Silence filled the study where only the two of us sat.
I trailed Nathaniel with my eyes as he sat at the desk, reviewing documents.
Unlike most people who work in an office, Nathaniel preferred a place where he could be alone.
Perhaps he feared turning into a dragon in front of others.
Since getting married, he had mostly stayed in the study, working away from others’ eyes.
He would call me there to work with him.
At first, I was slightly rebellious, but it was in vain.
He needed someone to clean up if he suddenly transformed, didn’t he?
It seemed like a plausible reason, and we had been getting along without incident for the past few months.
The problem was that what was right yesterday might be wrong today.
“It’s uncomfortable.”
Yes, it was uncomfortable.
Could it be believed that every action Nathaniel made bothered me?
But I couldn’t kick him out of the room either.
“Haah……”
I let out a long sigh without realizing it and sneakily checked his reaction.
Fortunately, Nathaniel did not seem to mind much.
I tried hard to turn my eyes from him and look at a book.
But my eyes were again drawn to his actions.
“Wow.”
My eyes kept going to Nathaniel’s long, beautiful fingers as he stretched his long legs on the desk and flipped through the documents.
The sight of his white fingers turning the pages was like a scene from a movie.
I followed my gaze from the back of his hand to his muscular arm that was tightly clenched.
I unknowingly swallowed my saliva at the muscles visible beyond his thin shirt.
I wanted to touch it at least once to see how firm it was.
“What’s wrong with me today!”
I, who had been staring at Nathaniel in a daze, shook my head to regain my senses.
Focus! Inner peace!
I screamed inwardly as I glared at the words.
I had to concentrate. Focus.
That sensitive man will soon see how I look at him…!
“What’s the problem?”
“Euuaaaaak!”
I threw the book I was holding because of the sudden approach of Nathaniel.
The book left a red mark on his smooth forehead as it flew far away with a thud.
“Gasp!”
With a light sound, the book fell.
I quickly looked at his face. As expected, Nathaniel’s expression was not good.
“Are you okay? Doesn’t it hurt?”
After speaking, I checked the thickness of the book again.
The thick spine of the book, about two fingers thick, looked very threatening.
“What on earth are you thinking.”
Nathaniel grumbled with a frown. The spot where the book hit was swelling red.
I wet a handkerchief with water and placed it on his forehead.
“I’m sorry.”
“Is there a problem? You seem particularly unable to concentrate lately.”
“No, well, it’s not that big of a deal.”
I subtly avoided his gaze.
The problem was that I had started to be too conscious of Nathaniel.
I reacted too strongly to things that I would have brushed off before.
How shall I put it? He looked unusually handsome.
“It’s not good for my heart.”
I backed away, pretending to pick up a book.
Why does he look so good all of a sudden when there’s no love in sight?
I shook my head.
It was Nathaniel, after all.
As I sat hunched over, gazing at him, someone knocked on the door.
“Her Highness the Crown Princess, a guest has come to see you.”
“A guest?”
I was puzzled by the statement that the visitor was looking for me, not Nathaniel.
Who would come to see me?
“Yes, the Viscount Maximilian Winters has come.”
“From my elder brother?”
I had no choice but to be surprised by the unexpected name.
Didn’t he go back to his territory?
[This is the time separator]I headed to the reception room where Maximilian was waiting, fending off Nathaniel’s offer to follow.
When I opened the door and entered, there sat Maximilian, looking like a beggar.
“Oh… elder brother?”
“Your Highness.”
The dark circles under his eyes made him look like a living corpse.
In addition, he was inappropriately dressed, and he looked much worse than when I had last seen him.
“What on earth happened? And what brings you all the way here?”
How did he get through the main gate in that state? It was truly a mystery.
“Would you like something to drink first? I’ve been running for days without a break…”
The pale complexion, as if he might collapse at any moment, proved Maximilian’s words to be true.
“Go wash up first. Someone might think you’re a bandit.”
At my words, Maximilian’s face turned red as he obediently got up from his seat.
While he was washing, I called for a maid to bring sandwiches and tea.
‘He used to be so meticulous about selfcare.’
Maximilian knew the value of his handsome appearance.
He didn’t hesitate to utilize his beauty, and he thoroughly managed it to maintain its value.
But to see Maximilian like that.
‘Being divorced must have been quite a shock.’
Soon the tea and sandwiches were ready, and Maximilian arrived, freshly washed.
He still looked tired, but it was somewhat better.
“Please eat.”
His slowly stuttering appearance looked pathetic.
The maid standing beside him blushed at the sight.
I took a deep breath and scanned the surroundings.
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.]
