“Ah, my neck doesn’t turn well because I’ve been lying down for too long. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the same position.”
Atia said, stretching her neck, trying to divert Kesha’s attention.
“Ma’am, is your neck stiff?”
“Uhhuh, seems like it…”
“First, have a cup of tea. I’ll give you a massage.”
Pour.
Kesha poured tea into the teacup.
Steam rose from the warm cup.
The tea Kesha brewed tasted really good.
“It’s jasmine tea. It will help warm your body.”
“Thank you, always. It tastes so amazing you could open a tea shop later.”
Atia drained her tea quickly, praising Kesha.
“Really? Then I won’t starve to death, will I?”
“Of course.”
Kesha scratched her head, seemingly pleased by Atia’s praise.
“Let me know if you feel pain anywhere.”
“Got it.”
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll be really worried.”
Kesha looked at Atia with a worried tone.
Atia felt inwardly uncomfortable.
‘I’m actually living on borrowed time…’
I’m dying,
and I don’t have many days left to live,
and couldn’t say so.
“Our lady seems healthy but makes me worried like this.”
“Uh, um…”
Considering how seriously Kesha was worrying about her, Atia pondered what her expression would turn into if she told the truth.
“I was so surprised when you suddenly called for the physician yesterday.”
Atia’s eyebrows twitched.
“But it’s a relief that there’s nothing wrong.”
“Ahem.”
Atia cleared her throat and looked around aimlessly.
“Anyway, let’s avoid the training ground for a while. No matter how I think about it, it’s too much.”
“Yes, I’ll do whatever you say, Ma’am.”
Kesha nodded, thinking that Atia was saying this because she was unwell.
(This is a time separator.)
Leo was slashing a dummy with his sword in the training ground.
“Are you not going today?”
The knights who had been roaming the forest with Leo for days asked.
Leo responded with a sullen face.
“Enough. I’m tired of going to the forest.”
The knights internally cheered.
The relief of not having to accompany Leo, the ‘black sheep of the Wellington family,’ and the liberation they felt.
“Understood, My Lord.”
“Alright, go take care of your business.”
Leo swung his sword once again.
Thwack!
Normally, the dummy would have been sliced easily, but today it stood resilient.
Thwack!
Thwack Thwack!
He tried a few more times, but the result was the same.
The straw was sliced, but at a weird angle; the straw pieces were scattered haphazardly.
It was worse than when he first swung a sword years ago.
“Ha.”
Leo sheathed his sword.
He simply couldn’t focus on his training.
It was because the image of Atia coughing and vomiting blood was vividly replaying in his mind.
What if she died overnight?
The worry about Atia had kept him from sleeping well.
Tossing and turning all night, he had awoken quite late.
“What does it matter to me whether you live or die?”
He was attacking a straw mannequin to clear his incessant thoughts, but no matter how he swung his sword, he couldn’t concentrate.
His mind kept wandering.
“Damn it!”
In the end, Leo threw the sheath attached to his waist onto the ground.
Tingalingaling.
The sheath Leo had thrown rolled on the floor.
(This is a time separator.)
On a day when he felt as good as today, he couldn’t just sit idle, even if he was confined to his room.
Atia opened the window wide and began to air out the room.
The fresh air filled her lungs deeply.
If she didn’t get some form of indoor exercise, it felt like her body would knot up.
She felt like she needed to move at least a little to ease her restless spirit.
“Ah, let’s open the window even wider. Wide open.”
The key was to ensure the room didn’t smell bad.
She tried to reduce any body odor by opening the window and letting the wind blow through.
When Atia was sitting by the large window, surrendering herself to the cool breeze,
She felt a strong gaze upon her.
“Hm?”
Looking down, she locked eyes with a boy—his hair was a shade of blackbrown and his eyes were ashcolored.
‘Leo?’
However, the moment their eyes met, Leo immediately turned away.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he quickly stood up and disappeared.
Atia blinked and stared at the spot where Leo had vanished.
‘He was watching me, right?’
Is he still mad at me?
Did he want to throw a rock at me or something?
Giggle.
Atia chuckled softly, then stretched her neck and shoulders.
(This is a time separator.)
The news that Atia had received a medical checkup had also reached Heidegger.
Heidegger’s aide had reported the details of yesterday.
“All is well.”
“Is that so?”
Relieved that there were no issues, Heidegger sighed.
“I was too worried.”
He should have restrained her, even if she said she was fine.
How much effort must she have exerted with her small hands to release my sturdy body?
Although the doctor had said that Atia was fine, Heidegger was filled with guilt.
“Are you really sure she’s okay?”
“Yes, I am.”
Only after doublechecking did Heidegger pick up his documents again.
Heidegger carefully reviewed documents that Casus had yet to examine, or looked for better alternatives.
“Come to think of it, the 12th Festival is just around the corner.”
The 12th Festival of Wellington Duke’s territory, which only happens once every 12 years.
It was a traditional festival that had been passed down since the first Duke of Wellington.
The first Duke had attached meaning to the number ’12,’ wanting people to set aside their worries for this one day.
Though the Duke’s family valued the festival as a time to feel the blessings of the Earth and live well, legend also had it that blessings received on this day would ward off misfortune.
The highlight of the 12th Festival was the meeting between the Duke and Duchess and the common people.
The Duke and Duchess would walk down a road beautifully sprinkled with flowers by the people, checking on their wellbeing.
Thus, it wasn’t just an event for eating and enjoying; it was also a significant ceremony that displayed the grandeur of the Duke’s family.
Also,
As it was an official occasion where many would stand before them, it was naturally expected that the Duke and Duchess should appear to be in good terms.
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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