145.
“Why?”
“I sensed someone nearby. We need to hide quickly.”
“That can’t be… Only the Crown Prince, Your Majesty, and I know about this place…”
Blake Lady’s voice, denying her judgment, went unheard. Rosetta tensed, focusing on the approaching footsteps drawing closer. She couldn’t tell who it was, but at least three… no, four people? The corridor’s echo made it hard to distinguish the sounds clearly. Either way, it was already too late to flee anywhere.
Rosetta glanced around and tightly gripped the box of Calypso she had strapped to her back. Long like a scabbard, it was easy to hold and sturdy enough not to break under ordinary impact. If the enemies were off guard, she might be able to take one down with it. Holding her breath, she pressed herself against the corner of the corridor and gestured to Blake Lady.
“This way.”
Blake Lady finally seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation. She tiptoed carefully toward Rosetta’s side. Rosetta noticed a long shadow stretching down the corridor, signaling the approaching figure. It seemed to be a well-built man. She crouched lower, holding her breath. Waiting until the figure was just about to turn the corner, at the moment of greatest distraction… she suddenly sprang up and swung the weapon hard toward the opponent’s throat.
“…!”
“Damn it, what the— Ah…!”
But in an instant, her wrist was caught and her body overpowered. Rosetta struggled with all her strength, but it was useless. She braced herself for being thrown to the ground or struck several times. She clenched her teeth tightly, eyes shut, preparing for the pain in her mouth to burst open. Yet instead of the expected pain, she was embraced by a familiar, broad chest.
“Shh, Rosetta.”
The limbs that had been struggling to break free suddenly went limp. Rosetta opened her eyes in bewilderment. Him? How could he be here?
“It’s okay now. Calm down.”
Stunned by this unbelievable stroke of luck, she dazedly embraced him in return.
“…Cardier?”
Gasping for breath, she tried to make sense of what was happening. Was she now succumbing to the flower’s hallucination too? As she wriggled within his arms, Cardier quickly released her. His sharp gaze swept over her body, checking for injuries, then stopped at her apron.
“Good heavens… You’re bleeding…”
“Huh? Ah, this isn’t my blood. It happened when I picked the flower.”
“A flower? Then…”
“I’m not hurt at all.”
Rosetta waved both hands to prove her innocence, but Cardier didn’t look the least reassured. His sharp eyes caught the scrapes on her palms, knees, and shins. His expression darkened, as if on the verge of snapping. His gaze burned like a flame ignited by fresh hatred.
“I’m fine. Really.”
Instinctively leaning her weary body against Cardier, Rosetta suddenly straightened up, struck by a thought. Damn it, Rosetta. After seeing Lady Audrey succumb to hallucinations right before your eyes, how could you so easily believe this is real? She reached out, grabbed his cheeks, and examined his face closely from side to side.
“But… is it really you?”
“Who else would it be?”
“Fine. Then tell me when we first met.”
“In Bilti’s prison.”
She had expected an answer like “Valdemore’s estate” or something similar, so when he abruptly recalled a distant past, she was momentarily speechless. Rosetta narrowed her eyes and grabbed him by the collar, nearly yanking him down. Damn it, you bastard. Bursting in like this—trying to overwhelm me so completely I can’t think straight…
“Let’s save the reunion joy for later. We’re short on time.”
Only then did Rosetta notice there were two more people behind Cardier. The Imperial Princess and Owen. Rosetta’s mouth dropped open in surprise at the unexpected group.
“What on earth are you all doing here?”
“There’s no time to explain. Marquis Terryn and Viscount Terryn, you must honor your promise. I’ll open a passage leading outside the palace. Leave immediately.”
“Very well. But I can’t leave my wife behind. We’ll depart together.”
“No!”
The voice that rose sharply was Rosetta’s. After coming this far, standing right before Audrey—how could she possibly step back? That was unthinkable. Even if she fled now and disrupted Audrey’s ritual, in just a few years, that woman would simply find a new Saintess. And if she succeeded in the ritual using that body, a terrible disaster would fall upon them all. She couldn’t just leave it be. Cardier’s eyes narrowed at her opposition.
“You said no?”
“…?”
