Walter left quietly, closing the door behind him with worry in his eyes.

Leopold moved next to Ariel after confirming the door was closed.

As he approached, Ariel looked up at him with curiosity.

Leopold’s hand reached out towards Ariel’s face but suddenly stopped in mid-air.

From the moment he learned that something had happened to Ariel until they arrived at the mansion, and even while discussing marriage, Leopold had been tense all along.

Once they were alone, all of Leopold’s tension finally dissipated.

He unconsciously reached out to caress her face, but his hand paused in mid-air as a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

‘That’s enough for today. I shouldn’t impose my feelings on her any further.’

He had already achieved what he wanted. The wedding was moved up. And Ariel had voluntarily declared she would enter the palace before the ceremony.

That’s why he shouldn’t push her any further, exhausted as she was, just to satisfy his own desires.

If Noah hadn’t rescued her, by the time Leopold arrived, Ariel would have already been taken away.

As this thought reached him, the fact that she had safely returned negated all his dissatisfaction caused by Noah.

Leopold lowered his hand and said,

“After you nearly got kidnapped, I felt I needed to have you by my side as soon as possible. It seems I’ve troubled you with my feelings.”

Ariel was also relieved.

In Kolnman, she had experienced worse, but her body was filled with fresh mana, so she experienced no aftereffects.

Now, however, the situation was different.

Her body, suddenly drained of mana, was in a much worse state than before her awakening, plus she had used her physical senses sharply to time her attacks, so Ariel’s energy was depleted.

On the way back, she clung to Leopold’s back, not only to avoid falling but also to calm her fluttering heart caused by the sound of his heartbeat that reached her through her ear pressed against his back.

She held on with mental strength because she couldn’t relax her tension. But upon arriving home, the body that she had barely kept together collapsed.

‘I need to answer him, but I can’t even muster the strength to open my eyes.’

Ariel clung to her fading consciousness. She forced strength into her wavering eyes.

Her plump lips quivered ever so slightly.

“It’s alright. It was something that had to be done anyway. We’ve just moved up the timeline.”

After finishing her words, Ariel’s eyes slid shut. Then she collapsed onto Leopold’s chest who was sitting next to her.

Leopold wrapped his arms around her in a startled embrace.

“Ariel, Ariel.”

He called her name, but there was no response.

She was deep in sleep, as if under a spell or curse.

Leopold thought that it might take several days for her to fully recover from the shock she had received today.

Given her current state, Ariel’s words were true; entering the palace tomorrow would be too much.

‘I’ll have to ask Rodney for her treatment and care.’

Leopold looked down at Ariel, sleeping in his arms.

Her face was pale without a trace of color.

Tired seemed too mild a word for her condition.

Exhausted. Exhausted fit perfectly with her current state.

‘I should have just returned to the palace right away.’

After a good rest, it would be fine to have a conversation with her, but my mind was in a hurry because there was something I wanted to ask.

Regret filled Leopold’s eyes.

But that was only for a moment.

Wanting to let her rest as soon as possible, he picked up the sleeping Ariel and got up from his seat.

“Open the door.”

He kept his voice low, lest she wake up.

The Chamberlain, Richard, who had been waiting outside the drawing room, opened the door at his command.

“How could Your Majesty personally…”

Richard was surprised to see Leopold carrying Ariel and tried to take her from him.

But Leopold’s expression soured at that sight, crumpling like a piece of paper in an instant.

‘How dare someone try to take her from me.’

The moment when Noah had held Ariel flashed through his mind.

Truly, anger shot through him from head to toe.

To Leopold, Richard was entirely his own man.

He opened his mouth to reply but felt like he might say something he might regret.

So Leopold ignored Richard. He knew Richard was fidgeting and didn’t know what to do, yet he walked past him and went up the stairs.

Richard noticed the emperor’s displeasure and did not follow him up.

But then, light and soft footsteps followed behind Leopold.

When he reached the second floor, he looked down the stairs.

A maid stood behind him.

It was the maid who had brought news of Ariel in the afternoon.

“Greetings to the glory of Atlan. Your Majesty, this way please.”

May realized what Leopold was about to do without him having to speak.

Leopold guessed that she must be Ariel’s personal maid.

‘Quite a clever maid she has by her side.’

Leopold nodded with an impassive face and followed behind May.

“This is the young lady’s room.”

May said with a bow.

