Entering the office, Diane bowed lightly and approached the cherry wood desk where he was seated.
A faint brandy scent lingered in the air.
With the top two buttons of his shirt undone and his sleeves rolled up, the man exuded effortless elegance. Johann Leopold’s broad shoulders and muscles perfectly filled out his shirt, highlighting his wild masculine charm and noble lineage.
He was deeply engrossed in his paperwork, even the light furrows on his forehead seemed enchanting. How pathetic it was to have led such a life with such a wonderful husband.
Diane, internally scoffing, admired Johann for a moment before speaking up.
“I have a report for you, Your Grace.”
“Go ahead.”
He spoke dryly, not looking away from his work.
“Olivia Blanchett’s ordered dress, the remaining payment invoice, and the dresses have arrived.”
Only then did he turn his forehead towards her. His thick eyebrows slightly raised.
Diane wanted to aggravate him further with Olivia’s mention.
She carefully placed the invoices on the desk, naturally drawing his gaze. Each figure on them was larger than Diane’s annual salary.
She internally mocked the foolish bastard child.
How much she despised that girl.
Diane made Olivia out to be a clueless, extravagant duchess. It was an easy feat given the opportunities.
Finally, their efforts paid off in a divorce, leaving the position of duchess vacant. Now, it was time to reap the rewards.
Diane Leopold, Duchess.
What a sweet fruit that would be!
“How should we proceed?”
Her voice slightly rose with excitement.
“Just do as usual.”
He turned his head indifferently, his ashen eyes showing no emotion.
Diane wanted to suggest sending the bills back to Olivia but bit her lip instead. Such trivial expenses meant nothing to him.
She had something else to discuss today.
“Shall I arrange the former Duchess’s bedroom?”
A dense silence followed. The spring breeze felt surprisingly cool through the window.
“No.”
His gaze shifted to Diane.
“Later.”
Johann briefly glanced at the piled-up invoices and then scanned a contract. His eyes briefly sparked with disinterest.
Diane, eager to eradicate the remnants of that detestable woman, clenched her fists but responded obediently.
“Understood.”
The room would have plenty of time to be cleared in the future.
Her priority was to captivate this man’s heart.
After the former secretary left, silence engulfed the office. The setting sun brazenly illuminated the unpaid invoices.
Johann gazed quietly at the remnants left by his audacious ex-wife. A smile crept up as he thought about the impulsive nature of the divorce.
It couldn’t be explained otherwise.
His wife’s actions had become unpredictable at some point.
Olivia Blanchett and Edgar Lanchester Lancelot.
According to today’s report, they had met, albeit coincidentally.
He withdrew his gaze from the invoices and lit a cigar, drawing the smoke deeply. The smoke slowly dispersed in the air. He reached for the empty glass and filled it with brandy.
“Please divorce me.”
Her clear voice echoed amidst the rich aroma of the fruit wine and the rising cigar smoke. The evening light pouring through the window reflected in Johann’s eyes.
Johann had believed he was leading a quiet life without incident, but this was a completely arrogant delusion.
As he tapped off the end of his cigar, Johann picked up an invoice with the hand that had set down his glass.
His gaze, which had been casually scanning the invoice from Gabriel Boutique, suddenly fixed intently on a particular spot. His eyes narrowed, cold and still.
The date written under ‘Order Date’ irked him strangely.
March 27th…
Johann fell into deep thought.
That was the day the Prime Minister had resigned. Londos was abuzz with the sudden declaration. The royal family had urgently summoned the royal bloodlines, including Johann, to fill the vacant position of the head of the royalist faction.
In the middle of the meeting that began at noon and stretched into the fading evening, a message arrived from Greathill.
March 27th was also the day Olivia attempted to drown herself in the lake.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Only then did the question arise.
Why?
As the cigar burned down, he couldn’t comprehend his wife’s psychology no matter how much he thought about it.
Why would someone planning to commit suicide order six dresses?
No.
That was an exceedingly unnatural action.
So then, why?
Johann slowly opened his eyes and took a drag of his cigar, exhaling a long stream of smoke. He rubbed the corners of his dry eyes.
The first time Olivia self-harmed was on her birthday.
‘Am I important to you, or is your promise important?’
When he had told her he couldn’t spend the evening with her due to an unavoidable prior commitment, she tearfully retreated to her bedroom and cut her wrist.
The second time was similar. On a day in August when summer roses were in full bloom, as her birthday approached, he was leaving for a two-week business trip.
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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