As I stepped outside, a much larger number of knights than those I had seen in the study surrounded the mansion. Moreover, there was a carriage that unmistakably seemed prepared for escorting parked in front.
‘She came prepared.’
Internally shaking my head, I addressed the captain.
“Do I get on that carriage?”
“Yes. I’ll help you get on.”
“No, it’s okay.”
After coldly refusing the captain’s courtesy, I gestured toward Amy, who was crying behind me. Amy quickly wiped away her tears and rushed over.
“Ah, Milady.”
“Amy, remember what I told you earlier?”
“…Yes. Huk.”
“Don’t cry. As soon as I leave, you need to contact me immediately. Got it?”
“I will…”
After confirming with Amy once again, I reached out my hand. “Milady, huk, take care of yourself.”
“I will.”
I smiled reassuringly at Amy. Then, as I was about to help her onto the carriage, suddenly, the ground trembled with the sound of hooves, and dozens of horses were charging fiercely in our direction. At the forefront was someone I had longed to see.
It was Kaern.
‘How did Kaern…?’
Surprised for a moment, in the blink of an eye, Kaern had reached the place where I was.
“Lord Ravellon?”
The captain seemed quite surprised, not expecting Kaern to appear here, and called out to him with a slightly astonished expression. Kaern smoothly dismounted with a single clean movement.
The knights who came with him also dismounted and quickly surrounded us, forming a protective circle.
“Kaern.”
“Herena.”
Kaern, who had somehow reached right in front of me, hid me behind his back as if to protect me.
“Captain Roins.”
Recognizing the captain, Kaern greeted him with a low voice. The captain, who had been observing the situation with a tense expression, hastily saluted Kaern as he stood before him.
“I greet Duke Ravelion.”
“What are you doing right now?”
“Huh? Oh, that’s… When I asked what you were doing here…”
The captain, who had been confident in front of me, seemed flustered in front of Kaern.
“I asked what you were doing here.”
Kaern questioned him again with an expressionless face, and the captain, seemingly regaining his composure, opened his mouth.
“That… We were conducting a search of Lady Rosentia’s estate under the orders of Emperor’s Majesty.”
“Under the orders of Emperor’s Majesty?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
The captain replied to Kaern in a rigid voice filled with military discipline. As Kaern briefly scanned the surroundings, the captain continued to look at him with a face still tense.
“So, is the search finished?”
“Yes, it is. We were just about to finish and return.”
“I see. But…”
Kaern’s gaze stopped on me.
The captain, realizing the meaning, started to hastily justify himself.
“We found Azalea while searching the office. That’s why we were trying to escort Lady Rosentia to the palace.”
“Escort?”
“Yes. As you know, Duke, the maid of the Empress has already confessed that Lady Rosentia was poisoned by her horoscope. So, while investigating here, we found decisive evidence and were about to return to the palace.”
Perhaps because they had already secured clear evidence, the captain straightened his previously bent back by the time he finished his last words.
“Where’s the evidence?”
“Here it is.”
At the captain’s gesture, one of the knights next to him extended a small box.
When the box was opened, it revealed the yellow petal that had been picked up in the office earlier.
Kaern carefully examined the contents of the box, then turned around to look at me.
“Is this Azalea’s petal?”
“I smelled the very faint remaining scent, and yes, it’s Azalea.”
In response to Kaern’s question, I nodded and added immediately.
Of course, what I just said wasn’t meant for Kaern to hear. My words were directed at those who came to apprehend me, including the captain.
As soon as my words ended, Kaern confronted the captain aggressively.
“Are you planning to arrest her without clearly determining whether the evidence actually came from the office of my fiancée or if someone brought it there?”
“…But since relevant evidence has already emerged at the scene, we have no choice.”
“If I refuse to let her go?”
“What?”
Unexpectedly, everyone present felt a collective gasp at Kaern’s words.
“Sorry, but even if you are a duke, that won’t be possible. It’s the Emperor’s order. We just follow orders.”
Seemingly judging that they might fail to carry out the imperial decree this way, the captain erased his previous demeanor and became more assertive.
“I’ll say it again. Until someone brings clear evidence that Lady Rosentia is the culprit of this incident, no one can take her away.”
“But, Your Grace…!”
At that moment, the knights brought by Kaern quickly readjusted their positions.
“So, if you want to take her, bring real, proper evidence, not some flower petals or someone’s nonsense.”
Upon Kaern’s words, the captain bit his lips tightly.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he sent a meaningful glance to the royal guard.
In response to the captain’s orders, the royal guard, in turn, moved to confront Kaern’s knights.
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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