Well past midnight. A small figure was looking down at the dark pond garden from the second-floor bedroom balcony.

Raising on tiptoes, she perked her ears at even the slightest sound of shallow wind brushing over the pond. When the awaited figure didn’t appear, disappointment clouded her large eyes and her head drooped.

‘I’ll just briefly look at your sleeping face, so don’t be startled if you hear any noise.’

These were the words the Emperor had whispered in Arabel’s ear, audible only to her, after escorting her to the 11th annex.

Offering his arm to Arabel, the Emperor entered the annex with her, passing by ten candidates who were biting their lips beneath lowered heads.

‘I have many matters to attend to today, so I must go.’

Seemingly indifferent to all eyes in the annex fixed on him, his red eyes focused solely on the one woman before him.

His long, gentle fingers tucked her soft hair that had fallen to the side behind her ear, lingering briefly on her soft earlobe before moving away.

She was angry at herself for just standing there with a flushed face, unable to say ‘I’ll wait’ which lingered on her lips.

Though the Emperor told her not to wait and to sleep, she couldn’t. Because of her still pounding heart. It hadn’t even been a day since parting from the Emperor, yet she already missed him. She felt like she had become greedy.

The girl who had never been greedy in her life bit her lower lip in confusion at the various emotions blossoming as she awakened to love.

“It might still hurt, should you bite your lip like that?”

Startled by the gentle voice above her head, Arabel looked up abruptly.

A captivating face with deep shadows cast by the faint crescent moon filled her vision. The Emperor, who had climbed to the second-floor balcony without a sound, brought his lips to hers as soon as he finished speaking, parting her bitten lips.

As his lips gently caressed hers soothingly, tears suddenly welled up and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart ached with overwhelming joy.

The warm lips left Arabel’s, having seemingly quenched their thirst, and pressed softly up her cheek. They lingered on her half-open eyelids, collecting the teardrops that had formed.

“Why are you out here in the cold? Were you perhaps waiting for the bear cub I left behind last time?”

Arabel’s eyes drooped further at the Emperor’s playful teasing, and she shook her head.

The Emperor’s red eyes sparkled with genuine amusement as he noticed her thin hand clutching his clothes, unable to answer properly out of shyness. It would be fun to take her to the bedroom all day just to tease her.

“Then were you perhaps waiting for me?”

At the Emperor’s question, Arabel nodded, her forehead and earlobes flushed red.

Finding her so lovable, the Emperor had to suppress the desire to lift Arabel into his arms and take her to his bedroom.

“Isn’t your whole body cold? What if you catch a cold like this?”

The Emperor, who had instantly brought Arabel into his embrace, entered the bedroom through the balcony door.

The Emperor climbed onto the bed, still holding Arabel, and lay down. After stretching out his arm to provide a pillow for Arabel, he stroked her small head with his other hand.

“I intended to just briefly look at your sleeping face and leave…”

“Are you… going to leave right away…?”

Arabel gathered her courage to ask, but couldn’t meet his red eyes and lowered her gaze. Her hand unconsciously clutched the Emperor’s tunic, fidgeting as if afraid he might disappear somewhere.

If only she would grab something else on his body instead of his clothes… The Emperor had to shake off the thought of taking her hand and bringing it inside his trousers.

‘Still, it’s admirable that you’ve gained the courage to at least grab my clothes now.’

He showed a pleased smile.

“I told you not to avoid my eyes when you’re with me.”

The Emperor lifted her delicate chin, letting his eyes meet her light brown ones.

“Would you like me to leave right away?”

Arabel shook her head without avoiding the Emperor’s gaze.

She blinked rapidly, flustered by her vision becoming moist again. She didn’t know how to handle the contradictory feelings of being embarrassed to be in his arms at this moment, yet wishing time would pass slowly.

The Emperor’s brow furrowed slightly as he gazed into the clear eyes wavering with confused emotions. He was afraid… because the creature in his arms was so lovable.

The Emperor, who had lived without knowing fear, was afraid of hurting, saddening, or losing those clear eyes that couldn’t hide their feelings.

The Emperor’s lips covered her small ones again, gently parting them to bestow the pleasure of kissing he had taught her last night.

Breathing into her mouth as she still couldn’t control her breath properly and gasped, he whispered.

“I’ll leave when you fall asleep, so don’t worry.”

An orange glow rimmed with gold spread across the dark sky, signaling the approach of dawn.

He was gazing at the face sleeping with even breaths, sharp eyes gently closed.

As if reluctant, his lips pressed against her soft cheek once more before leaving, carefully withdrawing the arm that had been a pillow all night from under her round head.

The tall silhouette opened the balcony window soundlessly and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Empress Selection Competition Committee Room.

“Not only did His Majesty the Emperor spend the night with his favored candidate before the competition even began, but he also appeared with her at the annex the next day. I will formally raise an objection to the competition committee.”

It was the Duchess, who had maintained a cynical smile and composure in any situation.