To meet His Majesty the Emperor, rumored to be a brutal warmonger, this close…

Her legs trembled as if they were made of aspen trees.

If it weren’t for her loyalty to Miss Ariel, she would never have dared to stand before him.

With trembling hands, May opened the door to Ariel’s room.

Leopold stepped slowly into her room.

Although he was the emperor, it was his first time setting foot in a noble lady’s room.

The sweet scent of citrus tickled his nose. It was the faint smell that wafted around whenever Ariel moved.

He took a deep breath into his lungs and quickly scanned the spacious room.

Various instrument cases and embroidery tools occupied one side of the room, and above them hung a practice sword, the Federschwert¹a type of training sword used in medieval Germany. It is typically considered to have long handles.

“……”

Leopold’s gaze lingered on the sword.

Playing musical instruments or doing embroidery are common hobbies for young ladies.

But a longsword? He approached to take a closer look.

‘It’s a training sword, but it’s a real one.’

It wasn’t a decorative sword. It was quite worn, with the paint on the handle chipped in many places.

Ariel was not ordinary, not even in her hobbies. He looked down at her, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms, with an intrigued expression.

He had been puzzled by her calloused hands before, but now he understood the reason.

After meeting Ariel again, there was never a dull moment. Her actions always exceeded his expectations.

She brought a fresh stimulus to his monotonous life. Like an oasis appearing in his barren and desolate life.

Leopold faintly smiled and headed for the bed.

May, who had been following him all along, saw his actions and quickly walked towards the bed.

She lifted the neatly folded blanket on the bed and Leopold gently laid Ariel down.

“It seems like she needs a change of clothes….”

“I can do it—”

“Would you bring the clothes for her to change into?”

May’s nostrils flared in surprise.

May had intended to help Miss Ariel change her clothes. But now the Emperor himself was offering to do it.

She couldn’t disobey the Emperor’s command. But she also couldn’t allow a strange man to help Miss Ariel change her clothes.

May was at a loss for what to do.

“I already told you once. Why aren’t you bringing them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

To be asked multiple times like that. Leopold furrowed his brow, revealing his discomfort.

May went into the dressing room to get her nightgown. She silently took deep breaths to calm her pounding heart.

Soon, she emerged with a slip dress made of pure white silk and approached Leopold.

“Here it is.”

Leopold wordlessly placed it on the bedside table and looked down at Ariel.

‘Just let the maid do it. I might cause an unbearable consequence by getting involved.’

Despite his concerns, he bent over Ariel without hesitation.

He unbuttoned her jacket one by one. The large and rough hands made the buttons come undone lifelessly.

After unbuttoning all of them, he gently turned her upper body to the right and removed her left arm from the jacket.

He did the same for her right arm before carefully removing the jacket from her back.

Even though he moved cautiously for fear of waking her, sweat trickled down his spine.

Leopold straightened up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

At that moment, he met May’s eyes.

May was watching him undress Ariel without leaving the room.

Her eyes were anxious and uneasy.

I should at least acknowledge her loyalty. She seems to think I might devour her own mistress.

Leopold furrowed his brow in apparent displeasure.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

Despite his sarcasm, May, with her gaze fixed on Ariel, stealthily backed away. She was determined to watch over her, even if only while in the room.

“Surely you don’t see me as a beast. Who knows, I might do something harmful to a sleeping person.”

With bared fangs, he glared at May as if he was growling like a wild animal.

“Oh, no, Your Majesty.”

May, taken aback by revealing her true feelings, quickly left the room.

After making sure the door was completely closed, Leopold sat on the edge of the bed to finish undressing Ariel.

Using his thumb and forefinger, Leopold unbuttoned her blouse.

He then carefully lifted Ariel’s arm and removed her shirt.

“It’s too tempting. I have to endure this….”

Although he hadn’t done anything yet, perhaps he’ll behave like a wild animal. He couldn’t be sure what he might do to a sleeping person.

The glimpse of the flesh beneath her white chemise reflected in his red eyes.

Leopold let out a deep sigh and buried his face in his hands.

Ianthe’s Note (IMPORTANT): This is the end of VOLUME 1. For the next chapter, I will switch to buying the serialized chapters (since they’re cheaper than the volumes overall), so the next chapter will be Chapter 28. Please don’t be confused! There are no missing chapters! I just switched to a different format. Okay? Okay. Thank you!