“This marriage is not my will.”

Emperor Maxwell opened his mouth, turning his head to look at the distant cathedral bell tower.

As the wind blew his slightly long bangs to the side, a lonely expression was revealed. Arabel’s heart ached whenever the usually confident emperor’s face occasionally looked tired and lonely.

It was a different feeling from seeing a pitiful person or animal. Not sympathy or compassion, but a regret of wanting to hurt for him.

“It’s because of the imperial law. A useless law that the emperor must take an empress before turning twenty-six for the sake of an heir.”

He turned his head again, fixing his red eyes on Arabel’s kind eyes, and continued.

“No matter how much I’ve lived ignoring human decency and beliefs… I’m not trash enough to marry with a cursed body and ruin a woman’s life. That’s why I’ve held out until now, unlike the previous emperors of the empire who all took empresses in their early twenties.”

In three months, he would celebrate his twenty-sixth birthday. Even with the emperor’s immense power, he couldn’t change the empire’s traditional laws overnight.

Until then, he had to unravel the curse. It meant that the empress, whether friend or foe, would eventually learn his secret and gain leverage over him.

“Until now, Jacob and Peter have searched every corner of the continent for clues to break my curse… but they couldn’t find any leads, and then I happened to meet you.”

Embarrassingly, the word ‘fate’ rather than ‘chance’ flashed through his mind, but he didn’t let it out.

The two loyal servants, who were his father’s close friends, were the only ones who knew Maxwell’s secret. When he first transformed into a black panther, he fortunately managed to escape their arrows and flee into the forest.

Two days later, when he returned to human form, he was able to find them combing the mountains in search of the missing emperor. The two knights listened intently, holding their breath, to the emperor who appeared before them without a stitch of clothing.

When the emperor finished speaking, the two knights knelt before him and made a blood oath. And their vow to protect the emperor until their dying breath has been kept until now.

When Maxwell’s father passed away, the two knights who were on the battlefield were able to meet Maxwell just before Emperor Maxius died after returning to the capital.

And soon they were pushed out to the frontier again, almost like exiles, by Gustav who had been regent in place of the young crown prince. Everyone knew that the two knights protecting Maxwell instead of the deceased Luca were thorns in Gustav’s side.

The two knights had been by his side since reuniting with the sixteen-year-old Maxwell who had been thrown into the great war with the Northwestern Alliance, told to ‘go die’.

“I’m glad Your Majesty has good people by your side.”

“Good people, huh…”

Maxwell’s gaze lingered in the air for a moment before turning to Arabel. The corners of Arabel’s eyes were tinged red as she tried not to show tears to the emperor who spoke calmly about the curse. The emperor gave a lonely smile.

He had never thought of Jacob and Peter as good people. No, it would be more accurate to say he tried hard not to think of them that way.

He had learned far too early how miserable it is to be betrayed by people you believed to be good people who cared for you.

Once upon a time, he believed his grandfather, the empress dowager, Uncle Gustav, Aunt Caroline, and all those who gave warm glances and sweet words to the lonely young crown prince were good people.

When he realized the truth, at first he was sad, then miserable, and then angry. The disappointment and hatred towards himself for believing in them was the greatest. And now, not a speck of those emotions remained in his heart.

All humans, including myself as the emperor, use and are used by each other. The winner is determined by who uses others better and is used less. If I apply the law of human relationships I’ve created to everyone, I won’t feel disappointment, anger, or hatred.

The emperor spoke to his own face reflected in the round, clear eyes.

“Everyone is bound to be beside those who have value to use. Just as I keep them by my side because I need them, they gain power and fame because of me.”

He was about to add, ‘It’s the same meaning as why I keep you by my side,’ but his lips wouldn’t move.

Because he realized that the reason Arabel was by his side was not to gain something from him.

For a moment, the two looked at each other without saying a word. The emperor unknowingly closed his eyes and slowly inhaled in the cozy air brought by the silence between them.

To feel that this quiet moment sitting still is closest to the word ‘comfort’.