As Duchess Caroline raised her voice uncharacteristically, Countess Judy, the head judge of this competition, said with a troubled expression.

“It’s true that His Majesty favors Lady Arabel, but he has officially announced that he will not exert any influence on the competition.”

“You believe that? The person we’re talking about is Emperor Maxwell. He’s the one who eliminated the previous emperor’s forces in less than three months after ascending to the throne. He was only twenty years old at the time.”

‘Shh, Uncle and Aunt, if you want to live, stay prostrated just like that. Otherwise, this sword might be misdirected at you. At least one of my father’s bloodline should remain so I won’t be lonely.’

Those were the Emperor’s words to her and her husband as he approached, dragging the tip of his sword across the marble floor of the banquet hall where the ‘Blood Festival’ recorded in the empire’s history books took place, bringing his index finger to his red lips.

As the Duchess remembered that time, she spoke while her fingernails dug into her flesh as if her teeth were chattering.

“Now he is the owner of absolute power. If he wishes, he’ll abolish the competition and put that girl on the empress’s throne. He’ll cut the throats of rebellious nobles without blinking an eye!”

“There have been many candidates favored by numerous emperors until now. But not all of them became empresses. You know well, don’t you? By imperial custom, only the lady who wins the competition can ascend to the empress’s position.”

As Countess Judy replied, the Duchess raised her voice again, seemingly frustrated.

“Emperor Maxwell is different from other emperors. Don’t you understand? He’ll do anything to make that mountain bumpkin the empress.”

“Unless cheating is proven, we can do nothing. If you bring evidence, we will conduct a thorough investigation then.”

Countess Judy, who became the first female dean of the Imperial University, was a stubborn principled person. She wasn’t someone who would overlook even if the person who cheated was the emperor.

However, she also didn’t listen to objections from candidates and their families who made a fuss based on suspicion without tangible evidence. That was why the Emperor chose her as the chairperson of the competition committee.

Unable to gain anything, Duchess Caroline came out of the committee room, trying to control her rapid breathing out of frustration.

“It was a wasted trip, Duchess.”

“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

As she turned her head at the sound from behind while walking down the long marble-columned corridor, the Empress Dowager was standing there.

“I also visited Countess Judy this morning. That tactless woman wouldn’t listen.”

The Empress Dowager said, twisting the corner of her mouth as she walked along the outdoor corridor with the Duchess.

“It seems our Emperor is trying to give legitimacy to the lady he cherishes.”

“I thought so too. To think he’s trying to give legitimacy to become empress to an insignificant woman from a fallen family, it’s insufferable.”

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say. The fox and snake who had been snarling at each other, unable to devour one another, shared the same opinion for the first time in a long while.

“If Arabel wins the competition that he has kept his hands off of and gains qualification, there would be no greater legitimacy than that. Even the royal family and highest nobles wouldn’t be able to deny her.”

“And if she loses, that’s when he’ll make his move. He’ll use any means necessary to put that girl on the empress’s throne.”

They were women who knew well how terrifying a face the Emperor was hiding behind his dignified countenance.

“How about we call a temporary truce and form an alliance until this thorn in our eyes is removed?”

“I welcome your words. I was about to cautiously suggest the same thing.”

The two women, hiding their hostility, showed their white teeth as they smiled at each other.

Lady Grace’s annex.

“Tell me everything without missing a single detail.”

Grace and two other ladies in her line sat in the reception room, looking down at the girl in front with arrogant eyes.

Milly, who had been standing with her lips pressed into a straight line, opened her mouth.

“He visited the lady late last night and left at dawn today.”

Thump, unable to control her anger, Grace slammed her fist hard on the armrest of the chair she was sitting on.

Clenching her fist that had quickly swollen red, she spoke in a chilling voice while trembling.

“Although my aunt told me to be patient and wait, I can’t stand by and watch anymore. I’ll eliminate that thing with my own hands.”

Not only had the Emperor’s attention been stolen by something worthless, but she had also been humiliated in front of many people by receiving his cold warning. He said she had spoken carelessly about Arabel, whom he favored. She was so frustrated that she couldn’t even sleep.

Her friends, who had seen how vicious and cruel Grace could be since childhood, swallowed dry saliva once.

The end was miserable for those Grace cursed with such crazed eyes. She would ruin them so cruelly that it was hard to believe it was done by a noble lady raised in a duke’s family.

“I, I think it wouldn’t be too late to deal with her after seeing the results of the first competition tomorrow. What could a country bumpkin who hasn’t received proper education be good at?”

“That’s right, Grace. She’ll be eliminated on her own tomorrow. She’ll just end up being thoroughly humiliated, that’s all.”

As the ladies looked at Grace cautiously and tried to persuade her, Grace nodded as if she understood.

“You’re right. Tomorrow’s test will be so difficult that that girl couldn’t even imagine. I’ll wait a bit.”

As Milly was about to return to Arabel’s annex, Grace’s ominous voice was heard from behind.

“Don’t go, stay. I have something else to order you to do.”