It was in early November, on a day when the wind was blowing cold and the sky was full of dark clouds, that the splendid carriage bearing the coat of arms of the Pelur royal family entered the city of Tepus.
The citizens of Tepus cast unfriendly glances at the carriage of the Pelur royal family, which entered with many baggage carts and knights in a show of grandeur. Some secretly spat, but most could only glare at the carriage carrying the enemy of their country without being able to do anything.
“The person in there killed our king, right? They’re a bad person, right?”
“Shh, be quiet.”
As the clueless child chattered, the child’s mother turned pale and covered the child’s mouth. When a knight on horseback glanced over, the child’s mother quickly bowed her head.
The people of Canta knew that none of the Franche royal family had survived. It was also well known that there were young children among them who knew nothing.
The knight, looking at the people around the child who didn’t know what to do, asked haughtily.
“Hey, little one. What did you just say?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. This child doesn’t know anything. I’m sorry, sir knight.”
The child’s mother and the people around hurriedly defended the child, and the child seemed to sense the ominous atmosphere and was about to burst into tears. At that moment, the carriage window opened and Lucas showed his face.
“What’s going on?”
“That little one was talking about Your Highness.”
“About me?”
“Said you were a bad person.”
Lucas smirked.
“Why make a fuss over what a child said? Here, take this, little one.”
Lucas took out a handful of coins and scattered them outside the carriage.
Clink-
As if the sound of falling coins was the sound of a bomb exploding, people flinched and backed away from the coins. Lucas saw this, let out a short laugh, and closed the window again.
Engis, sitting quietly across from him, calmly said.
“Your Highness, throwing coins to those who are not even poor. They might feel humiliated and harbor ill feelings.”
Elise, sitting next to Engis, smiled sweetly and said.
“Not at all, Your Highness. You did very well. They will be moved by Your Highness’s generosity and think differently of you. After all, they are more accustomed to a kind ruler than a fearsome one.”
Lucas, who had frowned at Engis’s advice, smiled at Elise’s words and took her hand.
“As always, you understand my heart well.”
“That I could even slightly fathom Your Highness’s deep intentions… It must be because I’ve taken to heart the teachings Your Highness always gives me.”
Next to Lucas and Elise, who were exchanging glances as if they were the only two in this carriage, Engis swallowed a sigh.
When her father, Marquis Kelgio Braisa, told her, “You will become the crown princess,” she felt neither dislike nor liking. Most women of noble families devoted their lives for their family. Occasionally, there were examples of marrying into families that bought titles with money, but the position of crown princess was far better in comparison.
She also knew that Lucas had brought a woman named Elise when he invaded the Kingdom of Canta and cherished her.
She thought it didn’t matter. Lucas was a man with a beautiful appearance, so she was prepared for him to have many women.
‘But to come all this way in the same carriage with that woman…’
Watching the two holding hands and looking at each other as if they were the only ones left in the world, she inwardly laughed bitterly.
‘No, am I the one intruding?’
She had no intention of accompanying them to Canta. There was no reason for her to accompany them when she wasn’t even officially the crown princess yet.
But Marquis Braisa pushed Engis, saying there were still many people aiming for the position of crown princess, and she needed to make a strong impression. Engis accompanied them to Canta with a feeling almost like chewing on needles, and she was witnessing even worse scenes throughout.
‘I don’t like this, really.’
She didn’t want to dislike others without reason, but she simply couldn’t like Elise.
The way she rolled her eyes as if checking the mood, the way she glanced at Engis every time Lucas spoke kindly to her, the way she spoke in a coquettish manner, choosing only words that would please Lucas.
It kept grating on Engis’s nerves.
When they finally arrived at Ider Palace, Lucas said to Engis.
“You must be tired from the long journey, so get some rest. Let’s look around Ider Palace together later.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After Engis obediently went to her room, Lucas turned to Elise.
“I’m going to meet Casar.”
“Can’t I… go with you?”
“Casar is a picky fellow, so he won’t say anything if you’re there. Wait in my room.”
Elise wanted to hear directly what Casar had to say and had many questions to ask, but remembering Engis’s obedient attitude, she nodded.
“Yes, Your Highness. Please be careful.”
Casar was waiting for Lucas in the reception room. Lucas opened the door of the reception room without knocking and glared at Casar. Casar smiled slightly.
“As soon as you arrive, you give me such a fervent gaze. It makes me feel sorry for the other ladies, thinking I might take the place by your side, brother.”
