10 PM. The time when the official duties of Aspeiran, the lord of Roakin, end.
Aspeiran, having finished reviewing the last document, rose from his seat.
“That’s it for today.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Led by Kiara, the chief assistant, the assistants began organizing the documents.
The servants waiting at the door entered, draped a coat over Aspeiran’s shoulders, and adjusted his attire.
“Please retire, my lord. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes. Good work, everyone.”
Aspeiran left Princhia Palace, where state affairs were conducted, escorted by his subordinates. He was accompanied only by Canis, his closest aide and captain of the guard.
Following a step behind, Canis spoke.
“You seem to be in a good mood tonight, my lord.”
“Hmm. There were several satisfying matters.”
The troublesome issue with the baby monsters had been resolved, and he had acquired a talent he liked.
Now, if he could just maintain this satisfactory mood, return to his chambers to attend to personal matters, and then retire to bed, this eventful day would be over.
However, it seemed the world would not allow him to end his day so peacefully.
Aspeiran quietly stared at a black shadow staggering towards them from afar.
“…What could that be? A monster?”
Canis asked, narrowing his eyes. After briefly sensing its magical power, Aspeiran shook his head.
“It’s not a monster.”
“Then what could it be? Surely not a ghost!?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Aspeiran, after chiding him, was silent for a moment before answering.
“It’s Prom.”
“Pardon?”
Surprised, Canis craned his neck to observe the black shadow closely. Indeed, the approaching figure was Prom, the director of the Beltraum Research Institute.
Their exceptional hearing picked up Prom’s labored breathing and cries of “My lord, my lord.”
Aspeiran rubbed his brow. Just listening was causing fatigue to rush over him.
The steps of the physically unfit researcher were excruciatingly slow. Finally, Aspeiran used spatial transfer magic to deliver Prom right in front of him.
Looking down at Prom sprawled before him, Aspeiran sneered in an ice-cold voice.
“Have you developed a hobby of staggering around the castle like a drunkard in the dead of night?”
Prom, with his head still planted on the ground, gave no answer. Aspeiran crossed his arms and tilted his head askew.
“Why so silent, Prom? If this is your wordless indication that you no longer need your tongue, I could personally remove it for you. Just say the word anytime.”
At that moment, Prom suddenly grabbed onto Aspeiran’s trouser leg and clung on.
Aspeiran grimaced. Prom’s face, finally revealed, was a mess of tears and snot.
Prom wailed loudly.
“My lord! My lord―!”
“What is it.”
“That woman, that woman is a devil! A devil, I tell you!”
Please, please drive her away― Please save me―.
Aspeiran was about to coldly brush Prom off when he raised an eyebrow at those words.
“That woman? Are you talking about Shuria?”
Prom didn’t answer, just continued to wail loudly enough to shake the castle.
Aspeiran and Canis exchanged puzzled looks. It wasn’t unusual for researchers to exhibit strange behavior, but this situation was a first.
‘…I suppose I should go see.’
Aspeiran sighed, rubbing his forehead.
The young lord’s furrowed brow only deepened at this sudden new incident.
[This is the timeline separator]Aspeiran picked up the still sniffling Prom and immediately headed to the research institute.
And as soon as he entered the room Prom had guided him to, he encountered a very bizarre scene.
“It’s so hard, so hard. I’ve never experienced anything this difficult in my life.”
“This is all… because I’m trash…”
“I want to sleep…”
Those researchers who found everything but research bothersome were each holding a cleaning tool, desperately sweeping and wiping the room.
Moreover.
“Stop whining! The more you do, the less time you have for sleeping and research! Understand!”
“Sob, sniff”
“I said stop crying! It only drains your energy. Use that energy to mop diligently instead!”
“Sniff, yes…”
“Good. Now, Sek, finish mopping the floor, and Titira, clean the dog kennel! Kiri, wash the dog food bowls! Let’s finish this quickly, everyone!”
“Yes, yes!”
Despite usually not batting an eye unless ordered by the lord, they were now moving in perfect unison at someone else’s command.
Aspeiran, feeling bewildered, looked towards the small washroom attached to the room, from which the charismatic orders and directions were coming.
Soon, someone popped out of the washroom. For a moment, Aspeiran doubted his eyes.
It was none other than Shuria, the new subordinate Aspeiran had just brought in today.
How on earth did the research institute’s newcomer, who was smiling and greeting everyone just hours ago, end up rolling the senior researchers around?
And what’s with those fellows rolling around without a word of protest?
“I just need to wash one more dog! So until then… Oh! My lord?”
Shuria, holding a soaking wet dog wrapped in a towel, spotted Aspeiran and jumped in surprise.
At Shuria’s exclamation, the researchers crawling on the floor quickly raised their heads. They cried out in unison.
“My lord, please save us!”
“Quiet.”
Aspeiran kicked away the researchers clinging to his feet. His foot movements were utterly heartless.
