I only resisted because they belonged to people associated with Hubert. Looking back, I regret not stealing them earlier.
“I’ll buy you a few.”
Lady Emerun said after some hesitation. I shook my head, still looking downcast.
“How could I accept such generosity? Plus, all my dresses are old, it would be a burden on you. Too much trouble.”
Lord Bakennin then suggested to Lady Emerun.
“How about increasing her allowance?”
‘That’s it.’
I silently rejoiced.
I was involved in major and minor affairs of the house, but they were mostly tedious tasks. For important matters like finance, permission from the direct Lorenst line was necessary.
And Lady Emerun tightly held the purse strings for the women’s expenses.
“Alright. Increasing the allowance will do, right? How about a gold coin?”
My current allowance was half a silver coin. A fortune for a commoner, but hardly enough for a noble daughter to buy a decent pair of earrings.
‘Stingy, stingy. She spends two gold coins a month on her hobbies.’
I remembered her significant expenditure in this month’s financial report.
Lord Bakennin interjected at the right moment.
“Isn’t that too little? Even a basic dress costs half a silver coin these days.”
Half a silver coin for a basic dress? Was it stitched with gold thread?
Lord Bakennin, more a scholar than a businessman, was clueless about the financial world. No wonder all his business ventures failed.
Lady Emerun reluctantly agreed.
“How about two gold coins then?”
“That’s too much…”
I looked away as if embarrassed.
“Then another solution…”
“But if it’s to improve my humble appearance, I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll be receiving more attention soon, and I don’t want to bring shame to our family.”
Lady Emerun quickly closed her mouth, halting her hasty retraction of the proposal.
‘I can buy several dresses with the money I’ve saved up.’
More money is always better.
I forced my smiling lips down and pretended to wipe dry eyes with my sleeve.
“How could I ever forget the kindness of being accepted into this family as a mere nursemaid’s daughter? I wanted to be of help to the Lorenst family through my devoted service. If there’s another way to repay this kindness, there’s no reason not to.”
I eloquently spoke words befitting the loyal maid, Igraine Lorenst.
“So?”
I looked up. Gone was the gloomy atmosphere; the ‘family’ of the Lorenst household watched me with anticipation.
I feigned a woeful smile.
Hubert’s brow furrowed slightly, showing awareness of the absurdity of his suggestion. If it had been the old days, I would have been moved by his concern.
Memories flooded back of the time I decided to sacrifice myself in Aris’s stead, moved by his tearful plea.
The situation wasn’t much different now.
What had changed, however, was that I no longer allowed myself to be swept away by their influence. Now, ‘I’ was my priority.
“If that’s your wish, I’ll do as you say.”
Externally calm, my mind raced.
‘A free ticket to a higher status.’
That night, I sat in front of the vanity. I was looking through the manor’s ledger when I felt an emptiness near my head.
Lifting my gaze, I saw Jenny, who had stopped combing my hair, biting her lip.
“What’s wrong? Why are you like this?”
“Aren’t you worried at all?”
“About what?”
“Georgia told me everything. About you possibly being appointed as a princess.”
“Why is she so loose-lipped?”
I sighed and put down the ledger.
“Don’t look so troubled. It’s not a bad thing.”
“Not bad? I heard everything! Being the wife of a barbarian. That’s terrifying. Young girls offered as tributes have been found bleeding between their legs.”
The cruelty of the desert barbarians was a symbol of terror for the maidens of Liorssa.
‘The rumors about barbarians are indeed terrifying.’
“It’s not a good attitude to be afraid in advance.”
“But Miss…”
“It’s okay, Jenny. I’m strong, remember?”
I smiled reassuringly at the sobbing Jenny.
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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