“What is it?”
Reniel feared Ianathas, who acted sharply at times as if hiding his claws while seemingly kind to her.
Moreover, he was the one who had seen her true form last time.
And she knew well.
That the casino Ianathas operated was actually a place for training assassins and existed for money laundering.
The casino managed by Ianathas was the place that generated the most wealth in this Apentina Empire.
And the one who ran such a place was surely ruthless, unlike his smiling exterior.
Reniel clearly knew this fact.
Yet when she saw Thanasis in tatters, her body moved forward without her realizing.
“…You’re trembling.”
Ianathas felt strange when he saw Reniel grab his wrist and tremble.
It would have been right to shake her off immediately and interrogate her about why she was interfering, or if she might be a spy.
Moreover, since his lord was suspicious of Reniel, he had a good excuse.
But her appearance of trying to stop him while trembling in fear seemed quite pitiful, like a herbivore, and somehow his reaction came out gently.
It also made him wonder if there could be such a careless spy in the world.
“Are you crying?”
For some reason, he wanted to see Reniel cry.
“What? Me? Why?”
Reniel seemed terrified but was trying not to cry.
Ianathas chuckled at that question and slowly lowered his hand. As he lowered the hand that had held the whip, he could see Reniel’s expression gradually brightening.
He looked at her wondering if she really was a spy, but she was smiling without even hiding her expression.
It was so careless that he doubted whether she was really a spy. Yet he also wondered if even this might be some high-level tactic.
He understood why his competent and perfect lord was confused.
And perhaps.
Though it was a very low probability.
She could be someone trustworthy.
Ianathas knew the reason why his lord did not eliminate people without clear evidence.
Because working in the darkness for so long made one realize how valuable a trustworthy person was.
It was natural to develop a habit of testing whether someone was trustworthy, in preparation for that one-in-a-million case.
So if this subtly careless yet bright servant was perhaps not a spy but just a bright and thoughtless person who was innocent.
Then she might be a good person to keep by one’s side.
For 10 years, she hadn’t coveted money that wasn’t hers, hadn’t caused any big incidents, and was competent as a servant.
Though it was still dawn and he hadn’t investigated everything about Reniel yet, he knew enough from tormenting the head servant upstairs to know that her personnel evaluation was quite good.
But that didn’t mean she was a valuable existence yet.
She could suddenly change and become a fatal being that would hurt his lord.
“Then when should I do my job? My lord ordered me to punish this trash.”
“The order I received was to keep him alive. And since I come down at dawn, don’t do it at this time.”
Reniel spoke firmly but was still trembling.
Ianathas smiled, finding it like a sparrow flapping its wings to warn him.
“What if I refuse?”
“Huh? Um… that wouldn’t be right… I’ll ask the master first.”
He unintentionally smiled at Reniel’s words. Her reaction was actually quite normal.
For some reason, he felt strange imagining the long hair he had seen last time flowing over those shoulders.
He thought that perhaps the person before him really could be that Nirnberg princess who could purify corrupted magic.
He kept doubting whether Reniel was really a man. Her body lines and Adam’s apple were clearly male.
However, it was strange that she looked like a woman whenever he let his guard down. Ianathas tended to trust his instincts quite a bit.
“Then the deputy head servant should treat him. I’ll come back later.”
“You should come with me to the master later!”
“Why?”
“Weren’t you supposed to be there when I put the master to sleep?”
Reniel didn’t mind putting Felix to sleep, but she had no intention of accepting behavior like last time when he took off her ring and climbed on top of her chest.
Above all, even though he was in a sleepwalking-like state, she couldn’t help feeling anxious about when he might suddenly try to kill her.
“Ah, that’s right.”
Ianathas responded very indifferently, as if he didn’t care about Reniel’s safety at all, and as if he thought his lord wouldn’t be defeated by such a weak person even in a sleepwalking state.
“Then I’ll see you on the 3rd floor in 30 minutes.”
“Yes.”
He just agreed to that and smiled slightly.
Ianathas finished mocking Thanasis and then handed the whip to Reniel.
“If he doesn’t listen, punish him with that.”
“I don’t know how to use a whip. I’d be lucky if I don’t hit my own cheek with it.”
When Reniel said that sincerely, Ianathas smiled unknowingly as he turned around.
As soon as Ianathas left, Thanasis glared at Reniel.
He was glaring at her, forgetting that he should act kindly towards Reniel to make her let her guard down.
