Picked Up a Beast, Turns Out He's an Emperor - Chapter 27

The yellow ginkgo leaves that had fallen from the red cherry tree forest began to create a path before the small feet. As if sprinkled from the sky, the fallen ginkgo leaves split from the gravel path in the lush forest, forming a different route.

As the unfamiliar leaf path unfolded, Arabel briefly paused her steps and looked up at the sky.

Her round light brown eyes grew wider and wider, then,

“Master…?”

The word barely escaped her lips, barely audible.

Unable to contain her overwhelming emotions, Arabel began to run along the yellow path forming before her eyes. In this place without a single ginkgo tree, the only person who could drop yellow leaves as a signal was… none other than her Master.

As Arabel ran swiftly like a squirrel, not knowing where the yellow path led, someone hurriedly chased after her.

However, soon…

“Haa, haa, she’s surprisingly fast.”

Millie, who had lost sight of Arabel, exhaled heavily and looked around.

The forest, designed like a maze to keep the annex hidden from the outside, made it difficult to find someone once lost.

‘Why did she suddenly start running? It’s not like she doesn’t know I’m following her.’

The scattered yellow ginkgo leaves, already dispersed by Arabel’s footsteps, didn’t particularly stand out in Millie’s furrowed gaze.

How far had she gone? Arabel had already passed through the forest and reached a green vine taller than herself. Unable to move forward any further, she noticed yellow leaves fallen right in front of the vine, and her small head tilted in confusion.

“Master, where are you?”

Whispering softly, Arabel kept looking around until she spotted a ginkgo leaf stuck in the middle of the vine in front of her.

The moment her outstretched hand touched the vine to retrieve the ginkgo leaf, Arabel’s eyes widened in surprise.

The first reason was, ‘The vine is not a real vine. It’s an artificial forest!’ and the bigger reason was that the vine suddenly rotated 180 degrees, taking Arabel’s body with it and transferring her to the other side of the vine.

Calming her startled, pounding heart, Arabel spoke softly.

“Master, are you here?”

Behind the vine was a dark indoor corridor where no sunlight entered. Her eyes, not yet adjusted to the darkness, blinked repeatedly as she took one step at a time. She felt along the uneven wall with her hand as she walked down the long corridor.

Then,

With a crackling sound, thin smoke rose to the ceiling, and a white light appeared, illuminating the corridor.

Her eyes squinted at the sudden light, but soon the lamp in front came into view. Along with the slender fingers holding the lamp and the shadow standing behind.

“It seems you were waiting for your Master? I’m very sorry to disappoint you.”

The cold and chilling voice penetrating through clenched teeth pierced Arabel’s ears.

Arabel’s Empress Candidate No. 11 Annex.

“Where have you been?”

“Huh? Oh, just… I felt stuffy, so I went out for some fresh air.”

“How’s your injured wrist?”

“It still stings a bit, but it’s not too uncomfortable.”

Rosa, who had suddenly disappeared and returned, avoided her friend Dina’s gaze and gave an evasive answer.

“Really, why did you have to fight with the imperial people… It’s not good for our lady or for us. We have no allies here right now.”

Dina and Rosa, two of the three maids, had been closest friends since childhood, working together as maids.

The maids, who hadn’t heard anything about today’s etiquette lesson, confronted the schedule-managing maid from the Imperial Competition Committee, but what they got in return was an absurd lie.

‘What are you talking about? I clearly told you yesterday, yes, you with the red hair. I told you there would be a class right after breakfast!’

Suppressing her anger, Dina argued about when that had happened, and the schedule-managing maid, around the same age, sneered and said,

‘If you heard it and couldn’t remember, you should be angry at your own inadequate brain, not taking it out on others. I heard even the maids follow their lady’s lead… tsk.’

Not wanting to cause a commotion, Rosa and Dina turned away with trembling hands clenched into fists, while the nearby maids started muttering one by one.

As if they were too lazy to even use honorifics for Arabel now, they were repeating verbatim what the young ladies were openly saying to Arabel.

‘Besides, do you think you could keep up even if you attended one class? Rather than sitting there blankly, not understanding anything, it’s better to eat snacks comfortably in the annex. It must be food you’ve never eaten in your life. Shouldn’t you be grateful?’

‘It would be helpful to everyone if you just did nothing instead of causing trouble for the other young ladies. Why are you trying so hard to keep up with everything? If your lady lacks awareness, at least the maids should be quick-witted.’

‘Damn, I’ve had enough of this, what the hell?’

Rosa, the most hot-tempered of the three maids, lunged into the crowd of maids. Soon, the circular stage where the outdoor class was held turned into chaos.

“That’s why you shouldn’t act rashly. If we get hurt, we’re the only ones who lose. Our healthy bodies are all we have.”

Returning to the annex, Dina sighed and added to Rosa, who wasn’t saying anything.

“It seems the dream of becoming empress has flown away. His Majesty the Emperor seems to have completely forgotten too. There’s nothing good about being disliked by the people here. When the competition is over, we just need to save up our wages and find our own way.”

“About that…”

As Rosa hesitated, trying to tell Dina something, the bedroom door opened, and she quickly closed her mouth.

“Is the lady’s dress all sorted out? If you’re done, come out and let’s clean the reception room rug. With our minds in turmoil, let’s at least shake off some stress by dusting off the dust.”

At Vera’s words, their superior, the two maids nodded and followed her out.

“What were you going to say?”

“Nothing… never mind.”

Rosa trailed off and shook her head at Dina’s question.

‘It seems our lady is quite taken with your sharp temper. Come over secretly tonight when you go to collect the young ladies’ bedding. The lady says she has something urgent to discuss.’

The right-hand maid of Princess Lilibet finished with a sly smile.