“Explain yourself, Lea.”
Damn it, she’d never been good with words. And how could she possibly convince him? When it came to her safety, Cardier wouldn’t compromise in the slightest. As Rosetta faltered, Blake Lady stepped forward this time.
“That woman, Lady Audrey… ”
Blake Lady began to speak, then slightly hunched her shoulders under the weight of everyone’s attention.
“While transforming into the Viscountess, she said something—after switching bodies, she’d frame the Viscountess as the imperial assassin… If that’s true, someone will be harmed while wearing Lady Audrey’s body.”
“…?”
“And she’ll make sure people witness it. But if she realizes her plan has gone awry, who knows what she might do while appearing as the Viscountess? People are easily deceived by what they see. So, wouldn’t it be better to stay nearby, just in case…?”
“You’re spouting nonsense as if it were a clever excuse.”
Cardier muttered coldly.
“I’ll personally escort the Viscountess. No rumor, no matter how strong, will breach Montrosa’s walls.”
This time, it was the Imperial Princess who intervened.
“Don’t you understand that she can’t spend her entire life confined within those walls, Viscount?”
“What does others’ opinion matter?”
“Your wife’s honor will be dragged through the mud.”
“Isn’t life more important than honor?”
The Imperial Princess continued, looking utterly exasperated.
“For someone named ‘Montrosa,’ that’s remarkably hollow talk.”
Emotions were escalating. Rosetta grabbed Cardier’s arm.
“Calm down, Cardier.”
He bit his lip as if he couldn’t calm down at all. His brow twisted in pain, and his eyes reddened from agitation. Even so, he remained still, seemingly afraid that sudden movement might hurt Rosetta, whose hand still clung to his arm.
“If you want me to calm down, you shouldn’t have said such a crazy thing as staying behind.”
His emotions still hadn’t settled, but Rosetta shook her head firmly.
“Listen to me. Right now, even the capital isn’t safe. People are helplessly falling victim to poison. Anything could erupt at any moment. And if I follow you—what then? I’d end up trailing behind the army, wouldn’t I?”
“I’ll assign attendants and send you straight to Montrosa’s estate…”
“With that approach, you’d die on the way. But if I stay here, the Imperial Princess will protect me safely.”
Rosetta quickly glanced at the Imperial Princess.
“Right?”
“Of course. I swear it by the name of Esperanda.”
“…?”
Seeing the momentum shift, the Imperial Princess gently urged them on.
“There are barely fourteen hours left before the ball begins. Even rushing, it would be tight to gather the army. Head to the northern gate. There’s someone there who owes me a favor. Show them this, and they’ll help.”
The Imperial Princess removed a sapphire ring from her finger and handed it to Owen.
“When you return, don’t come as soldiers—disguise yourselves as nobles. Only then can you pass through the palace gates.”
Owen stroked his chin as he replied.
“There will be too many of us. Won’t that draw suspicion?”
“Lady Audrey sent invitations even to minor nobles across the provinces. Most likely, tonight… after the Emperor passes away,”
“…?”
“They plan to hold the Crown Prince’s coronation tomorrow morning. With proper identification, you can easily avoid suspicion.”
Rosetta was surprised that the Imperial Princess, having foreseen all this, had taken no action. Did she not care if the Emperor died? Perhaps, she even wished for his death. But such matters of the highborn were none of her concern. Cardier, who had remained silently withdrawn throughout, finally responded coldly.
“Understood.”
Cardier’s expression was somewhat distant. He didn’t seem angry with her, but rather deeply unsettled by the idea of leaving her behind. And truly, anyone would feel the same. Yet Rosetta couldn’t back down either. Just as his desire to protect her was love, so too was her desire to protect the world he lived in.
“Be careful on your way.”
“You too. This time, please… take care of yourself.”
Cardier gently brushed the stray strands of hair from Rosetta’s forehead and tucked them behind her ear. He lowered his head and left a brief kiss on her forehead, then gave a silent bow to the Imperial Princess. Shortly after, the Imperial Princess manipulated the hidden mechanism of the secret passage, and a door leading to an underground waterway opened. Rosetta gazed long and steadily at Cardier’s retreating back until it disappeared from sight.
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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