“…Do you pity me?”
“No.”
“Then why did you stop him?”
“Because it’s my time now.”
Reniel said that and neatly rolled up the whip, placing it in the corner.
Then, as if she had really come to do her job, she put down the first aid kit she had brought nearby and headed to the bathroom with a water bucket and towel.
When Reniel returned, Thanasis looked at her with a confused expression and said:
“Just what are you?”
Thanasis felt the pain from the magic that he had felt until just now fading just from her presence.
“Ah, I was just promoted to deputy head servant.”
Reniel smiled brightly as she touched Thanasis’s muzzle.
It seemed to be a broken muzzle, but it was left on because it had a snout attached to prevent biting.
Reniel hesitated a little before slowly undoing the muzzle.
Thanasis blankly watched as Reniel undid the muzzle.
Then as she wiped his face with a towel dampened with warm water, he felt strange.
Just her exhaled breath was alleviating the pain.
His body was not normal because he had to absorb magic imbued with fire abilities every time. His original magic had become as turbid as it could be, causing pain throughout his body.
So he would unknowingly create flames and explode.
But now, just having Reniel in the same space seemed to allow him to control his body’s energy.
The magic felt very light, and even the feeling of blockage coursing through his blood vessels didn’t hurt as much now.
The pain seemed to fade more and more, perhaps because of her pinky finger touching as she wiped his face.
“Wipe more thoroughly.”
“Yes.”
Reniel gently wiped his straight forehead and eyelids, as Thanasis seemed strangely exhausted.
Then she cleaned his cheeks and ears thoroughly as well.
“Is that all?”
“Now I need to do other parts too. I brought a change of clothes.”
Reniel thought it would be better for Thanasis to move on his own rather than her wiping him like this.
In any case, the room he was in was very spacious, and even if the rope was loosened so he could go to the bathroom, he couldn’t reach the pulley that could adjust the iron chain on the right wall.
“Should I loosen the rope so you can wash up?”
“How about you wash me?”
“Are you that badly injured?”
“Can’t you see?”
At Thanasis’s words, Reniel glanced at his body. Come to think of it, he did seem to be quite injured.
“But if I do that, won’t you attack me?”
“As if I could attack in this state.”
Reniel knew well that he was a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.
But remembering that him losing control of his ability and exploding to burn down the Le Pelique duchy would happen a bit later, she nodded.
“Even if you kill me here, Ianathas is outside.”
“I know.”
“If I die here, probably even harsher things…”
“I said I know. I won’t attack.”
When Thanasis replied like that, Reniel looked at him suspiciously.
But recalling that he hadn’t attacked her even with his muzzle removed, she decided to be very brave.
After all, if she didn’t take risks, she couldn’t gain anything. She reminded herself that Ianathas was outside and decided to act more boldly.
Click.
“…What are you doing?”
“I’m going to leave only the restraint on your neck.”
Thanasis was surprised to see Reniel removing everything except the restraint on his neck.
“What if I run away?”
“Well… then I’d die, I guess?”
Seeing Thanasis’s body covered in wounds, Reniel couldn’t bring herself to be harsh.
No matter how she thought about it, it was right to wash him, disinfect and treat his wounds. And she needed to feed him the food she had brought too. And in her view, his condition was extremely serious.
In this state, it seemed he would lose even to a mere knight if he went outside.
“…I’m going to escape from here.”
Even as Thanasis said that, rather than escape, he wanted to touch Reniel.
Every time he touched her, the pain was clearly reduced by half.
Without realizing it, he was resting his head on her shoulder.
“Go wash up.”
“You need to help me wash.”
Thanasis said that as he grasped Reniel’s hand.
Reniel looked startled, perhaps because she had removed most of his shackles, but.
“Do, do you really need me?”
She looked at Thanasis with a flustered expression, unable to firmly refuse.
Intoxicated by the fragrant scent emanating from Reniel, Thanasis answered:
“I need you. I don’t know how to wash alone.”
It was a complete lie, but he just wanted Reniel’s touch to reach him more.
Only then could he be freed from this terrible pain.
Then, though the situation was hateful, he could endure it.
And he also thought that Reniel resembled the Nirnberg princess who had been engaged to him and then disappeared.
Especially this bright sky blue hair was something only one woman in the empire had possessed.
Along with those hydrangea-like bright purple eyes.
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.]