‘You’ve really hit the jackpot. It’s a chance to serve the future Empress, so don’t overthink it and just grab the opportunity.’

“Today’s the day we get new bedding, right?”

“I-I’ll go get it.”

As Vera spoke while vigorously beating the carpet with a broom, Rosa, who was helping beside her, quickly replied.

“My, it seems you were waiting eagerly for your Master. You must be quite disappointed.”

The man’s shadow loomed ominously over Arabel’s head as he drew near.

Though his voice was devoid of emotion, it was enough to make Arabel’s shoulders stiffen, as if ice water had been poured down her spine.

“Moreover, facing someone you didn’t want to see must have doubled your disappointment.”

A handsome face with a mocking smile filled Arabel’s large, blinking eyes. The playfulness she often saw in those red eyes was nowhere to be found.

It was a look she had seen before. The eyes he had shown after saving Arabel during the forest fire. The suffocating calm just before an explosion.

“You-Your Majesty… How did you…”

For some reason, her voice wouldn’t come out properly.

Not out of fear, but her heart began to pound with joy. Arabel took a step back, feeling somehow embarrassed, and quickly lowered her head. She wanted to hide, feeling her face turn bright red all the way to her forehead.

The Emperor’s jaw clenched tightly as he watched Arabel stammer and avoid his gaze while distancing herself from him.

Back to square one. Just like when she came out of the stable at Kander Castle, unable to make eye contact and standing rigidly.

For a moment, his emotions twisted indescribably. Was she perhaps crying? Was she pacing anxiously, wanting to contact him but unable to reach him? Did she want to run away?

Casting aside his imperial dignity, he had hidden in the trees like a stray cat, scattering ginkgo leaves to guide the way. The shame of having worried dozens of times a day made his anger flare.

To a woman who had never once sought him out since returning to the palace… It was pathetic and humiliating that he had come in person, throwing away his pride.

And the woman before him had been waiting for someone else. The thick vein on the Emperor’s extended neck throbbed angrily.

“Did you send a note to your Master? Asking him to come and take you away?”

She had clearly called out ‘Master.’ With an overwhelming voice as she looked at the yellow leaves falling before her.

As if she had wanted him to come and rescue her.

As he stood before Arabel with slow steps, the toe of his large shoe nearly touched the tip of her small one.

Arabel shook her head and replied.

“No, I didn’t. I just thought the Master would be the only one who could send ginkgo leaves flying from the cherry trees. I didn’t know Your Majesty would come…”

“I’m sorry it’s not the Master you were so eagerly waiting for. Why, are you disappointed that your chance to escape has vanished?”

Arabel shook her head again at the Emperor’s cold voice. Each of the Emperor’s words felt like sharp ice shards, making her throat sting.

Missing the kind Emperor she knew, Arabel’s head bowed even deeper.

“If it’s not true, then why can’t you look me in the eye? Didn’t I tell you? When you’re with me, look straight into my eyes. Here…”

The Emperor paused to catch his breath before continuing.

“Were you waiting for your Master because you wanted to escape from here? Is that why you can’t look me in the eye with those false eyes of yours?”

He was becoming more and more irrational. Unlike the usual cool-headed Emperor, he was pressuring the woman before him.

‘I shouldn’t have brought her as an Empress candidate. Rather than letting her endure humiliation in the annex, it would have been better to bring her secretly and hide her away. If she were in my hands, she wouldn’t be able to escape.’

The Emperor’s eyes flashed ominously as he considered changing his plans and taking Arabel away right now.

“No. I absolutely had no thoughts of escaping.”

The Emperor spoke to Arabel, who was still showing only the top of her head as she shook it.

“You can’t even lift your head for fear of your lie being exposed. Raise your head, look me straight in the eye, and speak.”

“No, no. That’s not it.”

“Then what is it? Why won’t you raise your head?”

“…”

The Emperor’s voice fell ominously over Arabel’s crown as she mumbled softly.

“Speak clearly. Otherwise, I’ll believe that you were planning to escape with your Master.”

“Because I’m embarrassed…”

“Embarrassed that your desire to escape has been discovered?”

“No…”

The Emperor’s red eyes, narrowed as he looked down, saw the small head shaking continuously.

“Then what? The fact that you’ve been desperately waiting for your Master?”

“No. That’s not it…”

Arabel slowly raised her head to face the Emperor. Her kind eyes met the Emperor’s frost-covered red ones.

“Seeing Your Majesty, I’m so happy that my heart feels like it’s about to burst. So… if I look at Your Majesty, I feel reassured and tears well up…”

Arabel quickly lowered her head again and vigorously wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I’m sorry. For always showing you such a weak side of me. I should be helping Your Majesty… but I keep causing you worry instead.”

Haah… A small sigh escaped between the Emperor’s lips.

While her crying appearance was endlessly distressing and regrettable… her words about her heart feeling like it would burst with joy upon seeing me instantly dissipated all the negative emotions that had been swirling within me.

Large hands enveloped the slightly trembling, thin back, drawing her into an embrace. The sweet yet pure scent of her skin simultaneously stimulated and calmed my senses.

“If you had shown your joy at seeing me right away, I wouldn’t have misunderstood like this.”

The nape of the one who had pressed her without giving a proper chance to speak turned bright red.

“There’s a place I want to take you. I’ll send word to Vera, so don’t worry and come with me.”

The Emperor spoke in a gentle voice while wiping away the large droplets clinging to her eyebrows with his long fingers.

Seeing the Emperor’s warm smile, Arabel relaxed and nodded.

The sight of the Emperor naturally taking Arabel’s hand and leading her out of the cave was… honestly like a black panther luring an innocent deer back to its lair.

However, Arabel, with a happy smile born from the relief of meeting the Emperor, followed him without hesitation.