At the same time, in a separate palace of the imperial palace.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then let’s begin.”

Vera tied her hair tightly with a scarf and asked, to which Rosa and Dina nodded with solemn expressions and answered. Millie followed behind them with an indifferent face as they went out of the annex.

In the middle of the night when darkness had deepened, the trio of maids unexpectedly took out the curtains they had removed from the bedroom and reception room, and went outside to beat the dust out of them with mallets, making loud thumping noises. Then they started talking loudly.

“It’s good that we couldn’t clean properly because the young lady was here even though dust had accumulated. Let’s bring out the carpet too and give it a good beating.”

“We might as well wash all of the young lady’s bed sheets and bedding set while we’re at it. She won’t be using them today anyway.”

Vera and Rosa beat the dust rhythmically so their voices wouldn’t be drowned out by the pounding.

Dina, who had the loudest and most resonant voice among the three, gestured to stop the beating and then shouted into the air. Enunciating each word in staccato with emphasis:

“Since. The. Young. Lady. Has. Gone. On. A. Secret. Outing. With. His. Majesty. The. Emperor. And. Won’t. Be. Returning. Tonight. We might as well do a thorough cleaning.”

Taking a deep breath to fill her lungs with air, Dina shouted again towards the surrounding annexes.

“All the guards who accompanied them on the secret outing have returned, but. The. Two. Of. Them. Are. Staying. Overnight. In. The. Capital. So let’s not worry and clean the annex thoroughly.”

Although it was time to go to bed, no one in the separate palace had laid down in their beds. Despite the chilly late autumn weather, the sound of windows being opened discreetly could be heard here and there.

Some maids had already come out and were busy approaching Arabel’s annex, pretending to be occupied while listening intently to the conversation of the three maids.

Inwardly rejoicing that all eyes and ears were focused on them, the trio of maids hummed a tune.

“Oh my, that’s not how you beat curtains. You’ll damage the fine threads. Let me see that.”

Grace’s maid snatched the mallet from Millie’s hand and beat the dust from the curtains Rosa and Dina were holding.

“You’ve worked hard today, take a rest. I’ll help.”

The maid of the Princess of Chatel approached Rosa and quickly took the curtain from her, speaking kindly. Not to be outdone, another candidate’s maid started helping Vera, who was trimming the lint from the curtain.

“But what do you mean by that? That Lady Arabel won’t be returning to her quarters tonight?”

“Is there another reason besides His Majesty taking her along to investigate the fake jewels during the day?”

“Come on, what other reason could there be? They must be staying in the capital because the investigation is running late.”

“But isn’t it strange? They say all the guards who escorted His Majesty have returned. Don’t you wonder why only the two of them remained in the capital?”

The maids glanced furtively at the trio of maids, attempting to extract information through conversation. The maids who had gathered one by one in front of the trio now numbered well over ten and had begun doing the annex work in their place.

The three women sat in chairs in front of the annex, sipping warm tea while watching the maids who had taken their work from them. Of course, the expensive tea had been brought by a maid from the daughter of a count’s annex.

“Be careful what you say. You must absolutely not spread rumors that our young lady is not returning to her quarters tonight. Especially the fact that she is alone with His Majesty the Emperor at this hour right now, no one should know.”

As Vera spoke, putting her finger to her lips and looking around, the maids gathered around nodded.

“Our kind young lady doesn’t want to let it be known that she’s receiving favor from His Majesty the Emperor. She’s worried it might hurt the feelings of the other young ladies.”

As Vera spoke while putting a sweet cookie brought by a maid from another young lady’s annex into her mouth, Dina and Rosa immediately continued:

“When there was a fire in the mountains of Earl Laurel’s territory, His Majesty risked his life to save our young lady, but she ordered us to keep it absolutely secret, so we’ve been keeping quiet about it.”

“That’s not all. You should have seen His Majesty carrying our sleeping young lady in his arms like a precious treasure back to her bedroom. He was so handsome. Oh my goodness, this was absolutely not supposed to be mentioned. You must not spread rumors about this anywhere. Understood?”

The maids swallowed and nodded, saying, “Of course, of course.”

