Ermedillin thought she needed to personally verify Balliere’s actions with her own eyes.
Previously, she had only wanted to leave the palace as soon as possible, but now she hoped that even if a new empress succeeded her, the people would find peace.
‘If he acts selfishly and foolishly again, I’ll have to reconsider passing the title of empress to him.’
Upon arriving at Henri’s reception room, she saw Duke Ilenian and Count Biennst, and their daughters Belestr and Riena, sitting with solemn faces.
And in front of them, Balliere was bowed, trying to squeeze out tears.
“I’ve been preoccupied lately and wasn’t in my right mind. I must have momentarily lost my senses. I’m really sorry.”
She had worried he might be too arrogant, but Balliere was apologizing more politely than she expected.
And at that moment, Ermedillin’s eyes met Belestr’s.
Belestr rose from her seat, bowing as she greeted Ermedillin, barely listening to Balliere’s apology.
Ermedillin returned her greeting with a cold smile.
They were the family of Biella, who had tried to kill her using a young boy. There was no need to be kind to the people of the Ilenian family.
‘Even if I’ve moved on, wrong is wrong.’
Still, Belestr, undeterred by Ermedillin’s somewhat chilly response, passed by the bowing Balliere to approach Ermedillin.
“I greet Your Majesty the Empress. I have recently returned to Tribian and haven’t had a personal opportunity to meet.”
‘Ah, could she be someone I know? The people of the Ilenian family can’t be good.’
Even if she had enjoyed reading this novel, she couldn’t know every minor character in detail.
Just look at the main villain Ermedillin, who had so many unspecified, headacheinducing backstories.
So, while Ermedillin didn’t want to be prejudiced against someone she was meeting for the first time, the name Ilenian had already left a bad impression on her.
And it was even more annoying that Belestr would pass by the bowing Balliere to greet her first.
So, Ermedillin didn’t react to her greeting.
She merely stared at Belestr with her clear purple eyes, which seemed to peer into the very bottom of her soul.
An awkward silence briefly settled in Henri’s reception room.
Tension swept everyone as they scrambled to think of their next moves.
“Just go ahead and talk freely, ignoring me.”
Ermedillin said, casting a sidelong glance at Balliere.
Hearing Ermedillin’s words, Balliere who had been restraining himself, raised his head.
“I’ve apologized, so I’ll leave now…”
“Convenient. You think a single word ends an attempted murder?”
‘Attempted murder?’
Belestr had turned a battery charge into an attempted murder with just a few words.
“My lawyer advised that a thick book can be considered a weapon, and since it struck the head, murderous intent could be inferred.”
It was a bit exaggerated, but not exactly incorrect.
Though it would be difficult for attempted murder to be proven, if they confronted each other in court, the trial would be prolonged, and Balliere would never become the count he had desired to be, only earning a bad reputation.
‘What will you do?’
Ermedillin waited for Balliere’s choice with a somewhat cold heart.
“It was accidental, and I didn’t even aim for your head!”
Apparently unable to bear the term ‘attempted murder,’ Balliere started using informal language.
“Huh? Even your words are short now. You don’t seem to realize the gravity of your situation.”
Velest also did not seem inclined to say a single word, clearly in a foul mood.
“What’s wrong with acting lowly when I’m in a lowly position? Didn’t you say I was lowly?”
“Well, you were the one who threw the book at me first!”
“And you were the one talking nonsense about the government and that woman!”
“What’s wrong with calling the government the government…”
“Enough!”
The atmosphere was boiling over. If left alone, it seemed likely to erupt into a physical fight.
Having no choice, Ermedillin shouted, stopping the two.
Angry glances were exchanged, but no one seemed willing to speak up.
“Is it reasonable to throw such a dangerous object at someone’s head just because you’ve heard a little insult?”
Vallery stood shaking, apparently at a loss for words.
His clenched fists seemed ready to explode; his eyes filled with anger, but his lips remained sealed.
‘When I become the empress, I’ll kill them all. Just endure it a little longer. The coronation ceremony is tomorrow. Just a little longer.’
Ermedillin now turned to Velest.
“Your birthright might grant you the privilege of respect, but it doesn’t give you the right to demean others.”
Frankly, Ermedillin wanted to just tell them to settle it with a fistfight if they had any issues. But, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so he carefully voiced his opinion.
“Unearned respect has its limits. An adult should be able to gain respect themselves. What does the princess think?”
Ermedillin spoke cautiously, in case his words might be misconstrued.
To the unaware, Ermedillin’s demeanor seemed composed, filled with a certain dignified aura of an empress.
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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