‘Had the two eaten from the same side?’
All the way back to the palace alone due to work, Angri was plagued by an unpleasant mood.
Though not yet as vividly green as Pellio’s, the emotion that gradually took shape had quietly gained influence in one corner of Angri’s heart.
And Angri found this unidentified emotion incredibly unsettling.
He had lived in a world of black and white for a long time.
Most people surrounding him lived in the world of black.
Those who would kill me depending on the situation, those who unconditionally worship me, and those who aim to use me.
Among them, Ermedillin clearly belonged to the black.
Only Vallier lived in the world of white.
But lately, both Ermedillin and Vallier seemed to drift toward a gray world.
I hate ambiguity.
Undefined relationships are tiresome.
Independent of his wavering heart, Angri wanted to at least return Vallier to the world of white.
From a heart that hoped at least one person would live in the lonely world of white.
For a moment, an image of Vallier, who had shown disappointment saying that while Ermedillin was the empress, he was merely a government official, flashed across Angri’s mind.
Though I couldn’t give Vallier the position of a wife, she still remained the sole white dot in his barren world.
I can’t be fooled by the vile black that dare mimics white.
Angri thought that something needed to be done to solidify his relationship with Vallier.
‘Today, I must discuss Vallier’s title with the ministers.’
When Angri, who had returned from the orphanage grounds, said this, the ministers’ faces darkened as expected.
Though killing off the royal family in bulk for Angri to become the emperor was radical, giving a title to Vallier, a bastard, was inconceivable.
The ministers, knowing how much Angri favored Vallier, couldn’t openly protest and just frowned.
Then, Duke Ilenian quietly spoke up.
“Wasn’t the reason you haven’t bestowed a title upon Vallier to give her a better position? Why suddenly give her a title now?”
Duke Ilenian, who was in a compromising position with Angri due to the assassination attempt at the funeral, had to ask as a representative of the noble faction.
“Yes, I intended to give her a better title. However, lately the titles being given to Vallier have crossed the line. Unmentionable words are circulating.”
After all, the nobles are more interested in gossip than politics when they attend social gatherings.
Among these, the Emperor’s concubine was prime gossip material.
The ministers knew well about the derogatory titles attached to Vallier.
Even among them, there were those who actively used these titles when among themselves.
“Recently, seeing the Empress establishing an orphanage, it seems Vallier too has been inspired. She wants to conduct more charitable works, so having a title will make things easier; hence, the decision.”
What more could be said when the Emperor had made the decision himself?
Receiving a title didn’t grant any real power.
The ministers were about to approve Vallier’s new title without further questions.
However, Angri added something no one expected.
“I’m thinking of separating some land from the originally held duchy to bestow upon her. What are your thoughts?”
‘What did I just hear?’
Even Duke Batistian, a staunch supporter of the Emperor, found it difficult to maintain composure at Angri’s radical statement.
“Why? It’s the royal land anyway. What’s the issue in giving some to her? Doesn’t Vallier also need to develop a sense of governance?”
If the assassination attempt on the Empress hadn’t left him vulnerable, Count Ilenian would have immediately contested Anri’s words.
Yet, he could not act recklessly when the maid Beilla had sent with the dagger was still in Anri’s possession.
As even Count Ilenian held his tongue, Count Battistain, who had been silent, opened his lips.
“Why not grant them a fief instead of a salary from the government? If they have a title and a fief, there’s no need to draw a salary from the palace anymore.”
A few barren acres would suffice; Count Battistain thought it better than having the government’s name appear on the royal ledger.
“Certainly, your point has merit. What land should be given?”
Anri went to Valiere with documents related to the land to be granted.
Although it was a baronial fief, it was neither prime land nor could private troops be stationed, since it was a grant from the Emperor.
Valiere would collect the taxes from the fief, but the stationed troops would be Anri’s soldiers.
However, the location was not entirely undesirable, being somewhat near the capital and bordered by a forest and a rugged river, making it not the worst place for tax collection.
Though modest for a baronial fief, Anri judged it could be of considerable help to Valiere in her management studies.
Anri eagerly sought out Valiere for the first time in a while.
Seeing Anri’s expression, she knew her request had been met.
‘It was good to have invoked Ermedillin.’
She was still guessing why Anri had suddenly complied.
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.]