The trio of maids exchanged glances, sensing the glittering eyes behind the curtains draped over the windows beyond the maids’ shoulders.

Until now, they had just been taking it quietly in accordance with kind Lady Arabel’s wishes, but… Vera brought her gaze to the maids who had already started watching them cautiously, recalling the events of the day.

After the Emperor left the separate palace, Kyle the aide came to see Vera, who was busily preparing for Arabel’s outing.

‘His Majesty commands me to relay this message. He ordered me to convey every word and expression exactly as he said it, so I ask for your understanding in advance.’

Kyle put on the most arrogant, haughty, and confident expression he could muster, and spoke to Vera in a stiff, cold voice with a hint of sarcasm to match.

‘Just because the young lady you serve is kind, do you need to be kind as well? If she is honest and upright, and you act the same way… At this point, His Majesty raised one corner of his mouth in a sneer. Like this. And he asked. Do you really think you can fulfill your responsibilities?’

Kyle furrowed his brow, which wouldn’t naturally furrow, as he relayed the Emperor’s words.

‘Will you continue to let these pathetic creatures crawl all over your young lady? Here, His Majesty sighed and shook his head once. I had high expectations for you.’

Kyle took a step closer to Vera, twitching his lips in an attempt to make a rotten smile, but failing,

‘Use the biggest fish for your young lady’s sake. Use me, that is. People tend to cling to the strong. Who do you think is the strongest in the separate palace? Princess Lilibet with her family backing her? Lady Grace? Hmph, the real power is the candidate who receives the Emperor’s attention.’

Looking down at Vera as the Emperor would, though not quite succeeding, he finished speaking.

‘Prove your ability by making sure juicy rumors about me and the young lady reach my ears when I return tomorrow.’

Vera clenched her fist as she gulped down the hot tea.

Now it’s do or die. The imperial power struggle was dirtier and more petty than she had imagined.

The weak are trampled using all sorts of tricks to ensure they never rise again, while tails are lowered and flattery is offered to the strong. Now that His Majesty’s permission has been given, we will protect our young lady.

As the Emperor said, once it seemed certain that Arabel was receiving the Emperor’s favor, the maids of the other candidates, except for the powerful empress candidates, immediately changed their attitude towards the trio of maids.

Although the Emperor had personally chosen and brought her, when they actually saw her, she was just an unremarkable young lady from a fallen family, and the Emperor showed no interest in her, so they were able to ignore her.

Treating her like a cheap toy the Emperor had briefly played with before losing interest, even the maids of the candidates openly whispered and laughed behind her back.

In the maids’ eyes, Lady Arabel was by no means ordinary or easy to deal with today. Not only did she give Princess Lilibet, the Empress Dowager’s niece, a big blow, but she also protected her maid.

When she returned the laundry soap and hair oil for her maids and took expensive skin oil instead of her own items, they had laughed. They said she was foolishly doing unnecessary things that no one would appreciate.

But the truth was that they envied Arabel’s trio of maids. They were secretly annoyed at the three maids who served a young lady who respected them as human beings, not as objects to be used and discarded carelessly.

After helping with the thorough cleaning and returning to their annexes, the maids were eager to relay everything they had heard, with embellishments, to the young ladies who were waiting.

From the closed window of Princess Lilibet’s annex, an “Ahhh!” scream escaped along with the sound of something breaking.

The Emperor’s secret villa in the capital.

In a small bedroom where even the white moon couldn’t penetrate through the tightly drawn curtains, the light from the lamp on the wall faintly caressed a slender body.

Arabel stood wearing a light lilac nightgown layered over a white one, her hands crossed and raised in front of her chest, her long legs crossed despite her small frame.

It was embarrassing to call it a nightgown. It was lingerie underwear with an endless shortage of fabric. As if all the fabric had been used to make delicate lace, a thin piece of cloth no larger than Emperor Maxwell’s palm draped over Arabel’s body.

She had tried to cover herself by wearing both nightgowns found in the bag, but… when the two sheer lingerie dresses that cleverly hid only the intimate parts overlapped, it was perfect for encouraging strange imagination.

