The children were sleeping soundly, but a sudden noise made me turn my head quickly.
“Chills… Who’s there… Who is here?”
Was it because I was fainting that I heard nonsense?
But even so, the sound was too clear? I looked around, but there was no one to be seen.
“Well, I must have misheard.”
Goosebumps crept up my arm and cold sweat trickled down my back, but I deliberately shook my head.
“Recently, I’ve been weak. There’s no one here but me… There can’t be any other noises.”
Ignoring it for no reason, I went back to looking for my book.
But of all things, the casually placed was up there.
Of all the numbers, 3. 4 and 5 were all within my eye level, but 3 was so high up that it would be difficult to reach even if I stood up.
“Ah… They really made it hard to read a book.”
I thought it was well-organized because the sections were divided, but now the arrangement of the books looked messy.
“They really haven’t managed it well.”
Annoyed, what could I do? In the end, I cautiously stood up and moved toward the book.
In fear of waking the children, I moved cautiously, but due to Sasha’s arm dangling towards me, the kids flinched when I moved.
I tiptoed like a cat and reached out for the book. But it was impossible to retrieve the book just by stretching my arm from a distance.
It was then, while I was leaning forward with my feet off the ground, that I naturally lost my balance.
“Uh…!”
I started to tip towards the bookshelf. Would it hold me? If not… I would fall. And everything else would too…
It was astonishing that I could have so many thoughts in a split second, and even more so that I was still in the process of falling.
It was at that moment, even at the risk of waking the children, that I tried to move my feet to regain balance.
Before I could step, a strong arm gripped my waist.
“Uh…”
The noise was strange, given the opposing directions of my falling body and the arm that held me.
Still, thanks to that hand, I managed to regain my balance and finally stood upright.
“Ah… Lian?”
“Always clumsy, aren’t you? Falling even in a library.”
“Ah… T-Thank you.”
I quickly returned to my spot and looked at him. He sighed as if I was pathetic.
“You seem to get weaker every day.”
“No, I was just cautious not to wake the children…”
“I see.”
Was that coughing noise I heard earlier his voice? It sounded like an older person, but…
‘Good thing it wasn’t a ghost.’
If you’re here, show yourself. I glared at him, slightly embarrassed.
Ah. Was that coughing his way of announcing his presence?
“Why are you staring?”
“Nothing.”
He was known for his strong aversion to women. Many nobles had thrust their daughters into the same room as him, only for him to run away.
He never even dined or talked with a woman alone.
But he talked to me, so I thought his aversion to women was improving. At least he didn’t seem uncomfortable around me.
‘To be precise, he probably doesn’t see me as a woman.’
Even so, that was enough… Touching, however, was a different matter.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“I was just surprised you caught me… it’s a bit odd.”
“I see.”
He clenched and unclenched the hand that had caught me.
“Strange. I never even considered it.”
“Are you better now, Lian?”
“I’ll have to test it.”
“Hm?”
“I should go for today.”
Somehow, the Emperor’s face brightened. Could it be so good that his aversion to women was fading?
Seeing his bright smile, I had the vague feeling that I wouldn’t be around here for long.
‘If the Emperor’s aversion to women vanishes…’
He would find a suitable person to be his Empress. Whether a noblewoman who could help him, or the daughter of a supportive noble.
A slight feeling of loneliness came over me.
“Are you leaving already? Didn’t you have business here?”
“No, I just came to see if the library was being well-used. So I’ll be going.”
And with that, he turned on his heels.
I watched him leave for a moment. Only when I heard the library door close did I shift my gaze back to the bookshelf.
“Ah…? The library door… I’m sure I closed it well when I entered…”
How did he enter without opening the library door?
‘Could it be… He had been waiting here all along?… No, that couldn’t be.’
I shook my head back and forth, put away “The Easy-to-Understand History of Matop, Volume 3,” and took my seat again beside the children, this time keeping a bit of distance so as not to disturb them.
As expected, the third volume talked about the false notion of eternal life.
“Damn Matop X’s… obsessed with money.”
For a moment, it felt as if a breeze blew through the royal library, even though all the windows were shut. Was it getting warm? Feeling a breeze all of a sudden was strange.
“Something’s… off about this library… I should come here as little as possible.”
The mysterious winds, and even the emperor’s voice that I’d heard earlier…
Just as I voiced my thought, the wind suddenly stopped. It was as if the library was confirming its oddness.
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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