“You’re still spouting nonsense. Are the festival preparations going well?”
“Of course. You sent so much money and people, it would be a shame if things weren’t going well.”
“What about the party? The garden looked quiet when I came in.”
“The workers will arrive tomorrow. Don’t worry. The banquet hall is perfectly decorated, and we’ll start on the garden side tomorrow. We can make the date.”
Lucas wanted people to be spread out in various places of Ider Palace throughout the festival period. That way, there would be many eyes watching everywhere, making it difficult for Floyd and Casar to meet secretly.
“Such a luxurious festival. People will love it. With you putting in so much effort, the people of Canta will come to love you too, brother.”
Lucas couldn’t tell if Casar’s words were sincere or not. He glared at his brother and then asked, catching him off guard.
“By the way, what about Floyd? Has he arrived?”
“Oh, are you interested in monster byproducts too, brother?”
Casar showed no sign of being flustered, which made Lucas flustered instead.
Surely he didn’t come just to sell monster byproducts with no other intention?
“He arrived a while ago, and auctions have been held daily. I heard he brought an enormous quantity. The people from the magic tower are all smiles.”
“People came from the magic tower too?”
The magic tower had deep connections with the Empire. So Lucas felt a bit relieved. He judged that as long as there were magic tower officials present, neither Floyd nor Casar would be able to make rash moves.
“The most came from the magic tower. Magicians, guard knights, porters… They seem to have come fully prepared.”
“I see, is that so…”
“I sent a party invitation to the Grand Duke, but he’s such a busy person, I’m not sure if he’ll attend. I requested a meeting several times, but he ignored them all. Isn’t it too much to ignore without even sending a refusal?”
“Don’t try to deceive me, Casar. Would he come all the way to Canta to sell off monster byproducts if you hadn’t given permission? Is there something going on between you two?”
Looking at Lucas asking so directly, Casar inwardly clicked his tongue.
To reveal his true intentions so quickly. He thought he was better than this.
At this rate, that woman named Elise who hid her true intentions and just flattered seemed better.
Casar skillfully hid his contempt for his brother and said.
“I wish there was something. It wouldn’t hurt to know someone like the Grand Duke. Making peace with the Grand Duke would benefit our Gania too, wouldn’t it?”
Lucas’s face suddenly twisted.
“How could someone like that be of any help!”
“Fortunately for you, brother, it seems the Grand Duke won’t be of any help to us. You know better than I do what our mother did to the Grand Duke. Would the Grand Duke want to help you or me?”
Because Casar’s words were right, Lucas closed his mouth.
Floyd probably hated Casar as much as he hated Lucas. After all, they both inherited the blood of Christine Pelur.
‘Was it Elise’s groundless worry after all?’
Lucas, who took credit for successes and blamed others for failures, blamed Elise for this misjudgment.
‘Did we just waste money on this?’
Enormous funds were invested in this festival and party. Even if the workers were supplied by the people of Canta, decorating the entire city of Tepus for the festival cost an astronomical amount of money. It wasn’t enough with just the dignity maintenance funds allocated to the crown prince, and he had to completely empty his personal funds.
Unable to show such inner thoughts to Casar, Lucas pressed his lips together and turned around, when his eyes fell on a frame decorating the wall of the reception room.
Inside the golden frame was a painting of the river flowing through the city of Tepus. It was a painting from when Roxiana was a princess.
Seeing that, he was reminded of the incident with the envoy from the Hovern Islands.
“What about the woman?”
Casar tilted his head at Lucas’s question as he stopped walking.
“Pardon?”
“Haven’t you heard that Floyd brought a woman?”
“The Grand Duke brought a woman? Why? Isn’t the Grand Duke known for disliking women, didn’t you know, brother?”
“I know, I know very well.”
Lucas also knew the stories of women renowned for their beauty challenging the Grand Duke of Torchan but failing without even getting close. So there was no way Roxiana, who was just tall like a beanpole and had no charm to speak of, could have captured Floyd’s heart.
‘I guess I don’t need to worry about Roxiana anymore.’
There was no reason to take responsibility for a person until the end just because you saved them. Floyd probably didn’t think he had to take care of a foreign princess branded as a slave until the end either.
Perhaps he gave her some money and sent her out of Torchan? Maybe that far-fetched rumor about the guest of the Lily Palace was a rumor deliberately spread to make me nervous?
Lucas came to this conclusion and left the reception room without saying he was leaving.
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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