The emperor shook his head as if denying this nonsensical emotion. Returning to his usual arrogant, confident expression, he opened his mouth. He spoke in a slightly gruff voice tinged with playfulness.

“But you haven’t said a single word of comfort to me. The you I’ve known would have been crying your eyes out and offering kind words by now. You’re colder than I thought.”

Arabel smiled brightly at the emperor’s grumbling words.

Honestly, the emperor was grateful for Arabel’s deep consideration in listening to his words without saying anything. If she had been crying and fumbling for appropriate words of comfort, he would have felt more miserable.

But for a moment,

‘Is it because you don’t have even a speck of affection for me that you don’t feel anything?’

A different assumption bloomed in his head. Unnecessarily, hot air surged up, hitting his stomach and bouncing up his throat. In front of this girl, unfamiliar emotions swelled and writhed, stimulating his reason.

Even as he looked with a crooked gaze, Arabel made her round eyes into crescent moons and faced him. She didn’t seem flustered, as if she had become somewhat immune to the emperor’s eyes lately.

It felt like she would burst into tears if she opened her mouth.

How many times must his heart have been clawed and torn before he closed it off to people… She felt so sorry for the emperor who lived suppressing his emotions despite being afraid of the unbroken curse. She wanted to embrace the emperor’s shoulders, though it wasn’t her place.

In the end, Arabel couldn’t deliver words of comfort and lowered her head.

When she raised her gaze again, the emperor was nowhere to be seen.

And in that moment,

“Ahhh…!”

Arabel’s startled voice filled the fountain garden.

The emperor, who had walked behind Arabel without a sound, suddenly pulled her swing back and pushed it. Along with the swing, Arabel’s body rose lightly into the sky.

The crisp autumn air full of sunshine embraced Arabel’s cheeks. Like a shy flower bud bursting, her lips broke into a wide smile. Her clear, melodious laughter tickled the emperor’s ears.

“I meant to punish you by pushing the swing, but you’re enjoying it…!”

The emperor, too, kept drawing an arc on his lips as he pushed Arabel’s swing.

Her soft brown hair fluttered like flower petals in the wind. As the sweet scent tickled his nose, the emperor laughed silently along with Arabel, as if flower pollen had burst in his throat.

Looking at the fluffy white clouds floating by, seemingly within reach, Arabel whispered softly to herself.

“Just as Your Majesty is an incredibly good person to me, I want to be a good person to Your Majesty too. I really want to break your curse.”

On the evening of the fourth day since leaving the former Lord Lorel’s territory. The emperor’s party, having finished today’s march, set up camp in the forest and began to regroup.

Inside the emperor’s tent, as comfortable and spacious as a lord’s bedroom. Sir Peter entered the tent and reported to the emperor, who was focused on a naval map spread out before him.

“Prince Eric has safely arrived in the capital, I hear.”

The emperor, stroking his chin that looked sharp yet strong, spoke without taking his eyes off the map he was following.

“The empress dowager must be thrilled. Her son, who was driven to the battlefield, has returned to her skirts. Of course, he would have sustained some injuries, suffered psychological shock, and be showing mild aphasia. A state absolutely requiring rest.”

“Did you know? That the empress dowager’s side would act like this?”

When Kyle the aide and Sir Jacob and Sir Peter asked simultaneously, the emperor’s lips curled into a sneer.

“The empress dowager acts with her cards so visible that sometimes I pause to wonder if she’s doing it on purpose. If someone quick-witted were to take her place and challenge me, I might occasionally feel regretful. Saying, the empress dowager was easy to deal with.”

The emperor added, placing his long middle finger on the small kingdom of Sebils on the map.

“Isn’t it a grandson’s duty to look after her a little longer?”

The three knights shuddered, their napes chilling at the emperor’s casual talk.

It was clear that the emperor was planning to eliminate not only the empress dowager but also the forces of the previous Emperor Maxius associated with her.

Even the kingdom of Sebils, the empress dowager’s home country. The three servants once again felt grateful that they were on the emperor’s side.

