The bushes rustled as we recklessly dashed through the forest.
It was obvious what would happen if we were caught.
If Viscount Siez had intended to spare my life, he wouldn’t have orchestrated such a grand scheme. The sounds of rain and the horse trampling through the rough foliage were tumultuously intertwined.
The pursuers were gradually getting closer. Even though catching my breath was impossible, fearing they might seize us at any moment, the only thought in my mind was:
Fortunately, Siez’s territory bordered the Kingdom of Etra, so there should be stationed soldiers.
We could survive if we reached there. The problem was that I didn’t know which way to run. In this unfamiliar area, compounded by the pouring rain, escaping the enemies was also urgent.
“Lady Vi, it seems they are right behind us!”
Matthias urgently shouted from behind. Although this made me spur the horse even more, the horse carrying the two men, Matthias and Sylvia, began to lose its strength as we continued to jump over obstacles.
Running while breathing heavily, the horse stumbled over a tree root and stumbled forward.
With no time to prepare, I approached Matthias, who had collapsed in agony, groaning, and struggling to breathe.
“Are you okay, Lord Matthias?”
“I-I’m fine.”
His answer contradicted his clearly not-fine expression. It seemed he had been jostled quite a bit after falling from the horse. Matthias turned back slightly and said resolutely to me.
“The thieves will catch up soon, so please go ahead.”
“How can I leave just Matthias behind? If you have the strength to say that, get up quickly.”
I hung Matthias’s arm over my shoulder and helped him up. Matthias tried to walk on his own, but it seemed difficult for him.
Matthias, with a terribly pale complexion, continued to urge me to escape first. However, I couldn’t abandon him and go alone.
As I looked around for a place to hide, a rough voice echoed.
“He managed to escape quite skillfully.”
An annoyed, coarse voice came from right behind us. I stiffened in surprise. When I turned my head, I saw a group of thieves, or rather, thugs disguised as thieves, all aiming at us. Their faces were fierce, probably due to the strenuous pursuit.
“Why run so desperately if you’re going to get caught anyway? Just drain your strength.”
The thieves approached quickly, seemingly intent on quickly dealing with us and leaving. I stared at them and took a step back.
However, I didn’t manage to run far before my shoulder shuddered.
The feeling of the ground under my heel was sharp. When I turned around, the cliff, obscured by mist due to the rain and bushes, was revealed.
‘A mountain beyond a mountain.’
Thugs with murderous intent in front, an unknown abyss behind. It was truly a desperate situation.
“Rather than falling and dying slowly, wouldn’t it be less painful to have your throat cut in one blow?”
The thieves chuckled. Unsure of how to escape this situation, I hesitated, but Matthias blocked my way protectively. Then he whispered quietly enough for only me to hear.
“I’ll somehow buy some time, so Lady Vi, please run away.”
Matthias seemed to be contemplating rushing at the thieves.
However, he also wore an expression that showed he knew it would be a reckless attempt. Even if he were in good shape, it would be challenging to face that many thugs alone, and considering his injured ankle, it was impossible.
But there was no time even for such attempts. The thieves closing in on us had surrounded us, blocking any escape route.
“What are you trying to pull off, little noble?”
“It’s raining, and it’s tough, so let’s not waste energy and die elegantly.”
One of the thieves swung his sword instantly. Almost simultaneously, Matthias, who had been blocking my path, turned around abruptly, pulling me into his embrace.
“Ugh!”
Amidst the sound of flesh being cut, Matthias’s suppressed groans echoed above my forehead.
“Lord Matthias!”
“I-I’m fine.”
Matthias enduring the pain and the thieves’ laughter, as if finding it amusing, blended together. The reality that I might really die in Matthias’s trembling arms overwhelmed me.
While anxiously looking up at Matthias, I bit my lower lip. It was decision time. Should I stay here and get caught by those damn thugs, or should I leap backward?
‘… Jumping off is probably better.’
If I stayed still, I would undoubtedly die at the hands of the thieves, but if I jumped off the cliff, I could hope for a one-in-a-million chance of survival.
I looked down at the cliff below.
‘The ground isn’t visible; it’s better that way.’
“Why. Are you jumping? Isn’t that more painful?”
Ignoring the mocking thieves twirling their swords, I stared resolutely at Matthias’s pale face.
“Lord Matthias, if we stay like this, you will die at the hands of those people.”
“L-Lady, Lady Vi, you should run…”
When Matthias faltered in his speech, seemingly lost in pain from both his wounds and the sword cuts, I held Matthias, who was shivering, close.
Just as I was about to jump off, I bit down on my molars, unable to bring myself to do it.
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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