“It’s all true. Killing the parents of that rabbit woman, yes. It’s me. Poisoning Robero’s subordinates, that’s me too. To obtain the country, it’s something that must be done, naturally.”
“Providing the pretext for the rebellion… Is it really the lord’s doing?”
“Yeah, yeah, that was me too. While you’ve been living for justice all this time, I’ve sacrificed so much. Do you know what it was for? It was to make you the king of this country.”
“Numerous subordinates died without guilt! The innocent Atigrado royal family…! Why did you go to such lengths? This is not what I wanted. If later, other subordinates find out about this, then…”
Ozar knelt down as if collapsing. Now, even at this moment, he hoped that his father’s words were not true.
“Weakling. The words of the survivor are justice. The truth has no power. It’s just like the ruins under the withered trees of the Atigrado palace, buried forever without coming out into the world.”
Everything flashed before my eyes.
Right! The truth was said to be buried under the withered trees.
Could the truth he spoke of be the royal decree? A very small chance, but there was certainly a possibility. And for now, it was the only possibility.
I approached Idriche and grabbed his hand.
“Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
In response to Idriche’s question, I pursed my lips several times.
What should I say?
I can’t say that I saw it in the novel. If I try to explain in detail, something like ‘Bbirirong Pororong’ will come out of my mouth anyway.
Did I have a premonition? Did I dream?
But that would be a lie.
I didn’t want to lie to Idriche anymore.
“So… Do you trust me?”
“Yeah.”
“Then just follow me. I think I know where I am.”
Idriche looked at me scrutinizingly. His eyes, penetrating even into my mind, were rather welcoming.
Please, trust me. I lifted him up with earnestness and sincerity.
Idriche’s eyes blinked slowly.
“Okay.”
Ha. Thank goodness.
I led Idriche, who followed obediently, and we left the palace. The wind outside had become much colder than before, penetrating my throat. Idriche familiarly wrapped a scarf around my neck. Whether I liked it or not, I was busy looking around.
Withered trees, withered trees… But there were none.
Around the wide, empty lake in the center and the garden, there were only low saplings. After the rebellion, it seemed that no one had touched the area, and there was no reason to think that someone had cut down the trees.
“Idriche, are there old trees in the palace?”
“If you mean big trees, they’re in the backyard.”
There was also a backyard? Well, it’s not strange for a palace to have a backyard.
“Then let’s go that way.”
Idriche gave me a puzzled look once again but didn’t ask. Instead, he grabbed my wrist and led the way.
I chased after him eagerly, looking up at Idriche’s back.
What could Idriche be thinking right now?
How did I know, and why don’t I even ask? How could I not have any suspicions…?
While grateful, it felt like a huge boulder had settled in my chest.
I couldn’t explain this to Idriche.
Idriche is a character from the novel, and I realized after a long time that I am a character outside the novel.
Suddenly, I felt stifled.
After saving the world, after all the stories I know end, will this wall crumble a bit? Will I be in the same position as the people of this world completely?
I was summoned here to complete the curse imposed on Percop, but what will happen to me after the curse is fulfilled?
“You don’t look good.”
Idriche was looking at me now. I shook my head.
“No, I’m just a bit tired.”
“You don’t have to force yourself if it’s hard.”
“No, I want to solve the problem quickly.”
I smiled and clenched my fist.
Passing between the buildings, we arrived at the backyard. Calling it a backyard, it was almost like a forest, with lush grass and trees.
Among them, one large tree caught my eye.
“Wow, is this the oldest withered tree here?”
Even without Idriche’s explanation, I could tell.
“Yeah, it’s the oldest and the biggest tree.”
I raised my head high. The giant tree spread its branches wide like a roof. It seemed to encompass the entire surrounding forest. The trunk was so thick that it would probably take several people with outstretched arms to wrap around it.
“It seems right here.”
I circled around the withered tree, carefully inspecting the ground.
Then it should be somewhere around here.
Since several years have passed, there were naturally no traces of digging.
After circling around and meeting Idriche again, I sighed deeply.
“We have to dig all this up. I don’t know exactly where it is.”
“All of this place?”
“Yeah.”
Gathering the party again, we started digging the ground. Some were puzzled, but they did not resist Idriche’s words.
We dug and dug for a while. Just as round pit-like holes were formed around the withered tree, someone let out a sigh mixed with despair.
“Remains have been found.”
Remains?
From the pit, which could still be entered by a person, white bones emerged.
“Oh…”
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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