As soon as she entered the reception room of the Crown Princess’s palace, Elise threw a cushion at the hunter. The cushion hit the hunter’s head and fell.
“Why didn’t you tell me anything?”
“About what?”
“About Grand Duke Ratean’s engagement ceremony!”
The hunter looked at Elise, who was shouting, with a dumbfounded expression.
“Is that something you absolutely need to know? You have no relationship with Grand Duke Ratean, do you?”
“His partner is Roxiana Franche! Roxiana got engaged to Grand Duke Ratean! How is that not something I should know?”
“……”
When the hunter closed his mouth with a displeased expression, Elise approached and rubbed his arm.
“You should have told me, Hunter. You’re all I have, you should have at least told me.”
“Elise, I’m just a knight. I’m not quick with such social gossip. Besides, I’m being ostracized because I’m your guard knight. And yet you.”
The hunter grabbed Elise’s wrist roughly and lifted it, biting the inside of her flesh.
“You shouldn’t do this to me, Elise. If I open my mouth, you’d be a dead person.”
Elise’s heart sank at the hunter’s sudden change in attitude. The hunter smiled slightly as he saw Elise’s eyes trembling.
“Of course, Elise, I have no intention of opening my mouth. My life is at stake too.”
But it implied that he would open his mouth if pushed, so don’t treat him rudely. Elise clenched her fist tightly, then released it and smiled.
“I know, Hunter. I was just feeling hurt.”
“I understand. But I can’t help it with social news.”
“…Alright, then please leave. I want to be alone for a while.”
The hunter stared at Elise with a gloomy gaze for a moment before leaving the reception room. Left alone, Elise’s legs gave out and she collapsed.
Nothing was going right.
Realizing that even Hunter could betray her at any time, everything went dark before her eyes. There was Ranian, but he was someone who couldn’t be revealed to the world.
Elise needed someone who would look into rumors for her and accompany her everywhere to protect her. She needed someone who would give the impression that this person is with Elise, so don’t mess with her.
Originally, her husband Lucas should have been such a presence, but he was now preoccupied with hunting.
‘Not even knowing what kind of situation I’m in.’
She didn’t even realize tears were flowing from her wide-open eyes.
‘Not even knowing what state I’m in. Not even knowing how desperate I am right now!’
Elise cried alone for a long time. If she called Ranian, he would be by her side, but she didn’t need such a presence. She wanted someone who would think for themselves and comfort her of their own will, but no matter how much she thought about it, there was no one who would cry together with Elise.
‘Roxiana…’
She didn’t know why Roxiana came to mind at a moment like this. On lonely nights when she missed her family, she remembered Roxiana who always welcomed her warmly when she visited.
−”Elin, are you feeling down? Did something happen? Did someone say something to you? Should I scold them?”
The memory of that figure fretting over Elise’s mood tore her heart to shreds.
All this anxiety and uneasiness, irritation and sorrow originated from Roxiana, so why did even the memories of those good days come to mind and claw at her heart?
Elise wiped the tears flowing down her face with a cushion.
‘I need money.’
It wasn’t time to be crying from sorrow.
Elise took out the documents she had brought in her pocket and spread them out. The business plan for the dye business that Elise had decided to invest in this time. After reading it carefully once more, Elise glared at the minimum investment amount.
“Where do I get 500 gold from?”
Elise currently had about 70 gold left in her possession. But 500 gold? As long as there was a queen who disliked her, she couldn’t even think of asking to receive next year’s dignity maintenance fee in advance.
Elise went to the toilette room and opened her jewelry box.
“Even if I sell all of this, it won’t be even 150 gold…”
At that moment, a beautifully crafted jewelry box caught her eye. It was a jewelry box made by carving cherry wood, engraving the Pelur royal family’s crest, and then pouring and hardening gold.
When she opened the jewelry box, a ring with a large diamond sparkled, revealing its presence.
Inside the ring band, the royal family’s crest and the name Elise Hailis were written.
It was the wedding ring she received from Lucas, a precious ring with holy magic. She had heard that no one could steal it, but if the owner gave up their rights, it could be sold.
−”Of course, you won’t sell this, so this is yours for life. Just like you are mine for life.”
She remembered what Lucas said when he put this ring on her. It was a quiet wedding ceremony that no one congratulated, but she was happy then. It felt like she had the whole world.
‘This would be worth more than 500 gold.’
Elise chewed on her lower lip for a while, then shook her head hard and closed the lid. She couldn’t sell the wedding ring that Lucas might check at any time.
