The moment Brant saw Daniel, he spilled everything that had happened with Ruans like a machine gun.
“Duke Daniel. Please… Please let me have just a sip of that potion.”
Brant clung to Daniel, drooling like a dog expecting praise for keeping his promise well.
Daniel smiled, sticking out his black tongue and licking his lips up and down. Then he took out a black glass bottle from his bosom and poured it on the floor.
“Ah! What a waste of good potion.”
Daniel poured out all the contents of the glass bottle onto the floor. Brant stared at the potion spilled on the floor with a blank look, as if he had lost everything in the world.
“If it’s a waste, can’t you just lick it up? Count Brant.”
Daniel stepped on the spilled potion. Then he leaned close to Brant’s ear and whispered.
“Count Brant. You say you did something praiseworthy for me, but I don’t feel like praising you.”
Brant was more concerned about the potion getting dirty on the floor than Daniel’s disappointing voice.
“If you want to drink it, go ahead.”
Daniel smiled as he lifted his foot from the potion he had been stepping on. The corners of Brant’s mouth turned up. He licked his lips, staring at the potion with the shoe print on it with red eyes.
Brant dropped to his knees. He lowered his trembling body. The lower he bowed, the more the fragrant scent of the potion tickled the tip of his nose. Saliva began to gather in his mouth like crazy.
In the end, Daniel began to laugh loudly as he watched Brant licking up the potion spilled on the floor like a dog.
“Just like a dog.”
Daniel took out another black glass bottle and poured it again on the floor where Brant was licking.
“You’re eating it very well.”
The potion in the black glass bottle is a special potion given by the High Priestess at the Temple of Goddess Ella. The fantasy brought by this mysterious potion given by the High Priestess provides tremendous satisfaction and addiction.
There may be people who have never tried this potion, but there is no one who only tries it once.
Knock, knock.
“Master. The Empress Dowager urgently requests an audience with you.”
“Today?”
“Yes. She will be arriving at the residence soon. And she also wishes to meet with Count Brant.”
“I see. When the Empress Dowager arrives, escort her to the drawing room in my chambers.”
“Yes, Master.”
Daniel’s gaze turned to Brant. He was still licking it up like a dog. Daniel poured out all the remaining potion on the floor and scoffed.
“As you heard, the Empress Dowager wishes to meet with you as well. I will have the attendant bring you clothes, so change and follow the attendant to the drawing room. Count Brant.”
Daniel’s mockery stabbed Brant’s ears as he opened the door and left.
Brant licked up the potion, shedding tears. He wanted to stop drinking, but his body wouldn’t obey. He couldn’t let go of the ecstatic feeling the potion gave him.
He was so engrossed in licking it up that he couldn’t hear the attendant knocking and entering with a change of clothes.
[This is the timeline separator]Daniel stared at Pelena intently. What urgent matter could have brought her here?
“Father. It’s been a while.”
“Welcome, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”
“When will Count Brant be coming in?”
“He will be here soon, Your Majesty.”
“Please address me like old times when it’s just the two of us. Father.”
“Haha. But you’re the Empress Dowager now, shouldn’t I use honorifics?”
Pelena smiled at Daniel’s words.
“All right. What brings you here?”
“I came about the matter of concubines.”
“Concubines?”
“Yes. Concubines.”
“Do you have a concubine in mind? Pelena.”
“I’ve decided on Lady Pol Heredian as the first concubine.”
At his daughter’s words, Daniel stroked his chin with his hand. Currently, Illina is imprisoned in the nobles’ prison as the culprit who killed Lorirolls Young Master. A noble in prison naturally cannot be engaged or married.
“Don’t tell me? You’re thinking of taking that monster as a concubine?”
“Father. That monster… seems to have found out the secret of her birth.”
Daniel recalled Brant’s words.
“Even if she knows she’s not of Pol Heredian blood, that monster is still a lady of the Pol Heredian family. Nothing changes. She loves Ruans anyway. Look. Even that damn Adrian. The Emperor who rejected you. The Empress. They all died thanks to that monster.”
“I know. But if an imperial trial were to be held, the monster might be taken from us.”
“It takes at least a year for an imperial trial to be held. What are you worried about, Pelena?”
“What I mean is, now that the monster knows about her birth, I’m worried she might change her mind. No matter how much love there is, anger can extinguish even the spark of love. Father.”
“Hmm… That could be the case.”