In the bag Vera had prepared, there were only two pieces of lingerie underwear, folded alone, which were difficult to identify at first. Not having carried the bag herself, she hadn’t realized until now how light the bag she had brought was.

It was too much to wear the bloodstained and dirty outdoor clothes again.

Arabel hurriedly persuaded the villa caretaker’s wife, who was standing at the door to attend to her bedtime, to go back. She quickly washed the dress. She was relieved, hoping that if she hung it in front of the fireplace in the room, it would dry to some extent by tomorrow.

Arabel was about to lie down on the bed early when there was a knock at the door.

Even in the low light, the Emperor’s Adam’s apple bobbed greatly as Arabel’s transparent snow-white skin shimmered like diamond powder had been sprinkled on it.

With her milky body contrasting her forehead and earlobes that had turned bright red, Arabel said,

“You, you’ve confirmed that I’m not hurt, so…”

She lowered her gaze to the sheet that had fallen to her feet.

She desperately hoped the Emperor would pick it up and hand it to her, but he stood still without moving. Arabel, who couldn’t even finish her sentence properly, quickly bent down to reach for the sheet.

At that moment, realizing that her upper body was clearly visible inside the loosely plunging neckline, she hurriedly pressed down on her chest with one hand and stood up again.

Realizing that there were more places to hide than she had hands, Arabel made a tearful face.

She sent a pleading look to the Emperor for help, but… the Emperor was still standing there looking at her expressionlessly.

Arabel’s two feet, overlapping front and back, fidgeted, then slowly lifted the sheet onto her instep and brought it up.

A smile of relief began to spread faintly over her pink lips, but the sheet that was being pulled up didn’t budge. Her startled eyes soon discovered a long, rough foot resting on top of the sheet.

“Your, Your Majesty, your foot… please let go of the sheet.”

As Arabel asked in a small voice.

Thud, even the part of the sheet that had been resting on Arabel’s instep fell back down. The Emperor had pulled the sheet down completely with his foot.

Thinking that the Emperor was playing a mischievous prank to tease her, Arabel bit her lower lip.

Hup, a long index finger invaded between her lips and separated them.

Startled, Arabel inhaled and looked up at the Emperor’s red eyes without being able to exhale. Her shoulders trembled as the Emperor’s finger slowly rubbed the soft inner flesh of her lower lip, grazing her teeth.

Her lips, flushed as if with fever, parted, and a chilly voice flowed out.

“Did Vera advise you? That if you dress like this and bite your lip… you could seduce the Emperor?”

Somehow, the eerie air flowing from the Emperor seemed to gradually engulf her.

As Arabel stepped back one step, her slender waist was pulled forward by a strong grip. Arabel’s body, trapped in the Emperor’s arms and pressed against his body without an inch of space, gradually stiffened.

The Emperor carelessly stroked her soft cheek, which still had down, with the back of his hand. His red eyes, suppressing flames, stared at her trembling eyes without letting go.

“If only you were a spy sent from an enemy country to bring down the Emperor… or a great villainess acting out of desire for the position of Empress, it would be easier… Because I could just give what is wanted and take what is wanted.”

Anger welled up. At the woman who, even wearing provocative lingerie that revealed her silhouette, was frantically trying to cover her body rather than seduce the Emperor.

To think that he was being played like a foolish monarch of a fallen country, his heart stolen.

If this woman were a spy, he would have sold the empire to obtain her. If this woman were a villainess, he thought he would have placed her on the throne of Empress to obtain her, and a chill ran down his spine as if cold water had been poured on it.

The Emperor’s hand slowly moved down to her neck and spread his palm wide as he realized that Arabel had become his only weakness.

He could not tolerate a weakness. Even if he had to live with a curse for his entire life, he could not have a weakness that could shake him to the core.

This woman would never understand the blood-stained times he had to endure to ascend to the imperial throne, to protect it, and to become the absolute ruler of the continent beyond the empire.

When she sees my true self, more cruel than a beast, she will try to run away in fear.

The Emperor grabbed her slender neck, which fit easily in one hand, and pulled it in front of his face.

Trapping her round, trembling eyes in his red ones, the Emperor growled through his teeth.

