Upon hearing the unexpected news, I was momentarily speechless.
“My brother proposed?”
“Yes.”
In response to Teresa’s answer, Casian seemed surprised, his mouth hanging open.
I belatedly regained my composure.
During the brief moment of contemplating what to say, Casian interjected first.
“What’s gotten into that guy’s head? Suddenly proposing…”
“I heard that Viscount Grovan is scheming something. He said he would protect me. It seems the opponent has even hired a magician.”
“A magician? Does the viscount have that much money…”
Casian soon closed his mouth. It was evident where the funding came from.
“He probably thinks he doesn’t need it now that he’s caught his fish,” he muttered.
Following the Emperor’s thoughts was challenging. Despite being a government deeply favored by the Emperor, this side had long been a supporting house of the empire. It didn’t make sense to force such a strained situation when their power was not weak.
“I can’t understand what Her Majesty is thinking.”
I nodded in agreement with Casian’s grumbling. In reality, I didn’t want to understand.
However, if the Empress was stepping forward to issue a warning, I couldn’t just stay silent.
“I approve of staying at the Duchy. The detection devices for magic operate everywhere in the Winter’s Duchy. They are a special device installed only in the Emperor’s room in the Imperial Palace due to the high cost of magic stones.”
However, due to the unrestricted use of magic stones in the Winter’s Duchy, the Duchess, who enjoyed extravagance, introduced magical detection devices throughout the mansion.
Unfortunately, the mother’s use of contraceptive magic was exposed because of these magical detection devices.
“She said we could break off the engagement later, but causing unnecessary harm isn’t ideal…”
Teresa muttered with a dark expression. If they were to break off the engagement twice with the same person, it was evident that rumors would circulate about both Teresa and Maximilian.
Especially for Teresa, marriage might become genuinely difficult.
“It’s not something to decide recklessly.”
Teresa sighed deeply.
Seeing the expression filled with concern and fatigue, I shook my head.
‘I need to meet Her Majesty.’
From my observations, the Emperor had a strong obsession with power. He even guarded against the division of power to Prince Nathaniel.
‘But suddenly empowering the viscount this way, does it make sense for a person to change overnight?’
No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed strange.
Moreover, how did the viscount manage to bring in magical experts, who are usually challenging to approach?
‘Maybe someone Kilian knows?’
As he is the leader of the magicians, he might have information about this incident.
‘Let’s talk to Nathaniel first.’
Meeting separately might cause trouble if Nathaniel gets jealous for no reason.
“First, I’ll find out what Diana is up to and contact you.”
I reassured Teresa and Casian and sent them away.
Nathaniel conveyed my request to Kilian. Due to the numerous mistakes he had made in the royal family, Kilian readily agreed to provide the information.
A few days later, Nathaniel brought the report.
“He said he wanted to deliver it himself, but I guess he’s busy.”
“Kilian, you say?”
“It seems like he has a lot on his plate.”
“Oh, really?”
Meeting Henry and Anais two or three times a week, I thought he had free time.
‘Hmm, what’s going on?’
It was suspicious, but for now, I decided to check the report.
The report, written in a neat hand, stated that the magicians they had contacted did not seem to belong to the Mages’ Tower.
“If they are not affiliated with the Mages’ Tower…”
“There aren’t many free magicians, especially those who can penetrate the security of noble families.”
The report also listed the names of other potential magicians. Nathaniel, who was next to me, raised an eyebrow.
“All of them are quite famous. It would be extremely difficult to move them with money alone.”
“Then it seems none of them are involved.”
As I silently pondered, something crossed my mind.
“Could it be the Dias Knights?”
“The Knights?”
“They targeted Teresa last time as well.”
“It’s not entirely impossible, but…”
To others, it might sound like an urban legend, but Nana and Nathaniel had already experienced it once. So, there was even more reason to be suspicious.
“Indeed, it seems we have no choice but to go in and check Town House ourselves.”
“But there’s no way. If the Knights are involved, it won’t be easy to get in.”
Nathaniel’s words made sense. The opponent could hide their identity so well that he wouldn’t notice.
“For now, don’t think about it. It could be dangerous.”
Nathaniel patted my head, then got up and headed to the bathroom.
“Oh!”
It didn’t seem like there was no way. I narrowed my eyes and watched Nathaniel’s retreating figure.
Today, Nathaniel, burdened with heavy work again, came into the bedroom slowly.
“You’re here?”
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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