, he was a black panther. The person before her now is His Majesty the Emperor. As Arabel looked up from her hands, the Emperor’s alluring face was close enough to touch.

Tilting his head to the side, the Emperor looked at her lips and said softly,

“You don’t have to feed me with your hands. There are other ways to feed. Your lips are also part of your body, so they should have the same effect. No, since it’s a direct transfer, it might even take effect immediately.”

The Emperor extended his thumb and stole a bit of juice that had leaked from the corner of Arabel’s lips. He brought his thumb to his own lips to taste it, then stretched his long neck forward.

There shouldn’t be any alcohol in the peach… Arabel looked up at the Emperor with a dazed mind.

As his red eyes filled her gaze, hundreds of butterflies fluttered and rose in her chest. Startled by her pounding heart, Arabel pressed both hands firmly against her chest.

The Emperor’s hot breath spread faintly over Arabel’s lips. Unconsciously, Arabel’s eyes slowly closed, and she gulped, swallowing the peach juice in her surprise.

As if waking from a dream, Arabel jumped up on the bed.

The Emperor spoke in a slightly hoarse, low voice.

“Oh dear, we’ll have to start over.”

“W-why don’t we try experimenting with tears first? Not fruit juice… I think it was tears, tears.”

Her large eyes trembled pitifully, as if about to burst into tears. Seeing Arabel’s thin shoulders trembling, the red eyes also wavered. The Emperor, suddenly coming to his senses, bowed his head and let out an inaudible shallow sigh.

‘What am I doing to this innocent young lady?’

The joke had gone too far. Even as a child, the Emperor had never played pranks with his peers. Yet here he was, eagerly looking for opportunities to tease the woman before him.

The Emperor clenched his fists tightly at his behavior over the past few days that was so unlike him.

When he’s with her, his reason becomes paralyzed, and unfamiliar emotions surge through him, taking control of his body. Perhaps because she treated him when he was dying, he felt a special kind of familiarity.

He had built impenetrable walls around himself and let no one in… but he had no intention of tearing down those walls now. This woman is merely the key to breaking his curse.

She’s only being brought to the Imperial Palace because she’s useful. If he continues to play such rude pranks on Arabel, who won’t be selected as Empress, he’s no better than a ruffian from the marketplace. The Emperor ground his molars, as if vowing never to repeat his recent behavior.

“They say if you rub onion on your eyes, tears will flow. Shall we try that?”

A trembling voice reached his ears. When he raised his head, he saw Arabel standing there, wringing her hands, unsure of what to do. The Emperor smiled gently and replied,

“I think you’re right. It doesn’t seem to have been a major injury. It doesn’t hurt anymore, I see.”

At last seeming relieved, her innocent face that knew no lies brightened. Arabel relaxed her tightly clenched hands and lowered her tense shoulders.

“I’m so glad. Then, please rest comfortably.”

“Thank you for today. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning, so get plenty of rest.”

The Emperor’s red eyes briefly gazed at the door Arabel had exited, then turned to the ceiling before closing his eyelids.

This inexplicable feeling now… it will return to its proper place once we’re back at the Imperial Palace, so there’s no need to worry about it.

[This is the timeline separator]

The Empress Dowager’s chambers in the Imperial Palace.

“You succeeded?”

The Empress Dowager’s eyes sparkled with joy as she returned to her bedroom after finishing her bath.

“What did I tell you? Didn’t I say that if you left it to me, I would definitely bring the Prince back to the Imperial Palace?”

Marquis Haden approached the still-damp Empress Dowager with a sardonic smile.

His muscular arm with its rough, bulging muscles snatched her slender waist, pulling her into his embrace as he whispered,

“If you would stop meeting that useless young Baron Brad who only watches the Emperor’s mood and call for me instead… I would serve you with all my loyalty.”

Marquis Haden added, “Of course, I will dedicate my all until Prince Eric ascends to the throne,” as he buried his lips, hidden in his shaggy beard, into her hollow collarbone.

In the past, she would have slapped him or pushed him away.

A man who rose from being the son of a lowly stable keeper to the commander of the Imperial 3rd Knight Order through his merits in successive wars, and even received the title of marquis. This coarse and even barbaric man who had rolled around on battlefields was one of the types the Empress Dowager despised the most.

However, what Eric and the Empress Dowager needed now was not a delicate nobleman from the capital with refined manners and excellent bedroom skills.

The cowardly Baron Brad, who flinched at the mere sound of the Emperor’s cough, was useless in this situation.

What she needed now was the Marquis Haden before her, who could beat mountain bears with his bare hands and was on familiar terms with the continent’s bandits and pirate groups. Marquis Haden appeared before the Empress Dowager, who had to send Eric to the battlefield without being able to lift a finger.