He asked Shuria.
“What’s all this about? Why are these fellows acting like this?”
After briefly surveying the now cluttered room and the researchers sprawled out crying, Shuria sheepishly scratched her cheek.
And finally, she opened her mouth.
“Well, you see…”
[This is the timeline separator]“Dust and hair rolling in the corners. Cobwebs on the ceiling, a terrible smell.”
My finger swept across the inside of the breeding room.
“Empty and dirty water bowls! Stale dog food! Kennels full of feces and dogs trapped in them for nearly two months!”
I pointed at the kennels where the dogs were confined, then shook my fist in the air and asked in an agitated voice.
“Now, what thoughts come to mind when you see all this?!”
The researchers lined up in front of me wore dumb expressions. They tilted their heads to the right and answered in unison.
“We want to get out of here…?”
“That’s not it!”
Exasperated, I pounded my chest with my fist.
Below my neck, it felt as if I had swallowed 100 dry chicken breasts in a row, and above my neck, it felt like magma was boiling.
“Think about it. What if someone locked you up in a cramped, smelly place for two months, didn’t give you water, and barely fed you? There’s not even a bathroom! How would you feel?”
“Well…”
Sek looked at the other researchers as if seeking agreement and said.
“We’re already living similarly~. Trapped in a dirty, cramped room all day, barely drinking water or eating…”
“Th-that’s true…”
Titira nodded hesitantly. The other two researchers, Kiri and Prom, were the same.
Seeing this, the back of my neck stiffened.
I felt like immediately taking the dogs out of the small kennels carefully and preciously, then thoroughly beating the researchers’ heads with the empty steel cages.
But I can’t be branded a murderer by my favorite, can I?
I barely suppressed my boiling anger by drawing upon all my patience. Then I spoke, chewing each word.
“That’s because you decided to do that yourselves. You didn’t do it because you were busy and bothered with research! The dogs were forcibly confined and neglected because of you!”
The researchers closed their mouths with sullen faces. Kiri, who had momentarily woken up when I shouted, closed his eyes again and nodded off.
I parted my lips to express more strongly about the seriousness of this breeding facility.
But then, our very wise director of the research institute opened his mouth in an irritated voice.
“So what do you want us to do?”
“…What did you say?”
“By what authority are you lecturing us? Are you our superior? Just because the lord gave you a little support, you’ve become so arrogant. Tsk…”
“…”
“If you’ve found problems, fix them yourself. That’s your job, isn’t it? We’re busy people. Don’t bother us and think for yourself. It’s not like I’m showing incompetence…”
‘…Ah.’
I smirked. Our director has officially started showing his territorial behavior.
So you’re going to refuse cooperation requests and throw tantrums like this, huh?
My hot-boiling head cools down. I rotated my brain that had momentarily frozen with anger.
‘These people are not normal. Common sense and emotional appeals won’t work.’
I need to make them realize that this situation could be disadvantageous to them.
After that, I need to make them cooperate with me voluntarily.
I dropped my hands from my waist. Then I nodded as if I completely understood.
“You’re right. From now on, this is my job… and I’m not your superior. You are all very, ve―ry busy.”
“Ahem! Seems you’ve understood.”
Prom was about to leave the room, fluttering his researcher’s gown. I spoke to his back.
“Since you say you’re so busy, I’ll submit my work reports directly to the lord from now on. Let’s see… First, I’ll write about what the environment was like when I first arrived, and request the necessary items for improvement.”
“…What?”
Prom, who had stopped in his tracks, made a dumbfounded sound. I asked with a look of feigned surprise.
“What’s wrong? Please go ahead! I’m truly sorry for bothering you when you’re so busy. I’ll be careful not to accidentally ask the researchers for help and bother you in the future.”
“Huh?”
“Of course, the lord told me that I’m still lacking and should learn a lot from the researchers and consult sufficiently before making any decisions, but you’re all so busy that you don’t have time to worry about monsters.”
“Uh?”
“So even if any problems arise, I won’t bother you by asking for help and being a nuisance. As the director said, I’ll try to handle things ‘on my own’. This is ‘my job’, right?”
“Wait.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll ‘definitely’ report to the lord about today’s events, including how the director gave me a great realization!”
After finishing my words, I grinned widely. To summarize, it was this:
The lord clearly told you to help me manage the monsters well. But you’re busy and bothered, so you want me to handle it alone?
Alright. I’ll do that. But if I try to ‘handle it myself’ and cause an accident, you know it’s all your fault and ultimately your responsibility, right?
Don’t think about blaming it all on me when that time comes. I’ll tell the lord every word you said, every attitude you showed, without missing anything.
Is that all? I’ll also report how you’ve been managing the dogs until now. I wonder what the lord will say?
The intelligent researchers would have grasped everything I was saying. Sure enough, Prom exploded in anger.
__________
“Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!”
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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