“Is it time for the lesson now?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes. It’s almost time for her to arrive.”

As Kyle the aide answered, a guard outside the tent reported.

“Your Majesty, Lady Arabel has arrived.”

As the tent’s fabric was lifted, Arabel and her three maids walked in behind her.

The expressions of the three maids who were to accompany her to the imperial palace looked brighter and more excited than ever. Yet Arabel herself, the person in question, wore an endlessly confused and dejected expression.

As Arabel sat in the chair behind the table, Kyle walked up to her, bowed his head, and greeted her. The lesson could have been held in the lady’s tent, but the emperor had specifically instructed for Arabel’s lesson to be conducted in his own tent.

Kyle, holding a long, thin feather baton in one hand, unfolded a large paper mounted on an easel.

“Let’s begin this evening’s lesson.”

The emperor himself had chosen the title, it was said.

The lessons that began after leaving former Count Lorel’s territory. At first, she thought it would be about the history of the Helterd imperial family and the current family tree, but she quickly realized her mistake. The lessons were all about imperial court intrigue.

An empress conspiring with a knight to assassinate the emperor, an emperor killing his first empress and laundering the identity of a bedroom maid to make her his second empress, a widowed marchioness swapping her child with the empress’s son to have him instated as crown prince, putting a poisonous snake in an elder brother’s ear to ascend the throne…

The lessons were filled with countless rumors disguised as intrigues and schemes, to the point where it was amazing that the imperial bloodline had continued unbroken until now. After listening to these stories for four days, Arabel felt nauseous.

Looking around with drooping eyes, she saw that everyone except her was listening intently with sparkling eyes.

It was because the imperial scandals, dismissed as tall tales, were endlessly fascinating. Even the emperor often took his eyes off his own work to explain parts that Kyle had missed. Adding even more cruel and vicious adjectives.

Later, Arabel, who couldn’t understand at all, felt very sorry for Kyle who was speaking passionately, but she began to daydream, staring into space.

“Time is running short, so let’s wrap up the imperial court intrigue and start the most important lesson.”

The emperor commanded, looking at Arabel who was fighting drowsiness, her head nodding off.

“Then, for today, our last day… We will conduct the lesson using examples of bloody intrigue and schemes that occurred among the empress selection competition candidates.”

Unfortunately, during the lesson, she made no progress, as if learning a foreign language for the first time. Whenever she heard shocking events, her large eyes would lose focus and shake, and her face would grow increasingly pale.

Late into the night, Kyle’s lesson finally ended. Arabel, with a dazed expression, returned to her quarters supported by her three maids. Kyle sighed lightly as he turned his gaze from the tent entrance where she had left.

“This must be a very arduous time for Lady Arabel. Since she doesn’t doubt or view people’s intentions negatively, all the examples here must be difficult for her to understand.”

“She hasn’t even learned how to deal with intrigue yet… Though I doubt she could put it into practice even if we taught her.”

“To counter schemes, one must first recognize that others’ actions are schemes, but she doesn’t even understand that from the start…”

The three knights shared their opinions regretfully while watching the emperor’s reaction. Though he didn’t say it, the emperor’s thoughts were not different.

Sir Jacob was right. If one can’t even recognize the intentions and schemes of those attacking to harm them, they can’t even fight back.

No, it was clear that Arabel would show kindness and try to help those in need without even considering who was ally or enemy. She’s likely to be caught up in schemes and expelled before the two-month competition even ends.

That’s why he conducted these lessons. It was an evening where the emperor, who had always achieved what he set his mind to, tasted defeat for the first time.

Knock, knock,

As her large eyes curiously gazed at the scenery outside the carriage window, a knocking sound came from the opposite window. She moved gracefully, as if her body slid across the long bench, and pulled back the curtain. When she opened the semicircular window, a handsome face entered her view.

Slowing his horse’s reins, the emperor met Arabel’s gaze. His red lips parted, and a weighty, firm voice was heard.

“We will soon pass through the palace gates. Lady Arabel, welcome to your entry into the Helterd Imperial Palace.”