Passersby at the open-air dessert café couldn’t help but glance at the couple seated at a corner table. More precisely, their attention was drawn to the young man sitting with his long legs elegantly crossed, his broad shoulders and triangular upper body maintaining a perfectly upright posture.
Unconcerned with the gazes of others, his sharp, dignified eyes, reminiscent of ruby gems, were fixed on the woman in front of him.
“Do you like it?” the Emperor asked.
Arabel, having experienced the delightful sensation of raspberry-filled chocolate gelato melting in her mouth, nodded affirmatively. Discovering the sweetness and richness of chocolate, she picked up a round chocolate truffle from the three-tiered tray and popped it into her mouth, her face lighting up with joy.
Her plump, pink cheeks bulged as she chewed on the chocolate. Observing Arabel’s relaxed demeanor, the corners of the Emperor’s mouth subtly rose.
Normally disliking sweet flavors and avoiding chocolate, the sight of her enthusiastically eating stirred his appetite. He picked up a chocolate ball infused with condensed milk, similar to what Arabel had just enjoyed.
As expected, the sweetness wasn’t to his liking. The Emperor slightly furrowed his brow and struggled to swallow the chocolate.
“You can have dessert like this every day at the palace. It’ll help you gain some weight.”
Maxwell felt embarrassed by his own words, which seemed akin to a cunning lad promising treats to a village girl if she accompanied him to the capital.
“Why should she gain weight? Why do I even care?” he thought, frustrated with himself.
“I need her to gain at least twenty pounds to bear my weight…”
As he pondered the reason for her needing to gain weight, recalling her soft body, he impulsively gulped down his hot Earl Grey tea.
“Ah…!” The hot tea scalded his mouth and throat, causing him to groan in pain. Startled, Arabel offered her handkerchief and asked, “Are you alright?”
“Fine, fine. Just got a bit of a shock,” the Emperor hastily replied, stuffing his mouth with chocolate mousse cake to hide his discomfort.
“It’s just natural to worry about her health since she’s tied to my curse. Nothing more,” he rationalized.
Meanwhile, at another table, two imposing men, ill-fitting in their small chairs, observed them while sipping tea from tiny cups adorned with rose patterns.
“It’s a first. His Majesty taking such a long break without any reason and, more importantly, enjoying desserts at an open café with a young lady, just like any other young person. I wouldn’t have believed it if I weren’t seeing it with my own eyes.”
“Though His Majesty often travels incognito to observe local lords, it’s truly rare to see him taking personal time like this, disguised as a common nobleman.”
Jacob and Peter, knights who had served Maxwell since his days as Crown Prince, were witnessing a scene they had never seen before.
Emphasizing the trip as a covert inspection, Maxwell had chosen to visit the town not with his usual entourage of plainclothes knights but with Lady Arabel, dressed simply as a regular provincial noble.
Their current appearance closely resembled courting, a step further than a typical date between lovers, especially in the absence of a chaperone.
“The Emperor’s eyes are smiling,” one of them noted, observing a rare, genuine happiness in Maxwell’s expression.
Commander Jacob spoke softly, prompting Vice-Commander Peter to discreetly glance at the Emperor’s expression.
“Though His Majesty’s mouth smiles, his eyes never did… but now, his eyes are genuinely smiling with joy.”
People often said Emperor Maxwell was born without emotions, as if the gods omitted them to prevent any hindrance to his perfect intellect and reason for the empire’s prosperity.
However, as the closest companions of the late Crown Prince and now as Maxwell’s knights, Jacob and Peter knew better. It wasn’t that Maxwell was born without emotions, but rather he had to suppress them to survive.
From birth, he was a target in the internal strife for the throne and a constant subject of assassination attempts. He learned hate and betrayal long before love and trust.
The knights remembered young Prince Maxwell’s attachment to his great uncle Gustav, treating him like a father, and to the Grand Duchess Caroline, his aunt, as a mother figure. Even believing the masked face of his grandmother, Empress Dowager Natalie, was genuine.
The palace was once rife with sycophants who curried favor with the young prince, using the names of his deceased father and abducted mother.
To him, emotions that could cloud his judgment were the greatest threat to his existence.
As the plates on the table were emptied, Emperor Maxwell reluctantly opened his mouth, “Shall we return to the camp?”
He had been ready to indulge Arabel’s wish to explore more of the village, but she agreed to leave without hesitation, leaving him feeling unaccountably dispirited.
“Your Majesty,” Arabel hesitated.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
