“How?”
I stared at Hades in astonishment. The shock turned my mind blank for a moment. Not only had the flicker of doubt vanished, but the affection gauge, which had remained frustratingly unchanged, suddenly skyrocketed.
“……Hades.”
I cautiously called out to Hades. Even a quick glance was enough to sense that he was focused on me.
“Why call someone and say nothing?”
His tone seemed slightly irritated, but he couldn’t hide the underlying interest.
I stared at him intently.
His eyes, resembling deep and mysterious shades of amethyst, slightly furrowed.
“What’s the matter, Holy Maiden?”
“Just because.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I just wanted to call you.”
“You must enjoy toying with people.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“And you certainly won’t back down.”
“Neither will you.”
Hades turned his face forward with a stoic expression.
“It’d be better to go inside and rest instead of wasting time on small talk.”
I agreed with his statement, but I couldn’t take a single step forward. Once again, golden letters surfaced on Hades’s chest.
This time it said…
80 (How can such a creature exist?)
I questioned my eyes. It wasn’t merely that the affection gauge had increased because of something I had done.
‘I’ve never seen such a message before.’
Normally, when the affection level reaches 80, the message would be ‘I want to see you again and again.’ But this was a message I’d never encountered during the game.
‘Is the game changing? Or…’
I swallowed dryly. Whatever the reason, the increase in affection was good for me. After all, it meant that Hades had stopped doubting me.
“……You seem quite exhausted.”
When I continued to blankly stare at him, Hades lowered his head toward me.
“Is it even hard to walk?”
“No? Not at all.”
I began walking briskly as if to prove a point. Hades seemed to have a lot he wanted to say, but he kept pace with me without uttering another word.
We reached my room shortly afterward but couldn’t go in immediately.
An unexpected visitor was standing there.
“Your Highness, greetings.”
The identity of the maid who bowed politely was Amy.
Hades narrowed his eyes.
“You… are the maid who left Angelica.”
“Yes.”
“And what brings you back?”
Amy tried to act composed, but she couldn’t hide her trembling hands.
“I, um, that is…”
Unable to bear it, I intervened.
“I need to talk to Amy for a moment.”
Hades crossed his arms.
“Just the two of you? That can’t happen.”
“I figured as much.”
I shook my head dejectedly. Considering recent events, the likelihood of Hades leaving me alone with someone was close to zero.
“However, we can briefly talk here, right?”
“……Fine.”
I looked straight at Amy. Her eyes were reddening, as if she was holding back tears.
“What’s going on, Amy?”
I felt like I already knew the answer.
“I’m planning to go back to my hometown.”
“Your hometown?”
I was taken aback. I knew nothing of Amy’s hometown, but it was where she grew up, so she must have some affection for it.
‘But I thought Amy wanted to climb the social ladder more than anything… Was I wrong?’
I cautiously opened my mouth.
“If it’s because of me, there’s no need. Donovan Castle is large, and it won’t matter much where you work.”
After a brief silence, Amy’s voice, laced with moisture, reached my ears.
“Your Holiness, you are truly a wonderful person.”
I gently smiled.
“Amy, you’re a good person too. Who else treated me well when everyone else despised and hated me?”
In reality, there was Tobias, but even without him, what I said wasn’t wrong.
I continued softly.
“If it hadn’t been for you, it would’ve taken me a long time to adapt to Donovan. So, consider this as the least I can do to show my gratitude for all this time.”
Although I wanted to give Amy a gift, all the jewelry I had was Donovan property.
“……Saintess.”
Amy lifted her head to look at me.
“Can I ask for one last favor then?”
“What is it?”
“I, I want to stay by your side, Saintess.”
Amy’s voice trembled but was sincere.
I blinked. I felt like I knew why Amy had those thoughts, but there were still questions I couldn’t help but ask.
“Is that okay?”
I carefully asked.
“You’ve already been disappointed in me. There’s no guarantee it won’t happen again. Are you really okay with that?”
“Even if you deceive me? No.”
Amy shook her head.
“Then I’ll run away again. I might even stir up trouble, saying I’ll go back to my hometown.”
“……”
“But if you keep showing your sincerity like now, I’ll come back.”
Hades shook his head with a displeased expression.
“You speak of obeying quite confidently.”
Amy bit her lip and watched me. I pondered for a moment. If Amy had intended, she could’ve said something pleasing to hear.
But Amy had honestly spilled her thoughts, and for that honesty, I was grateful.
How much harm an insincere person could do, I’d learned that through Tobias.
“……I’m sorry.”
Amy’s eyes widened. She didn’t expect an apology from me.
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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