“It’s dangerous to leave the monster in the Poloid Empire like this. We need to wage wars in the future, and that monster’s power is absolutely necessary for Ruans.”
“So the method you came up with is to take her in as Ruans’ concubine?”
“The proper way to bring her in is as a concubine.”
Pelena placed a sheet of paper on the table and pushed it towards Daniel.
“The monster can’t read or write anyway. If Count Brant signs and stamps the seal on her behalf, the monster will become Ruans’ concubine.”
Pelena smiled, raising one corner of her mouth crookedly.
At that moment, there was a knock and Brant, who had changed clothes, opened the door and entered the drawing room where Daniel and Pelena were.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. Brant of the Pol Heredian family pays his respects.”
Pelena got up from her seat and moved to sit at the head of the table. Brant and Daniel sat facing each other.
“Count Brant.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”
“Lorencia. I plan to take that monster as Ruans’ concubine.”
“Pardon?”
“Father. Please pass the paper I gave you to Count Brant.”
Daniel pushed the paper he had received from Pelena to Brant.
“The monster can’t write or read her own name anyway, so Count Brant, please sign, seal, and stamp on her behalf.”
Brant’s mind went blank. Of all things, Lorencia becoming Ruans’ concubine!
“Are you saying Lorencia, not Illina, will become the concubine of His Majesty Emperor Ruans?”
Anne died for Ruans’ good reputation.
He only found out later that his daughter was imprisoned in Ruans’ place. His own blood, Illina, had strived to become the flower of high society to be the crown princess. And the end of that effort was prison.
“Of course, Count Brant.”
“My daughter worked hard to be by His Majesty Emperor Ruans’ side.”
“So what are you trying to say?”
“Is my dear daughter being abandoned like this?”
“Count Brant. Lady Illina is a murderer. How dare a murderer aspire to the position of concubine?”
Pelena said sharply, glaring at him. Brant bit his lower lip in frustration.
“I heard your business is struggling these days. Father will help you, Count Brant, won’t he?”
“I will do so, Your Majesty.”
“You’ll need to stamp your seal, Count Brant.”
Brant bowed his head deeply with a blank look, then raised it. He had no choice in anything.
“You should think of Lady Illina in prison. If you come and stamp your seal, at least she can stay comfortably in the nobles’ prison until she’s released. Count Brant.”
“I heard clearly that Illina can’t even become a concubine in the future.”
Brant looked at Pelena. She was saying unpleasant things with a terribly beautiful face. He felt a sense of futility.
Brant took the paper Pelena gave him and got into the carriage. He opened the carriage window and stared blankly at the scenery outside.
Anne’s face suddenly came to mind. He also thought of Illina’s face as she was dragged to prison. But he had licked and drank the potion Daniel had deliberately spilled on the floor like a dog. What was he doing now?
“There was no son of a bitch like me. No, even a son of a bitch wouldn’t have eaten it.”
Lorencia is a monster.
He had told Daniel. But he only told him to keep quiet. Fortunately, he had no occasion to encounter Lorencia after that, but out of anxiety and impatience, he relied more on the potion Daniel gave him.
Because of Lorencia, Anne died, Illina went to prison, and the family was falling into ruin.
No, it’s not that he didn’t cry. He had cried secretly upon hearing the news of Anne’s death. People just don’t know.
“What do I even want to do? What do I want?”
He asked himself. The first thing that came to mind was wanting to see Anne. Although it was a political marriage, there were feelings built up over the years they had lived together. She was disappointed in him for the Musilla incident, but she didn’t neglect the family’s affairs and faithfully served as the lady of the house, and gave birth to the lovely Illina.
He wished for Illina to be released from the nobles’ prison. He thought she would be released once Ruans became Emperor, but it didn’t happen at all. Even visits were prohibited.
Brant reflected on his life. Come to think of it, he hadn’t done anything of his own will since meeting Daniel. He had only stamped the family seal as Daniel ordered.
Frankly, it was a comfortable life. No need to think, a life where he could settle into his lifestyle.
He had no complaints about living as Daniel dictated. He thought it natural for Daniel to command him whenever he dealt with him.
He knows well that he lacks dignity. But that doesn’t mean he has no pride at all.
The attendant had entered and looked down at him licking it up like a dog. That alone took away his pride as a noble. But what was more painful than that was himself, desperately wanting the potion.
“What I want is to have a delicious cup of tea with Anne and Illina…”
Brant closed his eyes. Tears dripped down his cheeks.
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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