“Do you even know what you’re doing to me, you who have no thought of ascending to the position of Empress and say you’ll leave with that teacher of yours in two months?”

The light brown eyes became blurry, and then, plop, large teardrops fell down her cheeks.

The Emperor frowned and coldly pressed on.

“Why, are you crying because you feel sorry for the young lady who will become Empress, like last time? Even in this moment with me, do you feel guilty towards her, whoever she may be? Ah, I forgot. You care more about the future Empress’s feelings than mine.”

This is the worst. What a bastard I am. Taking out my anger because she won’t give her heart to me.

The Emperor’s face twisted with self-loathing.

“That’s not it……”

As Arabel shook her head, the Emperor, already warped beyond measure, spoke with a sneer.

“Ah, you’re crying because you’re afraid of this moment. I’m nothing but a frightening existence to you.”

The Emperor, who had always been full of confidence, was now even putting himself down. Have I always been such a pathetic bastard…

Looking down at Arabel, who couldn’t answer and whose tear-wet lips trembled, the Emperor withdrew his hand. This was the limit.

As the uncontrollable lust that swallowed his anger and self-loathing even in this moment didn’t subside, the Emperor stepped back, distancing himself from Arabel.

“I’m scared……”

Arabel’s sobbing voice flowed out low and intermittently.

“I see.”

The Emperor, with an expression similar to despair, walked towards the bedroom door.

“Your Majesty……”

Swallowing the bursting sobs, Arabel continued.

“……I’m afraid I’ll want more here… Even though I know I shouldn’t… I keep wanting more… Hic, hic. I’m so scared.”

The Emperor stopped walking and waited for her without turning around. Sweat pooled in his fist as he repeatedly clenched and unclenched it.

“The time I spend with Your Majesty feels like a dream… I’m scared because I’m too happy. When I imagine Your Majesty welcoming an Empress… My heart hurts so much. Hic, hic. Just imagining parting from Your Majesty……”

Unable to hold back her tears, Arabel confessed the feelings she had been keeping inside.

“My throat stings and I can’t even swallow water. Uwaaaaah……”

The Emperor, still facing the bedroom door, quietly asked.

“Did you bring the dagger I gave you for self-defense before? Where is it?”

Arabel answered while vigorously wiping away the flowing tears with the back of her hand.

“Yes, I put it on the table next to the bed.”

The Emperor strode to the table beside the bed with his long legs and picked up the small silver dagger in his hand.

A dark shadow fell over Arabel, who stood there swallowing her sobs. As the Emperor lifted her chin with his index and middle fingers, her round eyes, still overflowing with tears like a spring, met the Emperor’s eyes.

“From now on, what I say is an imperial order.”

Struggling to steady his repeatedly cracking voice, the Emperor placed the dagger in Arabel’s hand.

“No matter how much I desire you, I will not sully your honor by fulfilling my greed without a promise for the future. So, Lady Arabel, you choose.”

The deepened red eyes became entangled with the glistening wet eyes.

“Whether you will become Empress and stay by my side, or stab me who is trying to be rude to you and refuse. I will accept whatever decision you make.”

The Emperor had given Arabel the right to decide. If she said she would become Empress, what he was about to do with her now would be a secret love between engaged lovers, so it wouldn’t be a problem for her honor. Because it would be the private life of the Emperor and his fiancée.

If she didn’t want to become Empress, what he was about to do to her now would be rude and disgraceful. So he was telling her to stab him with the dagger and refuse.

Arabel, now understanding the weight of the Emperor’s words, hurriedly lowered her gaze. The Emperor gently lifted her chin again.

As the red eyes filled with heat looked into the wet eyes, the man’s face came into view, forcing the corners of his mouth up in an attempt to hide his anxiety.

The Emperor wrapped one arm around Arabel’s waist and cradled the back of her round head with the other hand, pressing their bodies together. The hearts of the two bodies in close contact began to beat rapidly out of sync.

The Emperor, bending his waist and head deeply, brought his face close to hers and whispered words that only she could hear into her ear.

Thud, the dagger fell from Arabel’s hand next to her foot as she closed her eyes.