“Even if I die, please don’t cut off the food supply to Bermont territory.”
Clodelle voiced the tormenting thought that had afflicted her more painfully than her illness throughout the night.
“I beg of you. The children are starving.”
She had hoped he would not wage war on Bermont, but could not directly ask this of a man infuriated by a marriage based on deceit. This was the best she could do.
“Quite the saint you’ve become.”
His response was a sharp sneer.
Clodelle looked up at him, his face twisted in mockery.
“Bravo. Selling yourself to the enemy’s man for the sake of hungry children.”
His tone was bitter, his expression still cold and angry.
But now that she had spoken, she couldn’t back down.
She had to get a confirmation from him, believing a man who valued honor would not break his promise.
“The children are so pitiable. At an age when they should be growing, they’re starving…”
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
His unexpectedly straightforward affirmation left Clodelle staring at him, stunned.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
But his next words made her freeze.
“Don’t be too pleased. It means I’m buying your will.”
“What… do you mean?”
Kain reached out, lifting Clodelle’s chin to meet his eyes.
“Ten carts at a time.”
Clodelle trembled.
She bowed her head deeply, overwhelmed by an unbearable sense of degradation.
But as Kain released her chin and began to move away, she impulsively grabbed his hands.
“Do it now.”
Closing her eyes, Clodelle braced for the familiar heat that soon crawled over her body.
Kain gently dressed Clodelle, who lay motionless as if dead. He disliked the phrase ‘as if dead’, feeling an uncomfortable heat inside him at the thought.
‘This wasn’t my intention.’
He didn’t mean to ravage her so brutally. He was too confused, too desperate just to see her, even for a moment.
What difference did it make when Clodelle collapsed?
Throughout his life on the battlefield, it wasn’t only armed enemies who fell to his sword. Sometimes, to strike the enemy’s weak point meant brutally ending what they cherished and protected.
Under the name of tactics, the weak and the young were mercilessly slaughtered.
For the glory of victory!
Bloodshed under the fluttering flag was justified as long as it wasn’t his own people’s.
But the blood Clodelle shed felt different.
On the battlefield, everyone acted devoid of humanity, driven solely by the need to protect their kingdom.
Like ants mindlessly serving their queen.
There was no remorse, no guilt.
His soldiers, who effortlessly took lives in battle, returned to their domains and cheerfully celebrated with their wives, who bore children in their absence.
That was normal, natural.
Yet, why was the sight of blood so shockingly different now?
Kain was confused.
He just wanted to see Clodelle.
To check if she was better today than the day before, when she looked so sick.
Each day, she seemed to shrink further, growing even smaller than the previous day.
Was she being consumed by the disease that rapidly?
His dark mood lifted slightly when he heard her unexpected request.
“Even if I die, please don’t cut off the food supply to Bermont territory.”
His already thinning patience evaporated amidst his turbulent emotions.
“Even in this situation, you only think about others?”
“What about me? Shouldn’t I be the one you’re apologizing to first?”
The anger he had been suppressing burst forth as harsh words spilled out towards her.
“Clodelle, you make me feel like a mad tyrant.”
Kain believed he was being manipulated by her.
“Do it now.”
Unable to resist her faintly spoken request, he embraced her, collapsing like a beast.
“You can’t die.”
Kain looked at Clodelle, wrapped in tranquility.
“I won’t allow it.”
As he left the bed, small dewdrops formed in Clodelle’s eyes, unseen by Kain, who had turned his back.
The Shen River, encompassing the capital, displayed a spectacular scene today.
Colorful boats, each adorned with vibrant sails, docked at the port, creating a kaleidoscope on the grand river.
The area near the harbor buzzed with a festive atmosphere.
Crowds thronged the market alleys, enjoying various attractions and delicacies from foreign lands.
The joyous mood permeated the capital too.
Precious medicines, exotic foods, and rare dyed silks piled up like mountains in the spacious hall.
For the third consecutive year, this trade fair marked a symbol of peace following the end of the war, an initiative proposed by King Balquiter of Oberon.
“Haha, it’s bustling as usual this year.”
“Indeed.”
The foreign envoys, satisfied with the substantial goods they brought, shared toasts.
“King Balquiter certainly has an eye for quality.”
Compliments mingled with flattery as Balquiter chuckled.
“It’s thanks to your efforts in bringing such fitting merchandise.”
“Your praise is too generous.”
Amidst the warm exchange, a royal attendant whispered something to Balquiter. His youthful and handsome face grew serious.
“What’s the matter?”
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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