Even before, he was a man who would shamelessly scan the Empress Dowager’s body with lustful eyes. The Empress Dwager enjoyed receiving such gazes of desire, but the men she invited to her bedroom were usually fragrant pretty boys like Baron Brad.

[I will definitely bring Prince Eric back to the Imperial Palace. Please trust me.]

When Marquis Haden spoke confidently, she was still half in doubt… Empress Dowager Natalia bit her lip and inserted her long fingers into his thick, curly hair.

Pressing her body against his, the Empress Dowager brought her lips to his ear and commanded,

“Tell the pirate gang to demand a ransom from the Imperial family for Prince Eric. Tell them to send a threatening letter saying they will execute Eric if it’s not delivered within three days. They won’t just stand by when the former Emperor’s son has been kidnapped by pirates.”

“I will do as you command.”

Breathing heavily, his large hands lightly lifted the Empress Dowager and carried her unhesitatingly to the bed.

[This is the timeline separator]

The Lotus Palace in the Imperial Palace, the Second Annex where Lady Grace of the Le Sang Grand Duchy resides.

Grace, a candidate for Empress, conveyed the news to her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Le Sang, who visited her quarters late at night.

“Have you heard, aunt? They say Prince Eric has been kidnapped by the de Skull pirate gang.”

“I heard on my way here just now.”

“They say if twenty chests of gold bars aren’t delivered within three days, they’ll hang the Prince’s head on the mast.”

“So I’ve heard.”

The Grand Duchess replied as she brought the jasmine tea prepared on the table to her lips.

“It’s rather fortunate for that milksop Prince Eric. It’s obvious he’d be shocked, and if he suffered even minor injuries during the kidnapping, he’d make a fuss about needing recovery. This way, he won’t have to go to the battlefield.”

The Grand Duchess flashed her white teeth, her eyes twinkling at Grace’s words.

“Indeed, no one can match your brilliant mind. Grace, you must have been my daughter in a past life.”

“Then you had the same thought, aunt. It’s clear the Empress Dowager’s side had a hand in this.”

“That’s right. As if that coward Eric could become Emperor by doing this. Tsk, they still can’t let go of that futile dream.”

“I’m so grateful you refused when the Empress Dowager suggested me as Prince Eric’s wife. With my parents gone, you and uncle are my only guardians.”

“Of course. I’ve never thought of you as just a niece. You’re my daughter. We can’t marry off the precious only daughter of the Le Sang Grand Duchy to some powerless prince.”

“You will definitely become Empress,” she added as she stroked Grace’s glossy silver hair.

‘Once Grace is selected as Empress and bears the Crown Prince, the Empire will belong to the Le Sang Grand Duchy, no, to me. If we dispose of Maxwell, the Le Sang family, as the maternal relatives, will act as regents for the young Crown Prince.’

It didn’t matter that she hadn’t told Grace this fact. Grace, with her great ambition, would prefer to live as a widowed Empress and mother of the future Emperor rather than spend her life as the wife of an insignificant prince.

“Your Grace the Grand Duchess, Bridget pays her respects.”

At that moment, the reception room door opened, and the Imperial head maid entered. Her every gesture and word perfectly embodied the strict etiquette of the Imperial family.

“Bridget, welcome.”

Though she was the head maid, she was a woman brought from her original home by the first wife of the former Emperor, the Grand Duchess of Le Sang’s own mother, and Maxwell Emperor’s paternal grandmother.

The Grand Duchess greeted her courteously, clasping both of Bridget’s hands.

“Grace, say hello. This is Bridget, the Imperial Chief Maid who will assist you from now on. She’ll support you through the upcoming competition and when you become Empress and take charge of the Imperial family.”

As she received Bridget’s greeting, Grace’s eyes sparkled with joy at her aunt’s unexpected gift.

Bridget, the Imperial Chief Maid. A woman who had been responsible for the lives of Imperial women for nearly 40 years without being swayed by any faction.

The maid, known for being strict and thorough, had not taken sides in the first or second Empress selection competitions. She had rejected all temptations of immense money, wealth, and power.

Now that such a person was on her side, the position of Empress was as good as hers. Grace smiled, recalling Emperor Maxwell’s face that she had been secretly admiring since childhood.

Now he will truly be mine. The love she had nurtured for 20 years was finally becoming a reality.

“The Emperor will return soon… Is the quarters prepared for the young lady he’s bringing back with him?”

“Yes, preparations have been completed in the 11th annex.”

“And the maids to serve her in the annex?”

“Of course. I personally selected all of them.”

The Grand Duchess nodded in satisfaction after exchanging a meaningful glance with Bridget.

Rumors that the Emperor had rescued an Empress candidate from a burning forest had already spread throughout the capital. But what did it matter? She would disappear even before the two-month competition ended.

The Grand Duchess fingered the pearls of her thick necklace and burst into a pleased laugh.