The expeditionary force spent the whole day traveling and reached the count’s territory where the “Abandoned Mountain” was located.
“Outside the city walls is quite miserable.”
Linart, who had been surveying the area, spoke with a grim face. The sporadic houses were almost in ruins, and the farmland was also a mess.
“No one lives outside the walls, I heard. Inside the walls, it’s somewhat better.”
“Is that so?”
Just as they were about to respond, an entryway into the city walls appeared. Gabriel, who was leading the expeditionary force at the forefront, had already passed through.
Upon entering the considerably high walls, there were dozens of houses. Recognizing the expeditionary force, people made way, and Gabriel picked up speed again.
“Are you the commander of the White Knight Order?”
The gatekeeper guarding the front of the citadel asked. The walls themselves were quite high, and the citadel where the lord resided was overwhelmingly tall.
“That’s right.”
As Gabriel pulled back on the reins, stopping his horse, the noisy hoof sounds suddenly quieted down.
“Please come in.”
At Gabriel’s gesture, the expeditionary force dismounted all at once. Meanwhile, two gatekeepers on either side flung open the gates.
“Please come in. We’ve been waiting for you.”
The one who appeared in the meantime was Chloe, the Count of this castle. Next to the Count were faces that Rosebelia remembered seeing.
“Commander, you’ve arrived.”
“Everyone must’ve had a hard time.”
Were they knights dispatched from the White Knight Order to the count’s territory?
Although they looked a bit thinner than when Rosebelia had met them around this time last year, fortunately, they all seemed fine.
“We volunteered to come here. Meanwhile, you look younger, Commander.”
Sweeping down his white beard and chuckling, Gabriel turned toward the expeditionary force.
“We’ve ridden day and night. We will ascend the mountain before dawn tomorrow, so rest well here today.”
“Dinner is ready, so those who want to eat first can follow me.”
“Hand over the reins this way.”
From the steward guiding the meal to the servants taking reins from the knights and heading to the stables, the household staff of the Count’s mansion seemed accustomed to welcoming the expeditionary force and moved efficiently.
“Rosebelia, it’s been a while.”
“Yes, Senior. How have you been?”
The man who spoke to me had a long scar on his forehead.
Was he Oliver, my senior in the Order?
“Why didn’t Edwin come? Did he not make it onto the expedition list?”
“He was on the list, but there were some circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
“Well…”
While I was considering what to say, Vanessa approached. She cut between Oliver and me.
“Oliver, can’t we just eat first and settle the score later?”
Vanessa clutched her stomach as if she were starving and sent me a silent signal.
Should we go in quickly?
“Right, we’ve had nothing but bread on our way here.”
“Is that so? You must be hungry. Let’s go eat.”
Ah, now I remember.
Oliver was a senior famous for being endlessly talkative. So, he and Edwin had always gotten along rather well.
“Let’s go, Rosebelia.”
Following Vanessa, we entered a dining room where a rather lavish meal was prepared. Glancing over the food, she leaned toward me.
“Do you think the meal has gotten worse since the last expedition?”
“It makes sense. The area outside the walls was a mess.”
“Well, even the outskirts had monster appearances, so this place must be worse. Shall we sit?”
As we sat in the seat Vanessa pointed to, a servant brought over a hot soup.
After a few sips,
“Excuse me, Lady Rosebelia.”
The call came from the seat right next to me. Turning my head, I saw Conrad sitting in the seat that was empty just a moment ago.
Raising my eyebrows as if to ask what he wanted, Conrad opened his mouth with a tense expression.
“I’ve been wanting to apologize.”
“For what?”
“For being rude to Lady Rosebelia.”
Ah, he’s quite quick, isn’t he?
“You told me then, you couldn’t understand why a female knight was chosen. That men couldn’t possibly be weaker than women, so why choose a female knight to begin with…”
“I was ignorant. I should have apologized sooner, but I didn’t want to disturb your training. To be honest, it wasn’t easy to approach you. But I’ve been wanting to sincerely apologize.”
Conrad, who had stood up from his seat, gave me a respectful bow. To be honest, I had already forgotten the matter, so there was no reason to reject Conrad’s apology.
Moreover, he had readily answered when I’d asked him what happened at the palace last time.
“I accept your apology.”
“Pardon?”
“We’ve come all the way to the subjugation, there’s no point in getting hung up on the past.”
“Ah… right.”
I looked around the dining hall, with an awkward expression on Conrad who was looking at me.
More than twenty knights of the White Knight Order, about ten Guardian Knights, excluding one monster researcher from the royal family, the remaining were elite knights dispatched from noble families.
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.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