Elise checked the ordinary jewelry boxes again and looked around at her dresses. It was good that she had brought everything, including the gifts she received while staying at the lord’s mansion in King Teren City.
Since the value drops when selling compared to when buying, if she sold everything including the decorations in the Crown Princess’s palace, it would be about 300 gold.
‘The remaining 200 gold… I’ll try borrowing from the bank, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll use private loans. Anyway, a larger amount of money will return in 3 months, so interest won’t be anything. Yes, when investing, you have to accept this much loss.’
Private loans often had interest exceeding the principal in just a few months, so it was a business prohibited by the state. But since many places were secretly engaging in private loan business, it wouldn’t be difficult to find.
Roxiana got engaged to the splendid Grand Duke of wealthy Torkan. She might come to Gania soon. But I have nothing, I’m alone.
That fact drove Elise to the edge of the cliff, but Elise, blinded by jealousy towards Roxiana, didn’t realize where she was standing.
+++
It was a month after he left when Lucas returned from his hunting trip. When spring breeze was slowly blowing in the cold Gania, Lucas entered with a carriage piled high with fox furs and headed straight to Joseph V’s study.
“This is absurd, Your Majesty!”
Joseph V coldly stared at Lucas, who was fuming.
“How dare that bastard who picked up the woman my brother abandoned come to Gania? And even receive treatment as a state guest?”
“With what words would I refuse when my son says he wants to come congratulate my son’s marriage and introduce his fiancée?”
“Why is that bastard Your Majesty’s son? That bastard abandoned the Pelur name long ago. Isn’t that right?”
“But the world still knows him as my son.”
“What a thing to be proud of!”
Joseph V picked up the inkwell on the desk and threw it at Lucas. The inkwell hit Lucas’s head and fell. Lucas, with ink splattered all over his face, glared at Joseph V.
Their relationship wasn’t very good, but Joseph V had never laid hands on Lucas before. But after associating with Elise, Joseph V repeatedly hit Lucas.
Lucas was very displeased about that point.
I’m not a child anymore.
Lucas wiped the flowing ink with the back of his hand.
“Floyd, that bastard is surely coming to mock the fallen honor of the Pelur royal family. That’s why he picked up Roxiana, whom no one else would take, and even got engaged.”
“And it was the Crown Princess who lowered that honor.”
“…Elise is not at fault. At all! Ah, forget it. You won’t listen no matter what I say. Since you’re so soft on that Torkan beast and only harsh to me, isn’t that why that bastard is acting up without knowing his place?”
Joseph V’s eyes scanned the desk. Realizing he was looking for something else to throw, Lucas turned around abruptly.
“Do as you please. I won’t meet that bastard.”
Lucas’s face twisted as he left the study, cursing. He only heard the news of Floyd’s engagement on his way back to the capital because he was at the hunting grounds. His insides turned at hearing that several thousand gold were spent on an engagement, not even a wedding, and they turned again when he heard the partner was Roxiana Franche.
‘That beggar. That fool. Knowing how others will see him, he picks up what I threw away and gets engaged? Was he that envious of what’s mine?’
A snicker leaked out.
Right, it’s not something to be angry about. There’s no need for my insides to boil.
She’s a woman I abandoned. A woman I abandoned because she was tall as a pole, had no aegyo, and wasn’t fun. Floyd picked her up like a beggar and got engaged.
Everyone will surely mock and point fingers.
What’s so good about the princess of a ruined country that his brother abandoned.
No matter how many thousand gold he pours out, the yoke that Roxiana Franche bears will continue to follow her.
Thinking that way, even using a large sum for the engagement ceremony seemed like just a struggle to restore Roxiana Franche’s honor.
Visiting the Crown Princess’s palace after a long time, Lucas didn’t notice that Elise’s face had become more gaunt than before, nor that all the decorations in the Crown Princess’s palace had disappeared, making it bleak. He stroked Elise’s protruding belly once and plopped down on the sofa.
“Did you hear?”
“Your Highness, it’s been a while. Was your hunting enjoyable?”
For some reason, Elise’s voice didn’t sound as sweet as usual, so Lucas glanced up at her slightly. Elise was standing beside the sofa, looking down at Lucas with reddened eyes.
Seeing that sight made him feel irritated rather than worried.
Although Elise had become more pleased than before after becoming pregnant with his child, he didn’t want to see her whining like this when he was feeling upset. Right now, Lucas needed comfort, and he wanted Elise to play that role.
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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