The maids who caught my gaze lowered their heads with excited faces.
I could roughly guess what rumors would spread in the palace tomorrow.
We moved to another location. The conversations we were about to have should never leak out. So, we found the Emperor’s private room, where our conversation would absolutely not be heard.
“Well then, Youngsik…”
Revampel awkwardly looked at Raven sitting across from him.
“Just call me Raven, Your Majesty. I am not part of the Empress’s government.”
“Hmm.”
As soon as we entered the private room, Revampel grabbed me and told me not to bring up the government, saying that he would handle it well. After Raven, who had been listening for a while, repeatedly insisted that it was absolutely not the case, the misunderstanding was finally cleared.
‘His face is still burning.’
Although the misunderstanding was resolved, the image of Revampel, who had held me as a jealous guardian, kept coming to mind. It was embarrassing, but it felt good.
I discreetly hid the emerging smile and focused on the conversation between Revampel and Raven.
“Raven, do you think Lord Liranev would stay still if you were appointed as the finance minister? Even if the son who left the mansion returns as an imperial supporter, don’t you think he would assume something?”
“My father said that before I left the mansion. He asked me to request a position from the Empress.”
Revampel’s eyebrows subtly wrinkled.
“If a precious young man who grew up without knowing the ways of the world realizes the harsh reality and returns desiring the position of the finance minister… My father will mobilize all his power to make sure he sits in that position.”
Raven’s gaze shone sharply. Whenever the story of Lord Liranev, who was Raven’s father, came up, Raven’s expression was always serious.
“You need more influence in the palace to strengthen your position.”
“That sounds like Lord Liranev is having strange thoughts.”
Jeryeem, who had been quiet all along, frowned. Raven, seeing Jeryeem’s expression, casually nodded.
“Yes. My father…”
“…”
“Is currently preparing for rebellion.”
“…!”
I was startled by the sudden revelation, and almost bit my tongue. While I knew that Lord Liranev had hostile feelings toward Revampel, I never thought he would go as far as to prepare for rebellion.
“How many supporters does he have?”
While I was shocked, Revampel seemed calm.
“I don’t know the exact number since I overheard conversations with some officials. It seems like some nobles and neighboring small kingdoms are closely involved.”
This time, it was Jeryeem who stood up abruptly in response to Raven’s words.
“We’ve been providing a considerable amount of grain…! Before the peace agreement, we were the ones protecting the small kingdoms during wars!”
With a paler face than usual, Jeryeem’s anger made him seem even more imposing.
“He praised it as a care that was never shown during the reign of the previous emperor!!”
“Jeryeem. Calm down and sit.”
“But, Your Majesty…!”
“If you keep getting angry like this, you might faint. Sit down.”
At Revampel’s suggestion, Jeryeem reluctantly sat down. His blood pressure seemed to rise, and he pressed his forehead with his hand as if feeling dizzy.
‘So, before Raven left, he warned me to be careful of Lord Liranev.’
When I realized that he tried to convey the message to me in some way, I felt oddly grateful.
But Revampel was different.
“If what you say, Raven, is true… how can I trust you?” Revampel questioned Raven with a tilted head, looking wary.
“If you’re just spouting deceptive words and pretending to have a bad relationship with Lord Liranev, isn’t it to provide a better excuse for him to rebel when you’re appointed as the finance minister?”
“…”
“Entering the palace means that later, Raven, you could be the one to ring Lord Liranev’s neck, do you understand that?”
“I am aware. So, that’s why my father came here to tell me that he is preparing for rebellion. Besides that, I have no other assurance to offer.”
“…Have you heard how General Generva has been meddling in the empire?”
Revampel spoke in a blunt, laid-back tone.
“Smuggling. Without proper identification, the nobles have been freely wandering around in return for favoring their convenience.”
“…”
“Trying to appoint you as the finance minister is to thoroughly investigate the nobles who have secretly smuggled artworks. It’s also to confirm if they had any contact with Generva.”
Raven’s eyes shone sharply. Seeing the change in his expression, Revampel, with a satisfied face, smirked.
“Alright. You understand what I’m saying, right? When we find Generva’s traces, we can get the assassin you desire. The assassin who seems to be following Generva.”
Raven’s face ignited with anger and vitality.
“I can capture that guy.”
“…”
“Even without seeing the detestable sword, I know your specialty, using your head to figure things out.”
Raven was engulfed in contemplation. However, his contemplation did not last long.
He was a man who could risk his life and jump into the fire to catch him. If there was a clear way to capture him, there would be no need for hesitation.
“If you want to sit in the position of the finance minister, tell me with confidence that you won’t betray.”
“With confidence, I promise. That position. I will serve, Your Majesty.”
“I promise. Raven, there is no one as suitable as you.”
Raven closed his eyes tightly. And soon, as if he had made up his mind, he slowly opened his narrowed eyes.
“I will never turn against my father. If the moment comes when I have to kill my father… I won’t hesitate to kill him.”
“…”
“Because the one who killed my brother. The one who hired the assassin is none other than.”
Resentment flared in Raven’s eyes. It was not directed at Revampel but at Lord Liranev, his own father.
“My father.”
Dark clouds gathered beyond the window. Gloomy clouds overturned the bright sky, and an ominous wind blew fiercely.
And without a moment to catch a breath, a heavy rain poured down. Suddenly falling, thick raindrops soaked everyone without any shelter.
Sighs mixed with the sound of rain.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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